8 Ways To Rekindle Your Flame For The Outdoors

Photo: Chris Carson

This morning while I was working on tuning my bow, I had a few random thoughts that are worth exploring. I'm sure I have touched on this subject before, but as I continue to age and consider these things, I find different perspectives.  

To me, hunting and fishing is a passion. I love the outdoors and have enjoyed horseback riding, canoeing, hiking, swimming, camping, even flying, and just about anything else you can imagine doing in the outdoors.  Since the days when I was a kid and we would roam the neighborhoods, alleys, and fields that were close by, I have always enjoyed the adventure. Hunting and fishing though, seem to be the activities I enjoy most.  

Photo: Cole Carson

Early on, it was anywhere I went with my brother.  Fishing or hunting, it didn't matter!  I believe this shaped my desire to hunt and fish.  In high school, my buddy James and I did alot of fishing... So much so, that I almost didn't graduate.  Once I did graduate, it was off to school in Breham, TX where we spent more time hunting and fishing with our new found freedom away at college. 

Since then I began hunting with another buddy from high school. We paid for leases, put in lots of work, traveled to and from together.  One of those leases was in East Texas.  A 5 hour drive from home and we had some adventures along the way. Now I'm on the lease with both of those guys and it's a stroke of luck to be able to hunt together. Usually the times that we do ride together are spent discussing business or racing there and back because we all have other commitments. A little over a year ago, I had the pleasure of hog hunting with a buddy that just moved down from Iowa and killed his first hog.  The experience was a refreshing change from the normal grind that has become my hunting experience. 

Photo: James Plant

Getting to the point here, I've caught many fish over the years, killed my share of varmints, deer,
quail, hogs, dove, javalina, etc. and it's always the pursuit that is memorable.  I remember more details of hunts where I was not successful than I do of hunts where I tagged an animal.  This is not to say that the enjoyment of success is not memorable either.  But, sometimes I think the success of the hunt clouds the work it took to pull it off. 

The last several years I have found myself hunting and fishing by myself or quick little afternoon hunts with a few friends at the lease.  This seems more methodical in nature, more like I'm just putting meat on the table and nothing more.  The fact that I don't have anyone there with me to share success and failure with seems to take the fun out of these endeavors.  Over the years, I have heard oldtimers tell me that they don't hunt anymore.  On the occasions I have asked why, invariably they tell me "I'm just not that mad at them anymore." and laugh it off.  

Photo: Chuck Crowsey

To me, it has never been about the animal, as much as adventure.  All the little things that go wrong along the way that must be overcome to be successful are what makes the trip an adventure. I think what these oldtimers are really saying is that they find no adventure in it anymore.  

Drilling down further, the question becomes how do we turn monotony into adventure?  Off the top of my head, here are a few suggestions:

• Go with people you don't usually go with.
• Pursue a new species.
• Try a different means of hunting (i.e bowhunting) or fishing (fly fishing).
• Try a different method like spot and stalk or sight fishing.
• Switch up your hunting areas or find a new honey hole.
• Lease a new property to hunt or start fishing rivers instead of lakes, or deep pot holes instead of flats or mangroves.
• Hunt Public Lands, Plan a trip to fish new lakes you have never fished.
• Hunt or fish out of state.  Make a vacation of it.

Photo Chuck Crowsey

I don't think I've ever been "mad" at an animal or fish.  I know that response is a humorous way to shrug off the real answer.  Maybe the answer is different for different people, but I have been struggling with balancing work, family, and hobbies.  It takes a toll on my outdoor activities and I have recently been thinking "Maybe I'm just not mad at them anymore!" LOL!

The good news, is I have 3 kiddos that have never shot any animal with any means. So, here is hoping that one or all of them will be my new outdoor adventure buddy! Maybe each in different ways!

By the way, in case you were wondering, the old Bear Crux is doing great!  On the other hand I may need glasses.

