Fishing adventures

I originally had a trip to Corpus Christi planned this week which got canceled. I was planning on taking my 13-year old son with me. Although today was a rainy and drizzly day, I decided it would still be fine to take the boy out on the river to test out his new waders.

Finding a pair of decent waders for my son was a challenge. Youth waders are just too small for his size 9 1/2 feet. Men's waders had the right size for his feet but the chest was too big. We eventually found a pair of Magellan waders sold at Academy in a men's small that were close enough to work. At some point when he stop growing so quickly, we'll invest in a good pair of Simms waders.

So, we got to the river and right away noticed something odd along the shoreline. It looked much more bare than I recall. Some time ago this year we had a lot of rain and flooding. Apparently, the river flooded heavily as well. A lot of the trees were broken and stripped by the flood water. We could see large trunks with roots 10 to 15 feet up in the branches of other trees.



We paddled upriver and the water was quite clear and certain parts of the river had changed once again. The large pool where I took my son had a long gravel bar now dividing it. While we could see catfish, gar, bass and carp in the deep clear water, we could not get them to bite.

We fished below some rapids as well as above but got absolutely no bites. My son was wading across different parts of the river getting used to the waders. He said it felt weird when the water compressed the waders around his legs.

Eventually we paddled back to the low water crossing and headed home where I made him some hot chocolate and we prepared for dinner with family at a sushi restaurant. I would have liked him to have caught fish but I know that being out with his dad paddling along the river and wading in the cold water with his new waders was an adventure for him. After all, fishing trips big or small are adventures which is why I even write about them.

Fall is almost upon us

Early yesterday morning I headed to fish one of my favorite spots on the San Gabriel river. The morning air temperature was pleasant. A sign that autumn is almost here.

As I got out to unload my gear at the low water crossing, I could here gunfire all around. Another sign that fall is almost here. Dove season started on September 1 here in Texas and hunters were out in force this morning.

As I unloaded my kayak, there was also the unmistakable stench of something dead. Nearby in a ditch, there was a young dead pit bull puppy partially covered by a cloth. I am not sure if someone dumped him there or if he got run over. Regardless, I hate seeing that sort of thing.

As I paddled and waded two miles upriver to my destination, shotgun blasts continued all the way. Like I said, the hunters were out in force. About 5 or 6 years ago, I was fishing a small lake early in the morning that was near some property where some dove hunters were close by. So close in fact that as they shot up at the doves, the pellets rained down around me. No harm but just strange.

When I got to my destination, I tied on a black and purple #4 cactus shrimp and cast it to a spot along the opposite bank that looked "bassy". On my second cast, the line started moving down river. Fish on! I then saw what looked like a 3lb bass shoot upriver and head to a broken piece of concrete pipe and he pulled hard and then he broke me off at the 10lb tippet! Dang!

I caught a few small bass here and there but never saw the 3lb bass again. I also had spotted gar taking swipes at my flies. One surprise was catching a nice Rio Grande Cichlid. I think this is the first I have caught this year. I've caught several in past years. I find the turquoise dots on their body to be a really nice color.

On my paddle back, I ran across a father and son in WS Tarpon 120 kayak. His 7 or so year old son had a small fishing pole with him. We exchanged hellos and asked how each did. Apparently, the boy did really well and had a limit of bass on a stringer. Pretty impressive and they likely had a tasty lunch. I thought that was such as great lesson being taught to another generation.

It was a great morning on the water. The river had a bit more algae and color to it than in the spring but all in all still running which was a blessing. I hope to get out fishing again soon.

The river changes yet stays the same

I haven't been to the San Gabriel river since the first week of January. I had a chance to go out there this morning so I packed up my flies and 5wt and got there at 8am.

Water felt really good on a warm, muggy morning. Rains from a week ago look to have washed away some gravel bars and reshaped the river, widening it somewhat.

I paddled up to the first pool and caught a small bass and a couple of brim. I saw a lot of spotted gar in the area so I tried to sight cast to them just for the challenge since they looked hungry. It was windy so several times, the wind would "feather" the surface making it very difficult to find the fish. I did get a couple of gar to chase my fly and take a swipe at it but no hook ups.

