Hours Ticking To One Fly 2013

The One Fly 2013 tournament at Blue River is just hours away. 

The river is in excellent shape and the weather looks good.  Yes, it will be a little nippy early morning, but once the sun clears the tree-line the warmth will begin to trickle through.

Last year, we held the One Fly on the second weekend of the month.  This year we decided to move it up a week to keep from conflicting with Fly Fish Texas and it looks like it's a good idea we did.  A major winter storm is tracking this way and predicted to hit next weekend.

The mystery fly, I believe, is going to fish well.  I'm holding high expectations of many high scorecards unless the trout, and other species, are totally off the bite. 

Several of the organizers and some participants are camping out at Blue River the night before One Fly 2013 and it sounds like they have a good time planned. 

It's going to be interested in seeing the faces of the brave and hearty souls that show up early Saturday morning to vie for the championship title of One Fly 2013. 

Good luck to all.

Fly Fishing Gear For Offer

Evelyn George contacted me last week with some fly fishing and hunting gear for sale.  After posting the information she sent me, the pair of chest waders sold outright sight unseen.

Now, Evelyn has sent pictures of the wading and hunting boots she has to offer and I feel obliged to put them up for anyone interested to see. 

Here's the information on this gear followed by the pictures.  Evelyn's phone number is also posted and anyone interested should contact her directly. 

Women's Hodgman Bantam wt. Wading Boots

Size 7

$25.00 OBO (USED ONCE)

Men's Hodgman Cleated Wading Shoe, canvas

Size 9

$15.00 OBO (NEW)

Women's Magellan Hunting Boots, all terrain camo

Size 7-1/2

$20.00 OBO (worn very little,clean)

 

 

 

 

If anyone is interested in this gear contact Evelyn at this number: 940-665-5027 

 

 

 

 

 

One Fly 2013 Menu Announced

Last April, Vernon Forrester came to the Arbuckle Simpson Nature Festival Dutch oven cook-off and walked away with top honors.  He plans on coming back to the nature festival this year.  But first he plans on honing his recipes by cooking lunch for all the participants at One Fly 2013.

Vernon sent me the menu last night and after looking at it I think it's safe to say we'll all need a nap after lunch. 

Here's whats on tap.

Stuffed Pork Loin
Cowboy Potatoes
Baked Beans
Cooked Carrots and Cabbage
Pecan Cobbler
Chocolate Goddess Bread Pudding
Beer Bread

And, if that isn't enough Charlotte Fullenwider is making white cake with apple filling and chocolate icing. 

We will be worthless after lunch. 

One Fly Deadline Arrives - Field Is Set

The deadline for One Fly 2013 has arrived.  All entries received in today’s mail or entries promised by recent conversations will be honored.  Beyond this, all other entries will not be accepted because we are near the threshold of our capacity.

 

This is a reminder of what will take place at One Fly 2013 and a suggestion as to what to bring in addition to fly fishing gear.

 

Contestants are encouraged to bring a folding chair and their choice of drink for our luncheon on the river.  Although we will have water and perhaps tea, it is best to bring your choice of drink.  Lunch will be provided by Vernon Forrester of Forrestburg, Texas.

 

One Fly 2013 will begin promptly at 7:30 a.m. on March 2^nd, 2013.  The beginning and ending point will be the large parking area of the main campground area above the low water crossing (Hughes Crossing).  We ask that contestants arrive by 7:15 a.m. if possible.  When contestants arrive they should look for a Blue Bird motor coach named the Ruff Diamond.  There will be pop up canopies near the Ruff Diamond along with camping tents.  Upon arrival please come to the pop up canopies and let us know you have arrived.  We will need your name. 

 

The pairings will take place at 7:30 a.m. and we will be anxious to get contestants in the river.  Harold Beck will be the master of ceremonies and after his welcoming statement we will announce the mystery fly and the winner of guessing the mystery fly.  Once you receive your mystery flies, scorecard, and ink pen you may tie on. 

 

Check in is at 12:30 p.m. at the same spot you begin.  Make sure you sign your scorecard.  While the scorecards are being added, we will break bread together. 

 

After lunch, Blue River area manager Matt Gamble will be on hand to answer any questions or listen to suggestions regarding the experience at Blue River.  Please feel free to engage this opportunity to talk with Matt.

 

Then we have a number of give-away presents to give and this will be by random draw.  When all those are given away we will announce the top three finishers for One Fly 2013. 

 

We would like to get a group picture of all the contestants and participants and ask that everyone please stay long enough to allow us that opportunity. 

 

Therefore friends, brother and sisters of the angle, in the early morning hours of March 2^nd, bathe in the desire of catching fish and clothe in the expectation of doing just that. 

 

See you on the river.

Dutch Oven Cook-Off Coming April 27th

As part of the 7th Annual Arbuckle-Simpson Nature Festival, the Taste of Tishomingo Dutch Oven Cook-Off will take place at Sipokni West Old West Town on April 27th. 

There will be four categories Dutch oven cooks can compete in - Best Meat, Best Vegetable, Best Bread, and Best Dessert.  There will also be a People's Choice award for best in showmanship. 

Interested Dutch oven cooking fans can find out more by visiting asnfok.net or by emailing arbucklesimpson@ymail.com

Other activities taking place around the Dutch oven cook-off include the Archery In Schools program where youngsters can learn how to shoot a compound bow.  There will also be a Jake's Turkey Calling Contest, cast iron skillet toss for the ladies and children, Dutch oven 101 class conducted by Bruce Bailey and yours truly and a fly fishing class.  Tom Adams of Backwoods in Edmond will conduct a fly fishing, tying, and casting class. 