 

Enigma Edge & Daiwa Tatula... Perfect Combination?

Microwave Line Control System by American Tackle
on the Enigma Edge   Photo: Chris Carson

Back in January I attended a trade show in Mississippi for Twisted Oak where we purchase a large percentage of the fishing gear and other outdoor related products we sell at Twisted Oak. This was the first time we had been to the show in January and it did not disappoint.

As we entered their special buy area, which had items marked down for whatever reason (be it clearance or they got a good deal and were passing it on), I found a fishing rod that caught my eye.  It was the Aaron's Edge 7' Medium Heavy by Enigma (Aaron Martens signature).

Specifically, the thing that caught my eye was the first line guide.  They call it the "Microwave Line Control System.  As you can see in the pic, it looks sort of like a conventional size line guide with a micro guide on top. I thought it looked interesting. I did a little research and found that the Microwave Line Control System was made by American Tackle and designed to reduce vibration and increase line speed to result in a smoother longer cast.  I had been looking for a good setup for a frog rod and decided to give it a whirl.

Daiwa Tatula on the Enigma Edge   Photo: Chris Carson

While we were at the show, I also picked up a Daiwa Tatula100HS.  This reel replaces the

conventional bait caster's line guide with the T-Wing System.  The T-wing system allows more line to travel through the "T shaped" slot  by rotating forward to take full advantage of it's size and rotates back for reeling to maintain efficient spooling. The advantages are huge.  Fewer backlashes because the line gets out of the reel before it builds up behind the line guide.  In fact, I'm not sure I've backlashed that reel yet, which will be even more impressive as this story continues.

The T-Wing System in the reeling position on left and the
casting position on the right . Photo: Chris Carson

I guess it was about March before I got it rigged up and ready to fish.  With great anticipation, I spooled it up with 50lb Power Pro, paddled out to a particular "froggy" location and let that first cast rip..... My reaction was "Hmmm, not too bad." As I continued fishing it, I wasn't all that impressed.  I wasn't disappointed either; I just felt like it didn't seem like much of a difference than any of my other setups. I went fishing several times over the coming months.  I continued to experiment with the settings and controls.  The setup still seemed to perform well, but I just wasn't near as excited about fishing it as I thought I would be.

About a month ago, I thought  "I wonder how this thing would be at skipping a jig".... I'm not very good at skipping a jig, but desperately want to learn and thought maybe the Tatula's design might help.... Worth a shot right?  I thought so.  I began trying to skip with it.  I got about 2 tries into it, when I got snagged in the root ball of a Cypress Tree.  I pulled myself over to get it and ended up doing what I call the Zoro technique to get it back (you know....where you reel down to the lure and thrust and parry until it comes unhooked). When I pulled it back out, jig intact and tight to my rod tip, I thought I had better check it for damage.  So, I did.  In doing so, I noticed my line was wrapped around the rod, so I put it up and went back to fishing on my actual jig rod figuring I would work that little issue out when I got home because there was only a few minutes of daylight left.

A nice little bass on the Enigma Edge
paired with a Daiwa Tatula   Photo:Stephen Martin

I unloaded the rods and began a closer inspection of the rod tip and it's line wrap later that night.  What I discovered, blew my mind... In my haste to get on the water and try out this little combo I put together, I altogether missed the 4th line guide from the top AND.... wrapped the line round the rod for good measure before going through the next line guide.  So, to recap.... For 4-5 months, I had been fishing this rod and reel combo of my own selection that was to be ultra efficient in line management to result in smoother, longer casts with less effort, and then handicapped myself by fishing it while wrapped around the rod and totally missing a line guide, creating what had to be a ton of friction.

I fixed that little situation and hit the water again soon after. I was speechless.... I gained probably 20 yards with about 30% less effort on my cast.  Now, I am VERY impressed.  I love this combo.  So much so, that I am thinking about trying it out on a few different applications including skipping docks.  I am determined to learn this technique and be successful.  I believe that this combination will help minimize backlashes and be a little more forgiving.  