I continued upriver and passed a couple of guys dragging a small canoe downriver as we walked on the shallow flats. I got to deeper water and continued the paddle upriver to a favorite spot I call "The Narrows" because it is a section where the river narrows for a small length. Above it is a S shaped chute. This place usually hold a lot of fish (bass, brim, carp, catfish, and gar) because it is like a conveyor belt of prey for these guys. They just park and wait for something to sweep by.

At the narrows, I caught another small bass. After catching it, I looked down and saw what I thought was a carp at first but it turned out to be a huge river bass! It looked around 4 to 5 pounds. It then disappeared into the deeper, darker water along the opposite bank. All attempts to coax it back out failed. I walk up a little to the S chute to try my luck there.

I like this part because as the water comes down and turns, there is a pool on the opposite side of slow water. I like to cast my fly in there because there are usually predators there. I picked up couple of nice brim and then as I cast to the exposed roots of a tree, I got a really good hit and the fish swam into the current, putting a nice bend in my 5wt. I played the fish to the bank and lipped a nice healthy 1.5lber! It seems this bass and the brim liked the #4 chartreuse bucktail clouser minnow I was using.

After a mom and dad and couple of young kids all paddled by in their individual kayaks, I ended up making my way downstream to head home for lunch.

It was nice to get out again and nicer still actually catching some fish. I hope I get another chance soon.

Mother's Day weekend family camping trip

This past Saturday, the whole family went to a park along Lake Georgetown in nearby Georgetown, Texas for a Mother's Day weekend camping trip. We joined three other families we know to camp on three adjacent camping sites. This was our first time at this park and it was actually very nice. I brought along a ton of stuff which included some fishing tackle and our two fishing kayaks.

Weather conditions on Saturday were fairly nice with overcast skies and temperatures in the 70s to 80s. The days before we had started seeing temperatures with highs in the low 90s but a cool front came through late Friday evening. The one thing that wasn't particularly positive for kayaking was winds between 15 to 18 mph with gusts above 25 mph.

Lake Georgetown, like pretty much all the Texas lakes, is a man made lake caused by damming the North fork of my beloved San Gabriel river. It is a good size lake covering about 1,297 acres. Besides largemouth bass, crappie, white bass, catfish, and striped bass it supposedly also contains smallmouth bass which is a species I have yet to catch on the fly.

The kids all wanted to paddle the kayaks so we went down to the swimming area of the park and I let them paddle around. After they had their fill, I took one of the kayaks on a scouting paddle to go fishing on Sunday morning. The shoreline was mostly rocky with some vegetation but not a lot. Not a lot of ledges either that I could tell. The wind was pushing me quickly which meant I would have a hard paddle back so I didn't go far and came back to the beach.

That evening I made burgers, hotdogs and sausage for 17 of us and we ate really well. I was stuffed! We made smores and toasted marshmellows, played some games and told some stories around the campfire. I turned in around 10pm.

I got up just before 6am and loaded up the kayak in my truck and headed down to the shore. It wasn't as windy as the day before but as soon as the sun started coming up, so did the wind. I fished the shoreline for about an hour and got just one bite. My stomach was grumbling so I came back in and headed back to camp.

At camp, I started up a grill to heat up an iron pan to make pancakes while someone else made omelettes. Once again, I ate way too much! Sometime later we all went down to the shore to fish for a little bit before returning for lunch and then packing everything up to leave before 2pm. Needless to say we didn't catch anything.

Regardless of the fishing, the rest of the weekend was a lot of fun and I hope my kids had fun, too. We plan to do this again in the fall when the weather is cooler.

Waders required

I've had my kayak loaded in the back of my truck for a couple of days now itching to get some more fishing in. We had a cold front come in on the evening of New Year's eve and I got up late on New Year's day and had a few things to do so I didn't get out. I had a late start this afternoon but thought I would try the San Gabriel river once again.

Last time I was here the water level was high and the current was fast. The level went down just a bit and so did the current so that was good. The thing this time is the water was cold (probably in the 50s) and it was extremely clear like green glass. I haven't seen it this clear in a long time.

As I paddled upstream headed towards a favorite spot about 2 miles upstream, I could see some fish, mostly carp and spotted gar, every once in a while. I could see the bottom in spots that I know where around 6 feet deep.

