3 days, 2 night on Brazos

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imaoldmanyoungsalt
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3 days, 2 night on Brazos

Post by imaoldmanyoungsalt »

After some last minute issues delayed our planned departure of 5:30 am from my house for a 6:45 am launch at the river, my 61 yr old brother and I put in at hwy 16 below Possum Kindom about noon instead. Image

This would be the 1st overnight kayak trip for either of us. Our plan was to paddle about 7 or 8 miles a day the 1st two days and then, knowing how sore our paddling muscles and backs would be, finish the last 4 or 5 miles on the 3rd day .

Day 1 -

After the aforementioned delay, we knew we had some miles to cover in a short time on day 1 to stay with our plan, so we paddled more and kept fishing to a minimum yet still manage to catch several fish
ImageImage

I was not able to take too many pics on day 1 due to our time constraints. We managed to cover what I guessed to be about 7 miles when we found a really nice camp site for our 1st night that I have actually seen others use on a few youtube video trips I've watched.
ImageImage
We had a nice 3 course dinner...
*Hot dog
*Bun
*Mustard
Sorry, no pics
Then off to bed for a good nights sleep....yeah, right. The guy in the the tent next to me snores like a pig with his head in a slop bucket...it pays to be 1st one to sleep! Lol

Day 2-

We started off the morning with some previously frozen, ready made breakfast burritos, warmed over the fire, that my sister-in-law was kind enough to furnish. Excellent way to start the morning. Again no pics, but trust me they were delish!!
The 2nd day gave us more time to fish since we broke camp and departed around 8am. And many were caught. But for every fish that came to hand at least twice as many would work their Brazos river magic and come unstuck. I lose more fish in that river than anywhere I've ever fished. I think they must go thru special training at the hatchery there.
I caught at least 20 bronzebacks on this trip. All in the 11 to 14 inch range. Heres a few
ImageImage
I did hook one smallmouth about 3lbs but alas, it came unstuck as I reached for it. No pic, you'll just have take my word for itImage

My brother had big fish of the day
Image

That is until I caught this Gaspergoo
Image

And how could I not have a picture of the boulders I've seen in so many posts from others who've made this trip before me.Image

It was hot but what a beautiful day it wasImage

And then some alien being staring down from above...or a very strange house, I think? Image

Well we ended up passing up a couple of nice camp sites on day 2 because they would require carrying our gear a distance from kayaks to camp site thru deep sand and gravel on some very tired legs. We would begin to regret passing these up. We paddled and paddled as the sun kept getting closer and closer to the bluffs until we finally came across a really nice site....unfortunately it was already occupied by several gentlemen in canoes, the only other humans we saw on the whole trip...so we journeyed on.
As night approached, we finally found a spot.
Image
Guess what? It was all deep sand and gravel and an uphill carry for our gear. The 1st spot we had found about 3 miles back would've been much nicer and about the same to carry our gear. Lesson learned - don't pass up green grass in hope's of finding greener grass. Oh well, at least now we were under 3 miles from the take out. Short day tomorrow!
Dinner for night 2 was a 4 course meal
*Johnsonville smoked sausages
*Hot dogs
*Buns
*Mustard
Nope, no pics
And then off to bed for a...well wouldn't you know it, the neighbor in the tent next door fell asleep 1st again, dang it! Next time, I'm taking ear plugs....or Nyquil, lol

Day 3 -

Started the day again with more breakfast burritos and a desire to get underway and to the takeout.
We broke camp quick, loaded up, and got underway. Our intention was to paddle steady and not fish, just maintain a straight course to the takeout.
Well some spots were just to good to pass up so I would stop on occasion and fish a few. Like the area below this chuteImage where I caught at least 8 smallmouth on as many casts.
Plus this spotted gar that half hitched the line/lure around his snout so he couldn't bite thru the line as he normally would've.Image
My brother just ignored me stopping to fish and just kept paddling so I would have to play catch up. Luckily my 14 ft redfish, even loaded to the hiltImage paddles well , compared to his 12 ft future beach. So I was able to close the gap pretty easily.

Finally, in the distance, the hwy 4 bridge is in site, takeout just beyond.Image

I made it in 1st and snapped few photos of my brother coming in 2nd but not far behindImageImage

I caught almost every fish this trip on a rapala jointed shad rap in green crawdad colorImage
With the exception of a couple of small striper that were chasing bait in the shallow riffles on a little Cleo spoon Image
My brother caught most all his fish on a small crappie jig, white, I think, on a light weight crappie spin/rod. He's a crappie fisherman at heart and I think he was hoping to find some along the way. Never a single crappie, but the gaspergoo and largemouth loved that jig and he had a blast catching them on lite tackle.

