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River King . . . the world's finest fishing and working catarafts |
The Cataraft Chronicles The following is a chapter from my running journal of the six month effort to redesign the rowing frame on our Kingfisher catarafts. Here you will find an almost daily update of my current sea trials / shakedown / vacation trip to the Gulf Coast to try the new design in several different types of fishing water.
You can find the other chapters here: Cataraft Chronicles, Table of Contents
I'm on the road again. I finally rolled out of Sandpoint, Idaho at 2:00 PM today. The last two days were spent rebuilding my trailer which was obviously falling apart after several years of amazing service including last May's trip to Mexico over unimaginable roads. The frame, axle, wheels etc.of this old Hobie Cat trailer are fine. It's just the wood and things that I have added over the years that need replacing.
It was cold with snow flurries as I made my way up the Clark Fork canyon into Montana
this afternoon. I had to remove my studded snow tires before I left (another last minute
task) so I couldn't take the Interstate through Coeur d'Alene, Mullan and Fourth of July
passes. Tried to stay low. In the late afternoon it was fitting perhaps that this route
did take me past the section of the Clark Fork river where Richard Howell, Blackie and I
did our first PFC float. (See History
)
I woke up this morning at a rest stop about 20 miles west of Billings, Montana. Too cold to sleep much in the van last night as the RV battery is not taking a charge - no heater unless I run the generator which is strategically located under the bed. So I just kept driving. Made almost 500 miles. Not bad for a 2:00 departure. Clear skies this morning but really cold.
Made my traditional stop at Custer National Battlefield on the Little Big Horn. Rows and rows of white grave markers in white snow. I've read the books but there's something about this place that catches my breath every time I come here.
The Little Big Horn is naturally near the Big Horn, a river that has seen quite a few Kingfishers float down it over the years - to the dismay of some of the local guides no doubt. Of all the blue ribbon Montana trout streams that I regularly fish I have found the guides here more cantankerous than on most. Then again the Big Horn can get pretty crowded - like the Madison ten years ago before the whirling desease hit. Many of the guides here are good guys and some are my friends. But a favorite tactic of some is to drop off both clients on the bank, about 200 yards apart, then get really pissed off if you stop to fish between them on their "claimed" water. No time to stop on this trip - though I did gas up close by in Hardin.
Radio says Arkansas is being hit with killer hail storms. For the first time it occurs to me that the Gulf Coast is not always warm and sunny - no let's not think about that.
Stopped for an overdue oil change at a Jiffy Lube in Casper, Wyoming. All vital fluids are fine, the van's running great.
A treat. Between Casper and Cheyanne got great NPR reception. Got to listen to the whole two hours of Prairie Home Companion.
The boat and stuff on the trailer is filthy. I'm going to have to stop Sunday or Monday at a car wash and spend some significant quarters removing snow grunge. Note the new steel rack on the trailer. Shop manager Jerry Blood did a great job in a short time getting the trailer ready.
I am posting this update from a Super 8 motel about 20 miles south of Denver. It's Sunday morning with a cold, bright sun outside. Oops, overshot last night. My map program says its faster to Dallas going thru Kansas. I'll only have to backtrack a few miles though this morning and then its east from Denver and then south through Wichita.
By tonight I should be well within Texas and close to my first stop. I hope to visit
with Barry Austin on Tuesday who has invited me to try out my new boat on his private bass
waters south of Dallas near Corsicana. I am looking forward to the fishing as well as the
amazing Texas spring which I vividly remember from my youth (ages 7 thru 15).
Well, didn't make Texas today but after a late start this morning I did make Wichita which is where I'm staying tonight. I'd keep on driving or sleep in the van but the radio sez storm warnings with sleet and high winds plus a few inches of snow after midnight. On the cell phone friends in Sandpoint say the weather's beautiful with some of the best skiing all year. Oh well - another Super 8 for me tonight.
Shortly after leaving Denver this morning I encountered strong headwinds which persisted all day. At times the van was slowed to 45 mph on the level. Passed an unlucky tourist whose camper trailer had tipped over on I-70. Traffic was stopped for a while while the wrecker pulled it off the road. My gas mileage was terrible. It seemed I was stopping every 2 hours to fill it up again. Fortunately gas here is only about 86 cents while back in north Idaho I was paying $1.16 per gallon.
I did talk with Barry Austin via cell to confirm our bass fishing plans. He's looking forward to my arrival in central Texas in a day or two. I should check the internet tonight for a long range forecast for the region.
OK, I just checked. It looks like lows in the 30's, highs in the 70's with high winds and breezy conditions through Thursday. Think I will opt for the Gulf and hope for warmer, calmer conditions in a couple of weeks when I come back through.
I still need to find out why the battery's not charging, clean the boat frame and other gear on the trailer and look into an outboard. Before leaving Sandpoint I tried three different motors. A 5 hp two stroke, a 5 hp four stroke and a 15 hp four stroke. The standard shaft 5 hp motor worked fine but the 15 footer can certainly use more power than that. The 15 hp would not run for more than 30 seconds so I couldn't really test it but for the few moments when it ran it seemed it was pretty well matched to the boat's size - with me and Jerry on board. The transom might be a little high but I can trim it down if I need to.
Uneventful day except as I drove south from Kansas, through Oklahoma and into Texas, the layers of clothing came off and the heater setting on the dash came down. North of Dallas in the evening I got my first smell of springtime and it was great.
Self timer at a pullout in Oklahoma.
