Jeff Warren: Fishing while kayaking lends itself to outdoor adventures
Posted On: Friday, Jul. 17 2009 01:15 AM
I recently had the opportunity to fish the Brazos River with two kayak angling buddies, Tommy Rosenblad and Will Norvell.
We did some advance planning by checking fishing reports on
www.texaskayakfisherman.com and getting in contact with Richard at Dick's Outpost in Clifton –
www.dickscanoe.com.
Eventually, we decided to run our own shuttle and fish an 8.6 mile stretch of the river from Lake Whitney Dam to Farm-to-Market 2114.
We loaded up our boats that morning and made the 90 minute drive to Dick's Outpost where FM 2114 crosses the Brazos River about 12 miles from West.
We left a vehicle there and headed for Whitney Dam.
The launch area there has a nice gravel boat ramp and the river was running low (6.19 feet at the Aquilla guage and running about 160 cfs.)
Will had his 10-foot Native Manta Ray rigged up with two extra rear deck rod holders, a front swivel rod holder, paddle leash, milk crate full of gear and his soft sided cooler and tackle box.
Tommy had his brand new Emotion Mojo Angler 12 footer rigged with two rear rod holders and a front swivel rod holder.
I was in my Heritage Redfish 12 and the one thing I was sure to pack was lunch.
All three of our boats are "sit on top" kayaks with open decks and high back seats. We shared the launch area with a group of fly fisherman launching in "cockpit" style or "sit in" kayaks.
The water coming from Whitney dam is clear and cold. We started fishing right at the launch point.
Before we got out of sight of the launch area, Tommy and Will had each had landed a small bass and I had caught another one.
Most of the river bass we caught were on the small side (1/2 to one pound) with a couple of notable exceptions.
Tommy had pointed out a log to me and said he saw a large bass swim behind it when he drifted by.
He wanted me to cast over the log and catch the fish.
However, I was in the process of changing rods and was drifting backwards.
By the time I got my boat turned around and had my baby brush hog ready to go, I asked Tommy where the log with the fish was.
"Right over there," he said as he flipped his Money Minnow swim bait across it, beating me to the punch.
Immediately, his rod top went down and he set the hook.
I saw he had a nice fish and he was in trouble since the bass was busy wrapping his line about the log about six times.
We were drifting in a fairly strong wind and current combo, so Tommy had to let out some line and paddle back upstream to get above the log and the fish.
The water was clear enough for him to see that the fish was still on the hook and laying there next to the log in about 4-feet of water.
Tommy decided the time was right to "tackle" this bass so he swung his feet over and jumped in with the fish.
Between laughter and shouting advice, I captured his boat and came back to help him.
He got down there with that bass, and took him off the hook in the water and then unwrapped his line from the log.
He came up with about a 3 -1/2 pound bass, which is a large fish for a clear water stream.
He waded to shore to regroup and remount his boat.
It was there that he discovered another gift from the river – leeches.
He had several small leeches around his ankles.
Never having had a run in with leeches before, he asked me what to do.
"Just pull 'em off," I said in my wilderness guide voice (although I really had no idea what to do either).
It worked and he got back in the river, none the worse for the wear.
After this excitement, we made our way down several miles of river catching small bass here and there.
At this low level of flow, there are several spots where we had to get out and pull our boats over shallow gravel bars.
We stopped for lunch and pictures on a large gravel bar and got some nice action photos.
Will caught the fish of the day, a nice 4-pound bass, on a Rattlin' Rogue about two miles before the take out point at FM 2114.
We had a great day enjoying the natural beauty of Central Texas, and building friendships and memories.
The great thing about kayak fishing is the sense of courtesy and sportsmanship on the water.
Everyone we met on the river was friendly and committed to preserving and enjoying nature.