Story by Nate Skinner for Lone Star Outdoor News
Most fishing competitions involve anglers battling each other to catch the largest specimens of a particular species. The Agua Fresca Fly Fishing Tournament, put on by Gruene Outfitters and 25 On The Fly, took that concept and threw it out the window.
A cross between a scavenger hunt and a fishing tournament, the event challenged anglers to pair up for two full days of fishing with the goal of landing as many species as possible from a list of 18 different types of fish, all found in Texas. In addition to tallying up multiple species, anglers were also given team challenges to complete throughout the event. The top three teams scoring the most points by racking up multiple species and checking off team challenges were crowned the winners.
Gruene Outfitters shop manager, Chris Long, said any public waterway in Texas was open for fly-angler teams to fish.
“We had a total of 25 adult teams compete,” Long said. “Many teams fished multiple bodies of water and went on a road trip in order to check off as many species and team challenges on their scorecards as possible.”
The first place team consisted of Ryan Clarke and Robert Faaborg. They caught 11 different species and tallied 3,600 points. Kyle Trainor and Adam Soto landed eight species and scored 2,410 points to secure a second place finish, and third place included Odum Wu and Dylan Mendoza. They caught seven species and scored 2,370 points.
“Certain species and team challenges were worth more points than others,” explained Long. “One of the team challenges was the longest fish category. Wu and Mendoza caught a 47-inch gar on the fly that spiked their points total over the 4th place team, who actually caught one more species than they did.”
One youth team participated in the event, traveling from Abilene to fish the Hill
Country area. Brothers Will and Clay Knight drug their father all over the Hill Country for two days straight.
“This event wouldn’t have been possible without the support from Gruene Outfitters owner, Tiffany Yeates,” Long said. “She is the reason I get to host awesome events like this.”
Fly-fishing guide and fly maker, Jeffrey Davis, participated in the tournament and found the format both fun and challenging.
“The multiple species aspect definitely changes the game,” he said. “As a guide, you often find yourself focusing on just one or a few species of fish. This tournament required you to step out of your comfort zone and try new things in order to be successful. It really leveled the playing field.”
Davis said the format proved just how diverse freshwater fishing is in Texas.
“It was interesting to see how many different species of fish could be caught on one body of water or in one area,” he said. “I spend a lot of time on the water, but I often get tunnel vision as a guide. The event opened my eyes to just how many different angling opportunities are really out there, and how many different species flies will actually fool.”
According to Davis James, part owner and operator of 25 On The Fly, the event was judged using a catch-video-release concept, which allowed anglers to submit videos in real time on a smartphone application, which were then scored remotely by a panel of judges.
“The proprietary smartphone application used for submitting species and team submission videos allowed the tournament production team to download and feature catches in real time across social media platforms and post tournament results in a re-cap highlight video,” James explained. “Using this technology and format for a fishing tournament takes an event to new levels and allows it to reach both from anglers and followers.”
James and his business partner, Blake Katchur, founded 25 On The Fly and came up with this tournament format as a means to bring the fly-fishing community together and shed some light on many underrated species of fish in Colorado where they reside.
“In a country where largemouth bass fishing seemingly rules the freshwater industry, we wanted to show the conventional tackle world that flies can fool bass, as well as other species effectively,” James said.
The idea has now evolved into a series of events across the country, put on by 25 On The Fly and partnering fly shops and organizations that host the tournaments.
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