Dudleys Diary

early Saturday morning after quite an adventure. After stopping at a bait store on the way and buying a dozen live sunfish and three dozen live minnows, they drove up to the Stone Bridge below PK dam. They got there later than they had expected so they decided not to go up river and fish below the dam for stripers and decided to go down river about one mile and set up their campsite on a gravel bar near a big cove which was a good fishing spot. Friday it got up into the mid seventies and there was a strong south wind which made fishing a little difficult. During the day they had several bites but were not able to bring any fish to their kayaks. May have been gar which can be difficult to hook. They built a campfire right before dark and put out a couple of catfish baits. Jeff caught a nice three or four pound channel catfish. Frank caught a nice Rainbow Trout on his spinning rod. They cleaned and cooked the fish over the campfire and ate them for dinner. The second photo from the top shows the view from their campsite. Frank said they tried to put the tent up but they quickly found out it was going to be impossible to secure the tent in the high winds on the rocky bar they were camped on. Around midnight, the cold front hit with a vengeance. It started pouring down rain and the temperature dropped rapidly. They quickly realized the river was rising at a fast rate and they grabbed their kayaks and secured everything, climbed in and shoved off into the darkness. Frank led the way and Jeff followed as they paddled upriver against a strong rising current and a brutal headwind. They shouted to each other to stay together. Frank said for every three feet they moved forward, the wind and current would push them back two and one half feet. A couple of times when the river became shallow, the current was too strong and they had to get out and wade in the water and drag their kayaks to deeper water and then climb back in and paddle again. Frank said after two and one half hours of battling the strong rising river current and wind they made it up to his pick up parked below the Stone Bridge. Frank started his truck and turned on the heater and they loaded their gear into the truck. It was pouring rain during the entire two and one half hour ordeal. They pulled out about 2:30 AM and headed home. Frank said it was raining so hard it was difficult driving home and it took longer than usual. They pulled in at Jeff's house about 5:00 AM and Frank came home about 8:30 AM. Dudley was relieved they made it off the river safely. Dudley reminded Frank that they have this great new invention called a weather forecast. Maybe next time he will pay a little better attention. Reminds Dudley of a time back in college when Dudley and one of his roommates had a harrowing experience in a small boat on Sam Rayburn during a springtime thunderstorm. Dudley will save that story for another time.