All about decisions - The D'Arbonne experience.

Had the weekend free for the 1st time in a while so I decided to hit a lake I have been trying to fish for over a year.  Lake D'Arbonne, a well known crappie lake in NELA.  No rest as usual the night before, up early and out the door before 5am.  Made the hour drive from my house and arrived at the state park before dawn.  Nothing like watching the sunrise at the boat launch.

Sunrise at the launch

I love hunting season b/c there isn't much boat traffic.  Fall is a great time to be a yak angler.  Parking was a breeze, as expected the lot was empty...hardest decision was trying to predict which tree would keep shade on my black truck the longest...failed!!

Bait at the surface = swimbait action

It was a chilly start to the morning.  The temp on Friday morning was 75f, but thanks to a cold front, dropped to 48f over night.  Which highlighted my 1st questionable decision...wearing shorts and flip-flops...it was a little frigid for an hour.  I pushed off the bank and water splashed through my scupper holes and soaked my bare feet, AWESOME!!  The water temp wasn't the problem, it was like bath water compared to the air temp...but having wet feet wasn't fun. Standing in a yak with numb feet isn't the easiest.  Add in some rolling fog along the water to confuse my equilibrium...and you have a wobbly leg fool standing (2nd questionable decision) in a yak trying his best to stay in the yak.  When I realized I was more focused on balancing than fishing...I sat down.  Which ended up being a good decision b/c I began to notice how fishy the lake looked.  I was getting excited to fish.

I made my 3rd questionable decision of the morning when I decided to head SW towards a major creek.  I didn't know it at the time but the water was much clearer towards the main lake.  I caught a small bass early and nothing for an hour.  Kept heading the same direction and the water got muddier.  Finally decided at 10am to cross the lake and head back.

A local that came to introduce himself.  Nice to meet you too.  Go get bigger, plz!

Got another good thump on a swimbait and caught a catfish.  Seems like the last few trips I've gotten good at catching catfish while I'm bass fishing.  SO, to curtail this behavior, I'm putting it in writing...I'm bringing a stringer for all you catfish that eat my bass baits.  No more CPR of cats.    

Attached a note to him that said, "catfish taste delicious"

On the way back to the state park the wind picked up and I picked up another small bass on the swimbait.

I found a nice lily pad field in about 7 fow and had a good fish on but lost him in the pads.  That wasn't fun but it was encouraging to find some good cover and get a solid thump.  But it didn't change the afternoon for me.  Found lots of fishylookn places with no fish.  Even these guys seemed to be struggling.

See'n any fish dude?

Lots of fishy lookn spots.

The water visibility was much better after I passed the state park.  I wish I had gone that direction in the beginning.  I had 1 more good hit.  I found a grass covered flat and started working the valleys with a big ole worm.  After about 10 min's of dredging with the worm I pulled into something that felt like more grass....NOPE...got a tug back...set the hook.  And this is how my last fish was lost.  Set hook and fish on...tried to pull him out of the grass but ended up pulling my yak to him.  He was buried deep I could see a tail about 3 feet below the surface...and no matter what I did I couldn't get him free.  I leaned way over the side of the cuda.  To the point where, I knew I was a gust of wind from being in the water with the fish.  It wasn't too deep only 7 fow and I thought about going in after the fish.  But decided that wasn't a great idea...I had made enough questionable decisions today...plus I wasn't sure how big he was.  If he'd been over 6 lbs...I'd be wishing I had packed a change of clothes and a towel.  But not happening today and the fish broke off a few minutes later.

Lots of fishy lookn spots!!

That was when I decided to end the day with a good decision...so I pack it up and head to Monroe to join the family for an early dinner and a cold one to help me think about the decisions I had made.  Over all it was a great trip.  I gained some valuable experience and developed a plan for next time.  At the end of the day I got to fish and spend time with my family...the best decision I made all day!!!  Till next time.

