Page 1 of 2

Another Brazos Blast

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 6:21 am
by DarrellS
Ron and I decided it was time for a little over night Trip. We headed to the Brazos Saturday morning ready for a relaxing time. We carry entirely too much stuff. :D

Image

But it all fit.

Image

The water level was pretty low so we had to do some walking below the Falls but quickly made our way about seven miles downstream. We saw all kinds of wildlife Saturday.

Must have seen 10,000 Ducks on the way down.

Image

Two Hogs swimming across the River. No, we didn't chase them, they were too far away. :mrgreen:

Image

A little eight point buck that had swam across the river.

Image

We made our way down to the sandbar we planned on staying at, set up camp and got to relaxing. We built a nice fire and had our Salty Dog fixings as always.

Image

As the night cooled off the fire got bigger.

Image

Couple of pics of the sandbar we stayed on.

Image

Image

Smallest YellowCat I have ever caught.

Image

Nothing like a breakfast cooked on a fire.

Image

Ended up catching a couple of nice Channel Cats and a pretty big BlueCat.

Image

View headed back upstream.

Image

The Nortwinds performed very well. We paddled seven miles upstream in about 2.5 hours against a pretty strong current at times. The boats were loaded heavy but performance was exceptional. Can't wait to do it again because we found a spot that is holding some good fish just did not have time to fish on the return trip.

Re: Another Brazos Blast

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 6:35 am
by larry long shadows
Glad you had fun and thanks for posting always look forward to yalls trips/post

Re: Another Brazos Blast

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 8:34 am
by Strider
Darrell,

Glad you guys got to get out and enjoy the winter sights and fishing. Great pics and report! I see you had the secret bait :wink: :D Great pic of the hogs swimming. They are remarkably good swimmers aren't they?

Kim

Re: Another Brazos Blast

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 8:46 am
by t100
Great report and pics! So so true. Anything cooked on a open fire just taste better. What part of the brazos did yall run? My folks live near Whitney, and I would like to make a run from the dam to 2114.

Re: Another Brazos Blast

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 10:39 am
by DarrellS
Kim,
I believe a Hog could swim circles around a Labrador Retriever.

Re: Another Brazos Blast

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 11:00 am
by RiveRover
Wow, The coloration on that juvenile yellow is awesome! Thanks for the tip on the "secret bait" :D

Re: Another Brazos Blast

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 12:03 pm
by bowgarguide
We always have a blast .
This was a test run for the North Winds yaks , it would be the first time we really loaded them
and saw how they handled the varied conditions on the Brazos.
Loaded and ready to start
Image
These boats have more cargo space ,wow , the front deck had very little in it.
Off we went ,the boats didnt even know they had a load .
We drifted fish and just enjoyed the ducks ,wildlife and a fish now and then . Weather was cool but one nice surprise the wind was light ,so it was an awesome day. Got to our location and set up camp ,built a fire put a couple rods out. It was 5 oclock some where so we broke out the salty dogs in our red solo cups :lol: .
I think my buddy is relaxed and soaking it in.
Image
Darrel and I had not had any lunch so it was time to start the groceries ,

Image

and it gets better

Image

and better
Image

full bellies , a warm fire good friend and another good drink was as good as it gets.

The river was falling so the fishing was slow ,but we caught a few. my problem was all I could catch was these.
Image
Dang they fight , but Darrel was the catfish man this weekend.

After a breakfast on the bar we slowly started breaking camp.
Loaded and ready to head upstream

Image

We were 7 miles down river and the North winds were awesome , we came up the river in just a hair over 2 hours , these are the dang est boats I have ever paddled .
This trip was a blast
Ron
I did miss the photo chance of the trip, I straddle my boat and then drop into my seat , well I am a little longer legged than Darell , I heard him holler I am stuck , :lol: I looked and he was straddle of his boat but was on a muddy bottom and couldnt get his feet loose from the bottom ,I grabbed for my camera but was laughing so hard I missed the shot.

Re: Another Brazos Blast

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 5:07 pm
by DNR
That's the way it's done.
Ron - do you ever cook up those drum? Me and the neighbor are going to try the next we catch.

Re: Another Brazos Blast

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 5:10 pm
by Hirsch
Looks like a great trip and lots of fun. Did a scatter gun go along for ducks?

