This is the account of the greatest, wildest & wettest trip that i have ever been on. All of us Know about the weather that moved through North Texas last Saturday morning. The smart one had cancelled their plans and were sawing logs to boom of thunder and the pater of rain on the window, some of my favorite sleeping conditions. I however, was outside loading gear and getting ready for an epic trip to southeast Texas and Lake Naconiche. The great thing about kayak fishing is you can always find someone as eager as you to make the trip and keep you company through the storm and long drive.
Jason and I pulled out of the driveway at 3:45 A.M. and all was well until we hit the biblical proportion of rain just outside of Dallas. This isn’t the type of rain where it is hard for a moment then lets you through. This rain was white knuckle, hydroplaning bad stuff. We eventually make it to the cut off west of Longview and that’s were the rain lightens up and we cruise to the lake with only the biggest of bass on our mind. As with any great road and not being familiar with the route we make a couple of wrong turns and have to do some back tracking to get back on the course. You have to watch those east Texas signs carefully sometimes they will point you in the wrong direction. Luckily for me I had Jason with me and he understands directions and schedules as he controls 45% of the free worlds railroad traffic. So with his instruction and choice words we make it to the lake.
It’s a miracle! The lake was calm and no sign of rain and we knew that this could be a magical day. Well, the rain and magic held off as the front blew in on us and soaked us for about four and a half hours. The cool thing was the action was steady enough and we caught enough quality fish to keep us from being miserable. The lake had changed over the last two years much like the weather of the day. When the lake opened it was a trophy bass lake and the stories of double digit after double digit were told. Today the DD’s are hard to come by and according to locals once they are caught they are either trucked off to farm ponds or dinner tables. One thing that hadn’t changed was the scenery and the timber. If you like pitching timber than this lake is for you. It’s 92.5% standing timber with a lay down at every turn. I have a tough time deciding where to cast because it all looks so rich. The action stayed steady and the conversation remained fresh, the rain came and went so we ended up putting a solid eleven hours on the water. Learning about the lake, cracking jokes and trying to call the the ten pounders when we couldn’t keeps the two’s off the line.
After the long grind and extreme conditions of the day Jason and I headed back to the launch for the load up and the long drive home. No big road trip is ever complete without the Whataburger double cheese with onion rings and a massive chocolate shake. That is our perscription for a recovery meal after living on dried mangos and beef jerky all day. If you want to have a great time catching a ton of fish and you have a day to kill grab a fishing buddy and head down to Lake Naconiche. How knows you may just find the ten pounder and have an excellent adventure. Good friends make it easy to kayak fish so thanks Jason O. & KJ for the outstanding time.