January trip to the Shonto Ranch
| The January trip
was incredible. Enjoy the pictures.
Mark |
A zebra by the road |
Jim got a nice Guadeloupe bass |
Jim's first trout Friday |
My first trout Friday night on my 3 wt and a woolly bugger. The fish was 23 1/2 inches long and a very aggressive eater. |
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Jim got some blue gill |
 We
will meet at 6:00am at the front gates of the ranch for the day. Bring a
sack lunch Saturday and we will fish all day. Then see a beautiful sunset
before heading into town to eat. |
Jim with a nice trout on fly |
Jim at the Inn of the Hills Hotel, a very nice place to relax after a great day of fishing. Click on the link to see the hotel and make reservations. I set up a discount for our group. Mention you are with Sciangler and it is only $69.00 per night. |
 24 1/2 inch trout Saturday AM |
 Jim with a nice Buck trout Saturday morning |
 Jim fishing the Turtle creek Saturday before lunch |
I got a nice buck Saturday night |
 Jim with a 24 inch trout |
 Sunset Friday night at the high MT lake. |
 Fishing the Guadeloupe, we had to stop on the way home. |
 Jim called in some wild Turkeys. The trees were to close to make a cast for them. I am making some corn flies for next trip:) |
| Supplies You will need warm cloths and rain gear. I would bring fingerless gloves and a warm hat. Water proof boots will also help get down to the water to release your fish. Polarized sunglasses are important so you can see the fish. The water in the river is crystal clear so fluorocarbon leaders and tippets will increase you chances of hookups. |
Flies We were using size 8 to 4 brass headed crystal wooly buggers in olive got the most fish but black and brown also worked. The heavier the better so it sinks faster. The trout were also feeding on small midges, about size 22. However I can't see to tie those on so I stayed with bigger sizes around size 14. |
| Lures We were using spinning rods to reach the rising fish in the middle of the lake. A bubble float was used to cast flies as well as small spinners. By tying a swivel after the float we used 4 feet of fluorocarbon leader then tied on the flies. I also tried a spoon that was big enough to cast on my ultra-lite rod. |
Rods I used a 3 wt. Orvis rod with floating line for most of my fishing. Jim had a 3, 4 and 5 wt he used as the size of the fly changed as well as helping when the wind picked up. I also used an 8 1/2 foot micro-lite spinning rod from Bass Pro shops. They run around $40.00 and are great even for large fish. The extra length allows the use of a 4 foot leader without hooking yourself on your cast. |
Saturday morning I caught this huge 24 1/2 inch trout it was very heavy. |
The turkeys came back Sunday. |
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When you get to Kerrville (the star on the map) take 27 northwest to the Inn of the Hills on the left before Harper Road. There are plenty of restaurants and grill/ cafes to eat at. Kerrville also has antique shops and art galleries for your spouse to see while you fish. There are several RV parks along the Guadalupe river in and around town. |
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| Fly
Fishing or Conventional Rainbow Trout Fishing Largemouth Bass Fishing State Record Rainbow Trout Trophy Whitetail and Exotic Hunts |
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