SUP Fishing New Waters
Clint Taylor
There certainly is a lot going on as winter moves in with the holiday season and 2020 moves out. Typically, winter bass fishing in Texas is not ideal; however, you can sometimes find a good week to go. After monitoring the weather closely I realized I just might have a solid day to go fishing…so I did just that!
I had been scouting out some new water to visit for quite some time - the water looked clear, scenic, and a good location to give a test run at. Lots of satellite research on Google Earth helped me to scout out this location, and after enough research I decided this was a spot I wanted to visit.
Me and my dad loaded up our SUP and kayak and were off.
Upon arriving at the new location we saw a beautiful water formation. I’m not sure you could call it rapids, but essentially the entire stream funneled into a horseshoe shaped 1-foot waterfall. It was quite beautiful and amazing. The river we were at was quite small, but recent rains had increased the flow on the river to above average (which is still below 50 cfs). While this was a river, I’d consider it more of a stream. The water was great and the day was beautiful, but we needed to go find some fish!
I was paddling my Pau Hana Big EZ Angler with my dad using a Jackson Kayak Liska. We both started off fishing soft plastics. The water temperature was quite cold so it took us a while to find some bass that were willing to bite. We paddled further and further upstream without much luck on the fishing side of things, but we had an abundance of luck on the scenery and weather. We put down our poles for a bit once we stumbled across another neat location on the river…this time a large spring!
This spring was tucked away in the banks of the river, with water gushing down a waterfall into the river. The water was clear, cool, and very clean.
I cannot express how awesome and even breathtaking a site like this can be. Seeing such clean water coming out of the ground and flowing into a river is something that I never get tired of. It is just so neat to see this water coming from underground and into the river which me and my dad were exploring.
I could have spent a long time at this spot just taking it all in, but I had to get to fishing. After all, I came to catch some bass so I meant to do just that!
Both me and my dad continued to fish with some soft plastics (and an occasional Rooster Tail) to try and lure a bass. Eventually, we started hooking into some fish. Believe it or not…my first fish was a small sunfish I caught on my Rooster Tail. By no means was this little guy a record, but it was the first fish of the day and that definitely counts for something!
My dad hooked a nice Largemouth Bass shortly afterwards on a Rage Tail Structure Bug in a Green Pumpkin coloration. This was a solid bass and it put up a commendable fight! It was so cool to watch this bass on the end of my dad’s line as it swam through the clear waters of the Texas stream we were paddling. The light shining through the water as this bass darted one direction and then another in hopes to get off the end of my dad’s line.
This bass was not successful in escaping…but being the sportsmen we are, we let this fish go after some photos.
We continued to push onward, paddling further and further upstream. As with most Texas rivers that are spring fed, the further upstream we went the clearer the water.
We decided to take a quick break from the fishing and eat some lunch…while throwing a few Rooster Tails in the water here and there. Before I could sit down to eat I had to make a few more casts, and they were rewarding! I caught a solid Largemouth Bass just downstream of some rapids nearby where our lunch spot was. While this bass was just a little over a pound, it was such a blast catching it on a light action spinning rod with my Rooster Tail.
After releasing this bass it was time to eat.
We had quite an array today - chicken tenders, fruit snacks, granola bars, Topo Chico, and some chocolate chip cookies for dessert. AND…a Dr. Pepper each for when we got back to the car. All of this was stored in my Engel 19 Qt. dry box.
I know I’ve mentioned this dry box from Engel quite a bit…but it really is the perfect day trip cooler for fishing - especially SUP fishing. I can use it to store food and drinks, sit on, and even hold my fishing rods thanks to the integrated rod holders. It really is a great item to have, and you don’t have to break the bank in order to get one either.
Enough about equipment though, it was time to hit the water once again.
After packing up our trash (which you should always do), we hopped back on our SUP and kayak and switched directions to begin our float back to our put in location.
Paddling my Pau Hana Endurance through the clear waters was amazing. The trees were turning colors, the water was glistening, and my Bending Branches Amp smoothly and effortlessly helped me glide on top of the water.
As I paddled downstream I came across some good cover that looked like it could hold some nice bass. It was time to send in my Rage Tail Structure Bug.
I had my Structure Bug Texas Rigged on my medium-heavy bait casting setup that was spooled with 30lb Power Pro braided line. I flipped my Texas Rig in and around the cover quite a bit, but no bites. I moved further downstream and casted a few more times. On one cast I noticed that my line ever so slightly began to move to the right…so I set the hook and caught a good bass!
This bass was very subtle, but I was able to feel and see it just enough to get a good hook set. I was very impressed with how hard this bass fought considering it was right around 1.5 pounds. I would have thought it was 3 or 4 from it’s fight though.
After releasing this bass me and my dad moved further downstream. We caught several small fish here and there, but nothing too big. I was able to land a small Guadalupe Bass on a Structure Bug, and man did he fight hard. Guadalupe Bass have so much fight in them it is incredible. They also have a very neat pattern and coloration as well.
I had one last fish to catch before we packed up for the day…and it would just happen to be the best fish of the day for me. I caught a nice 2 lb. Largemouth Bass near some structure with a Rage Tail Structure Bug on my baitcasting setup. It was a super healthy fish and fought great for its size. This was the perfect fish to end the day on!
We had a blast on this trip and getting out on the water was great. As we paddled back to my 4Runner I couldn’t help but notice just how peaceful and calming nature can be. The sound of the water, the wind rustling through the trees. Leaves slowing falling from tree branches. Large boulders sticking out of the water all throughout. It was very beautiful and a great trip.
I think this trip just goes to show that there are so many different areas to go fishing at. Sometimes it takes research, and sometimes it takes a lot of portaging. At the end of the day, me and my dad were able to find a new, beautiful location and caught some fun fish and spent time together. You can’t beat that!