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I was finally able to put my Pescador on the water. Last Saturday we drove down to Columbus and used Howell Canoe Livery to take us down to the river several miles outside of town.

We spent most of the first few hours floating and fishing, enjoying the nice weather. It rained on us a few times, but nothing too bad.
We stopped long enough to grab a quick bite to eat. Here's my brother, cousin, and a good buddy of ours.
We all caught several fish, but not as many as I would have liked. Then again, this was my first time on the water in a yak, so my worrying about flipping over was probably preventing me from fishing like I normally would.

This next photo was taken later in the day. I was tired, and could not wait to get to the island where we were planning to camp. To be honest, I was about ready to pull over and pitch my tent on the bank and catch up with the group the next day. I have RA and my joints were almost to the point of screaming at me. I later learned that we had just done 16 miles; I normally do an average of 8-10 miles a day in a canoe, so this made me feel better.

I saw several critters, including a bald eagle, some deer, lots of turtles, etc.
Here's an interesting old wooden railroad bridge:

I had hoped to take more photos during the day, but the rain started coming down harder. By the time we reached our camp site it was getting worse. We had to stand on the island for over an hour in the rain waiting for a chance to put up our tents. The lightning was pretty bad at times. By the time it was dark we were able to start pitching the tents.

Me and another guy then cooked our steaks in the rain.
Over all we did 21 miles, beginning around 10 AM Saturday to around 11 AM Sunday.

Love the photos. Our group was farther up and I'm looking forward to doing this stretch when the opportunity arises.

Firefly49 wrote:Love the photos. Our group was farther up and I'm looking forward to doing this stretch when the opportunity arises.

Thanks! I'm ready to go back. It sure was peaceful out there.

Good to hear you got out, and thanks for the post and the pics.

Congratulations on a fine first run. Sounds like it was a great success. Great pictures and thanks for sharing.

jpo_tx113 wrote:I was finally able to put my Pescador on the water. Last Saturday we drove down to Columbus and used Howell Canoe Livery to take us down to the river several miles outside of town.

How much did they charge for the shuttle?

Rmartin wrote:

jpo_tx113 wrote:I was finally able to put my Pescador on the water. Last Saturday we drove down to Columbus and used Howell Canoe Livery to take us down to the river several miles outside of town.

How much did they charge for the shuttle?

I don't know. I took some money to pay my share, but my friend would not let us pay him back, and would not say how much.

Thanks for the report. This is definitely on my to do list!

My son and I did the same trip this weekend. Our report is pretty much the same as yours. Light rain for most of Saturday with one brief downpour. Lots of critters - cows, deer, eagles, snakes, turtles - Ethan even saw an otter around dusk. We camped at about mile 14.



We did have some tense moments after dinner when a small herd of cows came down to the river to drink. Mr. Bull wasn't too pleased with our camp location and snorted and shook his head for a while. We stood our ground and had a 15 minute staring contest. I guess he decided we where harmless and passed about 30 feet from the tent, but he did pass. The herd (not as brave, nor as close) followed suit and moved further down the bank for their water break. I heard some hogs rooting around about midnight, but they didn't bother us.

River only came up an inch over night. Next day was beautiful. The river got wide and slow on day two and there were lots of boaters zipping around enjoying the holiday weekend. A strong headwind made for more of a workout than I had hoped, but all in all, a good trip.

This little guy and his mom came down for a drink Sunday morning. The PO'ed bull was about half the distance between this little guy and our tent.


One more thing... the River at Columbus was at 10.1'. The folks at Howell told me that 12' was good for running the river, but for the past couple years it's been running 10' due to the drought.

Great report. Thanks for the pics!

jpo_tx113 wrote:I had hoped to take more photos during the day, but the rain started coming down harder. By the time we reached our camp site it was getting worse. We had to stand on the island for over an hour in the rain waiting for a chance to put up our tents. The lightning was pretty bad at times. By the time it was dark we were able to start pitching the tents.

Me and another guy then cooked our steaks in the rain.

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Over all we did 21 miles, beginning around 10 AM Saturday to around 11 AM Sunday.

Where did y'all get out at?

Yellow Drifter wrote: Where did y'all get out at?

Beason's Park

jpo_tx113 wrote:

Yellow Drifter wrote: Where did y'all get out at?

Beason's Park

Thanks, I have been looking into launching at HWY 59 in Wharton and taking it all the way to Bay City. Wanted to try it for a while now.