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.

Opening Day

Photo: Chris Carson

I see it already at Twisted Oak.  The deer hunters have woken out of their sleepy, air conditioned, Summer hibernation (and honestly, I can't blame them).  Some are coming from fishing the lakes and bays, and some have been on vacations. Usually around August, we realize that there is work to be done on the lease and feeders need to be fed.  With that usually comes a little hog and varmint hunting, because you can't go to the lease or ranch without doing some hunting. It is with bated breath that we wait... and wait.... for that most sacred day to a deer hunter... OPENING DAY! 

September will bring Dove Season.  This year, it will be the longest in 80 years for the State of Texas. An extra 20 days will have hunters scouring the skies in search of that tell tale silhouette of a dove. The bruised shoulders will come and go, millions of shotgun shells will be spent, dove bags will grow full with birds and shells, and the weather will begin to turn cooler.

Photo: James Plant

With the smell of gun powder still lingering and feathers sill dancing on the wind, October will bring Open Day of Bow Season.  Bowhunters will camo up, spray themselves down, and head out to climb into their stands. These thrill seeking deerstalkers live for the opportunity to match wits and
senses with the wariest of prey in order to feed the family.  For most, the thrill of getting into the habitat, where the animal eats, sleeps and/or travels to conceal themselves and release and make a clean ethical kill shot at incredibly close distances is exhilarating to say the least.  

Photo: Chris Carson

November brings Opening Day of Gun Season.  With the pursuit of wild game on their minds, a yearning for cold weather and bags of gear for all occasions, these predators will rise early and head quietly into the woods with the goal of putting dinner on the table with the same clean ethical kill shot at great distances.

Photo: Chris Carson

Whether you hunt with a bow or a gun or both, Opening Day is usually circled on your calendar.  A sacred day that one waits for, dreams about, plans for... Lives for.  For many hunters, luck and superstitions that carry on all season are born on Opening Day.  
Routines are set, deer are killed, tags are filled, deer are skinned and cleaned, and stories are shared around the campfire.  It's a fellowship among hunters, a bond that is created, a brotherhood... for some, a calling.  Life is good!

What does Opening Day mean to you? Which one do you celebrate? Do you celebrate both? Do you celebrate at all?  Let us know in the comments or on Facebook.

Product Review: Cowboy's Wild Game Washer

Before and after dove on the left fish on the right.
Photo: Cowboy's Wild Game Washer

If you haven't seen Cowboy's Wild Game Washer yet, you need to... This thing is quite useful.  We had the pleasure of having the booth across from Cowboy at last year's Texas Trophy Hunter's Extravaganza. Along with being an avid outdoorsman, Tim "Cowboy" McDonald has come up with a time saving easy to use idea!

To start with, it is a great place to sit as it's a 5 gallon bucket.  As a volunteer baseball coach, I can't think of a better place to sit than on a bucket.  Add a swivel seat to that with a little bit of padding for an afternoon dove hunt, and I am in Heaven!  But it's usefulness just keeps on giving.

The unique swirling action
 cleans and flushes all sorts
of wild game.
Photo: Cowboy's Wild Game Washer

The bucket is a great place to toss your dove when you are stationary keeping you from sitting on them and your bags from getting too heavy or infested with ants. I can't tell you how many times I've piled up birds under my seat or beside the log I'm using for cover only to find them infested with fire ants like 12 seconds later.  In fact, usually it's my getting bit that alerts me to the fact that my birds are under attack.  Cowboy's Wild Game Washer keeps the ants out and the birds from becoming ant infested.

Then, there is the purpose for which this ingenious idea was conceived. Washing game... Having had one for almost a year now, I have personally used it for all sorts of game.  When I get back from the lake, I hook the water hose to it and it starts that swirling action.  I fillet my fish and toss them in Cowboy's Wild Game Washer and let them spin.  It flushes all the blood, scales and any other debris from them while I grab the gallon bags or vacuum packer.

After a dove hunt, All the feathers and debris float to the top.  I have even found a few pellets in the bottom when I was finished.  That means it rinsed out pellets I would have consumed (or attempted to) at some point.  Dentist approved!

It even comes in handy at the skinning shed.  When it's time to quarter those deer and hogs, I dip the quarters in Cowboy's Wild Game Washer to rinse the hair, blood, bone fragments, etc. off before putting them on ice.

At a retail value of $59.99 it come with the swivel seat.  Newer models run $49.99 without the seat.   If it keeps blood, guts, and feathers out of Mamma's sink, it's well wort the money and I'm willing to bet she will think so too.  I've even heard of gardeners using the product for washing veggies.

Check out the video here and stop by Twisted Oak to pick Cowboy's Wild Game Washer.  Dove season is right around the corner and don't go on another fishing trip without one.  You won't be disappointed!