"You want salad with that yak"
If it wasn't for friends this trip would have been miserable. Spent a week flipping through old pictures from past trips that we did each year on this same stretch of river. The anticipation was killing me as I tried to sleep the night before while my mind continued to count the number of nice bass caught on each trip.
It took two hours to reach my destination on the Colorado river just outside of Austin. Thirteen miles were to be paddled and fished over the next two days. Upon reaching the river I was greeted with a sight unlike anything ever seen there, water was being released at a rate of 4,000cfm and had pushed all of the Hyacinth that had been growing and floating somewhere upstream our way.
With the water getting muddier and choked with this floating vegetation we decided to proceed and make the best of it. This annual trip started a few years ago with some friends getting together and camping out for the weekend. With an open invite it grew to a total of 24 people, many that have already fished together and new ones that were intrigued.
Quickly when trying to paddle through the floating water plants you come to realize that you might as well relax and just go with the flow. Trying to paddle through it was like trying to paddle through sand.
Most of the day was spent floating and trying to fish any pocket of open water that we could find. Good thing there was College football to listen to and cold beer to quench the thirst as only three fish were caught before we reached the island where we would call home for the night.
We spent the night back in the woods in hammocks while the rest of the group set up tents out in the open area.
Dinner was sausage from the meat market and baked potatoes.
Waking up and eating the leftover sausage for breakfast, we broke down camp and hit the river for the remaining five miles. The water was still off colored but the floating hyacinth was not as bad as the day before.
While the fishing was the hardest ever on this river, it was still a good time as it always is when you are in good company.
See you on the water...................................
Was invited to fish the day before Easter on the Colorado river outside of Austin. The trip was arranged to help put a couple of guys from the Heroes on the Water program onto some fish.
We met up early in the morning and dragged the kayaks down to the water. The overcast skies would hang with us for most of the morning but give way to warmer temps and clear skies.
These guys were excellent fisherman as they caught bass after bass all day long tossing a texas rigged lizard.
Tossing a popper on my LOOP 6wt all day coaxed strike after strike around the outer edge of the grass lines.
Everybody seemed to be having a good day with the fish as well as the company.
Even the cow seemed to be enjoying the river.
It was a great day and I came away with some new friends.
See you on the water........
Put together a collage of some of the fish caught this past year.
Hope you enjoy,
Robert
As 2012 comes to an end and I look back on what was a fantastic fishing year. I'd like to highlight some of the trips with family and friends taken during the year.
The year started off with a freeze trip down the Colorado river with a group of friends for three days. Being caught unprepared happens occasionally in Texas, as the weather can go from one extreme to the next in the blink of an eye. I've never been so cold in my life. There was ice on my sleeping bag when I woke up, my waders which were hanging over a limb to dry were frozen. I had to take my boots into the river to thaw them out in order to put them on, but we caught fish and had a great time.
I spent most of the winter months fishing the Guadalupe river and learning about trout fishing. There is a lot to learn, but worth it when you hook into a good rainbow.
Sometimes it's hard to find someone to fish with due to conflicting scheldules. When you do, it makes for a great day on the water. Especially if it's your daughter that takes time out of her day to join you.
As summer approached, the heat drove me to the rivers where the water is cooler and the movement makes the oxygen content greater and the bite a little better. Spent the weekend on the Colorado with a friend from Houston and fought the 100+ temps and mosquitos to catch a lot of quality bass and have another great time.
As we got deeper into the summer I made a trip with fifteen other people close to the Mexico border in search of Snook. It was an incredible weekend and many new friends were made.
My first speckled trout on a fly rod came from this area as well.
Vacation was spent with some family in Mississippi and a number of fish were caught on the fly rod but the redfish that I was after still eluded me.
Three trips were made to the coast with two different sets of friends and each trip resulted in limits of fish being caught and a lot of stories being told.
A trip with a couple of my friends who guide on the Guadalupe river resulted in the best day i've had catching rainbow trout outside of Colorado.
And the best day had on the river for the year was when my nephew visited from Houston and I took him to the river for his first wade trip.
As you can see, there were a lot of good times spent fishing in 2012.
Thank you for reading my blog and following me as I fish.
Maybe someday we can fish together.
For 2013 I plan on spending more time at the coast in pursuit of the redfish on a fly. Almost forgot, I leave for Cozumel in a few weeks.
Have a great 2013......
Robert
At least that's what they are calling it these days.....
It began as an opportunity that day on a stream in Colorado. A first for me,catching a slam my first time fly fishing. What followed has been an obsession,the fly rod is always with me as I travel because you never know what lurks in the water you just crossed............
To say I will go to great depths to catch fish is an understatement, sometimes I almost get in over my head. But we live and learn as we go.........
Being fortunate enough to live in an area with so many rivers within short driving distance feeds the hunger, if you don't run into me fishing from the kayak........
you will probably see me stalking my prey as I slide through the water dropping a fly at any fishy looking spot I see.......
An extra benefit to my obsession has been my dabbling with photography and writing. What started as trip reports on a few fishing forums has turned into (with the urging of friends) a blog that has been very enjoyable to do and read by many.
Where will it all lead......I really don't know but i'm having a whole lot of fun finding out.
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