The rapids were not too bad to get past but the shallower, fast water just upstream was a pain as I had to wade it since I couldn't get my paddle stroke deep enough in the water to make much headway that way.

Just before I got to the section I wanted I came across a deep pool that held several dozen spotted gar with some around 3 feet in length that looked like torpedoes. I've caught them only a couple of times when they have been feeding but I was really after bass this time so I kept going.

Once I arrived at my destination I realized that the river had changed here. It looked as if flooding from rain changed it somewhat. Since it took me about an hour just to get there and the sun was already getting low, I only had a few minutes to actually fish. I had to wade in the cold water since there was brush along the shoreline in my way.

No fish were caught and so I headed back to the low water crossing. Needless to say, the paddle downriver went way faster. I did get out once and misjudged the depth in the clear water as I went from shin deep water and stepped off into a drop-off where the water came up to my waist! Good thing I didn't fall!

I'm grateful that I was able to get out on the water again even if I haven't caught that first fish of the year. I will try again soon.

Quick trip on the San Gabriel River

I am officially on vacation this week so I am trying to catch up on fishing as it has been quite some time since I have been out.

With the rain we have had lately, I decided to head out to one of my favorite spots on the San Gabriel river. I wanted to check it out to see if it was good enough to take my son out on a subsequent trip. I got everything loaded in my truck and left around mid-afternoon.

When I got to the low water crossing, I noticed the water was indeed high and flowing fairly fast. It took some careful planning to get in at the low water bridge and start paddling upstream.

I got to a narrow section in the river with a bend and had a hard time crossing it so I had to beach and drag my kayak a short way over to some slower water so I could continue upstream.

I saw some backs popping up which were obviously carp feeding but by the time I got within casting distance they all disappeared. I thought I had been quite stealthy but apparently not.

I continued upstream towards the rapids and the current was quite strong to where I simply couldn't get close enough so I started drifting back. As I drifted, I cast along promising spots.

I passed a section where a small creek was emptying into the river and decided to try here. I let my fly drift and felt a hit and I had a fish on. Unfortunately it came off after a brief fight. I am positive it was a catfish from the way it fought.

It was a quick drift downstream with the increased flow. It didn't give me much of a chance to fish many spots. I only caught one small sunfish on the way before I finally ended up back at the low water crossing.

All in all I fished maybe for just over an hour. I decided to try a different spot the next day as this spot, while plenty of water now, was a bit risky to bring my son along.

Smells great to me

I took a vacation day today from work in order to go fishing. It has seemed like ages since I have been fishing. Since we had gotten some decent rain last weekend I decided to see what the San Gabriel river looked like.

I got to the low water crossing just before 8am and noticed a little algae and the smell of, well, zoo water. You know the smell from the man made streams at the zoos. That smell. No matter, it smells like the outdoors; take it in!

I headed upstream and found some muddying carp and spent what seemed like twenty minutes trying to get a take. Nothing. I moved on further up the river.

I fished above some rapids and eventually landed a small bass. He looked like he had some sort of skin problem as it had red sores on the body and tail. I spent some more time at the pool but nothing. I moved on further up the river.

Traveling upstream I could see lots of silt on the limestone bottom. It seems that the river keeps getting nastier and nastier every year. I recall when the river looked so pristine (and didn't smell like zoo water).

On some flats I found a tailing carp and started stalking it low to the water. I took a shot and my leader touch it. Spooked the carp. :-(

I found a couple other carp in the shallows but kept alerting them and so they would just swim off out of range.

Continuing on I ran into schools of spotted gar. Most less than a couple of feet long though as I paddled quietly I spooked one that was at least three feet long and looked like a fat torpedo. Whoa!

I finally made it to a narrowing in the river and beached the kayak. This area has always been great for bass and catfish. After a few casts I had a bass. For the next hour it was brim and bass at a good pace. I caught more than a dozen bass with a couple over 2 pounds. One of the bass regurgitated a baitfish when I started removing the fly. Smelled good!

That ain't no tongue with eyes mister!

It started getting pretty hot around noon and knowing I had a long paddle and wade back to the low water crossing I headed back out. As I paddled back under the shade of the huge trees along the shore, I would hear the loud buzzing of swarms of bees working the flowering plants. I also saw a large deer dash into the thicket ahead of me. Cool!

