Indeed it was an outstanding trip to the flats of Texas. But I love it all. I could not wait to get back on the Wisconsin smallies and I didn’t delay. After a couple days catching up on things, Granny and I headed out on a three day two night float trip with Bob and Jana Butler in search of a few nice smallies, perhaps some redhorse and excellent camping and food.
This was a casual trip. Granny can get it done behind the rod but on a three day trip, she’s gonna pace herself. We did a lot of sightseeing as we floated. We enjoyed the birds, the wildlife and the scenery. We rolled into our camps early both nights and it was a fantastic, restful trip.
The fishing wasn’t bad. All four of us caught a heap of smallies. Only one was big. Bob landed a fish that was 18”. For the most part, the smallies were in that 8-12” range with a few pushing 14” like the one Granny has here. The way they smash a fly under logs and rocks next to the bank is an experience. I think everyone was very pleased with the action overall.
The first day of our trip the weather was gorgeous. We didn’t launch till mid-day and it was in the upper 70°s without a cloud in the sky. When we got to camp we kicked back. I had a couple beers and the others made their own concoctions. We fired up the grill and enjoyed exactly what we planned, good food and fun!
On Wednesday I had plans to drop anchor and fish a few hours for redhorse. Redhorse are the suckers of this region and there are six different species. Last year I added the Silver and the River redhorse to my fly rod species list. They were hard to catch but very rewarding with their fight and beauty once I got into them. What I loved most about chasing them was that its 100% sight fishing. Unfortunately rain moved in Wednesday and I couldn’t see well enough. Then today it was too windy and overcast to see much. We did more kicking back trying to stay dry than fishing and I’m afraid the redhorse will have to wait.
In fact, we had a good amount of rain. It started on us around 2 PM on Wednesday and though Mother Nature was nice enough to let up for dinner, the rain came down steady most the afternoon and overnight. Luckily, the moisture stopped by morning and we pushed off in sunshine. But there’s nothing like a wet tent and everything else to go with on a camping trip!
Hands down, one of the highlights was Granny putting on her cooking show from the bow of my boat. I fired up the grill and she made us hamburgers better than the ones you got at the old Billy Burgers in Jackson Hole. Obviously I was drooling to get my hands on mine!
We wrapped up the fantastic float trip midafternoon today. We caught more smallies and also saw several 6ft long lake sturgeon and a couple of muskies. It was a great day to end on. Time for me to take a fishing break to rest the shoulder and get some stuff done at home. All part of life!
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