A Dog Week Ago
Have you already unplugged yourself from the ugliness, or did you suffer through last week’s news cycle as I did, thinking and wondering if it would ever end, or how will it end. It seemed like every day was seven days worth of news-making history, and it got on me like the slime of a ladyfish. A dog week later still hasn’t washed off. I arrive here from the 1960’s, a kid who sat in front of the TV because I was the channel changer, watching Vietnam news every single evening, through an education as a journalist and economic historian, and arrive in the here and now. I should have been dialed back by my parents from watching all that Vietnam news every single day. Nobody knew any better back then. And now I try and put all the emotions and feelings from the last decade, and last dog week, into their own compartment, you know, flip the switch.
But when the other compartments are closed too, like a freezer door, closed on fly fishing, that last dog week keeps barking and getting out. I hope this week bears no resemblance to last week.
Hit The Ground … Running?
I buried a big story last week, and buried it deep. But if you take the time to read about the Pecan Creek project? you will know why. It’s Denton, and Denton is home to the most passive pile of people you will ever never know. In fairness, these passive folks ARE Denton, its identity and its trademark. It’s not that everyone here is Blue Dot stoned, it just is what it is.
Unpleasant Distractions
While I wait patiently for the cavalry that will never come, or for a response from the City of Denton, I really believed this story could not wait to be published. I want to get it on the record and behind me before those redbuds pop and the sand bass start running. Besides, if no locals care about what happened to $11-million dollars, why should you or I care? At the current rate of progress on the Pecan Creek Trail, a trail that makes no fishing promises, I will be long gone from this popsicle town.
What Else Is Happening Now?
We went through a December to remember, and take note. In all my years, I have never known so many people to catch a mean cold, as was December 2025. Mean and stubborn, this cold of a month ago, still leaves remnants to clear NOW every morning, and again the season does not help. I think it is safe to say, everyone I know caught this cold, and the talking heads on TV had it, and friends south, north, east and west had it. Many still have this nasty hanging around.
There are some irons in the fire though! We all just have to tough this out, and hang in there for the stories to come in the first, and now BEST half of 2026. I am calling it the “BEST” half based on the last three years fly fishing here in North Central Texas. Three years ago was better than the last two years, but that was the BEGINNING of the fishing pattern that took hold in 2024 and 2025. What is the local fishing pattern?
The “Fishing Pattern” is dry ground followed by rain events. Unpredictable and severe downpours that, every year, increasingly run off and have no where to soak in. Citizen demand for water, unaddressed and still incomprehensible to authorities, drives USACE and municipalities to HOLD water longer. That makes the releases more urgent and epic when they happen – think in terms of May on your fishing calendar. Rather than teach or mandate conservation techniques, the North Texas governing bodies choose to satiate demand. Underground sprinklers water the streets, and data centers, and mega warehouses do the same on a nightly basis. Why?
Along with that pattern, from me comes more exposure to places that, as we say, “used to fish,” but are questionable in today’s climate (yes, double meaning to that word). I did a preliminary look at the LBJ Grasslands last week, and was pleasantly surprised by the three lake-ish ponds I saw there. First, it was surprising to see them holding water. Second, it has been a bunch of years since I ran the grasslands, and the dynamic differences between the lake’s habitat really got me motivated to see if they are holding fish. As much of a blast as my Pond Bass series was last year, they were all on private parcels and there’s just no way for you to enjoy them. MAYBE, the LBJ Grasslands will be agreeable TO ALL OF US this year? These fly shops, and their “private water?” They must think it’s magical?
Of course I will be adding to the Wholistic (also called Holistic) Fly Fisherman© series this year! I fed this general topic to Chet last night, and Chet Gypt was downright giddy about the potential for the topic. In fact, Chet generated a number of ideas for me to beat on with my camera, and ugly mug, starting as soon as possible.
Add to the Wholistic Fly Fisherman my own trials and tribulations (doctor appointments) this year, and your entertainment is essentially GUARANTEED! I am sure those baseline measurements will freak out the doctor, whoever he turns out to be, and he will want to make me a case study. Why? Because I take a drawer full of supplements and powdered supplements EVERY DAY. They will be seeing chemical spikes that will make them want to check me in right away! But, like I said in THIS VIDEO, once you step onto this path, they’re going to find something wrong, and then something else, and down the mudslide I/we go …
Thanks to those of you who take the time to read my Monday Mornings. As you can tell, both emotional and physical hurdles are looking like high hurdles right now, but we will click them down to their low setting and get on with this path NOW!
