Andy Dear | Sunday, 26 April 2020
For the last 5 weeks the county I live in had posted large signs at all the local public bridge crossings prohibiting public access to the river below. For Jack and I, this has meant that we've had to delay the start of our spring Panfish and Carp season.
The good news is the local government lifted the ban on public crossings, and the signs prohibiting public access were removed last night. As soon as I put the final touches on this essay, we'll commence raft infaltion and a quick gear check to hit the Guadalupe for the first time in 2020. Last week we made a few mountain bike trips down to some privately owned access points, and the clarity and flow were simply fantastic. All indications are, that provided we dont have a heavy second wave of Covid-19 infections, we should have a stellar 2020 season.
Oddly enough, when the signs came down, the first thing that came to mind was "I wonder if my Florida Keys Outfitters hat that I lost last year is still hung on that cypress tree where it fell off?" Chances are that sucker is halfway to the Marquesas Keys by now, but I know I'll be scoping that root system for any signs of the aforementioned garment now that the flow has come back down to normal.
Speaking of flow, in October of 2018 we had what the meteorolgists down here like to call a "100 year flood". Nevermind the fact that they seem happen about every 5 years. This one really was in fact downright catastrophic. Because of that, the fishing was really off last year for just about every species we chase on the upper section of the river. As it turns out, several of the river systems in the central part of the state were affected in a similiar way. Several reports on social media detailed how the fishing on the Perdenales and the Llano were also drastically off as well, so I was glad to hear that it wasnt just us that noticed this.
As we all know, nature has a way of healing herself, and usually a lot quicker than we anticipate. On one of the private stretches we explored via mountain bike last week, the first thing we saw upon riding up to an elevated bank was mudding carp of about 15 pounds. Jack and I sat there and watched her root for crawfish and larvae for a good 10 minutes in all her golden scaled glory. Hopefully a good sign for things to come. After the last few months, I know all of us worldwide could use a few positive things happening in our lives.
Hope you all are staying safe and healthy, wherever this essay may find you,
Andy