Altjaeger
05-17-2009, 11:16 PM
Well it was going to be a fish story, but there turned out to be little time to fish.
About 8:00 AM Saturday morning, May 9th my son-in-law and I got away from their home in Ft Worth after an enjoyable visit Friday evening with my daughter and grandchildren. Arriving at the crossing of the Brazos on Highway 16 just below Possum Kingdom Dam we found the crowd in full force about 9:30. Working between two groups of Boy Scouts we got loaded and shoved off about 10:00 after turning the truck over to the driver from Rochelles Canoe Livery. I put him in my 14' Heritage Red Fish kayak and took the Old Town Loon 138 kayak myself.
The first few hours we concentrated on making headway in getting down river. About 3 miles downstream we chose to go right around an island. It turned out to be small rapids with low hanging branches about 5' above the water. My 7' medium heavy rod hung up in the trees turning me sideways to the current causing the craft to lean upstream. Quickly I found myself in a traveling bathtub rapidly filling with cold water. Abandoning I ship set to damage control. Thirty yards further down stream everything was wrestled to shore. After about three minutes of blowing like a set of bellows from exertion all the while enduring a mix of concern and laughter from Duane we set to pulling gear out of the flooded cavities of the yak and emptying it. As I sponged out the last of the water he began checking the float bags. Both nylon float bags had taken water. Fortunately the one with my clothing had sham wows at the top that stopped the majority of the water before it got to the clothes. Except for an LED flashlight that was on my belt there was no lost equipment.
Spreading things out to dry a bit it was 11:30. We decided now was as good a time for lunch as any. Breaking out a stove, adding a pan of Bush's baked beans with a generous portion of chopped smoked sausage links and lunch was done quickly. Washing our high grade beanie weenies down with water lunch dishes were quickly done. Repacking we got under way about 12:30.
Running now about 2 hours later than I had wanted due to a late arrival and our... errrr...set back we skipped fishing pushing on. Nearing the half way point it seemed most of the good campsites were taken after about 3:00. There were still a number of suitable sites left but the early birds had gotten the fattest worms. Taking stock of the situation and heeding the advise of the driver that the best fishing was below Chick Bend about 2'3rd the way through the route the decision was made to stop at the Bend leaving a shorter run the last day.
Pulling ashore an island at the head of Chick Bend about 6:00 we quickly unloaded and fished for about an hour. Then we set camp and cooked dinner. My son-in-law had ideas in the planning stage of a fish dinner. Being practical however, there was a can of Spam in the bag in case fish did not materialize, one of his favorites. Using two single buner stoves corn, blackeyed peas and Spam were quickly heated and served. After eating dinner dishes were quickly done and beds laid out. Initially we decided to simply sleep on the tarp and skip a tent despite the 20% chance of rain and cloudy skies. Of course after dark we had two brief sets of sprinkles. Deciding discretion was the better part of valor we set the tent up in the dark quickly moving the bedding in. Several more sprinkly showers later that night proved it wise.
Sunday morning we slept until 7:00. Casting a little we decided neither of us were hungry and skipped the sausage wraps with fruit planned packing up. Thirty minutes and two cups pf coffee later we were at the pool the driver spoke of. Munching a bit of trail mix as a late breakfast we set to fishing. Soon I had a solid bite on a lipped crank bait with a run by something as big as I have ever hooked. Sadly in less than a minute the line went slack. Inspection showed the line was cut. I suspected one of the large alligator gar campers on a cliff had spoke of seeing. Looking around I notice Duane had moved about 40 yards upstream and turned back to tying on again.
About the time I was ready again he called that he had a gar and wanted to know how to handle it. I turned and paddled up to him. A Colorado native he was use to small trout. Using a light rod with 6 lbs test with a rooster tail he had a spotted gar over 3' long. Turned out he had been fighting it about 10 minutes. The fish had gven him a little Texas sled ride. Intimidated by the teeth he was hesitant to bring it into the cockpit with the teeth facing his groin. After a few shorter runs he screwed his courage up asking me to hold the rod while he scooped it. Asking me to hold the rod freeing his hand the fish broke off at the handoff. Satisfied from bringing to the boat several times he had caught his biggest fish ever.
Taking stock of the time and aware I had a 4 hour drive and he an extended business trip to Kentucky the next date we shoved on landing at Rochelles about 2:00 PM. A scenic trip of cliffs, island and few dwellings it seemed more remote than it really is. A wonderful trip we will be back. Duane's first kayak trip, he is ready for more making the trip an unqualified success. Next time we will plan 2 nights and three days to allow more fishing time.
