Heavy Trout Winner

Don Rist won the heavy trout award on Saturday during the 2008 February Trout Derby at Blue River.

Fly Fishing Heavy Stringer Winner

Chris Adams, a three time winner of the Susan Latham Shrader Memorial Award for fly-fishing, walked away with the heavy stringer award on Saturday.

February 2008 Fly Fishing Winner

Ida Gaither walked away with the top honors in the 2008 February Trout Derby Fly-Fishing division. Congratualtions Ida!

Dog-Gone

Now, this guy had the right idea for dealing with miserable conditions at the trout derby.

When The Going Gets Tough

There is an old saying, "When the going gets tough, the tough gets going", and perhaps this was quite and acutely illustrated this past weekend by a handful of the fly fishing community at Blue River.

The weather for the 2008 February Trout Derby was raw, bitter, and at times just down right miserable. Pictured are some of those who braved the bitter conditions to fly fish the derby. Not pictured are Ralph James, Gary Bujack, and yours truly who were also willing enough to inflict self-pain on our bodies. Pictured from left to right are Don Rist, Carol Radford, Chris Adams, Ida Gaither, and James Webster.

When Carol and I arrived at Blue River on opening derby day the temperature was thirty-two degrees and it was raining. Simply...it was cold and wet. If these things weren't enough, the lightning flashes running down the river channel or across current sent us running for safer ground.

For Carol, it was a disappointing adventure. She was excitied about fly fishing the trout derby for the first time and this is a lady with only seven fly fishing excursions under her belt. But, conditions as they were had us both returning to the SUV thirty minutes after entering the water. Our whole weekend would turn out that way having less than four hours of water time in the two day event.

But, I admire Carol for trying. Her hands were the big thing against her. Less than a year ago she had carpal tunnel surgery on her right hand and the other hand is scheduled. Her hands may very well be more senisitive compared to those of us who don't have similiar problems.

Another thing that was against us was just simply newcomer problems. There were tree limbs, rocks that capture hooks, leaders wrapped around rods and so on and so on. And...Carol still remains tentative in her hook-sets. That meekness and shyness cost her at least thirty fish this weekend.

And besides that...it was damn cold and we were wussies.

Ralph James has a motto that says, "Fly fish anwhere anytime", and Ralph stayed true to that mantra by driving up from Gainsville, Texas only to face miserable conditions.

James Webster is another veteran of fly fishing and the trout derbies and he has the plaques to prove it, and yes he too was bracing the elements this weekend just to get to fly fish the derby.

Dateline: Trout Derby Saturday Weigh-In

There wasn't a weigh-in! That's how miserable the weather was and the organizers decided to wait until Sunday in hopes the weather would be better.

However, I can tell you at the end of the day Saturday, Chris Adams was in charge with the heaviest stringer but he had Don Rist hot and heavy on his tag end. Don, decided to split his stringer weighing-in both the heaviest trout for Saturday, (which he won), and the heaviest stringer division which didn't have him far from Chris. But...there was a young lady named Ida Gaither that was just ounces away from taking the lead from Chris the next day. Would she?

Dateline: Trout Derby Sunday

The weather didn't seem as severe as Carol and I left Sulphur enroute to the derby. The ambient temperature was thirty-seven degrees and we found ourselves driving absent of rain. However, the wind was more prevalent which made the wind chill factor more severe than Saturday.

Carol's and my day Sunday was much like Saturday with a lot or problems, missed opportunities, and just feeling miserable. We basically quit around ten that morning. I was disappointed in myself because my mission this derby was to get Carol into some trout and I failed miserably.

Soon, one o'clock rolls in and it's time for the final weigh-in. Chris, being a force to be reckoned with weighed-in a decent showing but would it be enough?

Ahh...she is a young pretty lass and her name is Ida. Now, Ida is certainly not a newcomer to the Blue River trout derbies having won many awards before, but this is the first time I can remember her fly-fishing in the event and well...the girl done good. Ida weighed-in the heaviest stringer for Sunday and edged out everyone else for the overall award.

When you're standing in the wings , as I was, watching the results I guess it's just natural to root for some of mainstays like Chris, Don, Jamie, and Ralph. And...honestly that is how I felt plus I wanted Carol to have a better outing. But, with that being said, it is also refreshing to see someone young and new like Ida keep the interest in fly-fishing fresh. Hopefully, her showing and example will encourage more young people to take up this art of ours.

What Not To Do At Blue

You might think you're having a bad day because your line has a bad case of the curls. If so, just take a little time and look around.

This poor guy was either having a bad day or had a really bad night.

Incriminating evidence was spotted by Carol and myself as we walked by the scene of the accident. A Keystone beer can rest in the console...guess the guy was in a hurry to get away once he realized he was a little on the upstream side.

Shortly after Carol and I walked by the car, here came Scotty McCarthick and sidekick Luke Marshall with the owner of the vehicle. Scotty and Luke were on a good Samaritian mission. Luke brought his flat-bed truck with power wench on back. They made several attempts to wench that car out of the river but it was not to be a mission accomplished.

From my vantage point I could tell the entire front end of the vehicle was bottomed-out and I kept wondering if the oil pan was compromised? I guess four quarts of oil is not a lot of oil but it's more than I want to see in Blue River.

Later on the car was removed from the river by a much larger tow or wench truck. I was fishing off of Chuck's Ledge and that is when I kept noticing that each time my fly line hit the water there was a dispersal of something that definitetly didn't mix with water. Hopefully it was just my line conditioner and not motor oil for that would be a bad thing for the owner of the car and a bad thing for the river.

