Boat dock
Brown trout
Family pose
White River
White River
Fried fish
Sunday May 16th 2004
Yellville, Arkansas
Back in July 27th and 28th of 1991 my dad wanted take a vacation in Arkansas to go trout fishing so we ended up in Yellville, Arkansas. I'm not sure how he found the name of this place called Red Raven Inn, but its a B&B in Yellville. Its a quaint little white house built in 1904 that sits on the Crooked Creek. They are known for their aebleskivers, which is a Danish pancake. Somehow my dad found the name of a guide in Cotter, Ar called Cotter Trout Dock. They are a typical float guide service that guides on the White River for trout. From what I remember about last time we fished we left the dock in the morning and floated down the river using corn. Pretty simple, but we caught fish. Back to this time, we left Friendswood around 11 PM Saturday the 15th after I got back from Brents wedding. My brother and I drove straight up via 59 to 30, talk about a long drive, but we did listen to books on tape (James Patterson's Women's Murder Club, 1st to Die, I think his Alex Cross series is much better) and my laptop and GPS so when we missed a turn, we knew. Pretty cool! We got into Yellville around 9:45, checked in, ate lunch, and crashed hard until around dinner. Dinner was a good pizzeria in town and after that my brother found a movie store and rented The Last Samurai, very good movie!
Monday May 17th 2004
We woke the next morning at a little before 7 and ate breakfast downstairs of waffles with fresh strawberries and bacon. We headed out to the dock and got into the boat and on our way 7:59. Our guide was an ol' boy name Bob Flippin who had been working for Cotter Trout Dock for around 29 years. He had us load up with Berkley Powerbait of Power Eggs in large yellow ones and small red ones, two yellow on top and the red on the bottom of the hook, and I added a few pieces of corn for luck. We drift fished from these special boats made in Yellville for the White, they are very long flat bottom fiberglass boats but only 36" wide. They used long ropes with chains on them to slow down their drift. The fishing was done on the bottom via egg weights but since the powerbaits floated they were up a good 8-12 inches of the rocks, it was a weird feeling the weight bumping along the bottom and the hook getting get caught in the moss along the bottom. Sure made it hard to tell the fish from the other stuff, but we still caught a few. We fished till 11:30 and then the guide pulled the boat on shore near an island and started cooking lunch. He cleaned a few of the fish, and fried them up along with homemade hushpuppies, potato wedges, bacon, and cooked a pot of black eyed peas and we finished it off with some strawberry shortcake. The trip was almost worth it just for the lunch! Back in the boat to finish the trip. The morning we had all rigged up for Rainbow trout and in the afternoon my brother rigged up for brown trout using scopinio minnows and a white powerbait. Well that slowed down his action and mine really picked up. I must have caught eight or nine trout in the afternoon while my brother only caught one or two. It was a very enjoyable trip, the water was a clear green and you could see the trout and other fish and along the shores were great blue herons, lots of them. Along the way we were shown a nest of them and man they sure did make a racket. We also saw a bald eagle and its nest where you could see its young, pretty cool. We ended the trip at 4 with a limit of fish, which was five trout each. All were rainbows, and my dad caught a brown that was right under 16" and the guide advised against keeping it and I caught a little cut-throat while he was cooking lunch. Back to the B&B where I showered and crashed due to a nasty headache.
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Boat dock |
Brown trout |
Family pose |
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White River |
White River |
Fried fish |
Tuesday May 18th 2004
The next day we had got an earlier start because we dropped my mother off in Mountain Home so she could rent a car and drive up to Branson, Missouri. We had the same guide and loaded up and were off. At first he had us try the same rigging and same drifting but we were not having much luck. Bob caught the first three fish, and my brother caught two but my dad and I did not catch anything. So we changed strategies and anchored up behind a fallen log and he told us to change weights and use more corn and chunk them out there. It was much easier to detect when the fish were biting this way and I landed two right off the bat. Then my dad caught one and then they turned off; off to the next stop were we again anchored and wet the lines. We did not have much more luck the rest of the morning so it was off to lunch at the same place as yesterday. Pretty much the same meal, except the desert was banana pudding. Back in the boat were we anchored at another hole and the fish must have been hungry cause we caught about six of seven before the action stopped. We had one where it hit my line and my brothers, I've never seen that happen before but it was a pretty cool sight. After lunch my brother started throwing those scopinio minnows again looking for that big brown trout and he caught a few sucker fish, looked like the carp family to me, and the day before Bob caught a fish that looked like a big shiner, he wasn't sure the actual name. A little later in the day he caught a small brown trout, it was the only one of the day. We drifted a few more places and anchored up and caught some more and ended the day one short of a three man limit. Not a bad trip, caught some, lost some, ate some, it could have been worse. Back at the dock they packed all the fish for us and froze them and told us they would be packed on ice in a foam ice chest ready to be picked up for the long drive home. So we left with a good sun tan and tired arms back to pick up my mother at Mountain Home. Dinner was at a local place, not worth mentioning and my mother rented The Runaway Jury. I much preferred the book going after big tobacco instead of the gun industry, but good movie nonetheless.
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Wednesday May 19th 2004
Our last breakfast. This time it was with another family that had stayed the night and it was the famous aebleskivers and turkey bacon wrapped into a circle with eggs cooked in the middle. Mmm... good! Well after packing up we headed out, went over to Cotter and got the trout and then back to Yellville to pick up 14 and head back to Texas.
 Crooked Creek |
 A real brick S.H. |
 Crooked Creek |
 Semi-pet turkey |
Saturday May 29th 2004
Matagorda Bay
I'm not sure how it all got started but there was a Fuge planned trip to fish Matagorda Bay Memorial Day weekend. Well Dwayne was going and I wanted to go also so I setup staying in the family Bayhouse on Carancahua Bay. Dwayne picked me up about 3 on Saturday morning and we headed out to RiverBend where we were meeting up with Mike and his buddy Dave and then headed across the bay. I had a GPS marking of about where we wanted to fish, so we got close and found a spot where there were no boats and dropped anchor. Dwayne and I headed to the right and Mike and Dave headed to the left. Pretty soon Dwayne hooked up with a Red and I started towards him and I caught one on a gold spoon. I switched to a paddle tail and caught a few more dinks but nothing legal. We waved over Mike and Dave and they caught several on their way over. Once they stopped biting we all move back towards the boat for lunch, on the way I caught a 19" trout. After lunch we headed back out, and I watched Dwayne pull in a 26" red. I went left and they went right and got into a good bunch of reds and strung four or five while I got skunked. I eventually moved over to them and hooked up with a small red and that ended that wade. We got back to the boat and I called Jason to see how they did and it went something like this...
me (talking to Cbass):
How'd they do
Cbass: Caught 2 fish
me: and Ronnie Ray
cb: Let me let you talk to Dyer about that
me: what??? Hello...??? [we get disconnected]
so I called Glenn,
me: Whats up with Ronnie Ray and Sherri
Glenn: She just got out of surgery and is doing well
me: what!?!?!!?