About 8:00 AM Saturday morning, May 9th my son-in-law and I got away from their home in Ft Worth after an enjoyable visit Friday evening with my daughter and grandchildren. Arriving at the crossing of the Brazos on Highway 16 just below Possum Kingdom Dam we found the crowd in full force about 9:30. Working between two groups of Boy Scouts we got loaded and shoved off about 10:00 after turning the truck over to the driver from Rochelles Canoe Livery. I put him in my 14' Heritage Red Fish kayak and took the Old Town Loon 138 kayak myself.
The first few hours we concentrated on making headway in getting down river. About 3 miles downstream we chose to go right around an island. It turned out to be small rapids with low hanging branches about 5' above the water. My 7' medium heavy rod hung up in the trees turning me sideways to the current causing the craft to lean upstream. Quickly I found myself in a traveling bathtub rapidly filling with cold water. Abandoning I ship set to damage control. Thirty yards further down stream everything was wrestled to shore. After about three minutes of blowing like a set of bellows from exertion all the while enduring a mix of concern and laughter from Duane we set to pulling gear out of the flooded cavities of the yak and emptying it. As I sponged out the last of the water he began checking the float bags. Both nylon float bags had taken water. Fortunately the one with my clothing had sham wows at the top that stopped the majority of the water before it got to the clothes. Except for an LED flashlight that was on my belt there was no lost equipment.
Spreading things out to dry a bit it was 11:30. We decided now was as good a time for lunch as any. Breaking out a stove, adding a pan of Bush's baked beans with a generous portion of chopped smoked sausage links and lunch was done quickly. Washing our high grade beanie weenies down with water lunch dishes were quickly done. Repacking we got under way about 12:30.
Running now about 2 hours later than I had wanted due to a late arrival and our... errrr...set back we skipped fishing pushing on. Nearing the half way point it seemed most of the good campsites were taken after about 3:00. There were still a number of suitable sites left but the early birds had gotten the fattest worms. Taking stock of the situation and heeding the advise of the driver that the best fishing was below Chick Bend about 2'3rd the way through the route the decision was made to stop at the Bend leaving a shorter run the last day.
Pulling ashore an island at the head of Chick Bend about 6:00 we quickly unloaded and fished for about an hour. Then we set camp and cooked dinner. My son-in-law had ideas in the planning stage of a fish dinner. Being practical however, there was a can of Spam in the bag in case fish did not materialize, one of his favorites. Using two single buner stoves corn, blackeyed peas and Spam were quickly heated and served. After eating dinner dishes were quickly done and beds laid out. Initially we decided to simply sleep on the tarp and skip a tent despite the 20% chance of rain and cloudy skies. Of course after dark we had two brief sets of sprinkles. Deciding discretion was the better part of valor we set the tent up in the dark quickly moving the bedding in. Several more sprinkly showers later that night proved it wise.
Sunday morning we slept until 7:00. Casting a little we decided neither of us were hungry and skipped the sausage wraps with fruit planned packing up. Thirty minutes and two cups pf coffee later we were at the pool the driver spoke of. Munching a bit of trail mix as a late breakfast we set to fishing. Soon I had a solid bite on a lipped crank bait with a run by something as big as I have ever hooked. Sadly in less than a minute the line went slack. Inspection showed the line was cut. I suspected one of the large alligator gar campers on a cliff had spoke of seeing. Looking around I notice Duane had moved about 40 yards upstream and turned back to tying on again.
About the time I was ready again he called that he had a gar and wanted to know how to handle it. I turned and paddled up to him. A Colorado native he was use to small trout. Using a light rod with 6 lbs test with a rooster tail he had a spotted gar over 3' long. Turned out he had been fighting it about 10 minutes. The fish had gven him a little Texas sled ride. Intimidated by the teeth he was hesitant to bring it into the cockpit with the teeth facing his groin. After a few shorter runs he screwed his courage up asking me to hold the rod while he scooped it. Asking me to hold the rod freeing his hand the fish broke off at the handoff. Satisfied from bringing to the boat several times he had caught his biggest fish ever.
Taking stock of the time and aware I had a 4 hour drive and he an extended business trip to Kentucky the next date we shoved on landing at Rochelles about 2:00 PM. A scenic trip of cliffs, island and few dwellings it seemed more remote than it really is. A wonderful trip we will be back. Duane's first kayak trip, he is ready for more making the trip an unqualified success. Next time we will plan 2 nights and three days to allow more fishing time.