I false cast a couple of times to let out just a little more fly line and softly laid the chartreuse popper in the shadows under the bridge. It drifted with the current into a sunlit pool where I gave it a couple of short twitches. There was a flash of orange and silver as a Longear sunfish slammed the popper and headed for deeper water. The little fish shook his head as he felt the resistance of my four weight rod. It swam in throbbing circles as I pulled him in for a quick release. The bright iridescence of these little sunfish from the pools of Brushy Creek are just as beautiful to me as some exotic in some hot far away place, besides it is plenty hot right here at home. I repeated this contest over twenty times in the span of an hour and yet I was only twenty minutes from my house. The traffic pounding over the bridge above my head on IH 35 just north of Austin had no idea of the fish I was catching just below them. Brushy Creek runs right through the middle of Round Rock and I was fishing within sight of the famous Rock itself marking the cattle crossing on the old Chisholm Trail.
I had taken several species of sunfish along with a couple of Guadalupe bass and a Rio Grande Perch. All were well under a pound and returned to the water to be caught another day. Even if I caught a giant on Brushy Creek I would return it to the water as along with the population growth, sewer plants and septic tanks have been placed up and down the creek and it is not the same little creek I fished thirty years ago. I can remember when the water was pure and clean. There was none of the icky moss that grows in the creek today. I use to take home sunfish, bass, fresh watercress and wild onions for the table but no more. The fish still survive and are abundant even though we are trying hard to destroy the habitat.
The point of this all is get out and enjoy one of the small waters close to home. You do not have to spend a fortune on gas and lodging but the thrill of the catch is still the same. Carry out some trash and do your part to try and clean up these creeks in Texas so the next generation will also be able to enjoy them.
Get out and try some of the local small waters near you. You might be surprised how great the fishing right under your nose really is, Wild Ed
Remember to click on comments below to leave a comment or read the comments from other readers