Glenn: she cut her wrist when a window broke getting back into the condo
so after that Mike wanted to head back and check on things. We ended the day with ten fish, seven reds, two trout, and 1 flounder.
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More
Pictures
Jager's
Pictures
Sunday May 30th 2004
The next day we got started a little late and by the time we got back to the condo everyone was already gone... or so we thought. They had forgotten to wake up Mike and David. We got launched and ran to the spot and parked where we saw Glenns and Dyers boat. A quick wade to the same spot where they caught all the reds the day before didn't eve get a hit. Jason, Glenn, and Doug were up in some marsh and they caught some reds and trout. As I was headed back to the boat we saw Dwayne hook up with a fish, and then another, Glenn saw it too and headed full speed to where Dwayne was soon hooked up as well. Then it was pretty much a full speed race to get there and not step on a stingray. I couldn't buy a bite but I did manage to box one. Poor CBass must have caught more than a dozen but all were too small. After the school left, we ate lunch on the boat and went for one more wade. I caught one dink but no keepers. Glenn and then ran to some other spot, and we looked for slicks and birds, we found a slick, but no bites. So back to the house to cook and clean fish.
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Friday June 11th 2004
Port Mansfield
I was invited to go fishing with some of the HBB (Dwayne, Greg, and Sam) and their buddies to go down to Port Mansfield for three days of good fishing and fun. Dwayne had reserved a house on North Shore, so we were right on the water. They picked me up from the office around 3:30 on Thursday with Dwayne's boat in tow and we were off. Our truck had me, Greg, Dwayne, and Keith. I had hunted with all these guys before at Halls and for the Canvasback hunt. Ahead of us was Sam, Travis, and Red pulling Sam's 235 JH and the plan was to meet at Prasek's in El Campo. After a quick bite and gassed up the trucks we were off again, we arrived just at dark. As soon as we had the beer on ice turned on the lights on the pier to bring in the fish. The wind was HALLOWING! at 25-30+ and it was hard to cast much. I was able to catch two dinks but no keepers. Greg and Sam put a couple in the box and we turned in around midnight. Dwayne woke us up around 5:15 with food ready, thats what I call service! But no-one bought coffee, if you want to see a scary sight, wake up a bunch of fishermen/hunters on short sleep and too much beer with no coffee, its pretty ugly. We all loaded up launched the boats after a short three minute drive to the ramp. We headed for the pipeline and drifted, we caught some small trout on the first drift while the in the other boat Red caught two nice 23"+ trout. Those would turn out to be the biggest of the weekend. After a few more drifts we dropped Greg off at the house and headed back to find some more clear water. Dwayne proceeded to catch his limit of reds in short order and Sam caught some as well but I couldn't buy a red Friday, I did box a trout but that was my success for the day. After lunch and a quick nap we headed out again where I got skunked, didn't even get a bump. That night Sam and Dwayne cooked steaks and we all ate good; drank good too. Some of the guys stayed up and fished the lights and they caught a few but nothing to brag about.
 Good luck |
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Saturday June 12th 2004
An uninvited guest showed up that night so we had five in Dwayne's boat... at least for a little while. We started out drifting with Dwayne's brother Darrel who started catching fish with just reeling with a paddle tail, he doing pretty good until he got his line caught on Dwayne's motor and he had to lift it all the way up, only to have the motor burn up and not go back down. So that lead to Keith and Darrel working on the motor, long story short, Darrel cut his hand pretty good and they had to take him to the hospital and we took the boat back to the dock. We got the boat rigged good enough to fish and once Dwayne got back, the four of us headed back out to try our hand again. I didn't catch a keeper the whole day but I did caught a few that afternoon. The afternoon Greg and Dwayne got pretty jovial and it was a enjoyable afternoon. That evening Dwayne cleaned the fish and we cooked them about four different ways. Keith did Redfish on Halfshell, Sam and Matt fried some, I baked some and I made my Lucky Charms trout and redfish. Needless to say, no-one went hungry.
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 Greg lying |
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Sunday June 13th 2004
The fishing for the whole weekend pretty much sucked, but this morning was different, the wind was between 0-5 MPH, it was a nice change from the 25+ we had the previous. We also got an earlier start and started catching fish as soon as we cast, Dwayne caught a nice red on a topwater and I had one blowup but I missed it and Keith had some also but no hookups. I switched to a spoon and had some trout hit it but no hard slams of a red. Dwayne wanted to wade and Keith and I kept drifting. I was able to put two in the box and Keith but at least that, maybe more. I also caught a skipjack and Keith caught a searobin on a soft plastic. When we picked up Dwayne he had two or three on his stringer and said he caught several on topwaters. The water was crystal clear and it was sure hard to leave, but we all had a lot to clean and a long way to drive so we packed up.
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Dwayne's Post
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Gregs Post
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Saturday July 3rd 2004
Today I meet up with some co-workers at the Bright Light right past the pass. Roger has an 18' Kenner and along with him was Andy. We fished between Christmas bay and West bay. I had the first two fish in the box, a 18" trout and a 14.25" flounder both caught on a tequila sunrise bull minnow. I lost another flounder right after i boxed the flounder and that was it for me that day. My luck just shut off. We waded a few places where Andy caught a 17" spec and roger caught a flounder but no good numbers. On the last wade I got hit by a jellyfish, not fun. After that we went back to one of Rogers flounder whole and they used live mullet to catch six keeper flounder, my usually pot licking luck held out and all I caught was two dogfish. As usual a slow day on the bay beats any day at home or the office.
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Monday July 5th 2004
Here are a few of the trout I cooked. Hard to beat this.
Wednesday July 7th 2004
Well I finally got the invite to go frog giggin' with ol' CBass and The Brazoria County Yeti (aka Gabe) and let me tell you it was damn sure an experience. Got a few, missed a few, but had a great time. Ready to do it again!