What really impresses me about this combo is that I didn't notice the issue for more that 4 months.  Probably 80 hours or more of fishing... and I fished it quite a bit.  Caught a few fish.... no toads, but some decent fish. I never once felt like something wasn't right.  I just thought there didn't seem to be much different than my other setups.

I always look for the lesson learned, and this time it is to pay better attention to the details.  Additionally, I now do a better job of going through things and checking my rods when I get off the water.  There were so many opportunities to catch that little problem.

I think I might start switching rods and reels to determine if it's the reel or the rod or the combination.  Should be some good research to do some pretty thorough reviews.  Look for that down the road!  In the meantime, in what applications would you give it a try?  Comment below!

Fishing The Guadalupe River

Photo: Chris Carson

Have you ever gone fishing at one of our beautiful Central Texas rivers all excited to catch fish? Have you had thoughts of fresh fish on the grill at the camp site race through your head only to get skunked or catch a few 5" Bass?  Me too! Just like the pic on the left.

Probably the number 1 question we get at Twisted Oak from March to October is "How do you catch fish on the Guadalupe?"  My standard answer was to cover more water and get away from the areas that everyone else fishes and to do that, you need a kayak or canoe or private access to the river. At the very least wade further up or down stream to get away from the crowd at public access points; and I still stand by that advice.


However, on July 1, 2017 at 1:00 PM, we have Immanuel Barela coming to speak about fishing the Guadalupe.  He will provide some great insight on baits, reading the water, where to locate fish, tips, tactics, etc.  We will also have some special buys to correlate with his seminar.

Photo: Immanuel Barela

Immanuel is a content creator on YouTube and has caught some impressive bags here on our central Texas rivers including the Guadalupe.  You can check out one of his Guadalupe River videoshttps://youtu.be/hO5GovWrunQ?list=PLxDjilbnahysJzm95nYpxB19_Auc4nBos
at:

Come by Twisted Oak, get some great insight into fishing the Guadalupe and subscribe to Immanuel on YouTube.  Bring your gear and hit the river to put your new found knowledge to work!

Bye Bye Baseball.... Hello Hunting and Fishing

Summer is upon us here in South Texas.  It has been quite some time since I posted due to career stuff and our other outdoor family passion.. Baseball.  Rest assured though that I am still quite the avid outdoorsman and continue to have a great passion for getting our youth hooked on the outdoors.  My disappointment escalates as the weeks fly by on the calendar without a chance to get on the water or in the woods.

Unfortunately, deer season came and went without a shot fired for my family. I don't think we even had time for bow targets in the backyard.  I was able to get to the lease a couple times during bow season, but that was about it.  So, as deer season closed out, I vowed to get into the woods for some shenanigans involving a turkey and a shotgun, but that opportunity never surfaced as my nose remained firmly pressed against the proverbial grindstone.  In addition to being a partner in Twisted Oak, I also flip houses and with the real estate market hot here, I have been VERY busy.

Baseball is also very much a big deal around our house as my oldest son Cole plays both Little League and select/travel baseball and I coach.  Fifty or more games per year is not at all uncommon (in fact, it may be a little low).  We shared a dream of going to Williamsport to play in the Little League World Series since he was about 5 or 6, but as I have recently learned through experience is usual with that dream, well intentioned adults have a way of pursuing it so fervently that they destroy the dream in many kids (and adults) with the constant pushing and prodding, league politics (from the international level on down to the local level), and cheating the system.

Recently, we have found a great organization (Texas Pro United) here in San Antonio that has a great coaching staff of former players and coaches that have a well rounded approach to the game and truly prepare their athletes for success in high school and beyond.  Because of the reasons listed above and the reality of knowing I will never change it, I have decided not to seek re-election to the Board of Directors for our local league in order to chase this dream.... Getting kids outdoors!  

