Texas kayak Fishing guide Shane Davies (AKA Yaknyota) offered me a one-of-a-kind trip, an assault on the Devils River from the Northern arm of Lake Amistad. He described it as an exploratory paddle through a desolate piece of the lake, with unforgettable vistas and infinite fishing opportunities, all leading to the Devil�s backdoor and, potentially, the "mother of all honey holes." He reasoned that most people float down the Devils from the SNA to Amistad, and since the trip is as difficult as it is beautiful, by the time they get to Amistad, they are too tired to fish, which makes that part of the river/lake a potential bonanza of big fish. His goal was to learn the route in order to offer it to his clients, and this trip would serve to explore the waterways, find suitable camp sites and test his theory about the mother of all honey holes.
A couple of weeks later I found myself paddling North on Amistad with Shane Davies, in search of a new kayak route and an elusive honey hole. This is the story of that trip.

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CHAPTER 1. The Ingress (Into the Wind at Amistad)

A seven hour drive from DFW put us on the boat ramp at Rough Canyon Marina around 1:00 PM. We were hoping to have a Southern (backing) wind as we paddled North, which is typical this time of year, but we quickly discovered we�d be paddling into a stiff Northern wind with fully loaded kayaks. Go figure. We had planned to fish our way up to the Devil�s anyway, so we figured we could duck into coves as needed to escape the wind. And off we went.



They look deceptively light, but trust me, they�re not. Both hulls are packed and some of those dry bags are carrying some heavy provisions. But the loads were evenly distributed and the ride was stable despite heavy winds throughout most of the trip.



The plan was to fish a few coves to get out of the wind, and one of the first coves produced this smallie for Shane. This just might be a pretty good trip.



I heard Shane use the term �buck bass� to describe this size fish. Had not heard that term before. There would be lots of buck bass caught on this trip, and on that light weight rod, they were a hoot.



Two tired paddlers at the end of a long first day. Amistad is surrounded by a National Recreation Area, so you can pretty much camp anywhere you can pitch a tent. The problem is there aren�t many flat spots to pitch a tent, and the spots you do find are overgrown with briar patches, cactus and sharp thorned mesquite. We managed to carve out a little spot inside a cove the first night, and although it wasn�t the best spot for camping, the bass were feeding right out in front.


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CHAPTER 2. Day Two (Slaughter Bend and the Indian Cliffs)

We woke up the next day refreshed and ready for the day�s paddle. Our goal was to paddle the enormous Slaughter Bend and reach the Devils River in search of Shane�s supposed honey hole. This is a view from our camp that first morning at a site I dubbed �The Three Amigos.�



As beautiful as it is large, the seemingly never ending Slaughter Bend is bounded by a series of brightly colored, steep canyon walls. The so called Indian Cliffs provided beautiful backdrops while trolling our way North, and the canyon walls were pock mocked with caves throughout its length.



Shane and his Malibu 2 are dwarfed by the gigantic rock walls of the Indian Cliffs. The size of the cliffs made us feel insignificant, but they were pretty to look at. And best of all, we were able to troll the cliffs� rocky ledges and drop offs on our paddle North.



Cathedral like arches weathered into canyon walls make this part of the bend one of the most beautiful places I�ve ever fished. I�d seen pictures of this part of Amistad before, but those pictures didn�t do justice to the experience of paddling it in person. Neither do my pictures.



As if paddling through majestic canyons with spectacular scenery weren�t enough, this place is teaming with fish. I caught this plump sandie while trolling Slaughter Bend on the way to our final destination.



Shane managed a few of these too. The sand bass here were some of the fattest I�ve seen. If this was any indication of things to come, then the honey hole we sought was going to be one spectacular place to fish.



While we didn�t see many humans on this trip, we ran into many rams and mountain goats as we traveled north. One made its way into our camp the night before, and this guy just looked at us curiously as we paddled by.