Saturday July 10th 2004
I got the invite from Dwayne to head out with him, Sam and Greg in Sam's 23.5 JH down to Matty. I met them near 518 and 288 around 4 in the morning and we headed south. Got the boat launch with no trouble and headed out through the locks. Got lucky and all the locks were open so we made great time getting out there and the water was nice and calm too. We get to the spot we want to fish and see lines and lines of boat, so we kept heading down the shore line until we found a spot we could get in and anchor up and fish. Started out great, on my second cast I had a 12" spec, on the next few casts I had some more hits. Morning started out great. I headed over to Dwayne cause that man always finds the fish and watched him catch a few on top waters while I lost some on plastic. I switched to top water and hooked up with another dink. The next few casts I broke off my top water and watched it fly a good 50 yards. Luckily Dwayne was able to find it and let me use one of his she dogs. But after that neither of us had any more hits. So we loaded up and tried new spot. I switched to S&P/ch bass assassin and caught my only keeper of the day. Right over 15". I had a few more hits on it before it broke off on a cast and went to greet Davy Jones. We want back to the boat for a little R&R and eat and then changed spots again. At this next spot I went to the shore line looking for some reds and Dwayne went out deep for more trout. Neither of us had any luck. So new spot again and Greg took a nap while the rest of us tried it again. I was getting pretty tied and just about to turn back when Dwayne hooked up. So I moved his way and changed to the black magic/ch he was using. I was between him and Sam and watched them each catch five or six fish while I never got a bump. I changed to tequila sunrise/ch and immediately had hits, but I never could hook one. I had six hits, almost in a row and never did set the hook. So ended the day. We saw a stunning sunrise, got to watch the porpoises work, and Jacks chase bait. Awesome day on the Texas coast.
 Beautiful Sunrise |
 Beautiful Sunrise |
 Dwayne, Greg, Sam |
 Porpoises |
 Trout |
 Sam, Me, Dwayne |
 Sam, Greg, Dwayne |
Sunday July 25th 2004
Ol' Jason shot me a PM earlier in the week about fishing the lights Saturday night and staying the night and hitting the surf first thing. Well that night I met him at Buc-ees and left my truck (they left me a note asking me not to do that again or get towed) and we headed down to the coast. Jason had a BBQ plate made from a work party they had that day, nice way to start the trip. Well we met his buddy at the Sargent boatramp and tried to find this beach via some pretty rough trails, well after having to use 4x4 we decided to hit the fall back spot. The fallback spot was pretty crowed and we tried flounder giggin' and a little fishing; no luck. So we crashed and got up around 5:30 and started wading. We caught a few fish but no keepers, so we kept working our way down the beach until we found a spot that looked good. Took us a bit but we found them, for about 10 minutes we had a fish on every few casts, lost far too many to mention but we did land eight keepers. After a couple of guys said they say a 8 foot shark, we decided this lull would be a good time to put the fish in the icebox and grab a snack. Well Jason caught a few more sandys but that was it for the day. Hell it sure beat sleeping in, the surf was nice and flat, if it were a bit greener we could have torn them up.
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Saturday August 14th 2004
Well ol' Jason and Gabe decided to cook a lot of the frogs they had gigged over the summer and posted it up. Who was I to miss a frog fryin' party. So I head on out to Brazoria with the intent of not staying too late cause I was gonna head up to CS afterwards for a buddies graduating party. Anyways I get there early and say, one beer can't hurt, while we are waiting for everyone to get there Jason brings over some fish so we start thawing those and Gabes dad says we can have a few pounds of frozen shrimp. Well Amy shows up with Megan since they were close to town and then Jason, Russ, and Glenn show up as well. So we start cooking, or actually Jason talks some of his buddies into it, I'm pretty impressed if you host a BBQ and have others do the cooking. Well I got to drinking and eating and didn't take any more picts, but we had LOTS of good food. Fried frogs, fish, shrimp, grilled legs, and I made some Lucky Charms Trout, although I was pretty gone by that time and it sucked IMHO. It was a great way to end out the summer with good friends, good beer, and good food!
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 Russ, Glenn, Me |
 Jason, Gabe |
Saturday September 18th 2004
Opening day of Early Teal Season
We started off in the same place we did last year, Volles Pond out in the marsh. I didn't have high expectations as our hunts were pretty poor last year, but as it was my first hunt of the year, I was ready. We drove down the road and right before we drove off into the marsh I told Mike I was going to wade through the pond so I could make cleanup on my bike easier later on. I had also been running up here in Alaska and was curious to see if it paid off and test some new gear I bought, Orvis Silver Label stocking foot breathable waders and Shannons Bug Tamer jacket to keep off the mosquitoes. I was also using my decoys which I had rigged up using the Coastal Texas Rigging method. The walk really wasn't that bad and I wasn't getting bit by vampires nor was I sweating to death with full neoprene like I had the year before. We got setup and put out the decoys with two pods left and right and the mojo in the middle. Once we got setup it wasn't long until we had birds buzzing around the decoys. Mike got the first one pretty soon after legal. He then got his second as it landed in the dekes and he got it as it was leaving. My first one was a left to right crossing and it turned out to be a GWT, the only one I would get of the season. I then dropped number two on an overhead shot that fell behind me. As soon as I got back to the blind we had a big group come into the decoy and our first shots put down two birds and I picked up number four with another overhead shot. That be finish off my limit and a few minutes later Mike got his. We were done sometime before 6:55 so we got a two man limit in under 20 minutes. I was happy. The gear all worked well, only thing I would change is use egg weights with the decoys instead of strap weights.
 some birds working |
 two man limit of teal |
 me and shadow |
 Mike and Shadow |
Sunday September 19th 2004
After our great hunt I called my brother and told him to come on down. A&M had a home game that day so he would leave after it was done. He must have got in around midnight and we left around 4:30. We hunted the same place and it was nice to have another person to help carry gear. We set up in pretty much the same fashion and just didn't have the birds today. We had two land in the decoys and Andrew shot one on the water and got the other as it try to escape. We had two more pairs come in but we only knocked down one of those and the dog couldn't find it. Pretty dismal compared to the day before, glad Andrew got to shoot.
 Andrew |
 Me |
 grizz and teal |
Monday September 20th 2004
I hunted DU #2 in the blind closest to DU #3 with Dwayne DuBose and Tommy Townsend and Drake. We didn't have much water in the pond so we kinda spread the decoys out in front of us and put up Dwaynes two mojos and had mine as a swimmer. We heard some EARLY shots come from Richard area and had a teal in the decoys before shooting time that we had to let go. Right after legal we shot our one and only teal in a tag team with me and Dwayne. We heard a lot of shooting from cane break area but that was about it for the day. I did get some good pictures of mottleds.
