Annual Kayak Trip - Llano or Caddo

[Chad_E]

Every year for the last ten years 3 of my good college buddies and I take a fishing trip. Some have been guided, some we wing it, some are intricately planned trips. So far we’ve only been fishing Texas lakes and rivers. Last year we all decided to purchase kayaks since we were so often renting either canoes or kayaks on our trips. We christened our yaks in style as a group last year on a three night, four day trip down the Devils River. Now for this year…

We’ve narrowed our trip this year down to two rivers. Either the Llano or the Caddo river in Arkansas.

Sounds like there are a couple of options for short day or one night says on the Llano but nothing of real length. We would like to have at least 2 nights on the water. We prefer to camp on the river if possible.

For the Caddo we were looking at roughly 23.5 river miles from Norman to 182. Sound like so long as we don’t run into weather, we could camp on gravel bars. Otherwise we will have to make arrangements with the outfitter who has cabins along the way.

Does anyone have any experience with either of these that could give us some insight?

[Smell the Glove]

I did the Caddo about 8 years ago. It was supposed to be about a 3 day trip. We took our time and ended up done by the second afternoon. Relaxing river for the most part. We just found a gravel bar to sleep on, there are plenty of them.

[rebelbow]

caddo is beautiful. did an 8 hr trip there this summer,slow lazy float!
saw lots of smallmouth

[brunner]

I vote Caddo but I would look in to Rochelles Outfitter out of Possum Kingdom area and the run a canoe/kayak shuttle on the Brazos just below Possum. We did a lazy canoe trip 3 days/2 nights 19.2 miles and had a BLAST!!!!

[PapaBear]

The only information I can give is the llano is very rocky and can be more of a walking trip versus kayaking. I know of some kayakers that got behind schedule and were overloaded and they had to stop on my father in laws property and we let them but told then not to leave a mess and had no problems but I can't guarantee all the land owners will be as hospitable.

[Chad_E]

Thanks for the info guys. I think we are leaning Caddo now after we all talked last night.

I vote Caddo but I would look in to Rochelles Outfitter out of Possum Kingdom area and the run a canoe/kayak shuttle on the Brazos just below Possum. We did a lazy canoe trip 3 days/2 nights 19.2 miles and had a BLAST!!!!

We've done the Brazos trip probably 6 or 7 times. Great trip! We do the same thing when we go and stay 2 nights. Gives us plenty of time to fish, swim, and partake in a few adult beverages.

[AtTheWall]

I'd blow off the rivers and gear up and head down to BAFFIN BAY for some serious trophy speckled trout fishing! Rent cabins, launch every morning and work that area, drifting - wading and simply putting the time in to score a true trophy speck!

You can also run a 4 wheel drive down PINS and setup at the North side of Port Mansfield jetty. From there you can yak the inside\outside channel (trout, tarpon, flounder, redfish, snoop & mangrove snapper, jack crevalle & sharks) and or work up the channel into the Laguna Madre and simply tear it up everywhere in the yaks!

We had a few of us TBH'ers hit Port Mansfield back in 2005 - camping on the inside of the jetty rocks on the channel. Had we had kayaks there then, we would have tore it up better than we did.

From Rockport down to Port Mansfield with St Charles Bay, Copano Bay, Baffin Bay, Nueces, Upper Laguna, Port Aransas Bay, Corpus Christi Bay....the Lighthouse trails etc., it's prime for a serious kayak & camp and or kayak and cabin type of trip.

Anywhere along PINS, you can camp and you can get into the Bird Island Basin area and fish some PRIMO LAGUNA MADRE Water along the King Ranch shoreline. The beauty of that place is...it's TEXAS AS SHE'S ALWAYS BEEN! Nothing else down there but land & water - full of prime fishing and yak country!