This was a great trip and special time spent with my brother that I wouldn't trade for the world but not sure if I'll be doing this trip again. 20 miles and sleeping anywhere other than in bed is more than my body can take these days. My lower back is just not up for it. Sadly enough tho, what hurts the most is my calves from loading/unloading gear uphill thru the deep sand and gravel both nights.
All that said, I'm glad I did it and time always has a way of letting me forget the pain and remember the good time shared, so who knows, maybe in a year or 2...?

Side note - I posted in another thread already, but I tried out a wide brimmed straw hat for the first time on this trip, and it probably saved the day. Had I been wearing my usual ball cap, I think the brutal sun and heat would've got the best of me. The breathable straw and keeping the sun completely off the head and shoulders keeps your temperature much lower. It will be a regular fixture on my head from now on.


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larry long shadows
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Re: 3 days, 2 night on Brazos

Post by larry long shadows »

great post glad i saw it .. this would be nice in the camp forum it could use a new post like this Thanks again
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Ron Mc
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Re: 3 days, 2 night on Brazos

Post by Ron Mc »

and a nice new hat.
Brave outing and great report.
I'd probably fillet a couple of those nice bass for a camp meal - it's great people don't kill and eat all the bass they can any more, but there are few better fillets than bass.
If you're going to depend on hot dogs for your nutrition, at least treat yourself to the good Boar's Head casing franks.
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bones72
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Re: 3 days, 2 night on Brazos

Post by bones72 »

That looks like an awesome trip. Had me daydreaming back to days as a kid that I floated the Rappahannock in Virginia for smallmouth.
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JW FunGuy
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Re: 3 days, 2 night on Brazos

Post by JW FunGuy »

Nice report and that looked like a great trip! It’s going on my bucket list, somehow I didn’t see the last part about the sore muscles, Back etc. !
Thanks for sharing.
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impulse
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Re: 3 days, 2 night on Brazos

Post by impulse »

Looked like an amazing trip, and thanks for posting. I'm always amazed to find places that remote and wild along navigable rivers.

Regarding comfort, that was a trip tailor made for at least one canoe, with ample storage for a couple of cots and 2 tents to keep tired bones off the rocks, and a reasonable distance from any snoring.

Kayaks are great, but canoes have been taking trips like that for centuries. I found that a well designed canoe with a long kayak paddle (instead of a single blade) and a shortened version of a folding chair makes a very easy to paddle and comfortable craft. The folding chair gives you a lot of flexibility to put your butt where the load is balanced. And a canoe gives you a lot more flexibility to move around instead of being planted in one position for hours and hours. Kayak seats are comfy... for a few hours. Then, I want to move around.

Not insinuating it's due to the weight of the poster, but that loaded up blue kayak looks bent in the middle from the load. Or is it just the camera lens?

Regardless, thanks for planting the seed of an idea in a lot of us.
imaoldmanyoungsalt
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Re: RE: Re: 3 days, 2 night on Brazos

Post by imaoldmanyoungsalt »

Ron Mc wrote:I'd probably fillet a couple of those nice bass for a camp meal - it's great people don't kill and eat all the bass they can any more, but there are few better fillets than bass.
Ron, I agree, bass fillets are among my favorite freshwater fish and we did take a small skillet, oil, n cornmeal. We were so tired tho by the time camp was set and fire made that hot dogs made bedtime arrive much sooner.

impulse wrote:Regarding comfort, that was a trip tailor made for at least one canoe
Impulse, funny you mention that. I actually looked at canoes on craigslist for a couple of weeks and thought about one but decided I just dont need something else to store and maintain. I have more now than I can take of. Plus I couldn't decide if I wanted to sacrifice the speed of the kayak for the extra storage/room of the canoe. Something would be sacrificed either way. My brother actually had a Ride 115 kayak with a lot more weight capacity and storage plus a way better seat that I could have borrowed, but it's a barge to paddle compared to my Redfish. I really liked being able to take my time and fish at times and still be able to make up some miles paddling when I needed to pick up the speed. My kayak was actually sitting so low I had to keep the scupper plugs in the footwell or I would have about 2 to 3 inches of water in it all the time. And yet, with it loaded that much I could still easily maintain 3.5 mph on an easy and constant paddle and over 4 if I pushed it. I doubt I could get close to that in a canoe.
That cot sure sounds good tho! It definitely makes it worth considering.


impulse wrote:Not insinuating it's due to the weight of the poster, but that loaded up blue kayak looks bent in the middle from the load. Or is it just the camera lens?
I think it's an illusion caused by the waves of current riding up in the middle of boat and the fact that its loaded so heavy and riding low in the water anyway. It's also made with bit of a downward curve toward the middle (or upward turn toward both ends, whichever way you look at it). Here's another photo that looks a little more normal other than sitting low.
Image
I really need to have a reason other than being fat and bending itImage

