Tuesday, December 1, 2015

What a week

It was a crazy fun week.  The girls were out of school for the week of Thanksgiving so I wasn't able to fish much.  Instead, I took them to the "Refuge" a few times in the canoe.



I started the trip explaining to them if they saw something that can fly, swim, run, or magically disappear and they wanted to see it for more than 1 second.  The best strategy was to whisper and point it out slowly.  I further mentioned that the creatures in the "Refuge" are terribly afraid of children...aren't we all!




Play time in the swamp. I checked the area before I let them out of the canoe.



 As we're paddling?  Not really, what we were doing was slapping the water and banging the sides of the canoe with our paddles.   But were covering water and sure enough, I see a beaver sitting on top of its floating fortress.  Surprised to see anything, I didn't react quickly enough.  Just as I was about to whisper and point it out.  The silence was broken by the excited voices of my 2 little girls, "dad, it's a beaver."  The beaver, startled and confused, freaked at the sight of a 17' canoe that was bearing down on it and went away real fast.



Astonishingly, we didn't have any more close encounters as we explored the backwaters.  From a distance we saw lots water fowl, turtles, and whatever else brave enough to not run for cover as the kids screamed in delight at every natural wonder that spotted.  It really was fun.




In the middle of the week I got the invite to fish the Little Red and travel to Grand Isle, LA.  The Grand Isle trip got dismissed really quickly as my wife said something like, if you don't understand why you can't be in Grand Isle on Thanksgiving day, then we don't have anything to talk about.  I lost my decoder ring (wedding ring) like 3 years ago, so I wasn't exactly sure what she meant.  What I heard was..."I'll cut you if you're not home on Thanksgiving."




I thought about it for a few days (seriously-I'm not that bright) and eventually decided fishing the LRR during a flash flood warning was a safer alternative.  In spite of the constant rain and cool temperatures it was a stellar day...perfect streamer weather!  Not many pictures taken b/c I was busy throwing streamers to hungry trees and a few browns.  Of course my cousin sends me this picture on Friday with the caption, "Sunny and 80."




It wasn't sunny and 80 in Heber Springs but I wouldn't have traded the day.  I was with good friends and the fishing didn't suck.  I even enjoyed the weather but that's just me.  




I ended my last post mentioning some good news I wanted to share.  I'm excited to announce I teamed up with FROSCH Outdoor Travel (FOT) to develop a network of kayak related travel destinations.  Being on the water (canoes, boats, kayaks, the Navy, etc) has been a passion since I was a boy and I'm thrilled to be part of the FROSCH team.

FOT, “FROSCH sees kayak fishing and competitive tournaments in the kayak area growing rapidly, and we wanted to address the interest of our travelers and fan base. Drew was the perfect choice to help us design a program that would tick all of the boxes in the kayak world. We couldn’t do it without Ross organizing and assisting with logistics. He has been instrumental in picking the right waters, destinations and seasons for our 2016 launch calendar”.  



12 comments:

  1. Congratulations Drew. I think you're sure to be a success. Good job with the kiddos as well. You've got more patience than I have. I lost my decoder ring to. It does seem to make one dumber.

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    1. Thx Howard. Funny story about the decoder ring. Seems my wife and I disagree on if it was lost or thrown away. I was in GI cleaning redfish and I went to throw the leftovers into the water when my ring flew off...into the water. Obviously it was lost, unless you're my wife.."thrown away." I miss that ring and it's deciphering ability!

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  2. Success indeed, and in many ways.

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    1. Thx, I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to connect with more people that share this passion.

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  3. I always forget where you're fishing. When you mentioned that you checked the area before your girls got out, I was thinking....why...but then it hit me. You've got to worry about gators down there.

    That is some time well spent with your girls, as they discover the great outdoors, and try to be quiet ha. Sounds like a fun game, and I will keep that in mind when I have little ones of my own.

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    1. We have some small gators but it's the snakes I was really worried about. We have a bunch of cottonmouths and they love the cypress knees. They are getting to the age we'll be able to spend many hours out paddling and exploring. It was a blast and I can't wait to do it again. I'll have to get them into kayaks soon...that 17 ft kayak is about 85 lbs. A load to load alone!

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  4. Great report and congrats. You're always a winner when you take the girls out to experience nature!

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    1. Thx Kevin, it was a great day and one I hope to repeat often.

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  5. Drew
    First off congrats on the Frosch Kayak award, second it always a plus when you can get the young one outdoors and explore, especially in a cypress swamp. Unreal how many cypress knees are in this place. thanks for sharing

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