We had a great July outing in Junction at the Morgan Shady Campground along the South Llano River. TWFF members started to arrive mid-day Friday in all sorts of camping facilities….large RV’s, fifth wheels, casitas, popups and tents. The campground is beautiful, right on the banks of the South Llano River under large pecan trees.

Lavene Hardin was an excellent campground host, welcoming all of the TWFF fisherwomen to our various campsites. We also had a handful of Austin TOWN members join us to kayak in the morning. All in all, we had about 40 women and invited guests for the weekend.

Saturday morning we loaded our kayaks and supplies onto trailers and into the backs of pickups and other vehicles for a ride upriver to the entrance of the South Llano River State Park. We launched the kayaks just below the low-water crossing to begin our six-mile float to the campground. Nancy Burns, of Alamo City Rivermen fame, joined us to keep our minds on the river, not just fishing. The float had a few challenging spots where leading your kayak and walking through some swift water was definitely the safer way to go. The South Llano River is full of perch and bass. Generally the fish were of good size as compared to the same species of fish on the Llano River near Homer Martin's place. Wooly buggers, poppers (like Miss Prissy, of course), and jigheads were successful flies for the river. We had a great lunch spot on the riverbank under a large pecan tree then proceeded at our own pace back to the campground. Julie Sieh caught her first fish, a good-sized perch on her fly rod using a popper that Ronnie Ray gave her.

Late Saturday afternoon, we had a quick board meeting, and then proceeded to a banquet dinner at Isaack’s Restaurant. Isaack’s is known throughout this part of Texas for its famous chicken fried steak. It lived up to it’s billing. No one went home hungry after our meal. The banquet was an enjoyable way to finish up the day, sharing stories with our friends about the float. At the business meeting, we discussed and voted on several things, the most important one being the beginning of a Friday night Mullet Mixer at each outing to make it easier for outing participants to meet and make fishing plans. The first one will be held at the Redfish Rodeo outing in Port O’Connor. Back at the campground, we watched a very large full moon rise above the cliffs on the far side of the river. Quite a sight at such a pleasant place. Sunday came too soon, with breaking down camp and taking off for home. The Morgan Shady Park campground was a great place for TWFF to spend a hot weekend in July. It was an excellent place to stay. Several people mentioned they would coming back and bringing their families. The small town was very quaint and the fishing was good.