Re: Another Brazos Blast

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 5:20 pm
by bowgarguide
Didnt carry a shot gun but might have to get my federal duck stamp and try them on the next trip.
I have eaten drum and the eat good. The only thing I noticed about them , fresh seems to be much better than frozen .
Ron

Re: Another Brazos Blast

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 5:30 pm
by Mojo227
Looks like a great trip! :clap:

Re: Another Brazos Blast

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 6:18 pm
by Strider
The added pics and comments make this an A+ report! Thanks for posting up Ron and Darrell!

Kim

Re: Another Brazos Blast

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 6:20 pm
by Strider
bowgarguide wrote:fresh seems to be much better than frozen
My observations also, and the smaller, the tastier.

Kim

Re: Another Brazos Blast

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 7:55 pm
by RealBigReel
Looks like another good trip. Decent fish too.

Re: Another Brazos Blast

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 8:38 pm
by DarrellS
I think I feel a day trip coming on this week 'cept I will be bringing the shotgun along with the fishing poles. Probably take all of three minutes to kill a limit of ducks.

Re: Another Brazos Blast

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 9:26 pm
by On the Guad
Liked the report and pictures. I guess when all of us get in the Colorado we won't have to worry about any water being low with all the gear i keep seeing. :lol:

Re: Another Brazos Blast

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 9:34 pm
by Troutless
Awesome report and photo's thanks for sharing. Those river minnows were really small and it looked like it would take several to fill up the hook. But, if thats the bait of choice there are reason. I guess it match the hatch.

Re: Another Brazos Blast

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 10:02 pm
by PV
Have a question regarding the launch / park at the falls. Have never paddled there before. Is this a private or public park? Are they open 7 days a week, and if so, what are the hours of operation? Thanks!

Re: Another Brazos Blast

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 11:18 pm
by bowgarguide
OTG
here is a list of what was in our boats
What we had:
2 cots
2 sleeping bags
1 8x10 tent
1 12x18 tarp
2 coolers
1lantern
1 grill
12 fishing poles
1 seine
couple of buckets
blankets
pillows
each had a personal bag
ron had 2 backpacks
2 tackle boxes
food bag
several firearms
coffe pot
propane burner
several spare propane bottles
my little aluminum camping table
each had waders and rubber boots

2 chairs
3 gallons of water
2 machetes
cokes and beer six pack each
skillet
fifth of alcohol
1/2 gallon of grape fruit juice
weather radio
2 cameras
million powered spot light
I am sure we are missing a few items but that is the biggest part.
Funny we were talking paddling up river and we couldnt think of a thing we needed , but we used everything we had
Ron

Re: Another Brazos Blast

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 6:37 pm
by Strider
Is it illegal to snag hogs? I have some 8/0 treble hooks. I bet they would put up a helluva fight on a Penn 209.

Kim

Re: Another Brazos Blast

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 6:39 pm
by bowgarguide
Just catch them by the tail :shock:
Darrell does.
Ron

Re: Another Brazos Blast

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 7:02 pm
by DarrellS
But when you have the Tiger by the tail (so to speak) it is heck to paddle one handed in the current.

Re: Another Brazos Blast

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:43 pm
by rodloos
Great report! I was wondering how the Brazos was doing, whether y'all got any rain recently like we got here. Did y'all have waders for the bit of walking you did, or is it that cold yet? 7 miles upstream is a pretty good paddle! I was worn out just paddling the 5.5 miles back up after that one outing we did.

Re: Another Brazos Blast

Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 12:08 am
by Wadefishing
Good report! Looks like a fun trip. I really like those boats. Did each of you build your own and if so about how long does that take?

Re: Another Brazos Blast

Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 9:00 am
by bowgarguide
Wade , We each built our own boats and there is a hundred to 300 hours to build just depends on you. These are pretty complicated builds compared to some.Look on the boat building forum and there are complete build threads for both of them.
Rod the water is cold enough that waders are a necessity for me and they were worn going down and back up
:D :D You know me I am lazy, so I came up with a little deal that cuts at least 50 percent of the work out coming back up and also the North Winds are a slick smooth hull so they paddle upstream a lot better than most boats.
Ill show you next time you are down here.
Ron