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Colorado River Trip Report (Jan 14-16 2012)

Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 7:11 pm
by YotaYaker
Hey everyone. Unfortunately I didn't get many pics due to me being limited to a cell phone that quickly ran out of battery but I figured I may as well start a thread for reports from this weekend's trip.

CamoBassProwler13 and I arrived in Austin Friday evening just in time to do some last minute shopping and grab some grub before cashing at my brother's place. We arrived at the 183 launch at 6:00 AM Saturday morning to steam coming off the river and 27 degree temps. :shock: I was so excited it didn't phase me but CBP13 was already starting to whine. :roll: Soon after we began rigging the boats we had company. One by one the faithful began to congregate at the water's edge. We were the first two ready to launch and we waited around for a while so the rest of the group could catch up. Finally launched around 9:30-10:00 with a hanful of guys. We caught some good fish Saturday, enjoyed some picturesque scenery and ideal weather conditions. The only difficult part of the day was a nice little portgage that wouldn't be so bad without the 100 lbs of crap I had loaded in my yak. We arrived at the island with plenty of time to set up camp and gather firewood. Still feeling a bit rowdy after the day's paddle a few of us shared a bottle of Patron by the fire and make sure we were in good shape to sleep for the night...or so we thought. :?

After shivering myself to sleep the night before I awoke Sunday morning to a world covered in ice. Everything...from my tent, to my waders, to my boat, everything. The water built up in my boat from the previous day's paddle was frozen, the drinks in my cooler were frozen, I was frozen. But that was nothing a nice fire and some of Texan4ut's famous Cowgirl Casserole couldn't cure. After hitting the water late with CBP13 we were paddling around 10:30. Concerned that we wouldn't make camp by dark the two of us paddled, paddled, paddled, then paddled some more. It was a total of 13 miles, arriving around 4:30, with virtually no fishing done all day. Needless to say by the time we made landfall everyone was beat. Not much socialization went on for my part Sunday night. Just another hearty meal (thanks again for the steak Texan4ut!) and a little bank fishing. I managed to catch three nice bass on a Hula Popper (my first ever topwater catch!) after sunset. Completely exhausted I passed out around 9:30-10:00.

We awoke Monday morning to moderate temps and a little moisture in the air. CBP13 and I skipped breakfast and elected to hit the water early. We fished a bit where there was some depth and we really focused on the rock wall that produced so many fish during our last trip over the summer. CBP13 pulled one bass off the wall and I got nada...we were both puzzled. Tired and ready for lunch we paddled out and headed for Little Web. Not much of a paddle later and we were at the take out and ready to load all 100 lbs of my gear and my boat back into the truck. Boy is that fun after paddling 25 miles and sleeping on the ground two nights in a row! :lol:

All in all it was a wonderful trip. Despite the cold I really enjoyed the weather and also the great company. I think we counted 19 boats in all at the launch Saturday. Thanks to all who helped coordinate this massive group of people...I'd say the trip was a success for sure! :D

Tight Lines!

Chris

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Re: Colorado River Trip Report (Jan 14-16 2012)

Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 9:01 pm
by Mojo227
Sounds like it was a great trip! Wish I could have made it. :mrgreen:

Re: Colorado River Trip Report (Jan 14-16 2012)

Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 9:50 pm
by RiveRover
What a great trip! Started out with an early morning meeting with DNR and my boy Kornfed, Loaded 3 boats on the Rover then off to the launch. Met CBP13,Yotayaker,On the Guad,Swanyand a couple others and waited for the rest of the crew. Around 9:30 a few of us took off and started fishing...started out really slow outside of a couple Bass and a nice Gasper on a jig. Later on as it warmed up the bite picked up and I think we all caught at least a couple fish. Great meeting new freinds and especially nice seeing the old ones again, Cant wait to do it again.....Mike :D
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Re: Colorado River Trip Report (Jan 14-16 2012)

Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 9:56 pm
by RiveRover
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Re: Colorado River Trip Report (Jan 14-16 2012)

Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:01 pm
by RiveRover
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Re: Colorado River Trip Report (Jan 14-16 2012)

Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:07 pm
by RiveRover
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Re: Colorado River Trip Report (Jan 14-16 2012)

Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:13 pm
by RiveRover
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Re: Colorado River Trip Report (Jan 14-16 2012)

Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:20 pm
by RiveRover
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Re: Colorado River Trip Report (Jan 14-16 2012)

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 7:12 am
by Cruisin_Cuda
I admit i was trying to talk him out of it when i went to unload the yak off the xsporter and there was ice on the boat, but I'm sure glad we stuck it out because it turned out to be a great trip with a lot of good people! I ended up with 5 the first day on a big pumpkin seed worm and caught three off the bank of the second camp island with the same big power worms but in black and red and bama bug. I was having trouble with my playsport set up so i only had a couple of pics taken by yota on the bank but the memories of the trip will be there in my head for years to come. I did get to test my gear and rapid running abilities since the water was real low and there was alot of dragging but I ended up with 9 fish (about 3x's as many as the first trip) and after i get a new smaller tent that packs down smaller and a little bit thicker pad along with being a little better prepared for food (those steaks and taters looked pretty good!)the next one should be even better! It was good seeing the crew from last time and meeting the others, I enjoyed fishing with all you guys and hope everyone can make the next one!

Re: Colorado River Trip Report (Jan 14-16 2012)

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 8:43 am
by t100
What a great trip! Had a huge crew, new and familiar faces. Glad to meet new people. Got a lot of pics that I will post tonight. The fishing was a little slow for me. Saturday I had a handful of dinks and one good fish. Sunday I pulled in a scunk :? On monday, my first bite turned into a great battle! Had a two pounder get tangled up in the bush pile. Finally got my boat turned around to get my Scotty mounted rig hung up in the brush. Thanks to Edmond, I landed the fish and dint loose or break my rod!! I kept telling myself I need this fish!! Landed a few more so so fish and called it a day. This was the first time I came out of the water without a backlashed reel.
There are some other great stories and fishing that I will let those guys tell their own stories.
It seems that every time I learn what I could have done different and it always goes with packing less. Can't wait to do this again. Maybe without the use of multiple layers of clothing.
Until next time dawgs......

Re: Colorado River Trip Report (Jan 14-16 2012)

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 11:24 am
by Cadiyak Sam
Good trip! I think I might know that rock wall you're talking about. The river looks pretty low...

Re: Colorado River Trip Report (Jan 14-16 2012)

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 2:26 pm
by t100
Forgot about my new sleeping bag and seat pad. Got the no limits nl32 mummy bag and skwoosh extreme seat pad. Both new purchases rocked!! The bag kept me warm even on the first night. Don know what the low temp was, but it was COLD!! Everybody had ice in their boats. The seat pad did great, no numb but at the end of the day. Pretty good field test being in the saddle for three days. :D

Re: Colorado River Trip Report (Jan 14-16 2012)

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 2:31 pm
by On the Guad
I had a great time with all of the people that I met as well as spending three days with two of my best friends fishing. I will say that I completely froze my butt off Saturday night and will be better prepared next time. Caught a lot of fish and was very happy with the way my new Cuda performed.
http://texasflyfishingadventures.blogsp ... rrrrr.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: Colorado River Trip Report (Jan 14-16 2012)

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 4:22 pm
by Aggroman
Great pics! Looked like a blast.

Re: Colorado River Trip Report (Jan 14-16 2012)

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 5:34 pm
by DNR
Luckly (or unluckly, depending how you look at it) the Freeze Out Trip lived up to it's name. It was dang cold early Sat. morning and around 28 degrees Sun. morning with everything covered in thick frost. It did warm up quickly both days though.
At one time I counted 19 boats I think. It was a great trip and considering the amount of people it went very smoothly.

