First thing was to find one of the places Strider has told us. Actually we were in three people, lots of gear and only one Old Town canoe. We got to the fall on the Brazos Park and my friends turned me down, as they saw we would have to do lots of portage going downstream, decided then to launch on hwy 7 and go upstream.
It was difficult to convince them to set on this quest, especially that the game warden came and checked on us about fishing license and told us the conditions were a little harsh. Anyhow, I promised them I'll do the portage myself and they could walk on the banks, so I did.
On the way up, the winds were howling so badly on our faces, it was a heck of a paddling going upstream with all that people on the boat.
On the way up I could find some alive fish struggling on the shallow shoals. Pick them with my hands.
A carp a decided to keep for bait
A very heavy buffalo I wanted to keep for baits in case I couldn't castnet baits, but my friends denied me. So I released, it was very alive, just swan away pretty quickly.
Also found this other smaller buffalo, the head was just chewed by something, it was still alive! Threw back into the water, to help the food chain...
Finally we got to the type of spot we wanted (3.1 miles upstream from the bridge, I have the gps coordinates). Well, we set our lines for big cats with carp fillets. Stayed the whole day and didn't have a single bit other than some turtles bothering us. Also couldn't cast any live bait. I know Strider has a good technique for shads on this stretch of the river (just learned today by reading your past posts, the muddy trap, LOL). I'll try it next time. Also I don't know how YaknYota get all those shads on Brazos, even big gizzards, amazing guys. But today for me, not even a single shad scale...
The wind settle down afternoon, the front cold was there. Had to figure a way to warm up water for tea, my buddy forgot to bring his pan. For those who see survivor, this really works! Thanks to them.
Arrangements for the night. It was a beautiful night, lots of coyotes howling, plus few other strange noises. This is camp! Wilderness. I hate to stay with the crowds!
What a mirror! Can you guess where the sky is? Below or above?
Once it became night, the bite started. Lost about 5 runs, but I guess they were all dinks. After the moonrise, 1 hour later the bite died. We were targeting big fish. One of my friends decided to decrease the hook size and left his rod for the next morning. Got a 15 inches channel. The only fish on the trip. Whoop!
Next morning decide to head back to Aggieland! I was cold. Checked my GPS just before sunrise and it was 32F!
Some ice on our gear.
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Heading back, beautiful Sunday morning and nice paddling. We still took 1 hour and 14 minutes. Found 2 irregular trotlines downstream.
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It seems to me we saw a shooting clay disk (I don't know how it is called). But if this is it, there you have a shooting platform!
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We saw the cars Strider has seen way upstream from where we were fishing, but downstream he had found their tires
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Getting to take out
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Old bridge
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All in all, for an exploratory trip the fishing wasn't perfect, but I am glad my friends enjoyed it so much! Although it was a little tough for the weather, the histories to tell later are what matters most... Having a hot chocolate, sure. Dan'g ol dang ol. I am looking for Strider's post right now (
http://www.texaskayakfisherman.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=106710), he did pretty good! I shouldnt have those friends first place and gone downstream from the "falls on the Brazos park" LOL.
