From Rough Fish to Fine Dish: Catching and Cooking Gar

June 21, 2017 by Robert McConnell in Fins

Soon after moving to Houston, I was walking a man-made bayou with my fly-rod. I was keeping a watchful eye on the water that flowed through the ditch. I wasn’t sure what fish species I could expect to see. I caught sight of a fish slowly swimming to the surface of the water. It opened its mouth like it was taking something from the top-water and then slowly disappeared into the deep murky depths. I had just seen my first spotted gar.

Village Creek: A Fishing Synopsis in the Pineywoods

August 23, 2016 by Robert McConnell in Fins

While thumbing through an issue of Southwest Fly Fishing, I saw an article about a small creek east of Houston called Village Creek. At the office, the following day, I gave the article to my friend Alex, who read it eagerly. We both decided that this little creek, in the eastern Pineywoods of Texas, absolutely needed its local fish population terrorized by two guys and a dog. Alex and I loaded up the inflatable Flycraft drift boat Friday morning and before the sun rose over I-10, we were heading down the highway eastward.