The pictures -
Lots of plastic
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And some wood boats too
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There are 12 boats in this pictures
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My only fish picture, I had 10 the first day and 3 the second. Nothing big for me but I know some good ones were caught.
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Blue water and blue sky - Thats Blue Bluff in the back ground, site of an Indian depredation in 1845.
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Nobody ran it, really the portage is easy except when loaded down for camping
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I was a little worried if there would be room for all of us to set on the island not having seen it since late summer when it was grown up. Plenty of room though, could have fit quite a few more.
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And we found plenty of fire wood
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I'll have to say, that was the best damn steak I've had in years. Thanks Cornfed.
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Everybody warming up and thawing out. I was fine in my 20 degree bag, but didn't want to come out.
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River Dawgs ride again
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Really enjoyed seeing and meeting everbody, TKF'ers are all great people to be around.
We'll do it again.

Re: Colorado River Trip Report (Jan 14-16 2012)

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 8:31 pm
by fisher of people
Been looking forward to reading these reports. Great accounts, and great pics. Sounds like a pretty amazing outing. :clap:

Re: Colorado River Trip Report (Jan 14-16 2012)

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 9:00 pm
by saffra
Man, I hated to miss this one.....I'm really glad that everyone made it safely and y'all had such a good time.......thank you all for the report and pictures..........




.......however.........




Sunday morning at about 6:00, I was sitting at my kitchen table drinking a cup of hot coffee and thinking how thankful I was to be sitting inside :D

Re: Colorado River Trip Report (Jan 14-16 2012)

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 7:28 am
by larry long shadows
Wish I could have made it always fun on trips like this....I would not want to roam tru the woods edge with a large group for fear of land mines.. :lol: did yall dig a Latrine.... :lol:

Re: Colorado River Trip Report (Jan 14-16 2012)

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 2:37 pm
by milret
larry long shadows wrote:Wish I could have made it always fun on trips like this....I would not want to roam tru the woods edge with a large group for fear of land mines.. :lol: did yall dig a Latrine.... :lol:
Latrines were everywhere :lol:

Re: Colorado River Trip Report (Jan 14-16 2012)

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 6:49 pm
by Hirsch
Glad to see you guys had a blast!!! Keep the pictures coming. :D

Re: Colorado River Trip Report (Jan 14-16 2012)

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 7:21 pm
by makenmend
Enjoyed meeting everyone, apart from Saturday night (brrrrr) this was a great trip, when the fish turned on they meant it :!: .

Here's some pics
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Re: Colorado River Trip Report (Jan 14-16 2012)

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 7:28 pm
by makenmend
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Re: Colorado River Trip Report (Jan 14-16 2012)

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 7:37 pm
by makenmend
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Re: Colorado River Trip Report (Jan 14-16 2012)

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 7:45 pm
by makenmend
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Re: Colorado River Trip Report (Jan 14-16 2012)

Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 9:50 am
by texan4ut
It was nice to meet everyone and to see some old friends as well. As most have stated Saturday morning was cold, however it warmed up quickly. Couldn't have ask for a better day with no wind, bright sunshine and good fishing. According to my GPS day one I traveled 7.2 miles in 6 hours 22 minutes on day one.There were some shallow areas that I had to drag the boat through and we did have a portage around a dam. 1st night campsite was great everyone in a good mood with lots of food and fun around the campfire. Sunday morning was really cold with frost on everything. My 25 degree bag from REI kept me plenty warm and I was proud to have it. I heard some of the guys say they got cold and didn't sleep well. Day two started like day one cold and sunny but quickly the wind began to blow and the clouds rolled in. I did little fishing day two as I knee Ii had a long paddle. Went 11.9 miles in 7 hours 35 minutes. It was a grind at times as the wind would really push you back. Had to drag the boat several times during this stretch. Did manage a few fish then I broke a rod landing one and called it quits for the day a paddled to the campsite. Sunday night saw far less gathering around the campfire as most were like me pretty tired. Managed to cook some dinner have a cocktail and off to bed way earlier than the previous night. Woke to cloudy skies, but much warmer temps and packed up and headed out into a brutal head wind. Last day was 2.5 miles in 1 hour 15 minutes stopping to fish just a bit. All in all a great trip with a bunch of great guys. Looking forward to another one when the river gets a little more water in it.