I also decided at this time to see two of the people in Texas who had asked to see the boat, on my way back rather than on my way down. It seemed so plausible to stop and see them on my way but the reality is I still need to figure out what size outboard to use on this boat. I might also have to adjust the transom height. I intend to stop at a marina on the water where I can try out one or more motors befor deciding and it seems the Gulf Coast would be my best chance of finding such a place right on the water with a ramp, dock, etc.
Also the regional weather report is calling for unsettled weather in Texas for the next few days, thunderstorms and possible high winds. Hopefully it will be better in a couple of weeks. At that time I will look forward to seeing these folks and possibly doing some bass fishing. I am passing lots of bass boats here and the map shows that east Texas has as many lakes as Minnesota - and I know the water's a lot warmer.
Here's me in my George Jones Memorial cockpit: cell phone, CD Player, radio and laptop
within easy reach. The laptop is sitting on a table that Jerry made from a scrap of King
Starboard XL just before I left - clever guy. I keep it open to my map program and it's
been a real help. I'll answer the cell phone when driving but I always pull over to a rest
stop to call out. The location is a Dallas offramp. How do I get out of here?
Spent last nite in Tyler, Texas. On the map, it doesn't look so far from Tyler to New Orleans. But I did get a late start after I spent the better part of the day cleaning up the boat and trailer at a local car wash, inflating the hulls, assembling the boat, reorgnizing the trailer load, etc. Leaving at 2:00 PM local time I did get in several hours of driving and made it as far as Lafayette, LA, about 90 miles northwest of New Orleans. The weather is idyllic here and I am now in Cajun country. Drove through many miles of bayous this afternoon. It seemed that every pond I passed had dozens of snowy egrets (I think), standing motionless, knee deep, waiting to ambush their dinner. They are like the herons in north Idaho but not quite as large.
Just talked to Carolyn on the cell phone. She says it's cold and starting to rain in Sandpoint. What's rain?
In the evening as the sun was setting, the smells from outside changed from springtime wildflowers and fresh grass to boiled crawfish. I do have Cajun blood and the urge was strong. My needs were taken care of this evening at "Miss Helen's Cajun Seafood Restaurant". I started off with a great gumbo, followed by shrimp and oysters with corn fritters. Cajun music blared on the radio while "Mr." Helen yelled from the kitchen at the waitresses who pretty much ignored him.
Each table had a hole in the middle with a bucket on the floor underneath for the
crawfish carcasses - and a roll of paper towels in place of napkins. I guess I don't have
enough cajun blood to like the crawfish so much but most of the other guests did. The
crawfish were ordered by the pound, 3 pounds for a small serving, 5 pounds for a large,
and were served in big covered trays. Each table also had a liter size bottle of Tabasco
sauce of course.
It's about a three hour drive from Lafayette to New Orleans (pronounced Nawlins here). Cruising into town on I-10 the local radio DJ tells a dumb joke about living in the woods in Idaho and eating nuts.
I'm in New Orleans to see Greg Arnold who asked me to stop by so he and his buds could see the boat and possibly we could do some fishing. Greg is a construction consultant who lives and operates his business from a warehouse in what appears to be the oldest section of the city. I cross streets named Polymnia, Euterpe, Terpsichore and Urania. This is a walking town. The old streets are narrow and there are more people on them than vehicles. Maybe I've just seen too many Sorrells and down parkas but the women here appear as exotic in their spring things as the street names.
Pulling into the inside courtyard of Greg's place the first thing you see is several fishing boats on trailers. Everything from flats boats and various bass boats to a heavily modified BiYak which seems to be his latest fun boat.
"Gary Arnold?" I ask. "Greg, he says. How did you find this place?"
That map program is pretty good.
Greg wears an FM walkie talkie and keeps in touch with crews all over south Louisianna it seems. As we talk about fishing and he looks the River King over his radio comes alive every minute or two with questions from a crew out there some place. He says he manages his crews while fishing and usually fishes several days a week. Now I like this guy's style.
I follow his red pickup over to Barrett Brown's, Southern Safaris, Fly Fishing Shop. I meet Barrett and the three of us talk boats and fishing and I agree to stop here on my way back - after I get the motor thing figured out. Greg and Barrett do a lot of fishing together and I bet they've got it pretty well wired here. Like many of my friends in Sandpoint, these guys have that same dead serious attitude when talking fish that tells you that they are well over the edge.
There's miles and miles of water here in the form of swamps, bayous, lakes, creeks, rivers and the Gulf of Mexico. Basically southern Louisianna seems to be 90% water and wherever the land gains a few feet and sticks out of the water they have a town. All the water looks fishy. I leave town at 3:30 driving eastward on I-10 toward Florida kicking myself for not taking some pictures of Greg and his private boat yard.
It's not nearly as far from New Orleans to Florida as you'd think. I drive till about
9:00, crossing Mississsippi and Alabama and into Florida where I find a secluded RV park
on the sand near Ft. Walton Beach. The owners, a woman and her husband are eating dinner,
but they sign me up anyway, take my fifteen bucks and show me where to park. I finish off
a can of Lentil Soup as I write this. Crosby, Stills and Nash are singing "You, who
are on the road ..." compliments of the local oldie station. Life is good. Maybe I
get my motor tomorrow.
f you have more questions, you can reach us at:
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River King Catarafts
Port Ludlow, WA
Telephone: 360.316.1170
Or, send us E-mail: info@cataraft.com
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