Frank & Brandi's Fishing Blog

TBC West Lake Ft Phantom - 06-19-11

2011-06-19T23:04:00.023-05:00

This is a very deceiving picture!

Oh! It is a beautiful sunrise,
the temperature was nice,
and at this point the wind wasn't too bad.

And it was Father's day.
What a great way to spend it.

With my hubby,
fishing.

My dad first took me fishing,
years ago,
to a catfish farm.
What better place to start a child fishing!
A place where you're guaranteed to catch fish.
I loved it.
His pocketbook did not!
And then there was the crappie fishing!
He is the one that instilled the love of fishing in me!
Thank you Poppa!

But these pictures tell the true story of the day.

Look at those waves!
And that towel on his seat!
(and yes! Ft Phantom IS REALLY that color!)

So you think I just captured it just right?
Here's another shot,

OK. So that one doesn't look so bad either.

Let me show you a little film I took...

W - I - N - D - Y!!!

That is what today was. It was terrible!
It was one of those days when being air born on your trip across the
lake was the norm.
The days I hate.

We started out at some docks across from the spill way
with no success,
so it was time to move over to our favorite stick ups.
Thank goodness for our new trolling motor!
It had to work hard to keep us there.

Frank boated an under
(Ft Phantom has a 16" minimum on Large mouth)
and then broke off what we are pretty sure was a decent fish.

Then we moved back over to the docks.
He started catching lots of unders and
I actually boated one too,
but I soon succumbed to the heat and wind
and told Frank I was just going to be his netter the rest of the day.

He caught two nice keepers in this area and we stayed here the rest of the day.
He did break off again on a fish that he said he couldn't turn his head.
Fishing around the docks has it's drawbacks.
He was fishing under some stairs when he had the hit
and the fish swam under them and it cut his line.
So we went to weigh in with just two fish,
but that was better than some others!

Mattie May got to meet us at the ramp

so she helped Grumpy with weigh in!

Making sure they weigh them right!

We ended up with 5.54 and about 4Th place...

and that put us (unofficially) in fifth place for the year!
YAY US!!
Really yay Frank!
He does the majority of the work!

Our Championship tournament is
September 24 & 25
at
Lake Limestone

And our top six tournament will be
October 29Th
at

SAM RAYBURN!!!

We are very excited!
We haven't fished Big Sam in years
and are very ready to go back!

Until next time,
God Bless!

Sweetwater Lake Texas Bass Couples West 05/22/11

2011-05-25T09:17:00.006-05:00

While his girls ran around San Antonio, Frank spent the weekend alone so he could fish our TBC tournament on Sunday.

I don't have a great report and of course absolutely no pictures, but he seems to have done well. I know it was hot and his nose got more sun than it would if I had been there to keep sunscreen on it, and he says the wind blew, but not to bad.

He caught fish all day but could not find more than five fish that was not in the slot. He had two fish over 18" and three under 14", but he was busy all day catching fish in the middle. He had one fish that weighed more than six pounds but was short and stocky. As a matter a fact, another fisherman that was nearby brought his board over to measure it just to make sure. He saw Frank fixing to put it back in the water and couldn't believe it was too short.

But that's just how our fishing goes. He ended up with five fish weighing 12.8. And that moved us into the top six. Yay, Frank!

Our next TBC tournament is close to home at Lake Ft. Phantom and there is no karate tournament that conflicts with it. Thank goodness. I've missed my allowable two tournaments so I have to show up next time! Now championship weekend, that's a different story! We'll figure something out!

Until next time, God Bless!

Hubbard Lake Texas Bass Couples West 04.17.11

2011-04-25T17:01:00.004-05:00

Here it is a week later and I just realized I never posted about our last tournament. Probably because there wasn't much to report.

Due to extremely high winds, Frank and I decided it was best for me to stay home on this one, and after hearing all the reports I am so very glad that I did.

Frank only had one fish that weighed in at a whopping 3.04. He fought the wind all day and finished the tournament by being plopped on a rock! The trolling motor took the brunt of the hit and would not work. Thank goodness it was late in the day and he could head to weigh in.

It could have been worse and I am so glad he didn't want me to go. I am not a fair weather fisherman, but I really don't do well in the wind. And this wind was way past "breezy"!