Too bad y'all can't smell me now (especially after pulling the kayak out through that nutrient rich black river mud). It smells like I've been fishing!

Catfish hole redux

One of my nephews is visiting us for a couple of weeks this summer. One of the things my son wanted to do while he was here was to take my nephew and he to the place my son and I went a couple of weekends ago to the spot he caught a few catfish. So, I made preparations this week and rented a small sit-on-top kayak from a local kayak shop.

Yesterday, we went to the YMCA in town that has a small, shallow lake and I had my nephew practice his paddling skills since he was fairly new to it. After an hour, he got pretty good at moving forward, turning, stopping and paddling in reverse. I then got all the fishing gear together that night.

This morning we set off to the same put-in as before and headed upriver. My nephew found it a little more difficult paddling against a current (light as it was) but he did just fine.

Eventually, we got to our destination which was the pool where we had caught catfish two weeks ago and rigged up. My son was the first to catch a catfish though my nephew followed soon after with one on his first cast.

Both boys concentrated on their fishing and in the hour and 45 minutes, my nephew caught and released six fish with a couple around two pounds. My son caught and released five on his own.

We paddled back to the put-in so we could get home early to clean up to have lunch with the rest of the family. Both boys enjoyed fishing and paddling together and seeing cranes, herons, a raccoon and finding a sun bleached deer antler. I had fun taking them out as well.

Here kitty kitty!

Today I took my 10 year old son on a guided fishing trip on the San Gabriel river. I was the guide of course. This meant I brought no tackle along for myself. My son brought along his spinning combo, worm hooks, bobbers and, of course, some big fat nightcrawlers.

We paddled to a pool where I was sure we could catch some bass as that is what he wanted to catch. The first fish to strike was indeed a bass but came off. We then went to the end of point of a gravel bar that was adjacent to deep water and tried our luck there. He caught a catfish! A good one to. He then caught another one. And then another. On the third one, I got jabbed by the spine in the pectoral fin as I was taking out the hook and the kitty twisted about. It wasn't a bad jab but enough to hurt and draw blood. This was a good time to teach my son about being careful of those catfish spines and to always carry a small first aid kit which I had in my bag. A little alcohol swab and a bandage and I was fine.

Now, at this point, I was sort of stunned as I have never caught a catfish from this pool. I have caught some nice cats upstream from here. He continued trying to catch a bass (or a carp which he saw splashing about) but kept catching catfish or got hits but no hookups with whatever it was. In less than 2 hours he caught 7 catfish with the largest going over 4 pounds. The largest one gave him a good fight and we took a photo of it and released it. Actually, in the photo it looks as if he is holding the catfish up but just out of camera range above his hand I am holding the line since the catfish was a little heavy for him to hold up that high.

We had a good time on the river and while he didn't land any bass, he did enjoy catching those catfish. We also saw several herons and a large hawk fly over the pool. I am thinking I need to get him his own kayak because the both of just barely fit in my kayak. He knows how to paddle but I may need to tether his kayak to mine when paddling upriver as it hard work sometimes. We'll be back for those bass some other day.

Rivers of Texas Rally

This weekend brings probably over 50,000 motorcycle enthusiasts to the Republic of Texas (ROT) Rally here in Austin. While all those bikers were heading into town, I headed to the San Gabriel river instead with my kayak and 6wt and it turned into a rally of sorts there as well.

I got to the low water crossing at Highway 29 and CR100 around 8am and found three fisherman there. Two were loading up kayaks and the third was wading and casting with a fly rod. I went up to the first two to say good morning and then put together my stuff and started paddling towards the third angler.

I greeted him and started talking with him for a bit. As it turned out he belonged to the Austin Fly Fishers club. It turns out we both knew some of the same folks. One name I mentioned was a fishing pal of one of the guys that had launched their kayak before me. It also turned out that they all worked for IBM. Wow, small world since so do I. I wished him well and paddled upriver.

I came upon the second fly fisher in the kayak and told him I knew, actually worked in the same department with, his best pal. Apparently the guy we mutually knew moved to Boston not long ago but he still keeps in touch. After chatting for a while I headed upstream passing a couple of guys fishing from shore.

