Broken Bow, OK

Jennifer, the pups and I made a quick run to do a little trout fishing. I haven't had a chance to post the pics but she did and made a great post. Check it out.

http://cookiesandbulldogs.blogspot.com/2013/11/broken-bow-ok.html?m=1

Sometimes Rat Hunting Can Get Messy

We used our, "flush the rat out with the garden hose" technique. It didn't work but it did make hole digging a whole lot easier and messy.

Northshore Marine Shirt

About a week ago I was contacted by Northshore Marine down in Houston about using one of my drawings for a shirt. Of course I said yes (it didn't hurt that they were fellow Texans) as long as they sent Jen and I a shirt. Well it arrived yesterday and looks bad ass! Strong work Northshore Marine.

Trinity Steelhead

Texas Coast Paddleboard Fishing

Jen and I finally had a chance to get out and use the BOTE Boards. We loaded up and headed off for the 7-8 hour drive. The boards did great on the drive and we were pleased at how easy the transport was. When we got to the coast, the water was super high. We had the high fall tide plus a week of heavy rain and a strong North wind. The flat was covered with lots of floating grass which made fishing tough. I had never been on a paddleboard but it was easy to use. Jen was a rockstar on her board and put me to shame. After spotting and spooking several fish I learned lots of things about paddleboard fishing.

1. You have to have a setup where you can easily reach your rod when you spot a fish. 

2. When you spot a fish you have to put down your paddle and pick up the rod. 

3. Chances are, if you didn't neatly set up your fly line on the board, it will tangle like crazy when you go to make your cast (solved with a stripping basket). 

4. Most of the time after setting your paddle down and picking up the fly rod and standing back up, the fish you saw has seen you and is headed off the flat. 

5. Poling a paddleboard is a great way to stalk the fish.

6. You don't have to ratchet the boards to the roof of the vehicle when transporting them (left a slight imprint on the sides of the boards). 

7. Paddleboard fishing is badass once you make a few trial runs and get your board setup to fish.

Oriole Visitor

The other morning while enjoying my coffee I saw something yellow in the trees behind the house. At first I thought it was a golden finch but after snapping a few shots I saw its partner a few branches away. The pics are terrible and apparently orioles don't like to hold still for photos. They are awesome birds.

(Snapped a few pictures of the bluebird family checking out the neighbor's house. I don't know why they insist on looking in this death trap of box but at times I think it attracts them to mine (which was a death trap this year...hosp attacks, and rodent attack). I have never seen them actually choose that box. They only look in it. They later flew over to my box and then took off. March is just around the corner).

Tater's solution to the rodents and bluebird killers. He loves hunting them.

Hummingbird Migration is in Full Swing

The feeders need to be reloaded every couple of days and morning coffee on the back porch is full of entertainment. The hummingbirds are going nuts. They have been trickling in for a while but the other day we had about 10 swarming the feeders, carrying on and chasing each other around. I love the migrations.

NOLA Sept-2013 Jen caught a FFFIIIIIIIISSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! The Best Redfishing Ever

Jen and I were able to get away with our friend and super bad ass guide, Captain Greg Moon for 3 days of fishing out of New Orleans. Jen had never been to New Orleans and had never fished for Redfish. The weather called for rain each day and the tides had slacked off so we weren't expecting what we got. I can honestly say that she has now been completely spoiled and was able to experience the best redfishing I have ever seen. Now she thinks it is normal to put 1000+ lbs of redfish in the boat in a matter of days. 

The first day we found them blowing up on bait. The water had so much bait in it. We started off trying to find some creepers and had some success but then we saw cannon balls going off on the water. The reds were blowing up on bait. We followed that school for a while and picked off a number of fish before we lost the tide and the school went down.We then went to hunt for creepers for a bit.

Day two was a completely different day. There wasn't any wind and we spotted a huge school of reds immediately. They were still blowing up bait and were not afraid of the boat. Jen cast into the school and instantly yelled, "I got a FIIISSSSSHHHH!!!!!" and her reel began to scream. "I got a FFFFIIIIIISSSSSSHHHHH quickly became the battle cry. The hook ups happened fast and Jen got the hang of casting and fighting monster redfish. We were all catching fish and it was just the beginning of the day. The school moved on and went deep and we went searching for some more happy fish. Moon and Rocky had their radios and were in contact with each other. There were fish all over but Rocky told us we had to see what he was seeing. As we got closer we spotted the hundreds of tails just cruising on the surface. Happy Fish just milling about. We drifted with the school and caught fish until all of our arms were sore. Funny thing is, the next day was the best ever and our arms hadn't seen anything yet.

Day three we were out on the water by sunrise, a completely different day than the other two and on fish immediately. The schools had consolidated into one happy mellow school. There weren't the huge blowups but the fish were sipping things from the surface. Looked like 30lb trout taking a dry, except instead of a dry fly, the reds were sipping crabs and eels. We were right in the middle of an eel hatch. 3-8" eels were swimming all over the water with crabs in the mix. The gulls were picking whatever they could from the surface. For 7 hours we would drift through the school sight casting to the reds, triples and doubles each time. After they were landed and a pic or two were snapped we would idle back above the school and repeat. For seven hours we did this. Each drift resulted in 50 to 75lbs worth of redfish. It was on FIRE. Literally the best red fishing ever. (Moon shot about 200 pictures on the last day. More pics to follow including Jen's Monster Red). Check out Captain Greg Moon's site and follow him on Facebook to see what is going on out on the water! 

http://louisianaflyfishingcharters.com