![]() ![]() I recall my dad’s friends leaving carp to rot on the banks of Coleto Creek in South Texas-an act, they thought, of public service. Like most American anglers, I had been taught as a kid that carp were “trash fish,” a nasty, inedible invasive species that fouls up the water and crowds out native game fish such as bass and catfish. When I flipped to the chapter on carp, I saw a photo of Boatright crouched in the waters of the Pedernales River as he admired a golden slab of the species.īoatright’s affection for carp piqued my interest in the maligned species. He was also generous: I soon received a gift package that included a set of flies and the just-released Fly Fishing Austin & Central Texas, by Aaron Reed. He was 36 years old, a chemist, and, as I would learn, one of the most enthusiastic fly anglers for one of the state’s most underappreciated sport fish: the carp. The owner turned out to be a San Marcos man with a very Texan name: John Henry Boatright. I received a reply five minutes later: “No way! Lost them last week! I’ll pay for shipping and a 6-pack LOL!” I found a box of flies on the Pecos River that I think belongs to you,” I texted when I got back home to Austin. Then I flipped the box over and saw a phone number. I, on the other hand, felt lucky, if a little guilty. ![]() Some angler out there, I thought, must be pretty bummed. I had learned just enough to know that the lures were mostly hand tied, a personal collection curated by an expert. It was May 2020, and I had been trying to teach myself to fly-fish on the Pecos, where some friends and I own a patch of riverside desert near Langtry, in southwest Texas. Inside lay a colorful assortment of fishing flies. I was walking along the banks of a remote stretch of the Pecos River when I spotted something at the water’s edge: a blue plastic box, the size of a small book, out of place in this unpeopled land of rock and cactus.
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