At the pool above the rapids I encountered a man and his son bowfishing for carp. For those not familiar with this sport, one uses a regular bow but with an arrow with a special tip that folds back when it penetrates the fish and opens back up after it goes through. The arrow has a line attached that is wound on a spool with a reel that is attached to the bow. The carp is reeled in sort of like when using a rod and reel. The only obvious difference is there is never such a thing as "catch and release" with this method. Although you can eat carp, typically they are ground up for fertilizer.

I continued paddling upstream avoiding to get near the bow fishing duo. After reaching my destination a half mile upstream, I cast a sort of wooly bugger looking fly that is really meant for redfish and caught the bass pictured above on that first cast. I caught several more small bass and lost one that was really nice and was putting a nice bend in my 6wt. After a while I noticed a couple of kayaks downstream so I put my gear up and started paddling back downstream.

It turns out that in one of those kayaks was an angler that frequents the forums at texaskayakfisherman.com so I stopped by and said hello and chatted with him and his wife for a short while. We talked about how nice and peaceful it was fishing in that section of the river. I mentioned to his wife that I had seen a large raccoon on the paddle upstream before it retreated into the woods. After a while I bid them good luck and kept going back downstream.

I fished the next pool for a while catching yet more bass and other sunfish and then I saw one of the fly fishers approaching. I went over and he was stalking carp. He had caught one below the rapids and was looking for another in the pool. We tied on a damselfly nymph and while I was making my way through the rapids he caught another carp! I need to tie up some of those flies!

On the way out at the low water crossing, I found the first fly fisher that had been wading earlier in the morning and he was waiting for his buddies. They weren't all that far behind me and while I was loading up my gear in the truck we talked for a bit and he invited me for a cold beer after they loaded up. I told him I had to pass. Can you imagine if I get home and my wife smells beer on my breath? Oh no boy!

I haven't had so much social interaction on the river like this in a long while. It was kind of nice. However, I am glad that I didn't find 50,000 anglers in the river this morning. I would still be there saying hello to everyone.

Another Bass Sunday

I set off once again this morning to my favorite hole on the San Gabriel river. The target species would be bass so I took along my trusty 6wt and some bass flies I have tied.

I got there around 8 a.m. and started paddling upstream to find a fly fisherman wading in the river. We talked a bit and he said he had caught a couple of bass on poppers earlier. I told him I was heading upstream and wished him luck.

About 400 yards upstream, I ran into a kayak angler and he hadn't had much luck yet. I told him a few spots to try and wished him luck as I continued paddling upstream.

I finally reached the rapids and proceeded to catch small largemouth and Guadalupe bass. I saw plenty of carp and tried several times for some of those but was rejected. Besides bass, I did manage several red breasted sunfish.

I also lost a lot of flies today; mostly to overhanging trees. I may have to start tying some of the last of the ones I lost, such as the black Zonker Bonker I broke off.

On my way back out, I met up with the other kayak angler who had done well catching bass on one particular timber laydown.

It was another good dayto be out on the river. One good thing about fishing in a river like this when the sun is hot is you can fish in the shade of the large trees growing along the shore. Getting in the water to wade is also refreshing. It's much nicer than fishing on a large lake and I'll be back again though I will likely try one of my other spots along the river next time.

Cool river bass on a hot day

In the last few days the temperatures have been getting up into the high 90s. Today seemed like a good morning to wet wade the San Gabriel for bass and so I headed to one of my favorite spots along the river and paddled upstream.

I noticed that the algae has started to build up in some spots along the river making it tough using some flies. However, I had success with most of the flies I tried today picking up almost a dozen largemouth and Guadalupe bass. Most of the bass preferred any fly with zonker strips and black seemed popular as well.

I didn't go too far upriver given there were bass everywhere. Most all of them fought great for their size. There is something about river bass. Maybe it's the current that makes them hit hard and fight hard compared to their lake and pond brethren.

I enjoyed being out in the kayak and getting to wet wade in the cool river on a hot day for the first time this year. Hopefully, I will be able to get back there next time and try for some carp.

I gotta work on my hookset

I left mid-morning today to fish the San Gabriel river. Most of this week had been cold and drizzly and today was turning out to be a nice day with highs expected in the 60s.