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imaoldmanyoungsalt
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Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: 3 days, 2 night on Brazos

Post by imaoldmanyoungsalt »

imaoldmanyoungsalt wrote:
impulse wrote:Regarding comfort, that was a trip tailor made for at least one canoe
Impulse, funny you mention that. I actually looked at canoes on craigslist for a couple of weeks and thought about one but decided I just dont need something else to store and maintain. I have more now than I can take of. Plus I couldn't decide if I wanted to sacrifice the speed of the kayak for the extra storage/room of the canoe. Something would be sacrificed either way. My brother actually had a Ride 115 kayak with a lot more weight capacity and storage plus a way better seat that I could have borrowed, but it's a barge to paddle compared to my Redfish. I really liked being able to take my time and fish at times and still be able to make up some miles paddling when I needed to pick up the speed. My kayak was actually sitting so low I had to keep the scupper plugs in the footwell or I would have about 2 to 3 inches of water in it all the time. And yet, with it loaded that much I could still easily maintain 3.5 mph on an easy and constant paddle and over 4 if I pushed it. I doubt I could get close to that in a canoe.
That cot sure sounds good tho! It definitely makes it worth considering.

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I forgot to also mention, we took a battery operated pump and inflatable mattresses that packed pretty well so sleeping arrangements weren't terrible. But my back knew it wasn't my extra firm mattress that I sleep on at home. We also had separate tents but the camp sites e found didn't have enough real estate to separate them far enough to not hear the snoringImage



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impulse
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Re: RE: Re: 3 days, 2 night on Brazos

Post by impulse »

imaoldmanyoungsalt wrote: Impulse, funny you mention that. I actually looked at canoes on craigslist for a couple of weeks and thought about one but decided I just dont need something else to store and maintain. I have more now than I can take of. Plus I couldn't decide if I wanted to sacrifice the speed of the kayak for the extra storage/room of the canoe. Something would be sacrificed either way. My brother actually had a Ride 115 kayak with a lot more weight capacity and storage plus a way better seat that I could have borrowed, but it's a barge to paddle compared to my Redfish. I really liked being able to take my time and fish at times and still be able to make up some miles paddling when I needed to pick up the speed. My kayak was actually sitting so low I had to keep the scupper plugs in the footwell or I would have about 2 to 3 inches of water in it all the time. And yet, with it loaded that much I could still easily maintain 3.5 mph on an easy and constant paddle and over 4 if I pushed it. I doubt I could get close to that in a canoe.
That cot sure sounds good tho! It definitely makes it worth considering.


impulse wrote:Not insinuating it's due to the weight of the poster, but that loaded up blue kayak looks bent in the middle from the load. Or is it just the camera lens?
I think it's an illusion caused by the waves of current riding up in the middle of boat and the fact that its loaded so heavy and riding low in the water anyway. It's also made with bit of a downward curve toward the middle (or upward turn toward both ends, whichever way you look at it). Here's another photo that looks a little more normal other than sitting low.
Image
I really need to have a reason other than being fat and bending it
I got to test canoes when I lived in Bangkok and had to leave my kayaks at home to exercise at the local water park. They didn't allow outside boats. All that was available was amusement park (think cheap and ridiculous looking) rental canoes. I was actually able to keep a good speed of 3-4 MPH using a 9' kayak paddle and a folding chair to give my back support and distribute my weight. That's about what I could maintain in my 14' Feelfree Atlantis expedition (sit inside) kayak. The downside of the cheap canoes was the poor gliding characteristics because they had virtually no keel and obviously no rudder. I had to keep paddling to maintain my direction. I suspect a real canoe would fare better.

It reminded me of the good ole days before the kayaking craze, when we all fished and camped out of canoes. Load 'em down with everything we needed and paddle away... I look at canoes like pickup trucks and kayaks as family sedans and crossover SUV's. You can camp out of your Accord or your tiny SUV, but if you have a bunch of folks camping together, it's always handy to have one of them bring an F250.

On the bent blue boat, it looks like what I see when I use my wide-angle action camera and don't select the feature that corrects the lens aberration (I think that's the correct term for it, tho I'm not as camera expert).
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Ron Mc
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Re: 3 days, 2 night on Brazos

Post by Ron Mc »

here's the image corrected for close-field spherical aberration (which also increases the far-field aberration)
and yes, it's all an effect of a close subject with a short focal length lens (wide angle)
Image

at work, everything shot on wide angle is with a 40" ruler, subject and ruler are at the same working distance, and use the distortion correction to make the ruler straight.
Where you don't get spherical aberration with a wide angle lens is when the subject is all far away.
Image
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Re: 3 days, 2 night on Brazos

Post by NativeSon »

Great report, congrats on your trip!
I've wanted to paddle that stretch, hopefully one day.
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