Building a Kayak Storage System

Between Cody and me, we have three kayaks and one canoe.  Storing all this outdoor gear is not an easy task; however, the canoe and the Wilderness Kayak are stored and off the ground, so this is storage for two Native Slayer Propels--Lizard Lick is a 10 and Gator Bait is a 13.  After visiting Fishing Tackle Unlimited in Houston on 6 February 2016, we decided how they store their kayaks on the floor was a viable means for us, too.  We set out to Lowe's to acquire our needed materials and headed home.

Materials:
8--1½" diameter, 10 foot long PVC Pipe
16--1½" diameter elbows--take the time to make sure each elbow's opening fits on the pvc pipe.  We found two that were not good fits.
1 package of 4 fluid ounces of Oatey PVC Pipe Primer (purple) and CPVC Cement (orange)
4--3/8" diameter, 4½" long Standard Hex Bolts
8--3/8" diameter, 1¼" Zinc-plated Standard Fender Washers
4--3/8" diameter Standard Split Lock Washers
4--3/8" diameter Zinc-plated Standard Hex Nuts
4 --2" x 14' Ratcheting Tie Down Straps (we already had these and this was their measurements; you can go shorter in length)

Instructions:

• Measure four of the PVC pipes and mark their center points.
• Cut these four PVC pipes in half.  They will be your cradle arms.
• On a new, uncut PVC pipe, measure 32 inches from the end towards the middle of the pipe, and mark this measurement.  Cut the pipe.  Again, measure 32 inches on the same PVC pipe beginning at the opposite end and working towards the center of the pipe, and mark this measurement.  Cut the pipe.  You should now have two pieces from one PVC pipe.  They will be your cross legs. Repeat this step three more times.

When you finish, you should have 16 pieces of pipe:  8 5-foot sections and 8 32-inch sections.

• Measure each one of the 8 32-inch sections to find and mark their center point.
• Using a drill press and a 3/8-inch bit, drill a hole at the marked center point.  Take care to clamp the pipe to the platen so the pipe will not roll once the bit begins to drill the hole.

Assemblage:

We found the ground the best surface to assemble the frame, because it provided a relatively flat surface on which to work and guide us.  This adhesive drys VERY quickly.  Avoid "screwing" or "twisting" the pipe into the elbows; instead, slide the pipe into the elbows pushing at opposite ends against one another while keeping the pipe flat on the ground.  Purple primer both ends first (elbow opening and 5 foot pipe end), then orange cement over the purple primer, and insert the pipe.

• Glue four elbows onto four individual 5-foot pipe sections, ensuring as you are gluing that the pipes and elbows are flat on the ground.  
• Set two pipes aside for later use.
• Layout a rectangle using the two pipes on which you just glued the elbows where the elbows are opposite one another, two 32-inch pipes also opposite one another, and two more elbows. Insert the hex bolts in their holes in the 32-inch pipe so that the bolts help you keep the pipe aligned properly during gluing (bolts should be parallel to the ground).
• Glue a 32-inch pipe into an already glued elbow.
• Glue an elbow onto the 32-inch pipe.
• Glue the 5-foot pipe section into the elbow.  The other end of the pipe will have an elbow already glued on it, and this elbow will help stabilize the frame to keep it from rolling. Remember, keep the pipe flat on the ground when you are inserting it into the elbows.
• Glue the second 32-inch pipe into the previously glued elbow.
• Glue the elbow onto that 32-inch pipe.
• Finally, glue the first 5-foot pipe into the last elbow.

Repeat all the steps to make a second rectangle, BUT the last step highlighted in aqua.  DO NOT DO THIS STEP!!  (If you do, you will not be able to assemble the two rectangles together.