The Boy Scouts of America will be on hand on April 27th competing in the Dutch oven cook-off and they have a primitive fire and string burning competition going on that day.

All in all, there is a lot going on and a lot of fun in store for visitors.  Make plans to attend now.  All proceeds go to support the T.R.E.E.S. educational program. 

Dear Carp - February 7th, 2013

Dear Carp,

There hasn't been much chance to visit with you this week.  The weather is in a most unsettled pattern and I am sure this has much effect on your kind.  You should know that it effects the angler also. As I am writing you now, the sky is troubled and we are receiving a most wonderful rain event. 

Early this morning, at the mercantile store, I stepped out the back door about the time the fog-bank was lifting and looked toward the sea lane that is your home.  I couldn't keep from wondering if you were grazing under the cover of the fog or if the water was still too cold.  I know that I am still a month or so too early to have any hopes of meeting your kind in fair numbers. 

I did meet one of your community members on the first day of this week.  He was a splendid citizen - a young chap with a gallant amount of fight.  I'll never forget how attracted he was to the Creek Critter and how he dove and intercepted the offering mid-column.  For me, it was an absolutely beautiful thing to watch and I am a lucky man to see such things take place.

 

For sure the weather is not allowing the sea lanes to warm enough so your kind and I can have many conversations.  However, my impetuous self will not allow my body or soul to rest.  I find myself thinking about you during the day, sometimes dreaming about you at night, pouring over the journals of our encounters and chin-chins of seasons past.

 

Speaking of seasons past, I was reading through journal entries of last year and could not keep from noticing that there were two gifts you favored more than others.  Your favorite gift of last year was the Creek Critter, and following closely was the gift I call the Curiosity. 

 

It may interest you to know that I was reading my journal during tilts of the pilsner brown.  The more I read, and the more the pilsner brown was held high... the more my mind opened.  It wasn't along until the thought of taking your two favorite gifts of last year and marrying the two together came about.  And so, I went to the vise. 

 

At the vise I took the red stinger tail that belongs to the Curiosity and employed in on the basic Creek Critter pattern.  As a result, a gift I will call the Curious Creek Critter was born.

 

 

Now you might wonder where the credit is due for the creation of this gift.  Was it the success of the two gifts of last year?  Was it the effect of the pilsner brown?  Or, was it simply something that came from the darkest recesses of the id of an ordinary man? 

 

If I were a betting man, I would say it was the effect of the pilsner brown. 

 

Soon I will bring this new gift to you and hope you like it.  If you don't, then I will go back to my prairie home and tilt a few more pilsner browns in search of a new creativity.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Prairie Ocean Fly Fisher    



One Fly 2013 Score Cards Ready

I was praying this afternoon that my ink would hold out as I printed the score cards for One Fly 2013. 

The printing of the score cards tells us the One Fly 2013 event is getting closer to taking place.  The score card this year will be exactly the same as last year. 

Each trout brought to hand with the mystery fly is worth at least one point.  Extra points can be earned based on the length of the trout. 

All other species caught the day of the One Fly event are worth one point. 

Each contestant is responsible for keeping their own score and this is totally on the honor system.  The angler each contestant is partnered with should be alerted when a fish is landed. 

Score cards will be given to each contestant in a zip-loc bag along with an ink pen. 

Here's what the score card will look like.

Dear Carp - February 3rd, 2013

Dear Carp,

Today we find ourselves three days into the fine month of February and I had yet to meet any of you this month. 

Yesterday, as the groundhog was telling us we would be having an early spring, I was spending time with the pretty fish at Blue River.  To be honest with you, however, I did not have a lot of energy for the trout and left early leaving them to the fur and feather of Van - a man who has quickly become quite the fly angler and someone I am sure you will meet in the near future. 

As I was coming your way today I had it in my mind that I would find you as you have been here of late - gathered in garrison and basking in the warming sun.  When I arrived at the doorstep of your home my suspicion was confirmed.

 

Normally, when I find the lot of you basking like this there is little or no interest in eating.  But, there was one dandy chap who did have a little bit of an appetite and we would have us a chin-chin.  He was a dandy fighter I should say. 

 

 

 

Our friend Charlie has made travel to Mexico.  Before leaving though he suggested that we try sending our offerings to you by a method that has been perfected by a fine fly fisher in Idaho named Gregg.  The idea is to take our offerings and float them to you with a flotation device.  Now to Gregg it has become natural, but for me it seems foreign.

 

However I would try this method today and selected a yellow and brown bodied Creek Critter to drift in front of your searching eyes.  It wasn't long until a connection was made, but it was oh so brief.  It seems with this method being new to me I wasn't quite ready and the citizen who dialed me suddenly cut that call short. 

 

One more opportunity would come my way using this method, but again I wasn't attentive enough and wasn't ready for the signal one of yours sent to me. 

 

I hope you didn't think I wasn't in a visiting mood today since my stay with you was quite brief.  I left you early because the sun went behind the clouds and your presence to me was no longer there. 

 

In my absent mindedness I once again forgot the big trash bag, but trash was removed from your home.  Hopefully, with my next trip, a great deal more will disappear your abode. 

 

I am home now tying some more offerings to present to you.  I hope to see you in the coming days. 

 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Prairie Ocean Fly Fisher