Row...row...row...your raft

Locking the oars in place after settling into the seat. Steam rising from the water, the aftermath of the cold front passing through during the night. Today, the fourth day on the water I am greeted with sore muscles in my back and neck and a burning in my arms as I expel energy to get the raft with all it's gear moving forward to start the day.

The trip began with me stopping into ReelFly Fishing Adventures to say hello and welcome them back home after taking the summer off to guide in Utah to get away from the heat here in Texas.
Before leaving the shop I had agreed to row a raft with a cameraman, his assistant, and all of their gear down the Devil's river. The most remote and dangerous river in the state along with being the most beautiful.

How often do you actually get to scratch something off your bucket list with the demands put on you these days. When the chance arises, you sometimes have to go for it. Going into this I knew it would be very demanding since the Devils river is one of the most remote stretches of river in Texas. The majority of its land is private and once you put in you are a good three days from taking out. Besides being picturesque with its fall colors and crystal clear waters, it is home to some serious class II and III rapids along with a 15ft waterfall. .

 

 



The drive there was like sitting around a campfire as I listened to stories of rugged terrain and large fish being discussed from trips taken before. It seemed to take forever to get to our destination as it usually does when you are ready to start any adventure. Turning off the highway and onto a dirt road that made its way through cliffs and washed out creek beds just made the anticipation grow. Turning that last corner and seeing the beauty of the river for the first time made it all worthwhile.

 

 

Sleeping on the small islands that nature had provided made for peaceful nights as you listened to the sound of water moving over rocks as the wind gently rocked the tent hammock that we each slept in. The bugs were kept at bay with the mosquito netting and full rainfly to keep you dry during the night, My only wish would have been to have a skylight to enjoy the stars in between the storms.

 

 

 Two cold fronts passed through our area days apart keeping the fish at bay for most of the trip. Fish were caught, but it took many casts to entice the take. The natural beauty of this place made the scarcity of hooking up seem irrelevant as you drifted by engrossed in the sights.From the deep crystal clear pools of water to the rugged cliffs, it was like being in an old Western movie.

 

 

The river offers up a variety of fish species. We were fortunate to catch Largemouth bass, Smallmouth bass, and a few Carp with most falling for Clousers stripped at a medium pace.

 



 

 

 

 

This will go down as a trip of a lifetime and thanks again to ReelFly for the invite.

 

 

Some of the pictures taken on the trip.

 





SUPerFISHal

Had the chance to play around with a paddle board during the summer that I was doing a review on and found out that it was different but fun. During the winter, money was saved and a Jackson Kayak SUPerFISHal was ordered. Wednesday after work I drove to the dealer and picked up my new SUP.

As I headed back out of town, thoughts ran through my head of how this SUP should be rigged out. Upon arriving back home this afternoon I went ahead and added the two rod holders that come with it onto their Ram mounts and placed the K2 Cooler into the position it should be.

A few tie down straps will have to be added to keep the cooler more secure and I might add a drag chain to slow or stop the SUP when I need to. Guess a new SUP paddle will need to be saved for now.

I'll do a review on it as soon as some time is spent on the water fly fishing from it.

Trout on Glass

Yesterday I had a few hours and was able to get away for a quick trip so after gathering a few things and driving to the Guad it was time to catch some trout on the new Matthews Fiberglass rod.

This was my first time to fish fiberglass but it didn't take long to put a smile on my face. The casts were crisp and sensitive. Wading downstream I stopped and talked to a few fisherman and all had the same response, the flow is down, water is murky, and the fishing is tough. Proceeding to an area and tying on a streamer I began to cover some water without any luck so I switched over to a nymph rig and covered more ground.

With this not producing and occasionally seeing rising fish my strategy changed and a dry fly was tied on with an emerger dangling six inches from the hook. After a few casts a bow slapped the dry and missed but the next one to hit was not so lucky. After a good fight the fish was brought to hand and quickly released after a picture.

Here is the video from the take to the end shot on the Go-Pro.


Rainbow on the Guadalupe River from Robert Matthews on Vimeo.

The fight on a fiberglass rod was fun as you got to see in the video. Can't wait to fish it again.

First 2013 Fish

It's here, a new year, and the fish are still biting. The Guadalupe river is still producing nice trout and the fish have started to hit the surface. I've seen many fish rising and have been catching a few on dry's.
Wading downstream to get to a hole, I placed a cast upstream with a dry as I shuffled my feet along the slick rocks trying to keep from falling. Instintively the rod was raised high into the air to take up any slack and hopefully get a good hookset as the water exploded behing me.
Fish On, and the battle began as the bow realized the mistake it had made by inhaling what it thought was an easy meal. After a good battle the fish came to the net and was kind enough to pose for a picture.

The rain continued to fall and it got colder as the day grew longer to the point where my fingers were getting pretty numb from being wet. But I trudged on since the fish didn't seem to mind the weather.

I'm not very good at naming flies but these are the drys that have been producing. Basically my friends at ReelFly pick out what is needed and it works.

Guess i'll have to go get cold again tomorrow....
Good luck on the river...and enjoy it's beauty.

Robert

The Fish Of 2012

Put together a collage of some of the fish caught this past year.
Hope you enjoy,
Robert

2012 year in review

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