Visited family in Monroe, LA this weekend and made a trip out to the Lake D'arbonne spillway/Bayou D'arbonne in my yak.

I was expecting a little bit of water to be coming over the spillway due to recent rain, but they are in the process of lowering the lake and had a floodgate open, a situation in which I'd never fished down there out of my bass boat (or kayak).

I know the honey hole would be just off the outflow, but when I tried to get close, the water just pulled me closer...not a good sitation so I fished the areas in the flat below the spillway. After boating a handful of bass, gar and yellow bass trolling crankbaits I made an uneventful pass down the first half mile or so up the bayou.

Upon returning to the launch ramp area I noticed some surfacing activity in a small eddy on a shallow flat. For the next hour or so I boated a fish almost every cast. Most were 1/2-1 lb, but a few 2's were mixed in, and surprisingly they were all largemouth in the relatively swift water. Normally we catch more spots when the water is moving.

Unfortunately I had to leave them biting so the wife and I could get back to College Station. Here's a pick of the spillway with the flood gates on. The whole area below the spillway before it funnels into the bayou is about 2x the size of what is seen in the picture.

The actual launch is on the far bank in the picture (just off the right if it was larger).

Nice pic. Say, didn't you get a new ride? How's that workin' out.

I love it...more stable, drier ride, it actually tracks better even though it's 2.5 feet shorter (got a Mini X). I also like how easy it is to transport and store. It's almost like a cheap vs. expensive reel...there are a lot of subtle things that add up to making a big difference overall. I don't find it to be any slower than the pelican even though it's so much shorter. My favorite aspect is that i can throw it in the back of my avalanche without having to open up the bed, which saves me about 5 mins every time I unload and load it.

It's so nice to be able to paddle in deep water and not fear the kayak will sink if I have too much gear or tip the wrong way. Even when the pelican was fine, it would slowly fill up with water thru the rear hatch depending on the waves and how much squirming I did.

Not sure now what you ended up with. IMHO, it really wouldn't matter, given the grief you had w/Pelican, anything is an upgrade.

Nice post and great picture. Thx.