The intention of this outing was to catch some carp on the fly. The water was cold but I did find lots of carp along the shoreline of a large pool that looked to be feeding. I had three takes and couldn't get a good hookset. Maybe the month away from the fly rod was to blame. My casts were also horrible. Still, I was finally able to get a good hookset on a carp, fought him for a bit and my leader broke at the knot to the fly. Sheesh!

I traveled up to the shallow flats and stood there for a bit until the carp got comfortable and did a few drifts with one pick up and again I screwed up the hookset!

Eventually, I headed back out and paddled the pool with the kayak to sneak up on a whole school of carp feeding and dropped my fly in front of them and got a solid hookup! Once I got the carp on the reel and tightened up drag it took me for a sleigh ride around the pool. After he gave up and I released him, I paddled back and left.

I didn't take my camera today due to the fact that the battery was dead. I wanted to do some night fishing tonight but am too tired. Instead, I'm going to rest up and fish for bass tomorrow on Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin.

Sardine sized trout? Not for me thanks!

This past Wednesday, Texas Parks & Wildlife stocked San Gabriel City Park with approximately 2,500 rainbow trout. I decided to go yesterday afternoon to check out the scene.

While there were several folks there fishing from shore, there were a couple in canoes. I decide to just paddle around and investigate. The water was clear yet I didn't spot any schooling rainbows or see anyone pulling any fish out. So I just paddled back and decided I would fish a spot downstream from the park past the retention dam/falls and a low water bridge. On my way out someone cast an in-line spinner across my bow and I barely avoid getting hooked. This was confirmation that it would not only be nicer fishing somewhere more secluded but safer.

Below the bridge, you can wade and paddle downstream and it becomes really scenic and sometimes feels quite secluded. On my way down, I spotted what looked like a rainbow trout no longer than 7 inches long. It looks as if some had made it over the falls. However, having caught some that size last year, they were all not that impressive fighters so I decided to pass. I headed further downstream to fish below riffles and rapids for bass and brim instead.

The water was so nice and clear and the temperature seemed to be in mid 60s. It was cool but not really cold. A lot of the algae was gone and the rocks below the clear water looked like granite to me. Before, with silt and algae clinging to it, I wasn't sure if they were just limestone or not.

Long story short, I caught several feisty Guadalupe bass, Largemouth bass, and some nice brim. I caught one beauty that was 9 inches long and it fought hard in the rapids and put a nice bend in my 4wt.

On my way back out, I found a young fly fisher wading near where I saw the small rainbow and he was apparently catching and keeping them. I circled wide behind him to the opposite side of the river to avoid disturbing him and the the rainbows. I wanted to tell him that when he got tired of catching hatchery fish that he could wade downstream and tangle with some wild bass and brim and have more fun but I was in hurry to get home to get ready for a Christmas party so I let him be. Maybe I'll see him out there again.

The color green

Green is the color of bass. Sometimes, colorations vary depending on the season and the depth the fish is to be found but in the end they are still green. Today I saw a lot of green.

I set out this morning to fish my favorite river, the San Gabriel, with my dark green Sage XP 5wt rod and tied to my tippet, an olive green Bonker Zonker (BZ). The rabbit strip and pearl cactus chenille that compose the BZ fly simply drive bass wild. I have caught a bunch of bass with this particular fly and would again today.

I paddled and waded about three miles upriver to a very narrow section of the river that had emerald green water that said "bass" all over it. I worked the BZ fly from the opposite bank into the deeper water and current and then out to the light green shallow water were I was.

My first strike came from a very healthy largemouth that felt strong in the current and made the XP's light tip dance around.

Soon after I caught another bass though this one was a bit different and by the tough fight it put up, it felt like a Guadalupe bass, and a trophy size one to boot (12 inches is a trophy Guad). After photographing and releases the Guad, I proceeded to catch additional bass (all green of course).

At one point, I cast out to the opposite bank and hooked a redbreast sunfish when all of a sudden something charged it! It was a three pound largemouth! The little stunned sunfish lay on its side on the top of the water and floated downriver while the largemouth remained just below it yet not attempting a second charge. I expect it saw me on the bank and thought twice about taking the bait.

I tried repeatedly to find that three pound green river monster but to no avail. I ended up calling it a day after a while. All in all, I probably caught about 10 or more bass and a couple of brim.

