Sunday, September 9, 2001

San Marcos on the fly

David Sikes/Caller-Times

Austin angler Joey Lin attempts to place a fly beneath overhanging foliage at a remote bank of the San Marcos River, a year-round fishery for light-tackle enthusiasts.

   SAN MARCOS - Like an angler eavesdropping for river secrets, Joey Lin tilted an ear to within inches of the water's surface and whipped a precise sidearm cast to an impossible target.
   His motion was effortless and his aim true; obvious by the yellow line that vanished beyond the stingy opening on a remote San Marcos River bank. To catch fish here, you've got to reach water's edge, no matter how tightly guarded.
   When Lin's line rested and his posture relaxed his rod tip was pointed like a gun barrel at the riverside tangle of branches and roots. With head still cocked, Lin stripped line with crisp short jerks. Together, we strained to witness the surface antics of a tiny popper that skittered and lurched like a nervous bug beneath a dense canopy of overhanging foliage.

David Sikes/Caller-Times

Marcus Rodriguez prepares to release one of several Rio Grande perch caught in the San Marcos River.

   Possibly Lin could have anticipated what happened next. But I could not.
   Emerging from the black shallows, the shiny eyes and narrow fin of a fish slowly breached the surface in the lure's subtle wake.
   "Look at this," an excited Lin whisper-shouted, as he teased his stalker. "It's a ca ... ."
   Before the word fully escaped, Lin's popper was engulfed in mid-twitch, followed by a swirl and lightning hook-set. Raising the delicate four-weight rod above his head, the limber stick arched and buckled under the strain of a 3-pound channel catfish determined to run deep.
   Sheathed in scuba-like fins, Lin's feet instinctively thrust his kickboat against the river flow and away from the bank, to keep line taut and pressure on prey. It worked.
   The battle was akin to snagging a 25-inch redfish on a willow switch. This is why we fish rivers on the fly.
   Though not as spectacular, similar scenarios throughout the day resulted in

David Sikes/Caller-Times

Austin fly angler Sung Park was along to boost our fish count, a role that he performed well.

the catch and release of more than 100 fish - representing at least a half-dozen species - during a nine-mile display of skills and thrills on a river known more as an college-town playground than an angler's paradise. I was there by invitation of river guides and expert fly-casters Marcus Rodriguez and Johnny Quiroz, a pair of young entrepreneurs who know the San Marcos River as well as anyone and love to share it, along with their enthusiasm.
   They call their business The Guides of Texas, which took root in the classrooms of Southwest Texas State University. So far the business has supported their insatiable fishing habit and launched or fed similar habits for dozens of clients.
   Both learned the rivers of Central Texas with spinning gear. But judging by their slick fly-casting abilities, they've come a long way.
   Lin is a professional photographer-turned Central Texas river guide with Austin Angler, the original Austin fly shop. Lin's expertise earned him an invitation to help with revisions to Bud Priddy's book, Fly Fishing the Texas Hill Country, in which his photo appears in later versions. Lin's winters are spent hosting groups of anglers on fly-fishing trips to Argentina.

David Sikes/Caller-Times

Johnny Quiroz was forced to lay down his fly rod and show some fancy paddling on some of the rougher stretches of river.

   Also there to boost our fish count was Lin's Austin fishing partner, Sung "Sunny" Park, a professional photographer and accomplished fly fisher, who, at times, probably envies Lin's career change.
   We put in three kickboats and a canoe near the town of Staples, just below a dam where Farm-to-Market Road 1977 crosses a sparsely populated, high-banked section of the river southeast of San Marcos. This allowed us to fish and ride the sluggish current about nine miles downstream to the outskirts of Fentress, a small community off State Highway 80.
   This is a good stretch to paddle and cast from canoe, kayak or kickboat, an easily maneuverable, miniature catamaran vessel by Hobie, to which a trolling motor could be attached. Unlike the urban section of this river, wildlife outnumbers people and homes here. And the fishing is excellent year-round.

David Sikes/Caller-Times

Marcus Rodriguez tries to identify one of dozens of bass we caught. Many fish caught were the result of cross breeding, prevalent in the San Marcos River.

   We caught smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, Guadalupe bass, Kentucy spotted bass, combinations of hybrid bass, a variety of sunfish and bluegill, Rio Grande perch (AKA Texas cichlid) and, of course, catfish. To catch these we used everything from hard-bodied poppers and chartreuse clousers to tiny wooly buggars and floating grasshopper patterns.
   Between haplessly slapping the surface and snagging tree limbs, I managed to hook a few bream and small bass with my only fly stick, a rigid eight-weight better suited for saltwater quarry. But it was a blast.

David Sikes/Caller-Times

We spotted two snakes during a nine-mile float. This water moccasin didn't seem the least bit bothered by our presence.

   It's hard to believe the fishing could be better than this June morning. But Quiroz tells me the best times to fish are late spring and summer afternoons. The average river flow is about 150-200 cubic feet per second. During droughts, though, it slows to about 80 cfs.
   Water clarity downstream of the headwaters at San Marcos is only slightly lower than the 72-degree stuff that gurgles from more than 200 springs. Most of the river we fished is shady and lined with hardwoods and ferns. But some of the fishiest stretches sport cut banks and bare vertical clay cliffs that create ideal ledges, pockets and overhangs.
   We caught fish at every bend and in between.
   Uprooted trees, islands and bars create challenging obstacles at peak river flows. But these presented few problems for us, except for one low-lying limb that bumped Quiroz into the river.
   The character of the upper San Marcos most resembles the Colorado River below Austin or the Guadalupe River south of Gruene. Most fly-fishers use rod weights of four to six. But ultra-light spinning gear can be just as sporting.
   If you're into worm fishing though, don't call these guys.
  
  
  
  

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