We have recently taken holiday opportunities to hit the river in our Malibu kayaks to have some fun. While we still have baseball commitments over the summer, the schedule will open up to allow more hunting and fishing.  More on these exploits next time.

MALIBU MINI X

46 Outdoors Adventure Files: Sunday Funday

Photo: Chris Carson

The Malibu Kayaks are finally in at Twisted Oak.  They arrived in mid August right before school started.  As you may or may not remember, we gave Cole his very own Mini-X from Malibu Kayaks for his birthday back in June. He has been waiting patiently all summer for it to arrive.

As they were expected to arrive the week prior to heading back to school, he had a plan to spend the last day of summer kayaking with the family on Canyon Lake.  The poor guy's hopes and dreams were dashed again by mother nature.  That weekend, we had along steady tropical type of rain that had the Guadalupe River running high and fast.  Since it was raining, I spent the whole weekend at the Unfair Lures booth at the San Antonio Texas Trophy Hunters Extravaganza with Paul and the crew.

Photo: Chris Carson

Baseball, football, and a little hog hunting warm up for deer season have stolen every weekend since then, so yesterday was the first opportunity we had to get the yaks wet.  All three kids had a blast, but I'm sure if you ask the teenager, she will tell you how grueling our paddle was and how Cole doesn't know how to paddle a kayak and how adorable Cody is, but her smiles paint the real picture! I have faith that she will soon let go of the sibling rivalry and accept things for what they are and learn to enjoy life as it comes. Until then, I will continue to exercise my patience and she will continue to test their limits!

Practicing his Taekwando.           Photo: Chris Carson

Cole and Cody on the other hand were quite happy with the experience.  We launched at Boat Ramp 11 (Rebecca Creek) and paddled upstream on Rebecca Creek for about a half mile or so.  Cody decided he wanted to go swimming, so he "fell" into the water while I was messing with my fishing rods. So, I told the kids they could take a swim.  They abandoned their yaks under the tree they were sitting under and headed for the middle of the creek to splash and play. Cody swam over to them as well and all three kids had a blast floating around in their PFD's.  Ater about 20 minutes or so of that, we headed back toward the boat ramp doing a little fishing along the way.  "Little" being the key word.

Malibu Mini-X serves as a cannonball platform.
Photo: Chris Carson

Cody lost yet another fishing rod to the murky depths of Rebecca Creek.  In my younger days, I
probably would have gone in after it, but you know what the song says... I'm not as good as I once was!  We paddled back and past the boat ramp, and headed to the Guadalupe River.  Then headed upstream for about 20 minutes.  It was during this paddle that our ears were assaulted with the soud of my daughter hurling every insult she could think of at her brother who probably could have out-paddled me.  Did I mention that she had the fastest boat and the paddle that moved the most water?

After awhile, we stopped at a bend in the river where the kids enjoyed more shenanigans.
 Flips, belly flops, and cannon balls were all in order from the Malibu Kayaks Mini-X.  This boat has some pretty exceptional stability as does my Stealth 14.  All in all, we all had a great time.  It was an absolutely wonderful way to enjoy creation, spend a little family time together and thank God for our blessings on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Cole on his Mini-X
Photo: Chris Carson

Brothers
Photo: Chris Carson

Cody's attempt at a cannonball
Photo: Chris Carson

A little after 6 PM, I decided it was time to start back.  Cole who had what I thought was the lightest paddle with the least surface area and no scoop, traded me for the heaviest paddle.  Which I then traded to Caitlyn,(so, they effectively traded paddles) to give her (what I thought was) the lighter paddle that Cole was using (turns out that hers was pretty light too) and low and behold, you would have thought I put a motor on her boat.  She beat us both back.  I don't know if it was the psychology of having what she was convinced was the better paddle (that her brother had been hogging the whole trip) or if having a paddle that displaced less water actually helped the situation.  I will probably never know.

