Monday Morning in Houston

And The Sidewalk is Cracked

Five days in Houston, and the temperature dropped almost every day. Of course the wind was the icing on that cake, so it’s time to turn tail and head north.

If you know anyone, the sidewalk leading up to the house here really hasn’t cracked, but thanks to my arboreal skills, the massive oak trees have run roots under the sidewalk, and it looks like something you try to get across in a carnival funhouse. How do you spell liability?

Overcoming Fear

About the only thing I did while running this long errand was to overcome my fear of tying the lethal Game Changer fly. I also began to realize just what it takes to go on the road, on an extended basis, and tie flies. There is always some piece or part missing, something forgotten and something else wanted to make your fly, “The Best Ever!” Once I negotiated with my first Game Changer, confidence was gained for a second attempt, but with a dash of this and a smidge of that … you know, change up the fly a bit … no two alike.

That lead me to the nearest supplier, and a store I have never seen. The ORVIS in The Woodlands, Texas, looks and smells like a flagship store. If you were part of a smaller ORVIS that folded? it’s because this store is probably $80-dollars a square foot. It’s easy to see, there’s going to be more contraction coming to ORVIS at some point.

But for now, the State of the ORVIS Union is beautiful, perfect and the greatest it has ever been. Or at least this one looks that way. Properly inventoried with hip clothing, and the full supply of ORVIS fly rods and reels. NOTE: Reels are 40-50% off right now, and that can mean a few things.

ONE: ORVIS is scaling their reel business to fit their new company size, or, TWO: ORVIS is clearing the decks for their new models of reels. EITHER WAY, if you ever wanted an ORVIS reel, it is time to pull the trigger! Rarely do new models improve year-over-year, but put your WARRANTY concerns/comparisons away. Those days are riding off into the sunset as I write this in February 2026. It is what it is.

Packing It In and Out

Okay, I am loading out to the +300K coche, so it is time to fold the laptop in half, slide it in its sleeve and get on down the road. But for numerous reasons, I would have set my sights on a lake I looked at on last week’s TPWD Fishing Report, Lake Bryan, but conditions just don’t allow anything like that this time. While the report on Lake Bryan is not good, it looks like a lake worth looking at sometime SOON! It also looks like that lake is home court for the Aggieland Fly Fisher group. That alone is temptation enough – to go try to steal a few lake records for my alma mater, and have that mighty MEAN GREEN flag flying over the record books. AND it is time to get a bit more serious about the Game Changer fly – something I can only do at home base. I dread testing the ones I made, but test I must!