Nice trail, not much in the way of fishing. I caught two fish all day and the other guys blanked.

Great place to paddle, but the takout point mid stream needs some work - prepare to get muddy!

Saspamco Trail Video

Here's my video of the trip!

Had I know Dr was making one, I wouldn't have wasted my time!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1m-Yxwsjfg

At least you guys were out there. Remember a bad day on the water beats a good day at the office. Nice work on both videos.

We took out at the mid point, if the end take out point is better, this would be a nice float in the early spring or fall.

Also, after a little bit of rain, I could see it be a bit more fun - the potential for some minor class 1 rapids is there!

But the mid point take out was....well...there is only one word for it. Bad.

Even if the fishing was not all that good the videos were. Nice Job to both "Drrouter" and to "Urban Fisher".

Nice videos and definately not a waste of time!

Thanks for posting.

I've looked at all the put in and take outs and they leave a lot to be desired. The put in at 1604 could have easily been made closer to the water instead of the 1/2 mile they have now. Exaggerated yes, but it still is too far from the water for this old man, and the other don't look much closer.

Enjoyed the videos keep em coming. Good job to the both of you!

Drrouter and UF, thanks for the video's. Sorry you guys did not have much luck fishing. I live about 10-15 minutes from that location and have often wondered how the sunfish fishing was. I have heard stories of good cat-fishing but not much of any other. The land all around that area along that stretch of river is privately owned with no public access for fishing.

I did catch one bass, a small longear and hooked into something large that snapped my line almost immediately (probably a gar as we were seeing them all day) but the current is fairly swift for static fishing.

It's a kayak / canoeing trail and unless you want to fish for gars/cats I wouldn't make the effort. Add the work required to get in and out (which I'm sure they will fix over time) it's just not worth it.

I have been in river many times along that stretch, unfortunately it was not while fishing, it was to catch hogs that our dogs ran. Have taken many wild hogs in that area.

We saw a bunch of those along the way...

Sent you a PM with info you may like.

Nice job guys! Glad yall had fun. Looks like a fun paddle! Kinda surprised you guys didn't do better. I've caught bunches of longears on a stretch of the SA south of 1604 on some private land. Not to mention some nice size bass between the mission and 1604. Sorry to hear about the put in/take out mess. You'd think if the powers that be were going to do something like this, they'd go ahead and do it right. I've caught a few nice sized flatheads on bass sized grubs on that stretch of the river. Coulda been what snapped you off. Only caught gar on topwater and only caught one of those down there.

Nice vids and nice report Gents!

My first reaction to the new paddling trail when I went down and checked it out firsthand was whoever designed it did not know a thing about paddling or what a put in and take out for a paddle craft is suppossed to be or how it should function.

The unloading and pickup area is too far from the water when there is plenty of room closer to the waters edge that would make it more practical and not having to drag or cart your kayak such a long distance and down such a steep bank. It was probably designed to be above the flood plain but it doesn't flood all the time and a single lane dirt trail that you could drive down closer wouldn't be too hard to maintain by just cutting the grass.

Also the cheese grater metal steps that lead down to the water are in fact hazardous in my opinion and the damage they can do to a kayak is pretty obvious.

This could be fixed if they just secured some 2x4 rails to the steps on one side (similar to a step ladder configuration) that would allow you to walk alongside and slide your canoe or kayak down the rails instead of carrying it, or dragging it accross the edges of the metal steps all the way down to the water, and again it's a hazard because plastic and metal is almost like ice if it would get away from you, not to mention what the scraping will do to your kayak.

It's not made for the very young or us older folks, so it doesn't look like I'll be using it any time soon.

The trip it's self was fun. But honestly the put in and take out was not worth it in my eyes. Plus the banks are just extreme mud cliffs the whole way. It's very hard to find a nice gravel bar to stop and relax on. Or if in a worst case senrio, if someone got in trouble, it would be a heck of an ordeal to get them out. Not as "family" friendly as I thought.

Sorry to be so harsh, but hopefully with work, it will get better. There are much better places to enjoy a day of kayaking around the SA area than that trail.