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Tuesday September 21st 2004
I again hunted with Dwaye and Tommy but we hunted the open marsh this time and luckily I had rebuilt my sled so we were able to flout all the decoys and gear out there. Man the tide was sure high that day and it kept coming up during the hunt. We set up with the ICW to our backs and had our only shot at teal come from behind us and blow right past us. We had many many mottleds try to land on the mojos, which the wind was sure blowing around, but no teal that day. Never even fired a shot.
Wednesday September 22nd 2004
Today I hunted with old Doe Nob
at his place near Longenbaugh Road out in
Katy. He had never been there before so when he was told the gate was near a
house, they never said it was actually in the backyard next to the propane tank.
So after we find and open the gate, more bailing
wire than gate, we set out to follow a trail, which wouldn't make a good cow
trail. We follow that for a while, do a circle back to find it again and
finally head down the right path where we look for our maker which was a empty
shell box stuck on a tree by some ATV tracks. Well we find the place, park
the truck and start the hike. We finally find the pond and start putting
out decoys, we use Andys decoys and spread them out and put his mojo in the
middle and after a few tries we get mine working as a swimmer and not getting
caught on the string. We see four teal look over the decoys early but not
show any interest. Then we have one land in the decoys and Andy swats it.
A minutes later we have four crows fly right at us, the result was an empty gun
on my part and some educated birds, sans one that Andy shot. Hmm... not a
good start, 0-3. Not long after I see a teal come in from our left, but as
I try to raise my SBE2 the sling gets caught on the blind. In an effort to
get it free I almost trip over the chair I had only moments before been sitting
on. I think Andy thought I was doing my Three Stooges impression solo style.
Well I finally manage to get free and the hen swings back around and I don't
give her a second chance. I don't care what people say, #6 for decoying
birds work magic. Well so ends the teal, but as we are waiting, I see a
King Rail to Andys right and he goes to flush it, it disappears into the brush
and he finds another target. I see him point his gun down and I first
think he sees a snake when I see the water explode and whats left of a frog come
flying out of it. Talk about a mixed bag, two teal, one crow and a nice
bull frog. Well thats the end of the shooting for the day so we pack it in
and go eat at Otilia's.
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 Andy with his frog and crow |
 Me |
Friday September 24th 2004
South Texas Dove Opener
Today was the opener for dove but I still wanted to get in some teal action so I got to a pond early and put out a few decoys. I never even saw a teal. Saw some mottleds and tree ducks, but I couldn't shoot those till Monday, so after I got burned by a dove I picked up and moved to a tree clump where I set out the mojo dove. I had one land next to the decoy and on my second shot, the SBE2 got its first dove and my first of the year. Unusual that I got a teal before I got a dove. Well I pick up two more birds before I go join Scotty over on the other side by a brush pile and a fence line. I didn't get anymore before we left for lunch at West of the Brazos for burgers and beer. After lunch we went to look at the ag fields for bird but finding none we returned to our other spot. We had a good number of bird working in the afternoon but we couldn't hit them. I got four more, found three, and Scott got five more and found four of them. Not a great hunt but it sure beat working.
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Saturday September 25th 2004
I slept in this morning and went dove hunting in the afternoon at Halls North property, land they added new this year. Once I got there and started to unload my gear I realized I left my ATV key at home, so I made the best of it and walked down about 100 yards and setup near some round bails. I wasn't there for 10 minutes when I folded my first bird. Sure is nice to hunt in an area with short cut grass and disced filed, makes finding birds a breeze. Two shots later I had two more birds. I took a few long shots that didn't pan out and folded one across the ditch that I couldn't retrieve. I had a few burn me, and there were a few more I could have hit but didn't shoot. Nothing to brag about but its nice to have clean land this close to home where I can dove hunt that actually has birds.
Sunday September 26th 2004
Today is the last day of regular teal season. I got a late call from Mike that told me we were hunting 30 acre marsh and to meet him at 5:30. So I gear up and meet him at the requested time. It rained since I last hunted out there and the roads were considerably more muddy. We left out and Mike was leading and really couldn't get his bearing so we picked an open flat of water only about .3 miles from the bridge and setup. Mike didn't like the spot and said so from the get go. Right at opening light it was like nothing I had seen before, there were hundreds of birds flying around the marsh; I guess the full moon had really brought them down. I got my first one after it set in the dekes and Mike missed it. Instead of getting it immediately, he sent the dog after it but it never got a spot so he was trying hand signals. It was down hard so I let him worry about it. We had one more on in on the dekes and again Mike missed it and my second shot put it down but it was still kicking. IMHO, when you have a cripple go down, you should go after it ASAP and not try to train your dog. Mike was closer but didn't go after it so I walked over towards it calling the dog to me. One the way I crushed a teal that was an easy find. When got to the spot where #2 went down and the dog was birdy but it could never find it. Well we find my #1 bird and he is still not liking the spot so we move and have the ICW at our backs. Much better I admit. We have birds coming in to the dekes all day. I can honestly say I have never shot that bad before in my life. I finally got my limit around 9 when we had a group come in that we both knocked down birds from. Mike got two more around 10 when we ran out of all duck ammo and were using 3.5 BB. This was probably the best teal hunt I've ever been on. There were HUNDREDS of ducks, it was over cast, we had a slight breeze and nothing got broke. I shot like shit, but hell, it was fun.
 Mike and Shadow |
 Me and Shadow |
 grizz and teal |
 grizz and teal |
I dove hunted that night at the North property. I got one dove and should of had one more. I heard a lot of shooting in that disced field on the other side of the road but not much shooting on our side.
Monday September 27th 2004
Opening day of Early Big Duck Season
I wanted a Black-bellied Whistling Duck for the wall bad. So instead of hunting at halls, I decide to meet Scott at Damon for an easy hunt and hopefully a BB. We setup in a pond neither of us have been to before so we get there extra early and try to find it. Scott gets lucky and finds a dozer trail to the pond so he just follows that to the pond while I hit it from the left through some thick brush. We have lots of good cover so we setup on the thickest side and Scott puts of the decoys of a few black ducks and GWT in separate pods, we don't use a mojo. Legal comes and goes and soon thereafter we have three BWT blow through the decoys that neither of us get a shot at. After that I see a rail and I blast him. As soon as I shoot about ten mottleds get up from across the field and here comes nine mottleds. They cup up and decoy beautifully, man it was awesome! They decoy exactly how ducks should. Well we each pick one out and blast. Scott gets his on the first shot and I lock my action back with no birds. Hmm... not a good start. No worries, a few minutes later here come some more, we quack at them and they come in the same way. I pick out the reddish feet and boom, got my mottled. Man it was great to see them decoy. We later we see another marsh hen and Scott tries to get it to fly with no luck. As he is messing with it here come some BB. I take a pot shot but never hit them, damn! Well after that I change chokes and ammo for some longer shots In goes the .675 Terror and #2s. We shoot the bull some more, listen to his dog whine, and in comes a BWT that sets in the decoys. I stand up to shoot it and it takes off towards Scott. Lets just say, #2 that close with .675 Terror tenderizes the duck. Well one hen down too add to our mottleds and rail. In a minute here comes another BB, it won't decoy so I decide to give it a shot. I again empty the gun and Scott things I hit it. So I watch where it lands and will go after it once we decide to pick up. Start starts to pick up decoys and I hike across the field blind looking for the bird. The ground starts turning soggy and I see two mottled get up pretty close by, I walk over and there is my BB! Yah! It wasn't a numbers hunt but I got my bird.