We were very pleased with our Malibu Kayaks.  My Spider Angler seat from Crack Of Dawn Paddlesports was comfortable for a 4 1/2 hour trip and I could have gone longer.  Stability was great on both boats.  I'm a stealthy 265 lbs, and I can swing both legs to one side of the boat to look in my crate or reach the cooler.  I will have a more in depth review coming after I spend more time in it and actually get to fish rather than babysit, but for now, come check them out at Twisted Oak Hunting & Outfitter Supply.  You won't be disappointed!

46 Outdoors Mission: Put Down The Electronics... Get Outdoors

What is 46 Outdoors all about?  Short and simple,our mission is to get kids outdoors.  

I grew up roaming my neighborhood in San Antonio, TX which had some open fields and a creek nearby.  My buddies and I caught crawdads and played in the creeks and ditches and got in a ton of trouble.  

We had these clunky electronic devices that you could play football or baseball on... sort of.  They were basically a series of LCD dots and lines that represented players.  Very rudimentary.  But, this was a step up from molded plastic player dancing around a loud vibrating piece of sheet metal that was painted like a football field. Electronic games and devices were in their infancy.

The older I got, the more I roamed.  The alleys behind our home were a battlefield of sorts where we built clubhouses and forts against the neighbor's fences with whatever we could find.  When someone trimmed their trees, we lived in the brush piles for a week or two before they got hauled away.  

My 11 year old son loves to hear these stories.  It's no wonder that he seems to be enamored with these events.  Now, we live in a subdivision on a cul-de-sac probably a 1/4 mile from a major highway.  We never let them play outside on their own until they were about 8-10 years old.  There were very few kids living in the neighborhood at the time either.  Like many other parents during this day and age, we were weary of allowing our kids to roam the neighborhood.  There is a small greenbelt  next to our neighborhood that I know for a fact is inhabited by homeless people.  We have heard of strange cars parking near the ditches and older kids heading back there for what I'm sure amounts to nefarious reasons at best.

Recently, we have had an influx of kids their age move into the neighborhood and they have started doing some of the things that I did as a kid (probably to the dismay of the neighbors).  It was very difficult to resist the temptation of putting them in front of the TV or getting them computers or iPads or iPods or any number of other devices.  We finally broke down and bought a Wii a few years ago, but for the most part, our kids have grown up outdoors.  Whether it was playing at the park, team sports, hunting, fishing, boating, or riding our bikes; I made it a point to get them outside and move.  Even in inclement weather they have fun outdoors!

The other day, I overheard a conversation at football practice about kids not wanting to get outside or put down the electronics. This is what 46 Outdoors is about at it's core. Even my kids, who weren't involved in all that, but now have phones and tablets and need to use computers to do homework find it hard to put them down at times.


I went to Camp Stewart on the Guadalupe River headwaters where I rode horses, climbed the NRA Riflery rankings, learned to canoe, shot my bow, hiked, camped out, swam and a host of other activities including team sports clinics.  I loved it!  If memory serves, the camp session was 34 days... 34 days of all those activities and more...  I was in heaven!  It was tough being away from my parents for that long, but it was well worth it.  I wouldn't change a minute of it.  

I would love to send my kids to that camp or one like it, but truth be told, we can't afford it especially for three kids.   In fact, my parents had help in sending me.  But, I know the boys would love it, and probably benefit and grow a little independence.  So, with that being out of the realm of possibility, we are left with the task of teaching these lessons and giving them this experience on our own.

In the process of doing this, I realized that there are those out there that for whatever the reason or circumstance, don't know how or are in some way unable to impart these experiences.  So, I do my best to live a life steeped in the outdoors and fan the flames of this passion among my own kids and their friends.  The purpose of 46 Outdoors is to encourage others to provide their families with the same sort of experiences by opening a window into our experience and providing tips and advice.

Please comment below or contact us on Facebook if I can help you and/or your family get connected outdoors.