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CHAPTER 3. The Transition (Back Door to a River)

Around the middle of the second day, as we continued our paddle north, we noticed that the lake started to transition from a deep canyon waterway to something more like the Devils River. We seemed to be closing in on our objective and the new landscape reflected this.



Besides the changes we saw in the main channel�s topography, the further North we got, the smaller the creeks got. I fish lots of North Texas creeks, and I was amazed at the water's clarity down here.



�and some of those creeks gave up some pretty fish�like this one.



Unfortunately, not everything we found was a good sign. Not sure how long this kayak seat had been in the water, but I hope that whoever lost it had a backup plan.



Shane is a happy man, but not because of this fish. He�s starting to see signs that his theoretical honey hole may actually exist, and that it will produce big fish. I�m not sure how else to explain it, but I think he can actually feel us getting closer to the hole with each fish we pull from the river.



Shane is scouting out a potential camp site for our second night on the water. Although not yet at the place he believed the honey hole to be, he felt we were now within striking distance. In the end, this camp site would prove to be centrally located to a couple of good fishing spots.


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CHAPTER 4. The Trifecta (Shane�s Honey Hole)

By being within striking distance of the suspected honey hole, we were able to launch the final assault in unloaded kayaks, and it felt good not having to haul 40 lbs of provisions in the yak. All the fishing up to this point had been done with a variety of artificial baits, but early this morning, Shane cast netted some native bait fish, and then we launched. The only question that remained: would the hole produce as Shane had predicted? And if it did, could I achieve the Devils River Trifecta: large mouth, small mouth and striper?



It didn�t take long to answer the first question. Within 15 minutes of arriving at the hole, my bait clicker started sounding off, at first just a few nervous clicks, and then it exploded as line quickly peeled from the reel. I grabbed the rod, pulled back and set the hook; and thus begins my first Devils River sleigh ride. The battle was on, and she put up a good fight, but in the end she relented, and I boated her.



Here�s another picture of the same fish. She measured at just shy of 27 inches. A worthy opponent caught, photographed and released. One species down�two more to go.



The hole was a large one, bigger, in my opinion, than the hole in Striper Alley on the upper Brazos. I was bump trolling some native bait along the length of the hole when it happened again, in the same spot. Another staccato blast of the bait clicker, a set, and another sleigh ride. Only this time what emerged from the depths was a 24 inch LMB. High fives all around, and I may have kissed the fish once or twice. Two species down�one to go.



We continued to pull the occasional fish out of the hole, but I couldn�t seem to hook onto a smallie. With the exception of a dink caught on the upper Brazos a couple of years ago, small mouth bass have always eluded me, and since we had to start our paddle back down South again soon, it was beginning to look like I�d miss the Trifecta by one fish. But once again, Shane�s fishing intuition paid off for me. The bait clicker screamed to life, and I again found myself holding on for the ride, only this time, Shane was close enough to snap this picture. Due to the strength of the fish, I figured it was another trophy bucket mouth. I was wrong.



The fish on the end of my line seemed to pull from all directions, and although I initially suspected it was a LMB, I actually wasn�t sure what I had until it came near enough to the surface for me to see the telltale tiger stripes. Small mouth! Smallies are notorious for their energetic fight, and this 17 inch specimen certainly lived up to that reputation. But in the end, I got her into the boat, and I had my Trifecta!


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CHAPTER 5 - The Egress (Wind Storm at Slaughter Bend)


Within a few hours of achieving our stated goal (catching a Trifecta), we left Shane�s honey hole and started our long paddle back South. You really need a week or more to fully explore the web of waterways that make up this part of the river system. But due to my work schedule, I only had four days, and so our trip was much shorter than it should have been.



Because we wanted to fish our way back, we knew we wouldn�t make Rough Canyon before dark. So we paddled south knowing we�d need to find one more camp site for the last night there. We found this great camp site shortly after starting our return, but passed on it because we needed to end our day much further south than this if we were going to get to Rough Canyon by the end of the next day. I will, however, be using this site next time I�m down this way.