• Hold the completed frame.   
• Remove one of the hex bolts.  The leg that has the hex bolt will be the outside leg on one end; the leg's opposite side counterpart will be the inside leg.  
• Slide the unglued frame over the glued frame so that the unglued piece will be up top.  Slide the leg onto the bolt.
• At the opposite end, insert the hex bolt.  The configuration is:  Hex Bolt, Fender Washer, pvc pipe, pvc pipe, Fender Washer, Split Lock Washer, Hex Nut.
• Add one of the ratchet straps across at the completed end.
• Now glue the last remaining piece, the cradle arm, into the elbow.
• Add the second ratchet strap.
• The heavier the kayak, the closer you want the straps at the legs and away from the center of the pvc pipe.

Now you should have a kayak stand.

Lizard Lick Native Slayer Propel 10

Gator Bait Native Slayer Propel 13

Our kayak dimensions are:

With trial-and-error, it took us approximately five hours to complete the project.  Hopefully, this blueprint will eliminate about two hours from your completion.  This is a two-man job!

Lake Springfield 2016

Park map; Lake Springfield is circled in blue

     TPWD stocks Rainbow Trout throughout Texas during the winter months.  I don't often chase the Rainbow stockers, but when I do, I chose to fish Lake Springfield at Fort Parker State Park.  I annually blog about it, around this time of year.  Though we come only in February and March, the park staff remember that we come to fly fish.  I love this state park for many of its treasures, but Lake Springfield is my favorite.
     Fort Parker receives 1,000 trout the last Saturday of January and holds a Trout Fishing Clinic where they teach kids how to fish.  This year they had around 200 kids and landed about 75 trout.  After Ranger Fisher shared that bit of good news, I figured the park would be crowded with about six or seven anglers fishing from the limited west shoreline.  I was genuinely surprised when I arrived at the trail head to discover I would have the five acre lake all to myself.  Be careful of your wishes!
     When I reached the lake, I knew why I had it to myself.  While the water level is the highest I have ever seen, it is in terrible condition due to some kind of algae and early duckweed.

South shore--normally teeming with Largemouth Bass

     What was a five acre fishing spot has been reduced to about two acres. This has been the most segregated fishing site I have ever fished.  In years past, without fail, Rainbow Trout stay at the much cooler west end; Sunfish species stay at the north end and spawn at the east end; Largemouth Bass stay at the stumpy south end.  I navigated as best I could and cast the CodyBugger to areas that used to hold fish.  With the high water levels, a spring could be seen bubbling just to the east of the white PVC pipe, and in that area, the algae growth is somewhat abated.  It is quite shallow, as when my top water fly landed, about a dozen tadpoles jumped out of the water.
      Usually, the bottom is visible, but not with the water levels as they are; however, the water is still quite clear.  Curious, I put my waterproof camera on a weighted selfie stick, and began searching for fish.  The density of the growth has pushed the fish towards the middle of the lake.  I saw no turtles--with the camera or ascending for air.  There are a total of three bird nests in the trees surrounding the lake--two to the southeast and one in the west--the least number of nests I have personally seen.  I counted three buzzards flying overhead, where in years past they have flown overhead in groups of six or more, even strafing us at times, observed from the trees, observed from the ground, but they just aren't present.  The bird box at the east end of the lake is inaccessible by float tube, and there were no Herons present along the shore.  Mounds of green algae were piled beside the overflow gate where an almost futile effort has been made to keep the grate clear.  Green and brown algae were caked all over the grates.

About the middle of the lake from east to west--looking eastward

     I returned to the west end and continued to catch trout--landed four 12-inchers, three on the CodyBugger and one on a size 18 Goddard Caddis.  With the sun setting below the west berm, I called aloud, "Last cast."  I had tied on a size 20 mosquito, as the calming winds and mosquito hatch were quite prevalent.  About 12 feet from my float tube, BAM!  FishOn!  The Rainbows had been hitting the flies really aggressively and hard, so I thought I had my limit.  Low-and-behold, it wasn't a Rainbow; I had the most beautiful Bluegill with spawning colors take a topwater fly!  The light was poor and my photo doesn't even begin to do it justice, but it was The picture-perfect Bluegill, and he was caught in the cooler west end--a first for me.  As I was releasing him, I looked to the southwest, along the last area of fishable shoreline, and along the algae line, a 2.5 - 3 pound Largemouth crashed the water chasing mosquitoes.  Typically, a larger fish won't chase the small flies, especially in colder water, but this guy did.  That tells me his diet has been affected.  The density of this algae is choking out the oxygen and affecting a number of species.  The Duckweed comes and goes, but this brownish-reddish mess has got to go if this little lake is going to thrive.