On my way out I ran into a kayak angling friend of mine that was intent on catching carp on the fly. However, I mentioned to him that I hadn't really focused on carp today but they seemed awfully skittish.

I told him I had concentrated on bass upriver. He responded that he had caught quite a few 1 to 2 pound bass just 300 yards from where we both put in. Oh well, I guess I got my exercise in today and got to see a lot of green. What more could I ask for?

Bass in the carp hole

This morning I got up late and got together my kayak and fly gear to try and fish the San Gabriel river for a couple of hours. My hope was to find some carp wanting my flies.

The paddle upriver from Mankin's Crossing wasn't bad at all. The water was flowing but nowhere as fast as the last time I was there. I could see the water was fairly clear in some places and a little bit greener in others.

After passing the first rapids which were very traversable, I started looking for signs of carp feeding. I saw lots of them cruising thanks to the high sun and I thought I saw some bass as well. I did see one beautifully spotted gar on the paddle towards the rapids that was around three feet long.

I had first tied on my favorite carp fly of mine which is a crawfish orange Gotcha type fly. I had one carp pick it up and spit it out. I waded around for a bit and crossed to the other side of the pool to try my luck there.

On one side of the pool below some trees I could see shadows moving out of the shade. They were carp and after a few casts I had one pickup the fly and spook as I tried to set the hook.

I decided to switch flies and moved to a large fly I got in a fly swap. I think it was meant for bass because on my second cast, a bass hit it hard. I was a chunky little bass around a pound and half and fought well. I brought it into shallow water, photographed and released it. I would end up with two more in less than 45 minutes after catching the first one that were the same size.

I continued trying to hook a carp but it was not to be. On my way out I briefly spoke with a angler in kayak heading past me about the carp/bass hole ahead. As I was taking my kayak out at the put-in point, I spoke with another angler that asked me several questions about the river.

I forgot to mention that I donned waders though the water wasn't as chilly as I figured. Better safe than cold and miserable.

South San Gabriel

This morning I tried to see if I could wade a section of the South San Gabriel river near where it joins the North San Gabriel river in Georgetown. I decided against taking the kayak as the South San Gabriel has less water than the northern arm.

The water in the section I fished was very clear and running well. The water was also fairly cool though not really cold. The fish were a bit spooky so it took finesse to catch some of them. I saw small bass but didn't land any. I did catch plenty of green sunfish, bluegill, and redbreast sunfish. I was really hoping to find a Rio Grande Cichlid but not in the couple of hours I was in the river.

I, however, wasn't able to wade all the way down to where the two sections of the river join together. There were some sections that were deeper than I wanted to wade. I may consider next time taking the kayak since most of the section was deep enough to paddle and the water was moving slow enough that paddling back upstream wouldn't be bad at all.

I am reading reports from friends that Lake Travis is on fire at the moment with schools of white bass feeding around points. I would have gone to Travis this morning except the wind was a good 10-15mph and so it would have been a bit choppy on the lake. I need to consider a night trip though as the whites would be located along lighted docks and so it wouldn't be too bad then if it were a bit windy.

I am planning a saltwater trip to the coast in two weekends from now so not sure if I will get a chance to fish Lake Travis next weekend. I may. We'll see.

Paddling up the ol' San Gabriel river

I love having a kayak. It is the ideal pack-up-and-go watercraft for river fishing. Last night, I told my wife I was going to try the San Gabriel again and see if it was more fishable than the previous time I tried a month or so ago.

I headed out to Mankin's Crossing outside of Georgetown around 7:30am and was in the water paddling against the upstream current by 8am. It wasn't too difficult and while I was glad there was no wind to make me work harder, it was pretty warm already since this is, after all, August and it is Texas.

My first obstacle to get to my first carp hole was a set of rapids that are normally walkable but this time they were really roaring. I had to try a couple times to follow between the inner seam of the two sides of the rapids so I could land in a patch of dirt then walk up through it without getting in the heavy stuff. I took a short video clip of it with my camera so you could get a feel for the rush of water but the video is no comparison to the real thing.



Once I got past this section I paddled across the pool I normally find carp in and beached the kayak and did some wet wading in knee deep water. Did I mention the water was cold? It was cold at first but refreshing after getting hot from paddling against the current. I found a few carp but spooked them with my misplaced casts.