The bad news: the wind blew against us most of the rest of the day, and so we had to continue the trend of ducking into coves for relief from the wind and for some fishing. The good news: all the coves on this lake were fishy, and we continued to catch fish.



At one point on the return trip, we were on the West side of the lake arm getting pounded by head winds when we realized that the other side of the lake was getting less wind. We were at Slaughter Bend, and so we should have known better, but we decided to cross the lake anyway and after paddling three-quarters of the way there, the wind shifted and we suddenly found ourselves right in the middle of a shifting wind tunnel with lots of choppy water. When the waves started breaking over the bows of our fully loaded kayaks, we ducked into this cove--the first one we came to--and waited out the gale. That's Shane resting up for the next leg of the trip.



It had been a long but very productive day, and as the sun began its descent, we discovered a large creek which had the perfect location for our last camp site of the trip. The site was also near a small feeder creek that was loaded with native live bait (which Shane quickly gathered for the evening fish).


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CHAPTER 6 � Last Call (Everybody�s Gotta Go Sometime)


After three days of head winds, we were pleased to wake up on the last day and find a perfectly calm day to end the trip on. We fully expected the wind to pick up at any minute, but it never did, and our paddle to the take out was in glass-like water such as this.



The last day�s objective was Rough Canyon, but we had all day long to get there, and we were intent on exploring (and fishing) as much of the lake as possible on the way there. Caves such as this one are plentiful on the west side of the lake arm...



� and they all have fish�



�and more fish�.



�and yet more fish�



And beside fish there were other forms of wildlife�


We made it to Rough Canyon just before dark and were greeted by a beautiful sunset for our efforts. I can�t describe the joy and satisfaction I felt as we paddled the last few hundred yards of the trip, and I realized just how much we had accomplished in four days. I looked over to Shane, and I suspected that he felt an even greater sense of accomplishment for having gotten the us both there�and back.


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EPILOGUE
I have had the privilege of fishing with Shane Davies several times over the last two years, ever since he introduced my son and me to the art of kayak fishing. I consider him a friend first and a professional guide second, but above all, he is a true fishing master who we've seen do some incredible things on the river. We stand in awe of Shane�s fishing prowess, and there is even a standing joke between us that Shane is so good at catching fish because he can actually talk to them (if you�ve ever seen Shane stalk bass in river rapids, then you know exactly what I mean).

So it was a no-brainer for me to accept his invitation for this trip. I knew that if I went with him to find the back door of the Devils River, I stood a good chance of achieving this �Trifecta� that he so excitedly described to me. But more importantly, by going with Shane, he imparted in me a knowledge of this river that nobody can ever take, and for that, I will always be grateful to him. I promise to use that knowledge to go back there--with my family and my friends�to further explore the river, to dodge the wind, to chase another Trifecta, and maybe even to talk to the fish.

If this sounds like a trip you want to experience, then contact Shane Davies (River Run Guide Service) at (214) 418-9786 or email him at: shanedaviesguide@gmail.com

That sounds like one sweet trip. I've always wanted to fish that area of the state, maybe one day I will. Congrats on the great trip.

You, Sir, need a proper fishing blog.

Excellent pictures.

Excellent writing.

Excellent story.

I was hanging on every word.

That was outdoor life material right there!

Shane never fails to impress

tight lines, Men
-B

Outsanding. I shouldn't have read it at night, I will never get to sleep thinking of such a great trip. A several day trip with Shane is and has been on my bucket list. You just moved it a little higher up the list. Thank you very much for taking the time to write this.

Steve

One Word says it all. Super!

Awesome adventure guys!!!

When I talked to Shane last month, I honestly thought about quitting my job, because that was the only way I could've gotten the time off for this trip.

I would have regretted it, but it looks like I would have had a good time. Congrats on your "trifecta".

That's a beautiful brown bass your holding. Great looking scenery too