So not much to report. Just waiting on the repairs to be made so we can get back on the water.

Next tournament - Lake Sweetwater in May.

God Bless!

OH Ivie Texas Bass Couples West 3.27.11

2011-03-29T13:31:00.006-05:00

Good Grief! I am not sure who ordered the cold weather and they certainly don't want me to find out! It was down right cold all day! Well until about 2:30. When Frank tells you he is shivering so hard he can't tie on a new lure, IT"S COLD! This tournament was out of Kennedy, so we had to get up and over there to get in the water in time for live well check. Frank wanted to hit a place by the dam early and that's where we headed. We actually thought it was going to be a good day. He boated a 3+ on about his fifth cast. And then there was nothing. We didn't stay there much longer, nothing was hitting and the wind was killing us. It wasn't a heavy wind, just cold. We went back to flipping the hardwoods with the same worm. Had a bit of productivity, but no size. We had 4 fish in the boat early, but we needed a kicker over 18" and we just couldn't get it. Late in the afternoon we decided to head to the ramp and fish in that area until weigh in. I am so glad we did. Not only did the clouds finally break, we upgraded lots of fish. I was so glad to get rid of that little guy that weighed less than a pound. We ended the day with four fish going 7.57. I told you we would be wanting the fish we had the day before! Even though we froze it was a good day! Any day is a good day when I'm on the water with my honey! Love ya' Frank and thanks for putting up with my antics on the boat!

OH Ivie Bassin' Bunch Special Olympics Open 03.26.11

2011-03-29T11:57:00.010-05:00

What a beautiful day. But man, did it ever start early! We usually fish this tournament but we had not planned to this year. We were not able to fine a room and with the price of gas (diesel) it just didn't make sense to drive there and back on Saturday and then do it again on Sunday for TBC. Luckily, Michelle was called that there was a cancellation at Concho Park and they invited us to stay with them on Saturday night. Yeah! It was cool Saturday morning when we headed out but bearable. We Got to the lake in time to meat up with Russell and Michelle and have some coffee and breakfast before hitting the lake.

We fished a lot of places we haven't fished in a while, holding our regular places for Sunday's tournament. We flipped worm's in the hardwood most of the day, but I did find time to throw my spinner bait.

Frank's biggest fish weighed almost 3 pounds and was just over the 18" minimum. He caught in in less than a foot of water! We were fishing very shallow and most of the time fishing muddy water because the trolling motor was kicking up a lot of mud. With two smaller fish hitting the 14" slot, he had a total of 5.94. Nice little stringer but certainly not anywhere close to putting him in any money.

I had two fish that barely met the 14" minimum with a total weight of 3.17.

It was a beautiful day, warm and a bit of wind. And we would be wishing for that nine pounds of fish on Sunday.

Oak Creek March

2011-03-10T23:34:00.003-06:00

Well, my day certainly didn't go as planned.

Stillwater Bass Club's tournament was last Saturday, but due to circumstances beyond mine or Frank's control, I did not get to go. I got up and started getting ready, but we both decided I should stay home and he headed to the lake without me. I should say, this was not his choice, he wanted to stay with me but I sort of blackmailed him into going.

As the day wore on, he was really glad I didn't go. It was extremely windy and he stayed cold most of the day. And we all know, if he was cold, I would have been miserable.

He did end up with three fish (remember, this is a 3 fish tournament), but fell a bit short. My understanding is there was a pretty good stringer that won, somewhere in the 20 pound range! WOW is all I have to say.

Hopefully, I will be out there with him again on March 27. That is our next TBC tournament. And if things really go well, we may get to fish the Bassin' Bunch Bass Club's Open Bass Tournament the day before. Remember, this tournament benefits Special Olympics! Both tournaments are at O.H. Ivie. Maybe it will rain before then!

O.H. Ivie Feb 27, 2011

2011-03-03T10:08:00.005-06:00

Sunday found us back at O.H. Ivie Reservoir fishing with Texas Bass Couples West Region.

The morning started out great! Extremely light wind, cool not cold. The lake is lower than I remember ever seeing it. Thank goodness for GPS and Frank knowing the lake as well as he does.