A Wonderful River Now Better

There has never been a dispute as to the beauty of Blue River and what a beautiful outdoor experience she can offer. However, in the last three months, this beautiful river became much richer in what she has to offer.

For a number of years or seasons of the bows, there were discussions about how nice it would be to have a designated part of the river classified as catch and release for those of us who align with that discipline.

The most enthusiastic and determined voice in this discussion was Donny Carter of Stratford, Oklahoma. Donny never was loud or arrogant about it...he just simply brought it up season after season. Donny's enthusiasm bled over to more and more of us in the order of the fly fisher and so it was decided to simply ask if such an area could be created.

It was decided to contact Paul Mauch, Chief of the Southeast Fisheries Division with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife. Paul was asked for an audience with a contingency of the Blue River Fly Fishers and Paul agreed. Late in the 2006 season Paul met the group near the banks of Blue River for the discussion. Now...Paul is pretty straight talking and in short order he informed the group of our options, and in this case, it was a single option. Paul told us of a half- mile of water located at the extreme northern end of the north wilderness area above the Highway 7 bridge. This was a stretch of water owned and managed by the wildlife department but had never been stocked for lack of a road. Paul was also quick to inform us that a road would have to be constructed and asked for help in paying that cost. Then, Paul said, "Put your proposal in writing and forward it to the Wildlife Department."

For that task, writing the proposal, Kevin Harris of Ada, Oklahoma was either drafted or volunteered...I really don't remember now but it doesn't matter. I will be the first to say that Kevin did a superb bang-up job in writing that proposal. Kevin sent it to the department and then kept an open dialogue or communique' with Paul. Word came that the Wildlife Department accepted the proposal and public hearings were held with little or no opposition. Then on December 28th, 2007 Kevin received a message that the new Catch & Release Delayed Harvest Area had been stocked with 1100 Rainbows weighing 1300 pounds. It was a reality.

So...has the catch and release section been a success?

Michael Mercurio is an avid fly-fisher from Arlington, Texas that tries to travel to Blue River almost on a weekly basis. Michael likes the catch and release area even though it requires him to make a rather long hike or ride his mountain bike after making a grueling drive from Arlington. Michael shares that he likes to strip buggers, "the tug on a bugger is exciting" and he finds the water in this new addition to be diverse enough to employ several different disciplines of fly-fishing. And then...there is the solitude.

The catch and release area will be strictly enforced from November 1st to the last day of February each year. Then, on March 1st of each year the area will be opened for harvest which, it should be and is a good resource management tool. The bows do need to be harvested instead of letting them waste to rising water temperatures.

Personally, I think the greatest thing about the catch and release area is that it's taken an already great river and made it greater.

When Robin Rhyne of McKinney, Texas decided that fly-fishers need a forum and created the Blue River Fly Fishers group in 2002 he created an explosion in the number of fly-fishers on Blue River. That...coupled with an increase of trout fishing with all disciplines has resulted in a more crowded river at times. The catch and release area simply gives us another avenue, more room, and more solitude to do what we love to do.

It's amazing to me what can be accomplished when people come together. Looking back at the whole thing now, when we were talking about the possibility, all we ever had to do was ask. This area became a reality by asking and then supporting with our back pocket dollars like fly-fisher Ed Safely and many others did.

Personally, I plan on continuing to support the catch and release area through personal donations. Yep, I'm still collecting, stomping, transporting aluminum cans with the Recyling For Rainbows program. It takes a lot of darn cans but a lot of darn cans are kept out of a landfill somewhere.

Barry

(Photo courtesty of Michael Mercurio)

Striping With A Five Foot Four Inch Brunette

I have been striping with a five foot four inch brunette here of late. No, no, no...not the going-native nature boy kind of striping but rather striping buggers. Carol, being the five foot four inch brunette, is a ball of fun to fish with. She has the most positive attitude of perhaps anyone I have ever known. Rarely does she complain, unless the fish are not biting and then about every five minutes I can expect, "I'm not catching anything." But, nontheless, Carol is a trooper that will wade every inch of the river in search of piscatory combatants.

I haven't always striped with brunettes. It wasn't so long ago I was striping with a six foot blond.

Striping with six foot blondes certainly have their advantages. For one thing six foot blondes are very adapt at retrieving flies from tree limbs when that task would be difficult for a person...well, let's just say... my height. Another advantage to striping with six foot blondes is that they cast long shadows which serves as a most excellent sun-shade on those bright, rather warm and steamy afternoons. And lastly, when you are at five foot seven, graying, and aging, you look rather darn good standing in a river with a fourty year old six foot blond. Now, it may very well be true that blondes have more fun, but that doesn't neccesarily mean that blondes are more fun to be with...and so it was with me in striping with that six foot blond. No, I don't think all blonds are dumb by no means. However, the few I have known in my life have all seem to suffer from attention deficit disorder. I still liked them though.

I've never striped with a redhead, in a fly-fishing sense, and man do I ever have a thing for redheads. There's just something about that auburn flow against the porcelain skin that clicks my trigger. Show me a redhead and I'll begin to salivate like Pavlov's dog did when he heard that bell. Would I strip with a redhead? Well, heck yeah!

These days it's just not brunettes, blondes, and redheads...there are multi-colored hair girls. I saw one the other day that was jet black on top with purple endings. Would I strip with her? Sure! Hey, the goth chick might bring a whole new dimension to my striping life.

The fact is it doesn't matter if it's a brunette, blond, redhead, or multi-colored. For the most part my frisky days are behind me and these days striping a bugger is just about as exciting as striping period.

But, with that said, I think I'll keep the brunette just in case.