Few hours to kill

Someday's you just got to get out.  Today was that day for me.  Lucky for me I keep my yak locked on the rack at all times...for all those last minute trips.  Didn't plan on being gone for very long so I took the 8wt and a few streamers.  But was surprised to catch a couple bass...only 1 was worth a picture...sort of.

I did notice that all kinds of creatures are on the move...some friendly some not so much.

He looks friendly ?

Not so much - unhappy cottonmouth!

There were 2 of them sitting on the log in the water.  He was just hang'n out.

One more reptile before I headed home.

Wild things are moving about...watch your step if you are on the move too!!  Another adventure is in the works, stay tuned!!

Felsenthal Water Trail

Had a few hours today, Friday, so I decided to try the water trail access at Shallow Lake.  It's about 30 additional minutes from my house and having never been I wasn't familiar with the area or specifically the fishing.  But, the only way to learn is to get out and get paddling.

Signs always help!

Found the sign but didn't really follow the suggested path.  It headed North and I followed that general direction but I was mostly lookn for fishy places to wet a line.  Found a few, and caught a few bass.

The area is changing from Summer to Fall.  Temps are lower, 65 this morning at the ramp, and leaves are beginning to change colors.

The refuges inhabitants are becoming more active...saw a few turkeys, 2 deer, and the bass are starting to school up...caught this one and had 3 follow it back to the yak.  If I had been fishing anything with more hooks I would have had a double on the same bait...haven't done that since I was a kid.

Only had a few hours to fish but I managed 3 and lost 2 so not bad for 3 hours of fishing.  I'll be back to really test the fishing shortly, it seemed to have a ton of possibilities, deep water, pads, and cypress.

Part of the water trail

Entrance to Fishtrap lake part of the water trail

Hut with a view 

When I got home I did a little more research and found this, with maps of 2 water trails:

Friends-of-Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge FB page

Looks like I have some more exploring to do....Felsenthal is a yaker's playground.

Bows and Bro's, Little Red River adventure

Family had big plans in central AR this weekend, so I was "forced" to take my BnL fishing Saturday, life is tough sometimes. Thanks to the hospitality of a FB friend we were given access to a private launch spot on the Little Red River.  So we planned to meet at 4:30, load his ride 115x on my truck, and drive to a location on the river neither of us had ever seen.  With 4 hours of sleep I was up at 4 am and ready to go.  Made a cup of coffee and went outside to load up....about 5 mins later my BnL arrives about 25 mins early...everyone knows I can't sleep the night before a fishing trip.  So SOP is, if your up early, head on over b/c I'll be up too!!  We load up and hit the road early with excitement in the air and a little bit of nervousness about the destination.  We arrived at 5:40 am to the address we were given and both were glad to see some of the landmarks we had been told about actually existed...so at least the location was real.

Parked and started looking for the trail to the river.  Walking around on someone else's property in the early morning hours might seem crazy, but not to the fish obsessed.  We found a trail and started our journey to the river.  After 5 mins of walking, the trail became a dry creek bed...we kept on for another 10 mins before we decided that, if this was the trail, it led to really bad things.  Not wanting to meet whatever was waiting for us in the dark, at the end of the dry creek bed, we scaled a 10ft embankment...quickly!!  At the top we found "another trail"...with a big sign/picture of a fish that read, "River" and an arrow...awesome, that helps!!  At this point we're feeling pretty good, we've managed to not get shot, lost, or murdered (HUGE plus) and we've found the river.  All we had to do was carry our fully loaded kayaks down a smallish mountain.  Let's fish!!!  We found a little pedestrian bridge over a creek and decided this was the spot...dropped the yaks in the creek and made our way to the river.  1st part of this adventure is a success...we're on the river, alive and fishing.

Time to break in the new TFO I got this week.  Made my way to the far side of the river and ditched the yak in favor of some wet wading.  About 10 mins in and fish on!!  Nice start to the morning, 1st bow I've held since June.  

