Browns, a ten year wait

It has been nearly 10 years since brown trout have been stocked in the Guadalupe river below the dam at canyon lake.
The first time I fished for them was a trip to Colorado years ago and what I remember was how aggressive they were and how hard they fought. On that trip everyone I caught came on a streamer stripped below the surface.

This was a beast caught in Colorado.

After the fish were stocked this month I waited a week to give them time to settle down and get adjusted to their new home.
Using a wooly bugger I started my pursuit. After numerous bites without a hookup I added an emerger about eight inches off the hook of the wooly and immediately had a hookup.

My first brown trout in texas had been landed and set free. The day ended with twenty one browns landed and all caught on streamers.

The color on these fish is just beautiful. Ive fished two other times since that day and had great results each time. Looking forward to see if they survive the summer and are there next winter.

Trout Season 2016

With the waters starting to fill up with a flotilla of inner tubes. I will start shifting my focus to other rivers and bass fishing from the kayak. Don't get me wrong. I'll still chase trout, but shift gears to fishing the trout river during the early morning of a weekday before the tube hatch.

This season has been fun. I have made new friends and was able to catch both Rainbow and Brown trout from the Guadalupe river. The flow has been the best I've seen it in years and with the river bottom being changed by the flood it presented a whole new challenge. But that's the fun of it, learn to adapt.

Most that know me, know that I love to fish streamers. It has to do with figuring out the presentation and the speed at which a strike occurs. Once a pattern is figured out then a good day gets better.

This season I pushed myself on a new challenge. Built myself a 5wt glass rod and used it almost exclusively with the exception of days that I tossed large streamers. Talk about fun, the bend of the glass and the fight to land a fish is unreal. I could almost cast a small streamer as far with it as a good Loop rod. Now I'm going to build a 7wt to toss the larger streamers.

This was my third season to fish for trout and by far the best. While there is still a lot to learn I look forward to the challenges that are presented.
See you on the water.

575/8/5

You are probably wondering what the title means. When you get a hall pass you load up the kayaks and haul them to the marsh.
The 575 is the amount of miles to drive from my house in Texas to the camp in Mississippi one way.
The 8 is for how many hours it took to drive that many miles just to chase some redfish.
The 5 would be the limit of legal reds you can keep in a day.

For two weeks I'd been dreaming about this trip, watching the weather, getting the gear ready, and deciding between the kayak or the SUP.

Ended up taking the Jackson Kayak SUPerFISHal as it would give me an advantage paddling into the tight quarters and shallow water. The downside would be it is not the fastest thing out there but ill trade stability for speed on most days. Took three Loop fly rods and one baitcaster for the real windy days.

Why are weathermen always wrong, and they still get to keep their job. What was supposed to be flat winds found them blowing 12-15 mph with gusts of 20. Sure made for an exciting trip across the bay to get into the marsh on a paddle board. But we made it and when you look at the pictures you will se that there was no wind due to the tall grass.
It didn't take long to catch my first fish. I felt a bump on the shrimp fly and was surprised to pull in a small trout which I released to grow up.

This would be the only fish caught and I blanked again on day two. The wind was playing havoc and the tides were very low. This made the fish very spooky in the cuts. While I saw a lot of fish it just didn't work out.

When the fish aren't cooperating what do you do.

Got up and left at 4am, headed to Louisiana to fish the marsh there out of a boat with a friend. Same scenario with the wind and tide but we found the redfish. While the bite was slow a limit was caught.

Two of the five measured 28" on the board. Turned out to be a great day.

575/8

How many miles to drive home

North to Alaska (the video)

Finally got around to putting the footage that I shot from the Go Pro into a short video. I'm no pro when it comes to making movies but like the way it turned out. Enjoy.......................

Worth the wait

Pulling on the waders, lacing the boots, slipping quietly into the river. Someone pinch me. Trout season is highly anticipated around here. We patiently have to wait for the tube hatch to quit occurring and the river to calm down before it is accepted to start chasing them again.

The weather has started to cool down and trout have been stocked. It's a little frustrating to be in such clear water that does not flow very fast due to lack of rain and have trout all around you, yet they are spooked easily and hard to catch.

The fishing has been good. All of the fish shown were caught by nymphing. Not much luck with streamers but the good news is the evening hatch has started making the dry bite better.

Can't go wrong with some PB&J for a river lunch

HOT HOT HOT

Reaching the river after driving through a rain storm it makes you wonder how a Weatherman keeps his job with all of the technology available to them. The day called for high temperatures busting 100 degrees and clear skies with no chance of rain.
Looking at the river it became clear that we would be in for some tough fishing conditions. A week earlier thirteen fisherman had to be rescued by helicopter due to a flash flood that sent the water rising over five feet during the night. The water had not cleared as much as I had hoped and visibility was less than a foot.

The rain stopped as we slid the kayaks into the water and the heat came out. The first few hours time was spent tossing a popper and a clouser. Neither was producing. Then it happened, tossed the clouser into a tangled cluster of grass and root ball to feel a thump and strip set. The fight was long and nervous but the reward was sweet.

As the temperature rose during the day, the fishing remained tough as only three more bass were brought to hand.

Upon reaching the island that we camp on it was evident that with the flood from the week before and all of the washed up debris would make for a hard time trying to find an area capable of hanging the hammocks. Finally found a few downed trees and a tree that had floated to the island that offered enough strength to hold the hammocks for a nights rest.
Lighting the coals as the sun set, we sat around and told stories from trips past and reflected on how freaking hot it had been today and wished that the wind would start blowing. It would have helped with the mosquitos and made for a cooler evening.

Dinner consisted of garlic sausage, jalapeno sausage and some elk sausage. Washed down with a little whiskey to take the edge off the day.

After a night of very little sleep, we heated up the leftovers and ate a quick breakfast before hitting the river for the last day.

The heat was to stay and the fishing was just as tough but I managed to catch a few on the day.

A great time was had with my friends but we came to an agreement that we will wait until it's cooler before the next trip.

Before the Storm

It's been dry here. For three years now the rivers have either had no flow or have been completely dry. With the river overnighter being called off due to the approaching storm that was to include some flooding, a river day trip was in order before the storm.

The morning greeted me with dark skies and wind. Rain would begin to fall thirty minutes before the destination was reached. Loading the Coosa and gear into the 4X4 we headed to a private section of river that can only be accessed by permission from a nice rancher. Rain was pounding as we drove across the river bed and into a pasture where the kayaks would be launched.

After launching the kayaks we approached the river alternating working each side. Throwing a popper started producing a few bass along the grass marking the edges of the bank.

 

Finding a small creek and slipping the kayak through the narrow entry it opened up after ducking through the overhanging branches. Tossing the popper at the edge of a grass bed and seeing a large shadow dart out knocking the popper out of the water before retreating back to the safety of the grass, making the popper explode in the water changed the fish's mind as she turned around and exploded on it. Fighting a large bass on a 5wt was insane. I had to let the drag on the Opti reel wear down the fish before easing my hand into its mouth and lifting it up for pictures and a quick release.

 



The rain quit and after a short lunch we launched again with the sun high over our heads.

Putting the popper away. I took out my 8wt Loop Cross S1 and tied on a Cajun Cheerleader to imitate the crawfish that I knew were lurking down below. What a good move it was as the bass were holding tight to cover. This set up produced quite a few more fish to close out the day.

Thanks Chuck for the great day on the water.

Always a great time fishing with a great friend.