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Sunday October 17th 2004
This was the first day since I got back from Alaska that I could do any hunting and I was really itching for some reds so I went out to halls and started out with a soft plastic. I hooked up pretty soon but lost it, then I couldn't buy a bite, so I put on a new lure. I put on an old spoon I had never caught anything with and figured I'd give it a shot, sure enough, I got a fish pretty soon and turned out to be a 16" spec. I noticed that the hooks bent pretty good so I put on a new hook and kept casting. Pretty soon there after I pulled in a red, just over the legal line. I was happy, two nice fish for the dinner plate. I kept trying with no luck and moved spots, but I was ready to load up and try my hand at doves. So I loaded up and headed to the other lease for some dove action. Since I had never fully looked around, I thought I would put some miles on the ATV and see the county. I found some ducks, some red wasps (ouch) and lots and lots of snipe. I sat down near the rice but never saw a dove so I headed back to the round bails and sure enough I had a few shots, I hit a few with #6 but the birds never even slowed down, not sure what I was doing wrong but it wasn't my day. Oh well, it was fun.
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Wednesday November 10th 2004
I got back to Houston at 6 this morning and really wanted to get some shots at doves before the season closed that day and also try my hand at snipe so I headed to Halls North. I soon found some others had the same idea and I had to move to a different field. I was glad I was wearing hip waders as the field was pretty muddy. Well the 682 connected a few times with high speed #6 and I ended the day very tired and sweaty with two snipe. I will soon be looking for a quail gun, those long 32" barrels aren't meant to keep up with a flushing snipe and I missed several birds because of that. All in all it was a fun day and I really enjoyed it.
Thursday November 11th 2004
Well ol' Andy gave me the call that night said he had an extra spot if I wanted to hunt, sure I did! I had to quickly wire up the left trailer light after something happened to the last one, and in doing that, I noticed I had a short on the right light, well after a few ideas messing with the right one, I said screw it, loaded up the ATV and gear and went to bed. 2:40 came early that next morning as my body thought it was 11:40, but I ate down some left over Chinese and hit the road. Traffic was very light, as it should be, and I was at Andy's early. He was up and ready, and we loaded up and swung by Whataburger for breakfast and then off to meet up with another lease member Fritz near Longenbaugh road. Once there, Fritz Big Bear wouldn't start so we put all the gear on mine ATV and Andy gave me roundabout directions so it was off looking for the blind with the gear. Apparently there was a miscommunication between Andy and myself as I ended up way away from them, a few minutes later I followed their hat lights to the pond and drove around it looking for the blind which I found on the backside. I called them over and we started putting out the spread. Pod left, pod right, mojo in the middle. We didn't have to wait very long before we had some spoonies comment to the spread, three dropped and I was on a fourth when my gun went "click," damn those Kents for not cycling. Next we had some GWT come in, I crushed a drake on the first shot, and never got a second as I had the same problem. Luckily Fritz had some gun oil he let me use and I didn't have a problem the rest of the day. We passed on some shots at mottleds, and tree ducks that we probably could have hit some, but were rewarded with three tree ducks that came in perfect and none left. We had a single spoony come in that drifted over to Andys side and he made the shot. That was it for us that day, nine birds. Andy and I each dressed light but had a cold front blow in on us, we spent the majority of the hunt shivering and wishing for a hunting jacket. Oh well, it was fun and I thank Andy for the invite.
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Saturday November 13th 2004
Opening day of Big Duck Season
Once again we were assigned to hunt Volles Pond but because of the wind we didn't hunt the blind, instead we hunted the other side of the pond. We used our normal setup of two pods, one left and one right and the mojo in the middle. Today however it would not work for us. We ended the day with three birds and Mike getting all of those, all hens, spoony, mottled, and a gadwall. I should of had the other gadwall, and a teal that came around behind us that I ran out of swing on, but thats it. It was really really slow, so I decided to skip Sunday and goto the A&M vs tech game in College Station. Awesome game! Glad to see us finally beat those "classless clowns"
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Monday November 15th 2004
Well after mixed reports on Halls I hunted it with a Greg in the marsh near where they did good the previous day. We both had pretty high hopes as they had a pretty mixed bag the day before and said they saw lots of birds flying. Well we met at the spot and headed out in the marsh. Gregs knee was hurting so he brought his ATV. I was prepared for a hike, but I was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, so off we went. The wind was wrong for the spot we wanted to hunt so we moved to the other side and setup decoys. After getting setup we sat back and waited for our teal, usually the first flyers. Well we kept waiting cause they never showed. We had two birds come in to the spread that we emptied our guns on and never cut a feather. Not long after two more came in that Greg got one and I missed, I was glad I did cause it turned out to be a mottled pair and he got the drake. Well I changed chokes to .675 Terror because of the long shots and was glad I did. Not long after we had two come in and I swung on the one on the left and made a long shot to bring down a mottled drake. Pretty good luck on our part. We had some teal working later but when they were getting close the group behind us shot so that messed up our birds. Greg called it at around 9ish and as soon as he got up we had birds come in, oh well, 30 more minutes. Well as we were picking up decoys I look up and say, if these pelicans were snow geese I could do some hurting on them," well turns out they were snow geese and my empty SBE didn't have anything to show for it.
Tuesday November 16th 2004
Well after yesterdays hunt Greg went scouting Trinity bay and found some Gadwall, so he was pumped up about hunting there tomorrow so I met him at his house for something new. I get to his house at 4:15ish and head out to a boat ramp not 15 minutes from his house. There was one other boat there so we weren't too worried about someone getting to our spot first. We loaded up and headed out. Man, talk about being dark outside, and running without spot lights kinda freaked me out. Oh well, we got to our spot and the water is really high and Greg has a bit of trouble finding it but we do and get setup. We see a few lights off in the distance but no-one comes close. After we put out the spread we talk about where to put the boat but decide to pull it into the cattail as someone has done so before us. We hear a good number of shots coming from a blind some distance behind us but no ducks our way. Well after a while we sit down in the boat and use the side for back support and wouldn't you know it, three birds come in on us and I never even get my gun up, Greg takes some shots, mostly in desperation and we watch as they fly away. Not long there after we have some geese fly over us and I got lucky and knocked down a nice looking eagleheaded blue. Our next bird was a gadwall drake and that would turn out to be our last bird. So that ended that day. First goose with the .675 Terror, it and Kent 1-1/8 #3 made short work of that goose.
