Camping at HorseShoe Bend

In a word...HOT!!!

Drove out to Horseshoe Bend on Friday morning (7/6) for a couple of days of camping with the family.



I had already spoken to my nephew who had gone out Thursday morning with his family but came back Thursday night because as he said "...even Satan would have been sweating." so I knew what to expect.  It gets hot in them there hills but I think my nephew was being a bit of a drama queen.

I finally arrived at about noon and quickly paid the fee only to find that my sister and my cousin were waiting on me to get out of the heat and go to Black Oak Casino out in Sonora.  After only being there at the campsite for a few minutes I unloaded the yaks and camping gear from the truck and was on my way to the casino.



At the casino we played video games with the kids and enjoyed a burger in the A/C for a couple of hours but soon it was time to get back to the camp site and brave the heat.  Luckily by the time we got back things were starting to cool down a bit.  I loaded up the yaks and my cousin loaded the jet ski and we headed down to the lake.

One of the first things I noticed was how low the water level was



By the time we got down there most of the jet skiers and boaters were out of the water so Liz and I launched the yaks and started trolling a couple of shad raps. Not more than 50 yards from where we launched Liz got the first hit, unfortunately it came off.  Over the next hour or so we must have hooked and released 7 bass. 

I decided to go over and hang with the crew where the kids were taking turns going for rides on the jet ski



and others were taking turns taking the yaks out for a spin. 





My niece was trying to get the whole paddling thing down and ended up "crashing" into a tree.  Took her a while but she finally developed enough paddling technique to get herself out of there and take a lap around the cove we were in.



Soon after we decided to go back to camp and start dinner.  Liz decided that she was going to fry up the fish we had caught at Monastery Beach and make some tacos.  I only had a frying pan which makes for a bit of oil splashing...



The next morning we wake up and my sister and I start cooking breakfast.  A short while later Omar climbs out of the tent



Most of the day was spent riding around on the jet ski's and boats that belonged to other friends of ours who had arrived throughout the night.

Once the sun started setting a bit and most of the boats were out of the water Omar and I launched the yak for a bit of fishing.  We were trolling ~20 - 30 yards from the bank in the coves.  Got quite a few hits and landed a few bass.  Omar hooked into a blue gill on his 4'6" uglystick baited with nightcrawler.





which he refused to release.  You can't see it but it's in the net, he happily ate it for dinner.



That night we had a group dinner (~40 people) at the camp gazebo...the buffet was amazing.  There was turkey breast, tri-tip, chicken, pork, rice, beans, salad, potato salad, salsa, guacamole, tortillas and so much more.  After dinner we hung out around the gazebo sharing a few drinks and a few laughs until it was time to hit the shower and try to get some of the funk off.

Next morning we got up, packed up and left for home.


Overall I had a great time, the heat wasn't all that bad and the company was great.  As for the fishing, the water is pretty low and I didn't see many big fish but considering the amount of time I spent actually fishing it seemed there were quite a few fish in the lake.


Fees:
=========
$19/night for second vehicle
$6/day per yak (luckily the ranger gave me a break and didn't charge me for the yaks)

sta bien amigo 

Looks like Omar will need a kayak of his own soon enough