Hey folks,

I've been looking at the Brazos for a while. Most of my "big catfishing" is done in the Trinity, south of Dallas. Problem is, I'm located just southwest of Austin (Dripping Springs), so ideally I'd prefer something within two hours (the Brazos is 2 hours).

My reason for posting is because my best friend is currently in basic training over in Georgia, and usually I take him along to new spots I fish, just in case. With him being out of action for a little while, I'm thinking of making the trip to the Brazos myself. I fish out of a 2018 Hobie Outback. I'm more than capable of handling it in currents, but I want to check with y'all first. Are there any areas I should avoid? I've marked 12 spots I'd like to check out between Houston and the stretch east of Temple.

I've heard a couple horror stories about "suck holes", and other down-currents catching people off guard. Is this something I should worry about this time of year?

Side note, if anyone with a kayak feels like tagging along with me, feel free to let me know. I've got a two kayak trailer, and will gladly pick you up (if you're on the way or close), or meet you there. Just know I fish hard, and don't give up easily. And you may or may not be on camera (I have a small youtube channel).

I've also got a 21' center console with a 150 outboard on it, but I figure the river is much too shallow to put that in.

Looking forward to hearing what y'all have to say regarding safety.

Thanks!

- Chase

Well, I'm going tomorrow morning, so I'll update y'all at the end of the day. If you don't see me posting here after a day or two, check out the newspaper. I'm sure there will be something in there

- Chase

Take the boat to the coast and leave the river alone for a while. A lot of water coming downstream from all the rains we have had. Just my opinion.

Well, I ended up heading out there yesterday morning. Left my house at 4:30. Got there around 6:30, at the highway 21 bridge. Threw the castnet for a half hour and caught nothing but gar and one shrimp. Yes, a shrimp.

Decided to move it all down the line a little bit to the little Brazos river, and I'm glad I did. It's much easier to put in and take out there. Sure, the water is skinny, but I'm just in a kayak. So pulling it over rapids isn't too bad. I did, however, run into a nice guy who was stuck with his boat. His motor wasn't starting up, so I towed him back to his truck. Ended up he was trying to get to his OTHER boat that got stuck last night, two miles down the river. I told him I couldn't tow a boat two miles with my kayak, and he went on his way.

I caught some bait (carp), and headed on out. About a half mile down, I ran into the same guy. He ended up driving around and walking to his boat on the river, and managed to get it free and up the little Brazos a ways. But the water had lowered over night, and he wasn't able to run his motor in there. So I towed his OTHER boat a half mile back to the boat ramp. It sucks being in those situations, I know how it is. It's good to just help people out and hope that one day, when you're in trouble, someone will help you. He gave me a whole bag of bluegill. So that worked out well for me. He also says he'll take me to some of his secret spots next time I'm out.

Now, I got on the water about noon. Headed down the Little Brazos until I hit the Brazos. Went a half mile down the Brazos in my kayak before I realized two things. A) It goes from 16 feet to 2 feet very fast, and there are a lot of submerged trees. And B) The current is so strong that if I get caught on one of those trees, I am definitely flipping. And if I get pinned on one of those trees, I'm as good as gone. So I paddled back up. Let me tell y'all, I didn't think I was going to make it up. If it wasn't for the wind helping me out, I wouldn't have been able to fight that current. I'm glad I turned around when I did. I set up on the bank (which, by the way, was basically quick sand near the water. I piled a bunch of branches and stuff on the bank so I could step on it) near the mouth of the Little Brazos and fished in 12 - 16 feet of water. When I finally got set up, it was 1:30 pm. Not the best time to be fishing. Lost two big catfish to trees before I realized I needed to man-handle them in, and not play it out. Landed a 19.2 pound blue-cat. Not huge, but it was still a decent fish.





Also landed a pathetic channel cat. It's mouth was very low, it was weird.



And, of course, I hooked/lost/caught about 23452341 gar.

Headed on back in before the sun set. I didn't feel like being out there after dark, just in case anything went wrong. All in all, it was a rough day. But I'm still glad I went. Next time hopefully I'll land something of a little size.

- Chase

Good fishing story! Sometime a little wind is a kayakers best friend and sometime not so much. Lol! No way I�m pulling boats even on my best day(arch nemesis-age).
Good job on a nice river Blue! Sounds like you worked for it! Congrats!

Well great job persevering through it...Definitely paid off!!!!!

Great post