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Wednesday November 17th 2004
After yesterdays hunt, Greg said we were going to his honey hole of the Trinity river so I said sure, something new. I had to be there by 4:45 this time so I got to sleep in a bit. When I got up this morning it was raining cats and dogs and rained the whole way there. I get to his house and he is getting ready, and I hurriedly put on neoprene and start moving gear around and trying to lighten the load in my backpack. So we head out in a DARK night with Drake, Dwaynes dog, to a ramp right off I-10 that had more crap at the launch that I have ever seen. I swore we were in West Virginia somewhere. Once we clear the launch we load up and head north for a while, not sure how long, less than half an hour I would guess. We parked (really tied the boat up to a tree) and unloaded gear and started walking. It was so dark that Greg at first couldn't get a bearing and the GPS was in too much cover to get a signal, so we just kept going until we got a good signal, changed course and set off again, the hole while being rained on and eaten by mosquitoes. Well we finally get there and its bigger than I was thinking. Greg puts out the dekes and I put out the mojo. After a few attempts I get it rigged in the deep water, loosing one of the feet along the way. So we get setup and I back up into some cane and Greg is over near dry land so Drake and set and we have a bird come in that I should have shot at, but I let it pass. Turns out that was the one of the two ducks we saw that day. After a little while later we move out of the water onto the bank and are kinda shooting the bull when a greenhead lands in the decoys before we can even react. I had my gun slung and wait till it lands and then go for the shot, I got it up just about the same time the bird flushed. I know I hit it on my first shot, but it doesn't react, my next two didn't slow it down and Gregs three didn't do anything to it either. We kinda stood there dumbfounded for a bit before looking at each other like what the hell just happened. We looked for the bird but no luck. Damn. That was it, out excitement for the day.
Friday November 19th 2004
Well today it was me, Greg and Dwayne. We decided to hunt Halls and try a new spot so I met them at the main gate at 5:15 and we headed towards the back. The water on the back road was about halfway up my truck tires, lots and lots of water out there. Well we got to the spot and unload, the mosquitoes are out in force. I bring my ATV and they are gonna walk back so I load up the decoys and drive down to the spot and start unloading as they walk up. We gear up and head out to the island in the middle. Once we get there, we realize its more like a clump of grass, not really an island, luckily there is an old blind there so we use it to hang gear. We put out the decoys in front of us and then off to the side with two spinners on poles and my wonderduck splashing in the water. We don't wait long before a gadwall comes in and Greg gets him. We see mottled but they won't commit. Some gadwalls start to work us but they never get within 100 yards. My back is turned watching the back and they saw a duck is coming in and by the time I turn its already flared and Dwayne gets it on his second shot. Later we have some teal work us and I shoot as they are over head as does Greg and he hits one and it goes down a long ways off. Dwayne and Drake head off looking for him. As he is out there a teal buzzes the decoys and I never get the gun up. As Dwayne is walking back I try to get his attention and motion him to where it landed. He semi-walks that way and jumps the bird and gets lucky on his second shot. It goes down hard a hundred yards back, Drake gets the bird and brings it back. Our last bird of the day is a BB hen that comes in from the right and Greg and I tag team on it. We saw more ducks today, still not over 50 but 4 is season high.
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Saturday November 20th 2004
They give us some crap spot at Halls in the marsh behind DU3 so I tell Mike, I ain't going, does he want to hunt Damon with me, he says yes. We meet at 1462 and 521 at 5:10ish and head to Damon in the pouring rain. It hits us hard the whole way there. Once we get there we wait till about 6:30 before we get dressed due to the rain. We set out a spread and don't see a duck within 250 yards. At 9:00 we pack up and head home.
Sunday November 20th 2004
We drew Gerharts Blind today. This used to be my second favorite place on the lease when David had his personal blinds there, they are the TradeWinds Classic Barrel Pit blinds and now its still good, but not like before. We got there about 5:15 and and the mosquitoes were in full force as usual. We head out and the water is still pretty high and I stop my ATV at the last stake and decide to see if the running/workout I've been doing in AK has paid off and decide to "hump-it" the rest of the way in. I get the to blind, unload my gear and start putting out decoys. Mike has gone back to the bike and rides it closer to the blind. We setup two pretty big groups, one left and one right, put the mojo in the middle and get ready. We don't wait long before Mike puts a BWT down to his left. We say many many more birds than I had the whole previous week. The final count is six birds, two gadwall came in cupped up and I got the hen and we both tag teamed the drake, three teal, 2-BWT, 1-GWT, and one spoonie hen.
Thursday December 9th 2004
I got back in town the day before and met some guys at Sams Boat on Richmond for some beer. While there Brent called and asked if I was hunting, I hadn't planned on it but what the hell, but neither of us had decoys, mine were in storage, and his were at Halls, so I asked Lucas if he wanted to go (and bring decoys) and he did so we planned to met at 1642 and 521 at 5:15. I went over to Brents and we left from there. It was a nice cool morning, not too warm and not too cold. I had never been to this pond before so I put the GPS coordinates into my eTrax and off I went looking for it. I found it without too much effort and we setup a few pairs of decoys and waited. We heard mottleds off to our right and had some buzz through the decoys, our shots weren't on target but it did get up most of the birds in the area. As I was looking to my right I look out in front and see a pair of mottleds cupped up and on the way in, I was the last to shoot, as I was the last to see them and we crippled off both of them but got lucky and found them. That was it for the day, not much action, but an easy clean hunt.
Friday December 10th 2004
Today was this years annual Bay Prairie Outfitters Refuge hunt and I hunted on Friday. As usual I stayed at my grandmothers and got a good nights sleep and drive in for the hunt. Well we here hunting with Glenn and Travis and had a good hour drive to make so we loaded up and headed out. Jim rode with me, it was probably a good thing as it kept me awake as I drove. So once we get to the spot we put all our gear in trailers and jumped in and off we were. Once at the field it was a pretty easy walk to our levy and we dropped our gear and started putting out the 1700 decoys we used that day. Glenn had some of the new rags from Chuck and I liked them. They were thicker plastic and held their shape better. Our group was the farthest away putting out rags and we heard the sound of thousands of geese getting up and once and had to run back to where we had put down our gear to setup on the backrests and throw the blankets over us. The first wave was a group of specs that came over to the left and we did not let many go, that would hold true for most of the day, the left side shot lights out. Pretty soon thereafter we had a group of Canada geese come in and three did not leave. The rest of the day was pretty full of specs working fine for us but very few snows came in. Drake and I picked up a pair of snows that got too low for their own good and Glenn made a great shot on a ross and I think Primeduck made a great shot to fold a snow. Oh well, here are the picts.