Only Sunfish of the day

Doc's got the Cure

In late September, Cody and I spent a week in Colorado and New Mexico fishing and exploring.  I finally found our New Mexico pictures.  One of the New Mexico days we spent fishing skinny, moving water for Brown Trout with Doc Thompson.  We enjoy Doc's watering holes, instruction, and friendship, not to mention, he packs a great lunch.  We cast small rods, 1 and 2 weights, and while our fish weren't large, our catches were frequent and technical.  We had plenty of opportunities to read the riffles, bends, and pockets to entice those beautiful Browns to take our flies.  It was a stretch of the Cimarron River which we had never fished, and the views, including those without fish, were just as beautiful.

Dream Stream

Cody fishing one of the many cut banks

Trophy Brown for the day

A fingerling Brown

Kramer

Cody and I won the Dallas Fly Fishers' South Platte Fly Shop trip in the April auction, so we booked our trip with them during my week off between my college semesters.  My very first fish on the fly was on the South Platte River south of Breckenridge, so I was hoping that this was going to be an action-filled, commemorative trip.  Brandon Kramer, known as Kramer, took us to the "Dream Stream," which is the section of the South Platte River between Spinney and Elevenmile Reservoirs in South Park.  While it is a beautiful area, it is highly pressured, and at this time of the year--the pre-Brown Trout spawn and run--the fishing is tough.  Fishing along the middle and upper sections, we saw and cast to 20" trout, but they've seen so many flies, that they just slide out of the way of the nymphs drifting by and then resume their holding spot.  We didn't mind the hiking, and we enjoyed hitting the spots and moving upstream, but in conversing with other anglers, nobody seemed to be catching anything but beautiful and healthy fingerlings.  While not combat fishing, think the Yellowstone River on opening day, it was not a solitary experience, either.  We appreciated how hard Kramer worked, but we just wished Cody's 10" Brown Trout on his second cast of the day was not the trophy fish of the trip.

An old homestead along the South Platte; the old stove was still in the light-colored building

Happy people

Fishing with Jerry

Jerry Hamon, President of the Mariner Sails Kayak Fishing Club and member of the Native Watercraft Pro Staff, guided a small get-together of the Texas Women Fly Fishers on a morning kayak trip.  Cody and I chose to spend the night a recently opened campground to make a little adventure of the trip.  We met up, loaded up, and headed on down the river.  We casted deer hair and topwater flies to eager Largemouth Bass swimming in shade-covered, clear water.  We switched to chartreuse and white Clousers and rust-colored Red Asses to land beautiful Stripers, Crappie, Sunfish, and a Gasper Goo.  We watched a young, juvenile Bald Eagle watching us.  All-in-all, it was a great morning, most especially, because we finally got to fish with our friend, Jerry.

Jerry Hamon

Les Jackson

Gator Bait & Lizard Lick

Regim Maris

If the lion is the undisputed "King of the Jungle," then, the Tarpon has to be the undisputed "King of the Sea!"

Traveling to Cuba's Jardines De La Reina, Tarpon was a highly targeted species for Tailwaters' 11 fishing guests aboard the Avalon II and certainly the favored species among her guides.  For several of us, this beastly king was an accomplishment for our species bucket list, too. Fly fisherman Camilo regaled us with his first landed Tarpon on Thursday 25 June 2015.

On Monday of that week, Bill and Will Seals and Cody and I fished for the Kings of the Sea from the same, deep-water hole. Being the courteous and respectful friends that we are, we each took turns. Bill first, me second, Will third, Cody fourth, and then, we repeated the sharing again exactly as in the first time.  Those sea beasts were strong and beautiful.

