NW going to strol tonight

[tx river rat]

It is hot so Darrel and I are going nocturnal again , light are mounted and battery charged. Report tomorrow.
Ron

[Darrells]

Ron and I had decided to hit the Brazos for some nighttime paddling and at the last minute my Daughter decided to join in ( any time your sixteen year old wants to hang with Dad and a Buddy on a Saturday night I'll take it). We got to the River about 5:30, loaded up and headed upstream.



We really didn't have a plan except to just paddle, fish, relax and see where we ended up. We stopped at a few sandbars as we paddled with out too much luck. The river is pretty low and was falling yesterday.







Ron explained the finer points of Pig Chasing to Hannah just in case.



She doesn't mind baiting her own hook.



Even with worms.



As it got on towards sun down the paddling became really enjoyable.



Hannah enjoying the quietness of it all.



Fishing was pretty tough, but we had a good time a caught a fish here and there.

Bait.


Small Alligator Gar (Sorry for cutting your head off Hannah.)



About a twenty pound Soft Shell Turtle.



Along about 3:30 or so it was time to break out the coffee pot and get a little caffeine.



We got back to the take out about 5:00 this morning. All and all it was a great trip, getting to hang out with my Daughter and a good friend. As always the NorthWinds performed flawlessly. Can't wait to do it again. One thing that always surprises me me is just how cool it gets during the night even after a sweltering day.

[Kayak Jack]

You guys dun god - taking Hannah.

[tx river rat]

It was hot when we started loading our boats ,but even in the heat we are starting to get
organized on our trips.
The three boats loaded and ready to go.



The river is so low we had to do some careful paddling in a couple spots where steel and concrete is right below the surface of the water ,Hanna preformed like a trooper.
Seined a little bait and out went the rods.
The wind picked up a little and coming off the water it was comfortable, I really didnt look for outstanding fishing the river was low and still dropping ,that usually turns the fish off in this area.
We started running and gunning trying different patterns ,fished several spots before we found one with some activity.
After dark we started catching a few fish gar ,had several runs on the big gar rods but just couldnt get as hook into them, Darrel finally hooked one solid



after he landed it and the pics were taken we watched it swim away.


Around four am Hanna was getting cold so we decided to call it a night and headed down river . These dang wood boats will moveeeeeeee.
Loaded up and headed in .
We saw some wildlife cranes , a ton of coons, a baby armadillo, the fishing was ok , caught catfish drum turtles fish gar and gator gar ,we had a mixed bag. As always I enjoyed paddling with Darrel and Hanna.
Ron

[oldsparkey]

Surprising how cool it can feel at night , I guess it is due to the frying , sweating , sweltering , roasting , baking and just being plain old fashion HOT during the day ..... anything feels cooler then.
I can't get over the water level , Man you guys do need some rain to bring the river back up. It's about the same around here this year.