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Sunday December 12th 2004
Dwayne hunted alone on Saturday and called me that night and said he was solo for Sunday and did I want to join him, it was a freshwater pond so sure I was in. I loaded up the Grizzly and hit the hay for an early alarm. I met up with Dwayne around 5:15 at the reservoir for a 5 minute ATV to the Back porch blind. Todd said we could adjust so we moved as far from the blind as possible and into some grass back towards Rodneys Pitts. Eight AM rolled around and we had never fired a shot, so we decided to move across the small clearing we were hunting since no-one was hunting near Rodneys Pitts. While crossing the body of water I shot a BWT hen and we both couldn't react in time to swing on a redhead. Once we got setup we had birds work us for the rest of the day. We soon added a tag team mallard drake and I emptied my gun with #2s on a pintail drake that Dwayne and Drake found in a cow pasture. Once back we both knocked down some BWT hens and then I got a buffalo head hen as she tried to sneak through the decoy spread. After that the divers came in and man they worked great. We shot five divers and most decoyed to within 15 yards of us. We should of had a limit but that how it goes sometimes, it was a fun hunt and I'm glad I got up that morning.
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Tuesday December 14th 2004
So starts a new chapter for hunting for me
Well ol' Skack and I have been talking about me coming up there for a few hunts and I was pumped to get back from AK this time and get up there. I stayed at my bros in CS Sunday night and drove on up there Monday morning, getting in around noonish. We got a burger and headed over to Sportsmen Warehouse where I bought my new lucky hat (Benelli in Max4). After that we went scouting to look for birds. We jumped some, but not enough to get Jason excited. We had been invited to hunt with Danny (The Waco Kid) for Tuesday so we got up bright and early for the two hour drive down there. Once at Dannys house, we loaded up and met a buddy of his and then headed out to a hole Danny has. We were a bit late in setting up and actually had mallards land between us and the trees!!! Frickin' unbelievable! So we get setup and get ready and man here some the birds. The first few shots shots were total mayhem, birds everywhere and guns going off everywhere. I was on the left-hand side and we knocked down two but only found one. The right hand guys did far better. A teal came over us and Jason said to shoot it and that I did, Kent #3 crushed a good looking GWT drake. The next set of birds were a taking turns of shooting decoying mallards. We had a lull and Danny shoots at some teal, only to notice 8 or 9 mallards above that were coming down to us. We finish out the day with the boys giving me the last two shots and I didn't let the birds go. It was something else, a man can never get tired of that.
 Jason and I |
 Jason, Danny, and I |
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Wednesday December 15th 2004
So we head back to Jason's and load up the boat and head out in search of more ducks for the next day. We get to a place he has only hunted once or twice and start searching for the birds. We find a handful of birds here and there, but not great concentration. Then we turn a corner and jump thousands upon thousands of divers, mostly canvasbacks, bluebills, and scaup, but no puddlers. So off we go, well we turn one corner and start jumping ducks from the front to the back of this pocket, Jason looks over and grins, and says "I know where we are hunting tomorrow." We kill the boat and discuss the best place to setup for the wind, once we all agree, we head back to put the gear up and get some rest. 3 the next morning comes early, but Jason says he hates to rush so we will have plenty of time this way. We get there and put in the boat and start heading across the lake, thank god I bought my good gloves and fleece face mask as its COLD going across the lake, but I do not bring glasses and my eyes get pretty messed up and I have double vision for the rest of the day, not good for bird hunting. Well we get to the spot and put out decoys and we have ice a good three feet from the shore. The is the first time I've worn my Columbia parka this year and laying out in those fields I was glad to have it. It was friggin' cold! Well at first light Jason tells me to shoot, I should have practiced swinging from underneath the blankets before shooting time, because my second shot brought the bird down but not very dead. Jason and Abby tried their best but they couldn't get it, not a good way to start the morning. Well when the next birds come in, Jason says take'em and out of three birds, we bag two susies, wow, going from bad to worse. Well it soon picks up as we pick up six drakes and I double up on teal and Jason shoots a GWT drake. Good thing Jason carries rem oil as the crud on the blankets really jammed up our guns. We ended up with 11 birds, 3 GWT, 6 greenheads an two susies. I shot Kent Impact the past two days and was not happy with it.
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Thursday December 16th 2004
Well we left a bit early to meet
a guy who had mounted some birds for me, but on the way to meet him, he said he
had to leave early so we swung by a different lake and looked for birds.
We found some and decided to head there in the morning. Today was warmer
than the other days and I did put on glasses this morning so I could see!
We get to the spot we found the day before and unload all the gear and put out
the decoys and backup into the trees. We don't wait long before a drake
mallard lands a bit out of range so we shoot at the same time and bring it down
with a tag team effort. We then have a pair working us and as they do we
have about 7 teal buzz in and Jason yells take 'em, he shot twice and got two
and I didn't cut a feather, well turns out that they are ringnecks, I make sure
and remind Jason of that the rest of the week,
. We tag team up on a gadwall
drake before I double up on mallards. We have two of them, one right in
front of us and another over my left, and as Jason says take it, I pop the one
in the front and switch to the one to the left and bring it down before Jason
can get a shot off, my highlight of the day. The last bird of the day was
a drake mallard that came in cupped up but he flared off to our right and I had
trees blocking me so Jason brought him down with some Winchester #2s. We leave early and scout yet
another lake and find 50 pairs or so and lots of teal, Jason is pumped and
thinks we'll slaughter them tomorrow. We get home to get the birds, and
Jason grills steaks and I get duck fingers ready.
Friday December 17th 2004
Another cold hunt, and the lake
is damn foggy too, its slow going as we have to avoid some nasty mud to not get
stuck. Once we get there its pretty deep so we have to be careful not to
get in water over the waders. As I am throwing out decoys I step into a
beaver hole and scream like a banshee as I am sure I'm a goner, wow, a little more
excitement than I need at 6:15 in the morning. After we get setup we hide
the boat and wait on the sunlight. We have birds everywhere but they do
not decoy and it makes it hard to tell what is what, Jason whacks a hen he
thought was a drake and I empty my gun at an overhead shot that does nothing but
make noise. As soon as it gets light we reassess our cover and location
and move to a MUCH better spot. We don't have much work us for a bit but
then Jason says freeze and I hear wings, and then I see about eight or nine
mallards out up in front of us and we have a drake land right in front of us.
