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![](\"http:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/bb\/weblogs\/upload\/5\/825380434d06e5978d67c.jpg\")
\nIt was almost worth the trip, all by itself.<\/p>\n
When you have plans to fish on the weekend, it gives the weekdays a feeling of purpose. At least the purpose of coming between you and fishing. This last weekend some fishing buddies and I made plans to drive out to Blanco State Park and capitalize on the trout fishing. <\/p>\n
Now, you might be saying to yourself, isn’t Texas too hot for trout? Yes it is. That’s why they only stock the trout during the winter, because if it were the summer, they would all die in the bath-temperature waters of your average Texas river. Makes sense, right?<\/p>\n
So the day before we went fishing, we took a little side trip to the Cabela’s outlet store to get some tackle. The best part about the store was the aquarium.
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\nIt was almost worth the trip, all by itself.<\/p>\n
Blanco State Park runs alongside the Blanco River, which is about four blocks from downtown metropolitan Blanco, Texas. A pair of dams make the river deep enough for fishing and swimming. I spent the first part of the day fishing near a dam overflow. A few tiny and skittish sunfish hid beneath a limestone overhang, taking my mealworm bait with only the greatest reluctance.
\n![](\"http:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/bb\/weblogs\/upload\/5\/12930132304d06e5d31f208.jpg\")
\nThe water had a mucusy film that clung to my bobber and line. The fish themselves had a similar phlegmy look to them.
\n![](\"http:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/bb\/weblogs\/upload\/5\/15289154254d06e5e30f0c1.jpg\")
\nOne of the sunfish had a dark purple coloration that I’ve never seen before. It almost looked like a cichlid.
\n![](\"http:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/bb\/weblogs\/upload\/5\/12901746574d06efe461f67.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
After a delicious picnic lunch, we moved a little further downstream to see if we could get better luck. Supposedly the State of Texas had released over a thousand trout in these tiny dam reservoirs, but I hadn’t seen more than a couple of glimpses of skittish little fish. <\/p>\n
Fishing for stocked trout in Texas bears little resemblance to the prestige sport of fly-fishing in a pristine mountain stream. After their brief and sheltered life in a crowded stock pond, they have little of the wiliness of their wild counterparts. They are said to bite on pieces of corn, colored marshmellows, and anything that bears a resemblance to the food pellets they have been eating all this time.<\/p>\n
There were signs that many anglers had swarmed the area over the weekend, so we were a little worried there were no trout left. <\/p>\n
And then the fly-fisherman of our group caught one.
\n![](\"http:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/bb\/weblogs\/upload\/5\/13946091844d06e5cce7937.jpg\")
\nBut he had been using an inline spinner. <\/p>\n
So I switched to casting a spinning lure, and within a couple of minutes I caught a trout too.
\n![](\"http:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/bb\/weblogs\/upload\/5\/9016568164d06e5af5689a.jpg\")
\nHave you ever seen a dorkier expression?<\/p>\n
This is the first fish I’ve caught off a cast lure in a long time.
\n![](\"http:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/bb\/weblogs\/upload\/5\/6213120654d06e5c0a79f0.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Not the biggest fish in the world, but certainly pretty.
\n![](\"http:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/bb\/weblogs\/upload\/5\/7247303344d06e5a780f10.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
And then they stopped biting. We talked to a guy who caught his limit of trout the day before, and he said they only bit for a one-hour period in the afternoon that corresponded to our period of success. He speculated that the trout are still on their stock pond feeding schedule. They’ve been conditioned to be hungry at 2pm.<\/p>\n
I was hungry by the time I got the trout back to civilization. After some internet research, I decided that I didn’t have to scale it. So it got plopped in a frying pan with a bit of oil and salt.
\n![](\"http:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/bb\/weblogs\/upload\/5\/4479190964d06efdda54f1.jpg\")
\nThe skin peeled off in the oil, leaving a surprising amount of delicious trout meat. I’ve had trout in restaurants, but it never tasted as tender and flavorful as this specimen, yanked out of the Blanco River before it even had a chance to enjoy its freedom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When you have plans to fish on the weekend, it gives the weekdays a feeling of purpose. At least the purpose of coming between you and fishing. This last weekend some fishing buddies and I made plans to drive out … Continue reading