Bill Jumps and Lands Tarpon #1

As I had done on the first and only Tarpon I had ever hooked previously (April 2010), I again forgot to pay homage to the king, and so, my second  hooked Tarpon slid over into the "Jumped" category. However, Keko was an excellent and patient guide, and not too much time elapsed before I had my third-ever hook-up with this might warrior.  This time, I paid my respects, and I was allowed to land this Tarpon and two more Tuesday 21 June 2015.  They are exhausting creatures with which to do battle, and so I had to resign myself that three landed kings were all I could muster.

My First "Landed" Tarpon

Will Bows and Lands Tarpon #3

Cody Lands Tarpon #4, a PB, as Keko Looks On

My 2nd Landed Tarpon

Cody's 2nd Landed Tarpon of the Day

My 3rd Tarpon of the Day

One of Cody's Five Jumped Wednesday Tarpon

On Wednesday, Keko again put us on Tarpon.  Cody masterfully jumped five Tarpon that morning; two were on back-to-back, long and perfect casts.  As graceful as Cody's bow was, creating slack in his line, those stubborn Kings battled and won the jousts that day.

My 4th Tarpon of the Trip

As others had done, I decided I wanted to catch Tarpon on the flats, so Keko tied on a beautiful purple and pink Tarpon Toad, spotted one Tarpon chasing sardines, and told me to cast at the 11:30 position.  It wasn't long before that 10# TFO TiCrX bent double.  It took a little longer to land this Tarpon, but landed it was.

In the afternoon, Cody decided to experiment with angle shots using his new GoPro Hero 4, and so he laid down on the bow in front of me and videoed and photographed my last Tarpon from beginning to end.  It was also my personal best, weighing a little more than 40 pounds and fighting for almost 25 minutes.  I was grateful for the 12# and calmer waters than Tuesday.  All-in-all, it was the Tarpon trip of a lifetime, as I jumped eight Tarpon and landed five of them.

My 5th and Final PB Tarpon

Cuban Bonefishing

We came to fish for Cuba's southern shore Grand Slam--a Bonefish, a Tarpon, and a Permit.   My best three chances for Permit were the first day, (first cast, no less), the third day, and the last. Cody's best chances for Permit were also the third day, where they actively nosed on our fly and followed it, on more than one occasion, before deciding, "an Avalon Fly, meh--why bother?"and turned off quickly. I won't build any anticipation; no one caught any Permit, but we chased them.

As the first and last days of the trip are spent boating five hours
from-and-to the port town of Jucaro, fishing those days are half-days.  So our first day was an evening spent Bonefishing on some of the calmest flats I have ever experienced.  Tailwaters' original logo sported a freshwater trout and tailing Bonefish.  Until 20 June 2015, I had never seen tailing Bones as depicted on their first brand; it was something to see.

The Bonefish were everywhere--solo, clusters of four and five, large schools--just milling about for those small crustaceans.  Keko (pronounced KAY-kō), our guide for the trip, selected a tan patterned Gotcha, and it was BonefishOn! for two hours.  We got our sea legs, our casting, our sighting set for the trip that first evening, which helped establish what would be some great fishing.

Two days, we caught Bonefish early, so we could move on to the Tarpon and Permit for the 

Grand Slam.  I also wanted to catch a small Lemon Shark, about 3 feet/1 meter, and Barracuda.  The Bonefish splash and make such long runs, that they attract sharks and 'cudas quite often.  So, some mornings, we caught Bones to tease in their predators (none were ever sacrificed or hurt).  Other mornings, we caught Bones just to catch Bones--on the flats, in the mangroves, incoming tides, outgoing tides, we just caught beautiful Bonefish.

I haven't been to Los Roques, Venezuela for Bonefishing, but I have been to Belize and Hawai'i, and I think that the Cuban Bonefish are some of the Western Hemisphere's best Bonefish.