Jason says take him if he tries to get away, so I was ready in case he jumped
but I wanted to wait on the
others, well he is getting nervous, rightly so, but a pair gets a bit too close
so I say screw it and swing on the drake to my left and I fold him then the one in
front gets up and I get him before Jason can get a shot off. Another
double, sorry Jason, no ringnecks for you today.
I end the day with a drake
widgeon and another greenhead, both killed with Impact #5, still not impressed
with Impact.
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So that ends an awesome week in Denton area hunting. Poor Jason doesn't know he opened Pandora's Box.
Saturday January 8th 2005
Well Andrew was supposed to come
down to hunt this weekend but he didn't so I slept in and went to Damon around 3
in the afternoon for some try at snipe. I started out at the North side
around pond 45 and walked all the way to Scotts pond, about 5 miles round trip.
Along the way I got seven birds and shot over 60 times. Wow those damn
little birds can fly! I'm glad I brought my 391 as it can shoot
faster than my SBE and I can swing it better. I never could get a dove to
get within range that trip. Oh well, a fun day and hunt, and rubber waders
sure do make a man sweat, my jeans were soaked. (you can see my reward in
the pict on the left
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Tuesday January 11th 2005
I hunted Damon with Gabe and a buddy of his for some more snipe. As I opened the gate a few snipe got up, so I pulled in the truck and got the gun. I was able to get one right off the bat. After I shot, about 20 big ducks jumped from a nearby pond. We walked all over the damn lease never getting many good shots. I got a second bird by pond 17, and that was it for the morning. We went to lunch at West of the Brazos and then headed back out for some more shooting. We jumped a few more right off the bat at 46 but we never did connect any more. I got a rail at pond 47 and that would be it for the day. Two snipe for me and a rail.
Wednesday January 12th 2005
Well ol' Doe Nob called me while hunting yesterday and said he got a call from the guide he was owed a hunt and that they had mallards down. Well I was in, and Andy was gonna find a third person. Well with the short notice he had no luck. I told him I knew Brent was going to hunt because we talked about going to Halls, so Andy called him and he was in. I drove to Andys that night and we then left to stay at his parents home in the Woodlands for a shorter morning drive. 3:15 came early, but we were up and out on time and met Brent, and left from there. We met up with the guide in Huntsville and then followed him for a bit to a gas station where we met the other guide. After they got gas and loaded up we followed them to some back woods area and got ready to hunt. Turns out we hunted out of boats as the water was WAY up and they had seen gators in the area and did not want to take the risk of us or the dog getting hit. The decoys were put out and we got the boat back into some brush, camoed it up and waited. The first bird of the way was a single mallard that Andy and I shot at the exact same time and it fell dead. We then heard what I thought were snow geese but were actually wood ducks and they started flying all around us. Andy and I each tag teamed on two and the guide soloed on two more. Andy rolled one on the water but it took off and we all shot at it but to no avail, it flew into some heavy cover and we never saw it again. Well the guide thinks we should move so we pick up and gather birds and move to a different spot. Once there we see a lot more mallards flying and they look at us but never commit. At the new spot we have three teals that come in low and I never even see them until we stand up to shoot and I don't cut a feather. Andy drops a single drake. Well a few flights later we have some teal do the same thing and this time none of us drop anything. So that ends that days hunt.
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Saturday January 15th 2005
Well Andrew makes it down this time and we get up at 5 and I want to be out by 5:15, but we get off 10 minutes later. This is the first day I'm wearing my Drake Mock-T and I let Andrew use my Kobuk jacket. I miss Kolvrek road so I pull over to turn around in the shoulder, well as I am pulling over I see water in the ditch and get worried about getting stuck so I gun it and turn hard to the left, as I do, the rear slings around and know my truck is perpendicular with the road with both tires spinning slowly gaining ground and finally they catch and pull myself back on the road. Hmm... that was close. Well we get back to the right road and pull into the gate and get to the pond where we unload. Andrew carries the gear to the blind while I move the truck. Once I get back we put out the decoys and as soon as we get back to the blind we have birds swarming all around the pond. If we earlier, hopefully the teal would have landed in the water and at LST we could have got more than the one we did. After legal time, my brother crushed a drake that was to our right. After it, we had one land outside the decoys and we decided to jump him. We aren't sure who got him, but he fell dead. As Andrew was going to get him a hen flew by us and I decided to take a shot and I knocked her down cold. We got out birds and sat back in the blind waiting for more birds. We shot at a few doves during the time and I connected on one. Andrew left to get the truck and as he did I had a pair of teal land outside the decoys, I tried to sneak on them, but they got up earlier than I wanted and I didn't cut a feather. As we were picking up decoys, we had birds work the spread, but two people moving around didn't help. Oh well, if we could have waited 20 more minutes we might have got some more birds. Well we loaded up and went to a different part of the lease to chase snipe. We shot a few times but never did connect.
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. Working on the motor my (truly uninvited brother who unexpectedly
showed up 11.30p Friday night) cut his hand and had me spending
better part of the day in the Harlingen ER
. So goes life, it was truly an avoidable cut. Sunday we got things
right again and the weather cooperated. Third cast of the morning I
hooked up a 27.5" red that exploded the super spook. We caught that
fish and 4 keeper trout early and we thought it was finally on. We
had gone back to the spot I found the fish on Friday early that i
didn't fish again till Sunday morning (stupid is as stupid does)
. Well the keepers didn't hold and we never found any bigger fish,
but we caught prolly ~100 dinks and rats. Fun but not exactly what
we were looking for. I had a great wade. 3-4 hours long all by
myself. I caught probably 50 fish. I caught them on plastic Norton
eels, Weedless Gold Johnson Sprites and Halloween TopDogs. The
topwater bite was outstanding. Best I have ever seen saltwater
fishing but I just couldn't find any more keepers. I was catching a
fish about every 10th cast and hits every third cast. Just knew the
big trout or red was right around the corner, but...we had to call
it a day and head home. Really tough to leave them biting, on a calm
morning in the Laguna Madre. I caught fish on everything I threw
Sunday morning.
Already planning next years trip and probably another one or two
excursion to big fish bays this year. One to Port O'Conner that I
have never fished and possible another to PM. I'll get em next
time!!!
