Mills

A little drawing of our Mills. 

Paddleboard Storage - T-RAX SUP Wall Rack

Finally a great solution to the paddleboard storage dilemma. My wonderful wife got me the SUP Wall Rack Double from T-RAX. They were simple to mount, super solid and look damn good (not to mention made in the USA with a lifetime guarantee). Now our boards have a safe place to stay until next spring. Thanks so much honey.

*New Shirts* Gadsden and Gonzales Flag Microfiber Fishing Shirt

Just got in the test prints for the new solar performance microfiber fishing shirts.

The Solar Performance Long Sleeve offers superior sun protection and performance qualities. Featuring up to UPF +50 solar protection, the Solar Performance Long Sleeve is lightweight, comfortable, and sure to keep the sun's rays from penetrating through your skin. This fabric is powered by PURE-tech moisture wicking technology.

Gadsden Flag - Dont Tread on Me - $30.00

Gonzales Flag - Come and Take It - $30.00

+ $6.00 shipping within the United States

If you are interested in a shirt, shoot me an email. 

Payment accepted via PayPal

Jen's Red

Finished project

Finally finished up the drawing of Jen's redfish she caught in Louisiana with Captain Greg Moon.

Picket Fence Fish

Craft Craft Craft all day long

Picket Fence Fish made from reclaimed fence pickets.

3rd Clutch In Texas Heat Was A Success

Only one hatched out of 4. The mother bluebird vanished and dad bluebird took over raising the lone baby. He did a great job. The baby survived several days of 100+ degree days with the heat shields and the mister set up on it. This year we had 7 of 14 hatch and all 7 fledged. Not a bad year. Good work bluebirds. 

Toes out and ready to go. 

Dad Blue in the background watching over his baby. 

Summertime Carp on Ray Roberts

Casey and I made took a morning to find some carp. The first fish was a crawler that had more of himself out of the water than in. Casey made some great cast to cruising fish  and was hooking up all around me. Finally started spanking some fish when I found them buried up in the weeds. Their tail would give them away and they would appear out of nowhere. The good thing about this type of fishing was that you could almost walk on top of them before they would spook. I was basically high sticking them, dangling the fly in front of them until they saw or felt the fly, followed but a gentle sip and then an explosion from the grass. We did pretty good for the day considering the clouds and wind were our constant companions.

The Blue Herons were very busy feeding their very demanding babies

Casey releases another carp in front of me (sporting the Redfish Tail Shirt).

The water levels on all the lakes are very low. The shoreline is covered with all sorts of tracks and trails. This one was the coolest and the one that I had no desire to follow. 

Life Cycle of the Swallowtail Butterfly

The fennel is covered with swallowtail caterpillars, cocoons and freshly emerged butterflies. 

Texoma Bass

Phil and I made a quick trip to Texoma to see if we could find some bass. We weren't disappointed. There was no rush to get out early and we just eased into the fishing day. Within a few minutes on the bank we were into the bass. The bass seemed to really like 3 inch Clousers in all colors as we worked our way down the rocks and the shoreline. The water level was so low that we were fishing new drop offs and the bass were hanging right on them. 50 foot cast would get you to the drop off and the line would come tight many times as you let the fly sink. The smallmouth were very happy.

3rd Batch Of Bluebirds In Texas Calls For The Super Heat Shield

Momma Bluebird decided to go for a third batch and layed egg number one today. It is June in Texas which means it will be getting hot so I had to step up the original heat shield. After researching the Bluebird Nut Cafe archives we decided that styrofoam could be the best solution to this heat problem. We zip tied the shields to the current, thin shields. Hopefully the styrofoam will hold up well and that the doldrums of summer can hold off for a little while longer. 

Lighthouse Lakes Sketch

A quick sketch of the Lighthouse in Aransas Pass, TX. It is such a great place to paddle and fish. Every lake is something new and floating through the channels that connect the lakes is like looking into an aquarium. 

Lighthouse Lakes / Aransas Pass

Jen and I headed down to the Lighthouse Lakes to see if we could find some reds to harass. Jen is a trooper and was a paddling machine. All in all,  I believe we paddled approximately 12 miles hunting fish. The schools we found were sitting on the outside of the lakes waiting for the tide to start moving onto the flats. Once the tide began moving, the fish flooded the flats. First we found big schools of big ladyfish flying across the clear water. They were like blue/green streaks of lightning that would appear out of nowhere. We caught a few ladyfish and then the reds began showing up. Jen cleaned house and hammered the reds and I picked off the fish that were swimming next to her hooked fish. It was a fantastic trip. 

Redfish Tail Shirts

Just got in the shirts I designed and am super stoked at how they turned out. They are microfiber, UPF 50, and super comfortable. Huge thanks to Paul Oliver and Anchored Designs who printed these great looking shirts. 

If you are interested in ordering some shoot me an email at fireflyfisherman@gmail.com 

$32.00

Lady Bug House

I was reading about lady bug houses and decided to build one and put it up. We had a pretty impressive lady bug hatch and they have been loving the bamboo house. All it is is a bunch of bamboo tied cut to about 5 inches in length and tied together. I think they like it.

Success! First successful bluebird fledging.

Four out of Five eggs hatch.

Day 2 after hatching. One baby was removed. After some research the most likely conclusion was that the baby had died and mother blue removed it. 

Day 18 - Looking both ways before heading out

This little one was in the top of the tree in the front yard before dad blue went and coaxed the baby to fly over the house and into the tree line (green belt)  behind the house. It was very windy and these blues were doing great and clinging on tight. What a treat to be able to witness this.

A final nest check. No sign of the unhatched egg. Mom Blue was a very good housekeeper. Time to clean out the nest box again and see if we can do it all again.