Special thanks to Paul and Gretchen from Glen Ellyn, Illinois for booking a overnight Brazos River Kayak Fishing Adventure with River Run Guide Service.

Congratulations to Paul on benchmarking the Texas Fall/Winter trophy striper season by CPR'ing a personal best 36.5" striper from the kayak.

What a great way to celebrate your 50th birthday!!!





Ya'll stay tuned...

A full report and pics of this couples epic overnighter with River Run Guide Service will follow later in the week.

SAWEET!

that is a hog!

nice

NICE!

Wow!

great fish

Nice. I'll bet the river this time of year is pretty cool. I gotta get out there soon.

Looking forward to the 15th my man!

it's later in the week.....

As promised, here is the full report and pics from Paul and Gretchen's Brazos River overnighter with River Run Guide Service.

Enjoy!


I've got to tall ya'll, the internet is a beautiful thing.

It is truly amazing how much information is available to anglers searching for their next fishing adventure, with just a few keystrokes.

So, I wasn't too suprised when I heard from Paul in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.

Paul and his friend Gretchen got into the sport of kayak fishing about two years ago and were planning their next kayak fishing adventure to celebrate Paul's 50th birthday.

These two were no strangers to landlocked striper fishing. Both had fished out of boats together from Arizona to Kentucky in search of trophy stripers.

However, for this trip, these two wanted it all. Remote river camping, good food and kayak fishing with the chance of multiple species of fish and the possibility of landing the trophy of a lifetime.

Here we are heading out on the first day of our adventure.



We decided to spend the first day of our trip concentrating
on a personal best largemouth for each of my clients.

We wound up getting the best of both worlds by catching both quality and numbers the first day.

Species caught included largemouth, smallmouth, spotted and striped bass. Drum and channel cats also rounded out the species list.





Gretchen with her personal best LMB.



We CPR'd dozens of them this size.









Night fishing is a River Run Guide Service tradition on overnighters. I make a point to choose campsites that are right next to productive fishing grounds.

After finishing fireside dining on freshly prepared seafood jambalaya, we decide to do a some night fishing as the full moon approaches directly overhead.

This turns out to be a good call and Paul winds up CPRing his best largemouth of the trip. At just over 21" in length, this LMB is also a personal best for him.



After a quick midnight snack, we all decide to turn in for the evening. Even though the temperatures dip down into the high 30's overnight, the 20 degree sleeping bags furnished by River Run Guide Service keep my clients warm and toasty in their separate, spacious 4 man tent.

(Continued)

(Continued)

After a good nights sleep, we awake to a beautifull Brazos Basin morning.





Heading out to the fishing grounds.







We spend the rest of our morning CPRing a few bass here and there.

With a pending scheduled gate release of 4000 CFS, we decide to spend the balance of our trip in pursuit of a big striper from the kayak for my guests before the rise hits our position.

Moments before the river begins to rise and get off color, Paul hooks what turns out to be a monster 36.5" striper from the kayak. After getting a "Brazos River Sleigh Ride", we take a moment to complete the CPR session with what would turn out to be a career personal best striped bass for Paul.

Nice fish!



Paul's striper is the largest documented catch of the Texas 2009 Fall/Winter trophy striper season and will undoubtedly be the fish that every trophy striper angler in Texas will be attempting to beat over the next few months.

With the river on a rise, we take a break for lunch. I prepare
my signature "No problemo stuffed poblano peppers" for my guests along with homemade butternut squash soup.

After wrapping up lunch, we take advantage of the rising water
and CPR about a half dozen Channel cats to 20". It's been about an hour before I determine we are in between gate releases and the river level has peaked and began dropping so we can commence our paddle back to the take out.

Here we are at the take out just as the river comes back up, under the influence of the second 4000 CFS gate release of the day.



My guests have a flight to catch, so they make a hasty retreat and head to the airport.

After loading the kayaks and all my gear, I head up to the dam to take advantage of the unscheduled gate releases.

I wind up CPRing well over thiry stripers to 26" and magnum sand bass up to 17" on topwaters. The action was fast and furious.

Here is a pic of the largest striper that was CPR'd before I decided to call it a day.



In the end...

It was just another Kayak Fishing Adventure on the Brazos River, TX.

shane, do you ever get caught out there in big, unexpected releases from PK?

i am ready for the experience! nice add-on

Nope.

When it come to BRA water releases, it's not what you know...

It's who you know.

Nice follow up report, Shane. And very cool photos, especially the one with the morning mist. Do you warn your clients to bring waders this time year? This couple is from Illinois, so the water probably feels warm to them. Either way, it looks like they had a great time.

PS: Stuff poblanos...uuummmm.

Thats something I would like to do soon. Man I look forward to these reports!

wow

Awesome report!

Warnings sound harsh.

I make only recommendations.

And when I did, Paul promptly sent me a video of the kayak fishing adventure he and Gretchen did in Wisconsin targeting Muskies, the week prior to our trip.

We don't know what cold is, down here.

Never the less. My moto is and always will be...

Go prepared.