The trip up the Concho took a little longer than normal due to the water level, but we made it safely. We fished mainly around the bridge having pretty good luck. Frank alternated between a crank bait and spinner bait. I stuck with my spinner bait. We left the ramp about 7:00 AM and we had boated our first fish by about 7:30. Always makes me happy to not have to fish with that smelly skunk all day! We had four bass in this area, 1 over and 2 under.

The wind finally hit at about 9:30 AM and the fishing was downhill from there.

We moved closer to the mouth of the Concho around 10:30 and started flipping a worm, Hag's Tornado, red something (I know I should be better at remembering these things.) It took about an hour and Frank caught another one over 18". He kept flipping and I would alternate between flipping and throwing my spinner bait.

About 12:30, we moved closer to the ramp at Concho Park and continued flipping and throwing spinner baits. The wind seemed to be getting worse and the fish had completely quit biting. At one point, Frank had the trolling motor as high as it would go and we weren't moving. It was a definitely a battle with the wind and the wind was winning.

Around 1:30 we decided to count our losses and think about safety. We were loading the boat by 2:00 and it took awhile. That cross wind was a killer. We hung around the ramp, Frank helping some other couples get loaded and then headed over to weigh in.

Even though we could never come across a fifth fish, we still ended up in 3rd with a total bag of 11.08. I think Frank pulled his fish instead of mine for big fish. Tommy weighed it at 3.90 and I weighed mine at 4.04 on my de-lier. Tommy's scales always weigh heavier than mine! But it wouldn't have mattered. Russell and Michelle had big fish at 5.99! Way to go McGuire's!

Our next tournament will be with Stillwater this Saturday March 5 at Oak Creek, unless Frank has to work. I love fishing, but that guaranteed money from work is better!

If we miss this one, our next TBC tournament is back on Ivie on March 27th. As they say "Same bat time. Same bat channel!"

Until then, good fishing and God Bless!

My Personal Best

2010-08-03T01:08:00.004-05:00

I have been fishing all my life. My dad spoiled me when I was little by taking me to a catfish farm. I was guaranteed to catch a fish and I usually caught more than my dad wanted me to. And I was hooked.

When Frank started tournament fishing, I didn't go. I had a baby to raise and really didn't want to go spend all that time in the sun. It was either too hot or too cold. I just didn't want to go.

Frank finally talked me into joining CAST. I really didn't want to. He promised me that if I didn't want to fish, I could read, sleep, eat, whatever I wanted. He also promised no yelling on the boat. He had problems at times keeping that promise, but he did it. I didn't fish much at first, but the more I went the more I would fish.

After fishing with him for about five years I finally caught a fish over five pounds. As exciting as that was, it still wasn't fun. I thought I was hung up while learning to fish a Carolina rig and Frank had to help me reel her in.

That was about tn years ago. I had decided that I would never catch a fish that weighed more than three pounds. Not only did I have trouble reeling in anything bigger, I really have trouble setting the hook.

This past Saturday, we fished our last tournament of the year with TBC NW. Up at 3:30, we headed to Miller Creek. We love that little lake. It is not very big, but it is a nice lake. Frank did real well last week when he pre-fished. He caught about 18 pounds of fish with the largest being over nine pounds. We were ready to do some fishing.

Things didn't start out to great. Around 7:30 I lost a pretty good fish. Again, I didn't set the hook. It didn't even penetrate the fluke I was fishing with (although, I still blame Frank for not getting her in the net! LOL). Another big fish lost because I can't set a hook.

Later in the morning, Frank set the hook and reeled in a really nice four pounder. Things were looking up. About three cast later, I felt the tug and decided this one was not getting away. I set the hook hard enough that Frank thought I jerked her lips off!

I could tell it had some weight to her, but didn't realize how big until we got her in the boat. 7.28! MY PERSONAL BEST! I was so excited, but I really think Frank was more excited than I was.

She wasn't huge, but I proved to myself that I could catch something bigger than a three and get it in to the boat.

I am so ready to go again just to see if I can do it again!

Where Have I Been?

2010-06-21T11:30:00.002-05:00

Wow, from the looks of this poor little fishing blog, it seems I haven't been fishing. But I have, that's just it, fishing, not catching!

Instead of making excuses and trying to back track all we have done in the past months since I have posted on this blog, I'm just going to start fresh and with what we did yesterday.

