October 2014-The Spirit is willing, but the weather not so much.....

Ahhh-Bucket list.  We all have one.  Spending some time on the Devil's River was one of my pet projects, and that came to fruition this fall.  Zach and I drove eleven or so hours to the gates of Rye's-n-sons Ranch past Del Rio, then another hour and a half down the Devil's own road before pulling up to a little piece of heaven on earth.  "Drive 'til you come to a big hill.  Believe me, you'll know it when you see it" were Marcus' instructions, and believe me, too-I knew it when I saw it.  At the bottom of the "hill", we were rewarded with a long weekend spent with Marcus Rodriquez of The Guides of Texas.  I knew he could cast, I knew he could paddle, and tie flies, and read water, and tell stories, and teach me to be a better fisher if not a better man.  Now, I can also attest to his aptitude as a chef and grillmaster extraordinaire. The river is as advertised-pristine, clear, diverse, and teaming with life.  The fishing, as seems to be the case with me, was not as good as "last week".  A cold front, followed by a stiff southerly breeze, put a damper on the usually hot October bite.  We each managed to break off really large catfish (6-8 pounds), and landed a dozen or so smallmouths in the 10-14 inch range.  Scattered sunnies and a nice-in-anybody's book three or four pounds largemouth filled out the bag.

This was the first time in over ten years I have been out with just Zach, and we had a great time.  Zach is blessed with great eyesight and outstanding hand/eye coordination.  After a few minutes of flailing around, he regained his casting stroke, which had been in storage since Alaska.  He acquitted himself well, and put his bug in all the right places.  Oh-he can sing and play guitar a little, too.  That's him on the video.

The Devil's is notorious for being rough, tough, and extremely inhospitable.  I can attest to the toughness of our sleeping arrangements.  We stayed at Mr. Rylander's house, slept in regular beds, had central air, satellite tv, high speed internet, hot showers, and a washer and dryer.  We had to get by on our rations of burgers, ribeyes, baked potatoes, and breakfast burrito with fresh hot coffee from the Keurig.  Brutal conditions, but we endeavored to persevere.

Number one, though, on my list of priorities, was visiting the cave drawings.  Marcus affirmed that they were near-by, and only a dozen or so yards off of the four wheeler track.  Off we went-he had neglected to mention that the dozen or so yards were bushwacked down a vertical cactus infested bluff.  Eh.  No hill for a stepper, as they say.  I'll repost the original video of the cave tour later, with Marcus' expert interpretation of the drawings.  First, though-you might want to find some peyote.

I'll also upload some photographs so you can share the rugged beauty of the Devil's paradise.

Photos(by Marcus-he's also a great photographer):

http://tgot.smugmug.com/2014/Devils-River/10022014-Devils-River-Bill-and/n-qRHZz/i-ckdh6vP

The Guides of  Texas

https://guidesoftexas.com

Ryes-n-sons Ranch

http://www.ryesnsonsranch.com

Original music by permission of Zach Balch Band, zachbalch.com