Protect your skin ( Product Reviews)

If you are like me, as you get older the need to protect your skin from the damaging effects of the sun becomes a lot more important. Since I kayak fish and wade, i'm a lot closer to the water which means I am even closer to the UV rays bouncing off the water. Sun screen has always burned my face so it doesn't get used and it wasn't used on my arms because I didn't like to get it on my hands due to touching lures. I figured that it would transfer to the lure and fish would react to it in a negative way.There are two kinds of shirts that I wear today when fishing. One is made by Columbia and what I like about it is the UV coating built into the shirt, it's ventilated and has plenty of pockets as well as being able to dry fast when wet. The other shirt I wear is a performance shirt by FINZOMINE extreme sports apparel company. Their shirts are extremely light and are UV protected and dry faster than any shirt that I own. Since I wear the long sleeve versions of both shirts as well as the Columbia fishing pants I have no problem on hot days of finding a spot to take a dip and get them wet in order to cool me off.
Now for face protection. I have started wearing BUFF's to protect my face and ears from the sun. They are UV protected, light, breathable and they look good. You can find them in all kind of fishing designs to fit your taste. You really can feel a difference since the sun is not reflecting off the water and back into my face while wearing these. Another thing that is nice is they offer one that will repel insects even after many washings. Recently I have started wearing their fishing gloves to protect my hands from the sun.
Almost forgot, wear a good pair of polorized glasses to protect your eyes. It is something a lot of people don't think about but is just as important.
Now you might think these are extreme measures but if it keeps me out of the doctors office i'm all for it.

Here are some of the items as well as links to their websites.
http://www.finzomine.com/performance-shirts---long-sleeves.html

http://www.buffusa.com/

Perch Poppin on the Fly

After watching the Cowboy's play like the Cowgirl's, I had to get out of the house to get rid of some frustration. Nothing will calm you down like a good wade trip with the fly rod so I loaded up my gear and headed out for a section of the Guadalupe river that I cross often but haven't fished yet.
Not knowing what the depth was going to be I packed light with a small backpack with some gear and made sure to put on my waist inflatable PFD from Onyx because better safe than sorry.
After walking to the waters edge I decided to put a small popper on and target some perch and guadalupe bass. With the water flowing and a lot of grass being pulled downstream I made my way in knee deep water hitting any pocket of slack water I could find. It didn't take long before a small guadalupe bass took the popper and delighted me with a nice air show before landing and releasing it to fight another day. There were a lot of fish cruising around the shallow weed line but they were very spooky and not interested in my offerings. After catching a few perch I noticed some grasshoppers along the bank hanging on to the grass so it was time to change to a hopper. The change made a difference as the fish were more receptive and I released many and lost quite a few trying to play them down before bringing them in.The water was nice and cool and I was able to wade wherever I wanted with a few spots being chest deep. The rod I used today was a custom Matthews fly rod in 4wt paired with a Solitude reel. The more I use this set up the more I like it.The rod is fast and casts well and the reel is very smooth.
Enjoy the pictures and thanks for reading.
See you on the river...........

K2-Cooler (Trip Review)

Was able to take the new Cube 30 by K2-Coolers out for a good test over the weekend. Thirteen of us headed out early Saturday morning for a kayak trip down the Colorado River outside of Austin, TX. Stopped to fill up the truck at 5am and purchased a 10lb bag of ice. Added the ice to the cooler which contained sixteen 12oz cans, four 20oz bottles of water, two 32 oz bottles of GatorAde and misc food for the trip. The temperatures hovered close to 100 degrees both days with nightime temperatures in the 70's. The K2 was in the sun in the back of my Coosa both days as well as in the back of my truck to and from the river. When we pulled out of the water at 4pm Sunday, people were thirsty and most were out of water by then. I graciously offered water from my cooler and as each took a drink out of the K2 they were impressed with how cold the drinks were and liked the fact that I still had ice after two grueling days out in the heat.
Since I do a lot of river trips where i'm on the water for two to three days, it is crucial to have ice to keep drinks cold and food from spoiling. And at $149.00 it's a good investment for these trips because I can't tell you how many times i've been on the river in the brutal heat of the summer and been left without ice after one day.
Thanks K2 for making a good product.

That's why they call it fishing

Left the house at 5am Saturday with excitement as I headed for the Colorado river to meet a group of friends that do this as an annual welcome to fall trip. Arrived at the launch destination and unloaded all of the gear then packed the Coosa kayak for a weekend of what I assumed would be full of catching a lot of big hungry bass. It doesn't bother me if the fishing is a little slow, but when you consistantly catch 30-40 nice largemouth and guadalupe-hybrid bass out of this area per day on an overnighter you get a little down when you only manage around 15 fish on the first day. The sorrow was broken by the great company of all of the friends that i've made over the years while river fishing. It was also nice to meet the extra six people that took us up on our invitatation to join the trip.The fly fishing was really slow with only a few fish coming on the fly. Both poppers and clousers seemed to be the lure for the few that were willing to take it. There are a lot of overhanging limbs and grass that makes the fly fishing rough, it seemed like if you didn't get your lure right next to the bank you weren't getting bit.We were greeted with a slick surface and nice slow flow, which made for an easy drift with not much paddling being neccesary. Temperature got close to a hundred degrees on Saturday but we didn't mind since there are many areas to get out of the kayaks and enjoy the cool flowing water. After arriving at the island we were to camp on around seven in the afternoon we pitched our tents and proceeded to make dinner. Not being able to cook over an open fire or have a campfire to illuminate the night due to the severe drought and the burn ban that was on we all circled around a camp light swapping stories and lies until it was time to turn in. Woke up sunday morning with a good bit of wind blowing and realized it was not going to be a fun paddle into it. With all of the gear stored into the kayaks and our bellies full we headed out with intentions of fishing but mainly getting back to the takeout without being exhausted from the heat and wind. Ended up being a great trip and some new friends were made. Looking forward to the next one because nothing beats camping out and fishing on the river in the fall.

Preview of the K2-Cooler

Living here in Texas where the majority of your summer is spent in temperatures over 100 degrees you will find out very quickly what your cooler is made of. I do the majority of my fishing and camping out of a kayak so having ice for more than a few hours is of importance. There have been so many times while on an overnighter on the river i've opened up the cooler to eat lunch only to find that the ice has melted and I still have a day to go, you just can't go get more ice when you are miles from civilization.
I will be heading out this weekend and will be putting the new K2 Cube 30 through the paces.
Reasons why I chose the Cube:
1) Needed a cooler that could retain ice for 1-3 days while out in the sun.
2) Needed to be able to fit in the tank well behind my seat in the kayak.
3) Has to be sturdy enough to take the beating endured during river trips.
4) Could not empty my wallet.
5) Had to have enough room for food and drinks.
6) Needed to have strong handles.

The Cube by K2-Coolers looks like it will be able to handle what I am asking of it.
Being roto-molded and well insulated, it is designed to keep items cold for days. It is made to take abuse and comes with metal latches and heavy duty built in handles.

As soon as my trip is done I will post up a review of the cooler.

PS: Did not come with the nice stickers, did that myself.