We had our fourth tournament for the year with TBC at Twin Buttes in San Angelo. We started at 6AM to finish by 2PM, trying to beat some of the heat. Even though Frank and I just came back from our week long vacation with Mattie May down on the Gulf, we were ready to head out. It was not the most productive day we have had on the water, but fun none the less.

We started the morning throwing buzz baits, Frank lost two fish, I caught one that was one inch short! We moved back to the area we like out in front of the ramp and started with drop-shot. This has not been one of my favorites because of the spin cast reels. But my sweetie Frank bought me a new rod and reel with a reel I can crank with my right hand. This makes all the difference in the world.

Not long after Frank's second cast I felt him set the hook. When I looked at him, I didn't even have to ask if he needed the net. If that rod had bent any further, it would have broken! Great fish! 7.07 lbs! Not a hog, but the best he/we have had in a while.

We never could come across any more fish but we were feeling pretty good about big fish until the Wallace's came to weigh in. He had a 7.16 and knocked Frank out. Oh well!

This Saturday we will be fishing TBC Northwest at Lake Ft. Phantom right here at home. So not only do I get to sleep in my own bed, I don't have to get up quite so early! Wish us luck. We had some really good rain while we were gone last week and they have been scalping water off the Brazos, so the lake is really full! Hope you come out and join us.

Have a great week and Go Fish!

"Hold on Just a Sec While I Take My Fish off the Line!"

2010-04-23T13:11:00.004-05:00

It's Friday, a beautiful day after a night of thunderstorms and tornado all around the state. The wind is just blowing very lightly. The sun is shining. What a beautiful day and I am stuck in the office!

My dad, on the other hand, is at the lake! I talked to him at lunch and what does he say to me? You guessed it "Hold on! I caught a fish and have to take it off!"

(Heavy sigh) One of these days I will be retired and can head out to fish whenever I want.

I guess you are wondering where I have been. I've been here. Our tournament season started back in March. I was bad. At our West Region tournament, I didn't take any pictures. I was upset because the weather didn't cooperate and I didn't get to fish as much as I wanted. I had not been released from the doctor from the wreck and he gave me very specific directions on what I needed to do to keep from re-injuring myself. We did catch fish and got some points, it would just have been nice to fish when I wanted and not when I could.

Our first Northwest Region tournament was also in March. Due to extremely high winds, I didn't even leave the house. Frank fished by himself, so again no pictures. I think he had one fish, I just don't remember. I'm loosing my mind like that you know.

This past weekend, we had our second West Region tournament at Lake Hubbard just outside of Breckenridge. I will say, even though the conditions left a LOT to be desired, I was in the boat all day. Cold and rainy weather with more extremely high winds. Most normal people, meaning non-fishermen, would have used their common sense and stayed home. Not us, we were out there fighting for fish. Frank eventually made me sit down and rest. I wasn't catching any fish and I was getting real sore real fast. He would have probably done better if I had not been there. He always worries about me instead of fishing. We had three fish that went 5. o7, I think. Remember, I'm loosing my mind. I did take some pictures, most of them you can see if you click the Texas Bass Couples logo in my right side bar.

Tomorrow, we will be fishing at Oak Creek with the Northwest Region. I hope this weather holds out. It will be a long day because we are not staying the night. We will get up and make the drive in the morning. Maybe Frank will let me sleep on the way (LOL).

I hope you get to get out and fish this weekend. Let us know how you do!

Fishing is done for 2010 Classic - Now on to Weigh In!

2010-02-21T16:22:00.003-06:00

Frank and I have kept up with the 2010 Bassmaster Classic all weekend thanks to ESPN.com. We have read blogs, watched the leader board change up to the minute on BASStrakk and Friday we watched the weigh in live on espn360. We had Mattie May last night and we didn't get to watch it live.

I have one friend that was having trouble logging in to espn360, so I am linking it here hoping if anyone else is having trouble you can get to it that way.

It looks like my favorite KVD may take this one, but everything we have been watching is unofficial but I can certainly hope!

CLASSIC!!!

2010-02-19T11:41:00.005-06:00

The Bassmaster Classic is officially underway and I am still in Abilene instead of Birmingham due in part to this. But all is well. I am able to keep up with it thanks to technology! And Frank is able to keep up with it thanks to his sweet, loving wife and technology. I have been texting him updates as often as I can.