TFO and a bow.  Note: making a "bow" in the hatch strap causes less snags.

Quick photo and released.  Saw a few fish rising up river so I slowly walked that direction.  Made a presentation and got a take.  2 fish in 20 mins!!  Day is looking good.  Checked on my BnL, it had been several years since he fly fished.  It looked like he had knocked the rust off, so I decided to paddle a little further up river and see if I could put a good bend in that new TFO.  Got a few more takes but no hook-ups.  Not long after I hear BnL hollering from down river and he's hooked-up...he was pretty stoked about his 1st bow!  It had been several years since he held a trout.

The sun came up and the boats came out...not long after...the bite slowed way down.  We had landed 10-15 bows in 3 hours, but from 10-12 it wasn't happening for us.  I tried nymphs, hoppers, small streamers, everything I had in my limited trout arsenal but all I got was good experience tying knots and changing leaders.  We had drifted over a mile and had to paddle up river to get back to the start.  We decided now was a good time to make wake.

Along the way the river got calm, the boaters must have caught their limits and went home.  The trout came back out and we began to see them in the river.  BnL sight fished 5 bows at the halfway point, all while I was tying a bugger on...I though about ramming him with my kayak but I almost had my knot tied (those that fly fish understand).  He had a good spell that lasted the entire paddle back.  We made it to a shoal that I had success at earlier with a sow bug, so I beached the yak and worked the far bank.   It didn't happen fast but I managed to pull 4 out of that shoal and had 3 shake off.

We paddled up river a mile and drifted back, repeating this drift a few times, pulling in several more bows.  Final total, ~50 bows between the 2 of us but no browns.  No real big ones, ranged from 10-14 inches.  Both lost our biggest on weak sets.  Coolest part of the trip; having a bald eagle fly over us, it was close enough I think I could have touched it with my fly rod.  Interesting catch; a small bow with a deep gash, perfect beak shape, behind the head...released it thinking it would just turn upside down.  Saw it 30 min later about 1/2 a mile down river...could see the white and red gash on his head.

I suspect one of these tried to snack on that bow.

It ended like it began, the fog started to set the sun faded, and we were left with that anxious feeling we had at the start.  We had to make our way back to the truck and hope we hadn't trespassed or have an angry homeowner waiting for us.  Paddled to the creek we started at and found it empty...the water had dropped a foot since we started.  So we waded through the mud to the bridge and carried our fully loaded yaks up the smallish mountain.  Got back to my truck and found nothing...not a sole around.  Got a call from the FB friend that he'd be home shortly...so we waited and met someone with the same addiction we have...love of kayaking!!  That's why I love yaking, it's a great sport filled with great people, similar people with similar interest.  2nd part of the adventure completed, not end up in jail...or worse!

 

For all the good days there must also be some bad days...truth be told.

Keeping it real...not all trips are worthy of a post...today was one of those days.  Covered 6 miles of water today with the 8wt.  Not much to show for it except a catfish, gar, and 1 small bass.  Today was mostly an exploration as I ventured out further than I have in the past.  Can't say that I liked what I found, fish wise.  Mostly really shallow flats...less than 3 fow in most places and about the same in visibility.

Gar on the fly.

Started with a popper and had a huge carp take a swipe at it...but only at the feathers...so no hook up.  Switched to bait fish patterns and stayed with that the rest of the day.

Catfish on the fly

Bass on the fly

At the end of the day I came across a school of carp feeding on the surface and tried a small popper but this time they weren't interested, go figure.  Not every trip can be epic.

School of carp, you can see their heads above the surface.

Been on the watch for ducks, none spotted.  I did run across this decoy today.  Going to give it to my BnL.  The fish didn't respond like I would have liked, but slinging feathers is always fun.  Lookn forward to fishing the new TFO 5wt that arrived today.  Some cold water trout may be in my near future.

Track if interested: use the satellite view for accurate depiction of refuge.
9/16 Track