I then moved upstream a bit to some limestone humps sticking out of the river through which rapids and chutes were and found a cool "wave" caused by a sudden drop then rise in a chute. It was so cool, it must have been three feet high and you could see clearly though it and the swirling bubbles within.



I did find some mudding carp and had one pick up my fly but it quickly spit it out as I tried to set the hook.

I also saw about six people paddling kayaks down the river. They probably putin at San Gabriel City Park upstream earlier in the morning. I bet it was a fun float though I can't see being in my kayak without a fishing rod.

I noticed there were lots of dragonflies and damsel flies around. They kept landing on my fly rod which I hear is good luck. I found a stone that had what looked like emerging damsel flies and nymphs on it so I took a photo of them. I had some of my carp flies with me but the damsel nymphs were in a different fly box.

I also noticed the water was full of spotted gar. I was able to hook one of about 19" but it jumped and broke my line. It's always iffy taking the fly out of their toothy mouths anyway.

I started my way back downstream which was way easier than paddling upstream and stopped at the first carp hole to try my luck before heading out. Within a few minutes I spotted a mudding carp and dropped my crawfish fly about 6 inches from the side of its head. I let it fall to the bottom and then twitched and it went for it. Fish on!

The carp fought well although it was likely only 3 or 4 pounds. After about 5 minutes I brought it to hand and released it and headed back to the putin which again was much easier than the paddle upstream.

All in all, it was a memorable trip even though there were not a lot of fish caught. I hope to get back on the SG later when the temperature starts dropping just a bit and see how it looks then.

Water for chocolate

We continue to get rain just about every day. By now, this July will likely go down as the rainiest July in Austin in recorded history. The rivers and creeks look a lot like rivers of chocolate yoohoo though I suspect not as tasty (if you think yoohoo is tasty).

I talked with my cousin yesterday and the coast isn't much better. He has talked with some folks from TPWD recently that had done some gill net studies and found carp and blue catfish in Nueces Bay! It seems the normally saltwater bay is not quite as salty now from all the fresh water being dumped into it by the Nueces River.

So, needles to say I have not done much fishing (zero) in my favorite river, the San Gabriel. To avoid going completely stir-crazy I've taken this opportunity to practice at the range with my XD-40.

I've now placed 750 rounds through the XD-40 and continue to get better with it. I am seriously thinking of next year picking up an XD-45ACP Compact model.

I also participated in my first fly swap. I haven't participated in one before because I figured I wasn't good enough. However, this swap was on woolly bugger variations and I submitted some Cactus Buggers so it wasn't too hard. The flies I received from the swap were all excellent but I have so many flies in reserve that I am not sure if I will ever fish them.

While I still think it's been great getting rain instead of being in a drought, I hope some time in the next month it slows down long enough to get a chance to fish the San Gabriel minus the chocolate of course.

A morning on the San Gabriel river

This morning my wife made a delicious breakfast of breakast tacos filled with potato and egg. I'm glad I had a good breakfast since I didn't know it but it would give me the energy I'ld need to traverse the San Gabriel river.

I put-in just below the low water crossing at the end of the San Gabriel City Park in Georgetown. This is the same area I had some nasty surprises last year. This time the water was flowing quite well, probably around 100 cfs, and fairly clear. The temperature was in the low 60s so I donned my breathable waders.

It was a pretty easy float down the river thanks to the increased water and flow. Still, it was difficult finding anything but small bass, tiny brim and small carp and gar. There weren't large numbers of fish. I however caught a couple of small bass and brim just to avoid getting skunked.

I encountered lots of rapids in places that usually don't have water. I floated down about 3 miles and since the fishing wasn't as outstanding as normal I made the trek back upriver. Boy, that was work as it took me about an hour to get back to the put-in. Usually, it takes me only about 30 minutes. I think the increased flow also made it more difficult finding fish in areas where it's usually a fairly calm pool but instead is flowing fast. I'm sure the fish were right up against shore cover.

Eventually, I made it out. I think I will check the flow on my next trip out and hopefully hit it when the water is slightly warmer and the flow is below 60 or 70 cfs.

I do have to say that even though there weren't many fish caught and it was work going back up river, it was a beautiful morning and the river was beautiful. I hope the next time out, it's equally pleasing and relaxing.