If you are like me and stuck somewhere other than Birmingham, you can keep up with changes too. Most of you know that you can see BASSTrack and the live blog. Just in case you need help, you can click on either one of those and it should take you there. They should both update automatically but it is as simple as clicking your refresh button to get the most recent update.

I am really missing getting to see all that is going on at the outdoor expo. That was a lot of fun last year! We got to see and meet a lot of people with the highlight of the entire trip (for me) was getting to talk to Hank Parker. I am so sure it would be just as exciting this year as it was last. I have read that the Classic is to be in New Orleans next year. I have already told Frank that we are going so he better start saving up!

Last time I checked, KVD was in third with 14.8. Not to shabby! He has already culled 6 fish this morning! WOW! I feel blessed when I can just catch 6 fish in one day!

The first broadcast on ESPN2 will be at nine in the morning. I know some of you (Frank) are still not to good on the computer and are relying on the TV to get your updates. LOL. Maybe I will be able to make a couple of updates between now and then!

Everyone have a great weekend and I hope you get to GO FISH!

First Tournament of 2010

2010-02-11T13:10:00.003-06:00

Saturday February 6 was the first Stillwater tournament for this year and was held at one of our favorite lakes, O.H. Ivie. I didn't get to go (read about that at my other blog) but Frank did. He fished and fished and fished.

That was all he did. He never had a bump, bite, or hit! He was miserable all day. Very high winds and pretty chilly weather! He threw everything imaginable, even some you would never think of.

So very glad I didn't go. I so don't like those conditions!

Our next tournament is on Saturday March 6 (I think). I don't know if I will get to go to that one, but I certainly hope I have more to post about at that time.

Blessings to all.

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T14:27:00.006-06:00

We have made it through another year (Yippee!) and I can't believe how fast it has gone! Just like a roll of toilet paper!

We have been looking forward all week to our annual trip to the Duda this week. I can't wait to get off work so I can head that way. Frank left earlier today and Mom and I will be leaving as soon as we can this afternoon. A cold front has blown in so maybe we will get snowed in and will have to stay longer! I am sure my boss would love that!

Our last trip to the Duda seems like such a long time ago but it really wasn't. Click here to see pictures from our trip last new years and here to see last our trip in September. I just love this place. I have never been much for living in the boonies, but I think I could really get used to this real fast!

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe new year's. God bless you all in the coming year!

READY FOR SOME FISHING IN 2010!

2009-11-07T15:36:00.001-06:00

End of day one Barry & Janice Bennett lead 22 something! Way to go Bennetts!

Final results tomorrow!!

Almost Time

2009-11-02T10:47:00.003-06:00

The end of this week will take us back to Del Rio, Texas to fish on Lake Amistad again in the First Annual Texas State Bass Couples Open Tournament. It's not to late for you to join us either. Just click the link in my right side bar and that will take you to all the information you need to know. We found out last week that the Chamber of Commerce will be treating us to dinner on Saturday night so that will cut a little of the expense from the trip. We are really hoping for a great turnout from couples all over the state. Remember, you don't have to be a member of any club, this is an open tournament, you just have to be a couple of one man and one woman! That could be husband & wife, boyfriend & girlfriend, brother & sister, father & daughter, or mother & son! You could even fish with a complete stranger as long as it is a male and female fishing together!

We really hope to see you there! If you do show up, please come introduce yourself and let me know you read all about in on my blog! I love meeting new people especially if they are fisher people!

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

Better Late than Never (again!)

2009-10-20T00:26:00.004-05:00

Well, it has been weeks since the TBC Championship Tournament at Lake Amistad in Del Rio. Back then I promised pictures and results. Sorry! I've been busy farming and baking (all my FB friends understand!).

If you want to see all the pictures, click here.

If you want to see the results, click here.

You can also click the link in my right side bar to go to the main page of Texas Bass Couples and find your region on the left to get the new schedules for 2010.

And don't forget to join us at the First Annual Open Texas State Couple Championship which will be held November 7 & 8, 2009 on Lake Amistad in Del Rio! It is going to be great! Click here to get the registration form and all the rules!

Looking forward to seeing you then!

$13,555 Total Winnings!!!!

