A Summer in the USA - The Southwest

 For the next part of our big road trip, Alex and I headed down to Texas and into the Southwest. At this point, we would be leaving for a few months and I'd only be flying back to Canada for work. 

The trip started out well with a long drive to Kentucky and then a quick pit stop at a spot where a number of lifelisters had recently caught Springs Cavefish. I knew I needed to be there at night or the fish would be nowhere to be found. We drove all night and made it there for 5AM, just before the sun came up! With just enough time to spare, I made my way down to the creek and found my lifer after a little bit of searching :)

Springs Cavefish

Other than a quick stop in Missouri at a river that just looked too good to pass up, we mostly spent the next day driving all the way down to Texas. I tried a spillway for Blue Suckers but apparently the flow had been completely shut off due to the drought in the south, I didn't even know that was legal.

The next day, we moved further into Texas to a spot with Spotted and Alligator Gar. It didn't take long to find the Spotted Gar, and they were very willing to bite a jerkbait even in the turbid water. I caught my lifer in short order and even a bonus Channel Catfish on the lure!

Spotted Gar

The next adventure was decidedly less fun. I continued gar fishing in the hopes that an Alligator Gar would show up. I wouldn't find them until much later but I did have a Spotted Gar spit the hook right on shore and send the lure flying into the back of my head. Alex was not very enthusiastic about performing emergency surgery to my scalp.

Eventually, I did find the Alligator Gar, and they were in a spawning congregation directly below a flow control structure. Some of them were huge and right at my feet! Unfortunately, they all seemed more interested in spawning than feeding, so I was never able to catch one.

Alligator Gar Territory

We enjoyed the sunset over the swampland before driving a little to find a place to crash for the night, there was more important fishing to come!

It was time to switch things up and go for a little river fishing, the primary targets being Guadalupe Bass and Rio Grande Cichlid. Getting to the river, I knew right away I was in for a struggle. The water level was little more than a trickle, and was unrecognizable from years prior. In fact, this would become a trend for many fishing spots in the southwest. I found the only sizable pool for KM's and fortunately there were some fish swimming around. I ended up catching my lifer Plains Longear Sunfish pretty easily.

Plains Longear Sunfish

The bass and cichlids never did show up at the first spot so we moved downstream. The next spot had a lot more water and I could already see the fish swimming around. The sunfish were relentless but eventually I caught my first cichlid by fishing extremely tight to structure. Although I saw Guadalupe Bass, I never did catch one. Definitely something to come back for, there's something special about Texas Hill Country.

Rio Grande Cichlid

Texas Hill Country

We made some quick tourist stops in San Antonio but were again disappointed by urban USA, fortunately there's plenty of beautiful rural USA to make up for it. Case in point, Big Bend National Park! Way out of the way, but so worth the visit.

Big Bend National Park

Heading west of San Antonio, finding any fishable water at all was a struggle. I did fish one stream on the way to Big Bend that was sent to me by Luke. After a weird interaction with a local cop (who thought we were smuggling illegal immigrants), I was able to catch my lifer Gray Redhorse and a bonus Manantial Roundnose Minnow. I also broke off on a Flathead Catfish and struck out on Headwater Catfish.

Gray Redhorse

The roundnose minnow would be my last fish for a while. We switched gears and spent a good amount of time visiting some incredible national parks out in the desert. We managed to check off Guadalupe Mountains, Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands, Chaco Culture, and Mesa Verde! All were unique in their own way and I've really got to commend the US on their national park system.

Guadalupe Mountains

White Sands

Mesa Verde

The very northwest corner of New Mexico did have one river I was eager to visit, the Farmington. Arriving there, I was relieved to see there was actual running water so we could take a much-needed bath and also scratch my fishing itch. As far as I could tell, this was the only river in the US where it would be legal to catch Flannelmouth Suckers. However, the bottom was silty and the current was intense... it was going to be a challenge. It being the only option around, I made a dedicated attempt and caught exactly one fish, but it was the right kind!

Flannelmouth Sucker

This is a protected species in just about every other state, so I was really glad to have caught one legally.

Things took a turn for the worst after New Mexico. We were out exploring Monument Valley in Utah when the road changed from 2-lane highway to single-lane desert pass at a place called the Moki Dugway. Of course, our transmission decided to fail exactly halfway up and the car started revving up and rolling backwards. We were able to get it back down in neutral to inspect the damage. We were a little too stressed to get any photos but this is the road in question:

Moki Dugway

AAA was able to "prioritize' our request since we were stalled on the side of the highway, but it still took 10 hours before the tow truck was able to get to us. We then spent two nights sleeping in the mechanic's yard, and met some of the kindest people. The citizens of Blanding, UT really took care of us and we were fortunate to visit the town during our short stay. However, we couldn't stay forever because it would take over 2 weeks to get a replacement transmission. We made the best of it and took a bus to Salt Lake City where some of Alex's relatives generously took us in.

Blanding, UT - Homeless