South San Gabriel River 9-23-09

Went down to the in laws for the night because the wife had a meeting in Austin. A cold front was supposed to hit North Texas on Monday that was going to bring some storms. I weighed in the idea of going early Teal hunting or fishing the river. I chose fishing because of the recent rains and it is mainly wade fishing, before long it will be getting to cool. Monday night I watched the electrical storm from the back porch that was amazing. I new the front would hit here sometime in the early morning. Sure enough about 4AM it hit pretty hard and rained for over an hour. I got up at 6AM with a flashlight to see if the water was high and muddy. It seemed OK, but the radar was showing a good coverage of rain still. I made the call and had the wife drop me off about a mile and a quarter downstream. I hopped in and the air temp is about 63 degrees. Not that cold, but for this time of year in Texas, that is freezing and while still raining and wading, I was chilly. I did not expect to much, but couldn't help passing it up. I jump in and trekked up stream. I used a fluke exclusively on this trip, I have never stuck with one bait the whole time here. I noticed a few small fish chasing at the first hole and that made me feel positive. A few casts later I had a small Largemouth on. A couple casts later I caught a Big Ole Red Ear, never caught one on this river before. Headed to the next hole, this one has big fish potential. I catch a small Largemouth and on the next cast I feel a good thump and I miss it. I am mad because the rain was coming down pretty good and I thought that was my chance of the day. I scare off a nice bass wading through a nice section of ledges and spot another one about a pound or so and cast to him and he hits. Got him, but no more from this hole. The next hole is really shallow so I don't expect much. Second cast I pull in a small Guadalupe. Next cast, I stuck a real nice Guadalupe, lil over a pound. I head to the next hole and expect a couple of decent fish. Nothing at all from the good spots, the last flood changed the river some. I get to the end of the hole and the flow coming into the hole is kinda fast, but shallow. I make a cast into the riffles and stick a small Guadalupe, as I get him near the bank a 2# Largemouth came from the shadows and tries to eat him. It was cool to watch. So I watch where he goes, I release the small fish and here he comes again and dang near eats the Guadalupe. I pitch my Fluke out and he follows it, I stop it, let it fall to the bottom and he is watching it. I twitch it really fast and he nails it. Easy pic-kens, but a fun episode to witness. On the next hole I catch a few more Guads and a decent Largemouth. I reached the last hole and catch a Largemouth about 2.5# about 4 ft in front of me while wading. I am convinced fish are not really scared of you wading in the water and it is Gin clear. All in all, a much better day than expected and landed about 15 fish, it was 50/50 between Guads and Largemouth which was nice to see.

Early Teal Season Duck Hunt

Picked up Judd and headed for Sanger to hunt some Teal. We arrived late because Judd is slow and half way there Judd realized he forgot the gate key. By the time we arrived it was 45 minutes after legal shooting time. There were no birds on the tank and none came in. There was a storm a few days before that I thought would push the birds out and it did.

9-8-09 Brazos River (Possum Kingdom)

Went to the river this morning and was expecting it to be crowded. When I pulled up, the parking lot was empty. I was so happy! Got their at sunrise, which means I left a 4:45 AM, and started fishing. Started throwing a topwater and caught a couple in the first hole up to 2#'s was expecting more since no traffic on the water, but I'll take it. Just ahead of the first riffles I threw a top water out and within an eye blink of it landing, an explosion on the surface, with the fish going airborne, I was thinking that has to be a Smallmouth. One jump later my plug was sent back by airmail. I say to myself again, I think that was a Smallmouth! There are Smallies in Texas, mostly down in the Hill Country and in Southwest Texas. Up near Dallas, you don't expect to catch them except for lakes like Bridgeport, Texhoma and Whitney. I have seen pictures of Smallies from North Texas rivers (Yaknyota), but haven't caught one before. I know they have been stocking them in the river for the last two years, not to mention Possom Kingdom has some in it, so you know the river has a few too! At the top of the first riffles I make another cast, my plug is crashed and a fish is on. To my pleasure it is a Smaliie! It was a small one, but that is great to see in a fishery so close to Dallas, as I love Smallmouth fishin. I proceeded down river to catch a few more fish and saw a pack of Hogs. When they saw me they scattered and you could hear them for miles it seemed. As I started heading back up river, a canoe went by, first human sighting all day, that is great, to many though. I ended up seeing one ore kayak and that was it. I head to a few of my favorite spots, with current. I can say now that I have caught multiple fish from spots with current, I am figuring out current with rocks. O hooked one nice fish and it had another one following that was real nice. All in all, it was a great trip. I am now insearch of that 5# Texas Smallmouth!

Brazoz River 8-8-09 (Possum Kingdom)

Made my first trip in a Yak that I own. I got there at 08:30 AM and 8 trucks were already parked and in the water. I started out with a Spook and nada, I didn't throw it for very long. Wind was howling and I switched to a Super Fluke. I noticed small Sandies all over it but were to small to take it. Made it to the first set of rapids and landed my first fish. I switched to a Senko and caught 3 more. Hit the next hole with the big rock and people were fishing and canoeing all over. I managed one off a deep boulder. Made it to the next hole and didn't fish very much. I made an effort to explore the water and the structure to see what type of baits I should try next trip. Made it to the set of rapids and pulled a few more fish on whacky rigs with a nail in the head. Now I am a mile and a half or two and realize I haveto paddle back against the current and wind on this section of the river. I paddled back on the opposite side of the river to check out the bank structure. I made it back to the big rock pool and managed a fish off a deep boulder on a whacky rig. I head up the last rapid before the bridge and the air boats fly down in ankle to knee dep water like no one else is on the river. There were people swiming and canoeing, I was wade fishing, and it is not very wide. I am sure they are guides, but they do not own the river and I will start letting them know my feelings from here on out. They were very unsafe and I would like to see their faces when someone runs wide open while they are fishing just 20 feet away. I head back to the last pool and start targeting the head water of the rapid and caught some fish letting the whacky rig drifting in the current. I am start looking for logs and stick a small fish and he had a larger fish trailing, what I call friends. You should always have a rod ready when friends are trailing (I didn't). I was being blown by the wind towards the log and had to back up and retie. I casted back to the log knowing the friend was there and she was. I head back to the last current and threw the whacky rig and caught a few more. I never really fished current except on the Devils River, I kinda feared it because I am not used to it. I have learned the fish are there and will hit any kind of bait while it drifts on by. I learned a few things on this trip which is important every time out. I ended up with 12 fish and a rec Yak that is a fish'n machine now. By the way, I will never do this river on the weekend again, at least while school is out. Too many people and they are tearing up the water. I would love to try a night trip though!