Brazos River below PK damn trip

[Onski326]

So I finally got out and did a kayak camping/fishing trip except the fishing part was a bust. One nibble. Lots of carp jumping all day and all night. I decided to try and film the whole thing after taking a couple elk hunting trips out to Colorado and only having pictures to show for it. Just not the same as a video so I dove in and gave it a shot. My 1st mistake was not double checking battery charge on my GoPro's. One was at 20% and just basically gave me the intro shot. Then I used my other which had 100% but I'd put it in a waterproof case so the audio was complete garbage which led to me learning how to narrate and add in audio to the video during editing. Fun stuff. Here's the video link...

https://youtu.be/QwXHTpNGDaQ

It was fun and luckily a lot of my archery elk hunting backpack gear worked extremely well for this. Light weight and didn't take up much space. Happy to be able to get more use out of it than the 10 days a year out west.
The river has been low. 64cfs which Buddy at Rochelle's recommends at least 100cfs for a good float but with that low flow, it did make it pretty easy to paddle up river. My plan, since I got out so late Saturday, was to just go up a mile or so and camp on this sandbar I'd picked out but once I got there, there was already a group camping there so I headed back downstream to scope out a couple spots I noticed on the way up. Had 2 interesting visitors during the early morning hours. Hogs. One about 15' from me and the other about 30 yards. Didn't get them on video but I may bring my bow next time.
It sure was a nice, relaxing trip though. Hard to believe it's been this close to me (just under an hour drive from my house) and I'm only now exploring it. I do foresee many more trips there in the future.
On a side note, any fishing tips for that river would greatly be appreciated! I threw a LOT of stuff at it and tried a handful of different places with only 1 small nibble to show for it.

[Rob R]

The best fishing is right below the dam and downstream to the Hwy 16 bridge and maybe a mile further.

[Onski326]

That's my next destination. I just wasn't sure if the current was going to be an issue trying to paddle back up to Hwy 16 if I put in there and go downstream a bit. I didn't want to do a full 20 mile float and had limited time but for sure the Hwy 16 launch is going to be my next drop hopefully in the next few weeks.
Any suggestions on what lures to use?

[Rob R]

Paddletails, maribou jigs, spinnerbaits, spoons. That area has stripers. Some big ones. TPWD stocks that stretch during the winter with rainbow trout. I fly fish there also for those trout. There wide slow areas and faster, riffles depending on the release from the lake.

[Onski326]

Paddletails, maribou jigs, spinnerbaits, spoons. That area has stripers. Some big ones. TPWD stocks that stretch during the winter with rainbow trout. I fly fish there also for those trout. There wide slow areas and faster, riffles depending on the release from the lake.

Much appreciated!

[Whizzy]

Question for those having done this trip. I'm looking into it myself and I've heard differing opinions on water. Some folks say pack all drinking water in, as they wouldn't give Brazos water to their dogs, much less drink it--even with a quality water filter. Others say if you have a good filter, don't waste the weight on dragging gallons of water around and its like any other non-treated source. What say you? Thanks in advance.

[Onski326]

I use my Sawyer Mini's every time I go out west elk hunting but unless it was absolutely necessary, I would not drink the water in the Brazos. Even considering the weight penalty, I'd still bring my own.

[Onski326]

and to add to that last little bit. If you're doing a multi-day trip or longer, you could cache some water along the route beforehand. I've seen people do that on trips on YouTube that gave me that idea. Then you don't have to carry so much water at once.

[Rob R]

The current stream flow data is 49 cfs. Not great really.

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-l ... period=P7D

[Neumie]

I'll used processed water when it's going to be boiled for meals. Other than that I accept the weight penalty and pack my own water, though my trips are only 3 days at the most.

[Whizzy]

Thanks for the responses.