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| The Bluffs at Homer Martin Ranch. Photo by Johnny Quiroz |
I paddled the canoe to the lip of the small rapid. I made a draw stroke to position the canoe into the deepest part of the rapid. The best line to the pool below was only inches deep and barely wide enough for the canoe to fit through. A canoeist, whether he is in a deep, dangerous boulder strewn rapid or in a shallow spit of a river in the Texas Hill Country, must always pick the best line for his canoe to go, to avoid any mishaps or embarrassments. I immediately realized that I picked the right line as the canoe shot down the shallow rapid, over a gravel bar and into the deeper pool below. We were on the Llano River, below Homer Martin Ranch. It is at this point, where a large red bluff blocks the river and turns it sharply to the left.
As my client and I plunged into the pool, I made a quick stroke to position the canoe so that we could begin fly fishing the hole. A flicker of movement at the top of the bluff caught my eye. I scanned the bluff, looking for the source of movement. A roadrunner, sat on a small outcropping in a clearing of cliff side sage, cedar, cactus and yucca. We fished the hole and caught several small fish. Throughout our time in the hole, the roadrunner stayed in the clearing and appeared to watch our every move. After a few minutes, we pulled over onto the shore to eat lunch. The bird would disappear into the brush, but would always return to the outcropping to watch us.
After lunch, we pushed off down the river. I looked up at the top of the cliff to see the bird still watching us. I like to think that as the roadrunner watched angler and guide on a clear ribbon of the Llano River, it became slightly envious. Envious…wishing it could change its name and be a river runner too.
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