Brazos wild trip

[tx river rat]

IA planned camping and fishing trip took place this week with some friends of mine.
Tuesday morning we put in on the Brazos for a three day trip
Bear from Mississippi




He was paddling a 14 ft Bell composite canoe ,weighed 30 lbs

The next member was Chuck from Florida


He was paddling a 14 ft s&g canoe he built ,30 lbs and with a painted on Teflon paint bottom instead of graphite



I was in the TV my camping boat




We hit the water and headed out , the wind was terrible,as we hit the first set of small rapids ,I went ahead to pick a line and boy did I mess that up ,got hung up on a rock spun around and the only way I could come on thrue was backwards. I sure am glad they didnt have a camera out.
We continued on down the river just enjoying it ,saw a ton of ducks,got about 20 yards from a feral hog, saw one coyote,several eagles nest, a lot of wildlife was on the move. We played in the swift water a lot the river is on the bottom.
That afternoon we got to the bar we were going to camp on ,dang that wind was bad everyone set up there tents,I was very pleased with the new popup tent I bought went up easy and it will stand some wind.
That after noon Chuck and Bill both lost there tents,but we recovered them and staked them a little better.
We relaxed and had the rods out baited enjoying an adult beverage and this little feller jumped on the line


ahhh gator gar bait
I got a hit on another rod tightened the drag and set the hook but after a few seconds lost him,re-baited and sat back down. glanced around to check the rod a couple minutes later ,yep rod holder is bent over and the rod is gone ,I was po it was a brand new ambassador reel and new rod with 5o lb braid on it
The fish shut down bite was very slow so we fixed steaks and crashed
Tent is doing a good job in the wind..
Going to break this here
Ron

[tx river rat]

Wed
Was beautiful morning sun shining wildlife moving ,but fishing was slow,
and all I had left was a pretty light rod. I went down river caught a few small bass played in the mini rapids and relaxed.
Darrel was going to arrive about five and about noon the wind kicked up and really started blowing again ,Darrel was tuckered out when he got there and I will let him tell you about a couple things that woke him up.
Set out the big rods and the fish started hitting you would set the hook and maybe have them for couple minutes then they would shake the hook.
Darrel set the hook on one and pulled in this ice cat



as he started to unhook the fish he ask me if I was using treble hooks and braid on my line he laughed and told me to come look.


You can see my treble hooked in the fishes side and Darrels hook in his mouth
Yep and you guessed it I started pulling linf and here came my rod and reel just wet and sandy but ready to fish some more, that fish was caught twice in about a 20 yard section of the river.
I was happy
The gar shut down ,we ate had a couple drinks and decided to crash. It was so nice Darrel decided to just wrap up in a tarp and sleep.
At 330 am the stuff hit the fan ,It was blowing and raining so hard it was bending the poles on my tent nearly flat heavy rain and a light show you wouldn't believe, I laid there wondering about the boats but with all the lighting strikes I wasn't getting out to check. The wind slowed for about five minutes and then really hit ,we figured around 70 miles an hour and a little rotation with it. My tent started leaking and I figured it was being blow up under the rain fly because it was a spray it started really getting wet water just pouring in the tent back clothes everything soaking, I was cussing that tent hard leaking is one thing, but it was pouring in.A few minutes later the lighting started lighting up the sky and I looked up guess what no rain fly ,the wind had ripped it of, and fellers I am here to tell you netting doesnt slow rain down much.
At 5 the storm started breaking and I got out of the tent to check on things and see how everyone fared, Chucks tent had rolled over with him in it and he had to take a knife and cut his way out, Bear tent was half down it had snapped one of the aluminium poles ,stuff was strewn everywhere on the bar,we lost 2 tents ,bear lost one shoe ,boats were all there but blow around ,mine was the only one that was damaged it was blown about 50 yards and broke out the deck where the rod holders were sticking up. and all the paddles were there.we were lucky.
I will let Darrel tell you about his experiences riding it out rolled up in a tarp.
This morning we loaded up and started in and yep you guessed it wind whistling river white capping in places and typical Brazos paddling it was in your face one minute then from the side and every once in a while at your back.
Darrels wife meet us at the take out with a trailer about 1 and we ended the trip.
As crazy as this trip was I don't think I have ever enjoyed one more. The bad weather rain wind never stopped the BS from flying and we were all laughing at what happened. A heck of a good bunch to camp and paddle with.

[Darrells]

I had wanted to paddle down with the crew, but I had to work on Weds. and Thurs morning so I did not get to the putin until about 1:00. I wanted to get to camp so I paddled pretty hard into a 25-30 MPH wind. I paddled about 6 1/2 miles and rounded a bend with about a 1/2 mile of straight away directly into the wind and decided to get out and line the boat for awhile. I walked a pretty good way in knee deep water and Bear looks down river and sees me coming. Well by this time I am TIRED so he walks down and gives me hand the rest of way to camp. I owe him big time. Get there and meet Chuck and get settled in and start fishing. Put out the big poles for Gator gar and a couple of cat poles. Quickly we start getting runs on the big poles but could'nt get a good hook up. As Ron said they had told me about his pole getting pulled into the water. I had a good bite on one of the little poles and after a pretty good fight land a nice cat. I saw some braid wrapped up and thought I had snagged my other line then I noticed a treble hook in the corner of the fishes mouth and thought NO-Way but sure enough it was Rons with the pole still attached.
I was planning on fishing all night so I did not set my tent up. I fished until about 3:00 or so and noticed a little lightning off to the north. I got the tarp out of my boat just in case. As it got closer I unfolded the tarp and crawled between the layers. We had alittle rain and lightning and then it eases up and I thought that was not so bad. About that time all Hell broke lose. Lightning like I have neever seen, very hard rain, 70 MPH winds and I am wrapped up like a Burrito in a tarp.
I have my feet wrapped up in one end of the tarp and I am holding the other end with both hands trying to keep it from getting blown to God knows where and all of this time I can here things flying around and boats crashing together and rolling down the bank. I have always enjoyed a good strom but I will say I was a little worried about this one. After 20 minutes or so the storm moves on and we all crawl out of our hiding places and check on each other. After making sure everyone was OK we surveyed the damage. Chucks tent was trashed, Bears tent poles were sheared (not bent), Rons rain fly was blown off,one of Bears shoes was GONE, and Ron and Bears boats were about thirty or forty yards from where they were before the storm and my camera was trashed.
Once it got light we started packing up for the trip downstream to the take out. The wind had picked up to about 35-40 MPH from the north. We sailed back to the take-out with no other problems. According to the National Weather Service we had gusts to 55 MPH yesterday. It was really nice to finally meet Chuck and Bear and Camp with Ron. As strange as this may sound I had a really good time. I guess I am just a Glutton for punishment.
P.S.
When my camera dries out I will see if I can get the pictures off of it and post them.

[CrkdLtr]

Sounds like y'all had a blast. I had a similar incident happen with a rod/reel while catfishing. Using a cork and fishing 2 feet under water. Catfish took the bat and off went my rod. About 30 minutes later the cork surfaced. I cast a few times, got the line caught up in my hook. Reeled in the cork. No fish on the other side but did get my rod/reel back.

[LIGHT KEEPER'S KID]

Sounds like it might have been a wild trip for those who were visiting Glad no one was hurt and hope they injoyed them selfs

Mike

[hairymick]

G'day Ron, Great report and piccies mate. Great catfish too.

Dang it mate, ya have just about talked me into dragging my TV panels out and stitching them up. They are all panel spliced and ready to go but I got a little side tracked.

[tx river rat]

Mick
You want be sorry , the T-V is a dang good boat.
Ron