Bluebird Fish Camp

December 15, 2007

By Richard Bothel            

...Continued

Take the Simmons Dr./Old Hwy 90 Exit on Interstate 10. Travel south about 1/2 mile. Orange County's Park, Bluebird Fish Camp, will be on the east side of the road.

My truck windshield needed a good scraping when I went outside, and my kayak already loaded in the back was covered with a layer of frost and ice where some water had puddle on its top deck. I figured the kayak would thaw out with the drive to the boat ramp. I was ready to hit the water after a warm breakfast at a local diner near the river and answering a bunch of questions about what I was doing with a kayak in the freezing morning temperatures.

I hit the water at 6:30 with sunrise at 6:45. The air was still in the low 30s. I found the shallow swamp water by the boat ramp to be 58 degrees. The deep pockets in the marshes on the other side of the river probably held water in the low 60s. There was no sign of the sun as I started down the dimly lit canal to the river. A steam-like fog continually arose ahead of my trek of about one mile down to the Sabine River. The ice had left my boat. My insulated jacket actually felt almost too warm with the exercise of paddling through the morning waters.

The white dots above were egrets lining the marsh outflow. As you looked further back the canal leaving the marsh there were hundreds of ibis and other shore birds surrounding the opening.

The north wind had emptied the backwaters and along with the low tide, the paddle out to the river was a slow one as the weeds and occasional muck bottom continually brushed away all of my boat's glide. As I came within 100 years of the river I became encouraged as the weeds came alive with bait fish. Even with the cold weather, the small fish has found refuge in the thick weed cover. When I reached the river, I was able to see across the cold mist to the mouth of the marsh outflow that I planned to fish. I knew I was in for success when I saw what appeared to be a row of white dots along the marsh channel. I had seen the sight many times before. The whole outflow was lined by egrets. Birds at the mouths of outflows meant bait fish on the river and my excitement rose not noticing the 30 degree weather.

I had about two hundred yards to travel across the river. When I got about half way, I decided to throw out a tight running lipless crankbait behind the kayak. The kayak only moved a few boat lengths closer to shore and wham! The line went tight on my rod and I could feel the kayak being pulled back into the river. I grabbed the rod and soon found myself with an eight pound striper in the boat—what turned out to me one of the smallest fish of the day.

The air was cool, but bundled up in your kayak, you were comfortable except for the occasional gust of wind coming off the river.

I quicken my strokes reaching the edge of visible current coming from the marsh and made a cast to the current. Bam! Another fish hit with more spunk than the first. This one gave me a bit more of a struggle taking several runs against the drag. I took my time knowing that I would have little luck bringing the feisty fish in the kayak without a net. On one run to the boat, I was able to see that this time it was a red fish flexing all of its mussels as reds will do. I was against the shore a hundred yards down river from the outflow by the time I was able to land the 30” fish.

“They” were there as I had hoped. I was wasting a great deal of time with the current and fish moving me out of position so I paddled to the shallow point of the outflow and ran my kayak aground so I could hold position. The next few casts proved my hopes of a good morning beyond expectation. Literally every cast was bringing in another fish. They were mostly red fish running from 26-35 inches. I did catch another striper about 6 pounds and my largest striper was 35 inches, but I guessed at no more than 10-15 pounds.

These paddlers are leaving the marsh outflow through one of the canals through a cypress/tupelo swamp.

I was starting to lose count and getting a bit tired from the continual action when my cell phone rang. It was someone from the kayak group wondering where I was. It was 9:00 AM and the group was ready to leave. The last thing I wanted to do was to leave those fish, but many in the group were not familiar with the area and I needed to return. I had them start down the channel to the river and left the fish to continue voraciously attacking everything at the mouth of the outflow in the river.
The boat ramp on the above right has enough room to launch two boats on trailers. There is ample parking in the park and a small picnic area.

When I met the first boat coming out the canal, the bright sun was showing through his Kevlar boat showing it contents. The temperature had already moved to the 40s making for a super winter trip on the water. The wind remained the primary negative for the day, but the cypress/tupelo swamps on each side of the channel sheltered the area from the major wind. For me, the rest of the way was going to be anticlimactic, but I could see the paddlers in the group were excited about the day.

The first paddler from the group comes around the bend toward the Sabine River.

There were a total of 15 paddlers in group with many in touring boats sheltered from the wind. There were three canoes that had to face the ravages of the wind, but the wind was only a major factor paddling the main river. Most faces seemed to be smiling as they traveled down a long marsh canal east of the river and throughout some of the actual preserve areas.

This portion of the Sabine River has been a repository of old vessels and docking sites. Many old metal units clutter the river from the days of dry-docking boats for repairs decades ago. It is almost like junk cars sitting on the street. The docks and pilings littering the river make for some variety of scenery, but do little to promote the vitality of the river.

Old dry dock units clutter the river reminding you of earlier years with more commercial and military vessels in the river.

Winter paddling through the marshes and swamps provide many advantages. First, there are no hungry mosquitoes swarming around your boat. Also, the weeds are slowed down from the cold weather providing smooth access to the marsh and preserve bayous/channels that are difficult to paddle through vegetation during the warm summer months.

The lower end of the Blue Elbow swamp, just outside of Orange Texas, provides an excellent area for winter paddling. Easy access is available at Bluebird Fish Camp on Simmons Drive (Old Hwy 90/358 South) less than one half mile south of I10. Bluebird is a county park with a boat ramp, dock, picnic shelter with tables and a small playground.

I recommend the Blue Elbow Swamp to anyone wanting an entertaining winter paddle. The swamp is named after a sharp bend in the Sabine River finding 60 feet in depth before continuing it northward journey. The Swamp is included in the Tony Houseman State Park and Wildlife Manage Area (WMA) contains the park running from the western bank of the Sabine River north of Echo down to the confluence of Little Cypress Bayou south of I-10 at Orange. Much of the WMA consists of cypress-tupelo forest with channels throughout.

Wildlife includes both resident and migrant birds such as wood duck, great blue herons, egrets, warblers, kingfishers, red-shouldered and tail hawks, woodpeckers. Bald eagles have lived in the area in recent years and you can almost be guaranteed seeing an osprey or two along the river. Nutria are rebounding in the swamp along with feral hogs throughout. More than 29 species of snakes live in the area including the cottonmouth, copperhead, coral snake, timber rattlesnake, and pygmy rattlesnake. It is also not unusual to see a beaver or otter throughout the many channels crisscrossing the swamp. White-tailed deer, fox, coyotes, and bobcats play throughout.

When you hear a report of a black bear in Southeast Texas, it may be talking about one spotted in the area of the Blue Elbow Swamp. It is thought that bears are returning to Texas, but it is believed that many current sightings are occasional visits from bears are only short-term visitors from Louisiana. Come to Southeast Texas to paddle and you may be one of the first to discover bears redeveloping in the area--so paddle quietly throughout this area for a sighting.

For more information regarding paddling in

Southeast Texas contact:

Richard@Outdoorstudies.com

http://outdoorstudies.com/paddlesports/