2009-09-28T09:52:00.002-05:00

No, that's not what Frank and I did! But that was the total payout for the Texas Bass Couples Championship that we have been attending this week. This is an amazing total for our club for several reasons. This is the forth year for this circuit. Tommy and Pam have really worked hard to get this club up and running. There are tournament trails that have been around for years that that are still not having that large of a payout.

Also, this is a small circuit. We only had 37 couples fish for the championship! That's right!!! 37 couples! Seven places were paid out so you do the math! That is an awesome amount for total payout!

Congratulations to Tim Reneau and Judy Churchill who won it all with 42.60 two day total!

We have lots of stories to tell and more winners to tell you about but right now we are all sitting in the little country store sharing more stories and eating some breakfast. And I am using Tommy's laptop and I am really slow on it. Frank bothering me to hurry up is not helping. Hopefully I will get the rest to you tonight. Until then,

God Bless you all.

2009-09-26T20:26:00.001-05:00

We have some results (unofficial, of course) for day one!

Tim Reneau & Judy Churchill 21.40
Charles & JoAnn Bradley 17.58
Ronnie & Jeanne Wallace 14.84
Jay & Kathy Driscoll 14.08
Barry & Janice Bennett 12.72
Waylon & Karla Bullard 12.70
Floyd & Tonya Kaerwer 12.56

Also, Meghan O'Bryant and her dad Jerry are sitting in 8th place. This is very exciting because she is twelve years old and caught 3 of their 5 fish that were brought to weigh in! Way to go Meghan!

Frank & I did officially have the smallest legal stringer today which makes us winners of some hard cold cash! Yeah us!

We plan on having a great day on the water tomorrow, and are so thankful we have been blessed with such great friends!

I will post official results tomorrow as soon as I can.

2009-09-26T17:05:00.001-05:00

What a day! Blessings and disappointment. Started the morning with some awesome artwork provided by God, but got lost on the lake in the dark! Finished the day with a disappointing one fish, but was blessed by having the smallest leagal stringer! Now enjoying fellowship with wonderful friends! Yeah! The good always outweighs the bad!

Thank you Lord!

Countdown Almost Complete!

2009-09-23T00:04:00.004-05:00

WOW! Looking at my countdown clock we are down to the final hours before we get there! I am sooo ready! We will leave here tomorrow morning traveling with the McGuire's and the Hutchinson's. We are all ready!

All the packing is done and sitting by the front door waiting for Frank to get it all loaded. He asked me if I had forgotten anything and I don't think I did. I have nothing left in drawers or the closet so I'm pretty sure it's all packed! LOL

It is really hard to pack this time of year because you never really know what the weather will be. Yes we look at the long term forecast but all that gives you is an educated guess. I like to be prepared!

Actually, I didn't pack everything we have. Earlier this summer, we found the neatest shirts at Bass Pro and got them planning to wear them to the awards dinner on Friday night. We loved the Texas flag look they have.

Even on the back.

Pretty aren't they? Frank and I both really liked them. So we got them to the cleaners to be starched and pressed, picked them up and put them in the closet. This has been several months ago. They have just been hanging there, waiting.

Well, I got everything out to start pressing and getting the closet wrinkles out and realized that the shirts didn't match. I was heart broken! So these two shirts will hang around the house alone all week while we are gone. I really can't believe neither one of us didn't notice the difference. It's not like it's a little thing that could be easily overlooked. Can you see the difference?

Yep! It's missing on the back too!

See you next week!

God Bless

We Interupt this Fishing Blog...

2009-09-08T20:46:00.005-05:00

For some hunting!!!

September brings bird season and they are thick this year. We got to go back to the Duda for part of the long Labor Day weekend for some fun, family, fellowship, and hunting. It was a blast!

I didn't hunt, just the guys. I am a firm believer that if your going to shoot it you better eat it and I don't eat birds. So I don't hunt. They limited every day and had a great feast on Sunday night.

The Three Amigos

I just love that place and wish we could spend much more time there.

I hope everyone that has been hunting has been doing well.

The "Camo Country Club"

Be safe but have fun!

Now back to our regularly scheduled fishing - State Championship in 14 days! Watch out Del Rio!!!

WHOA! I am Way Behind!

2009-08-25T15:49:00.010-05:00

I just realized I never finished my post from our final TBC Panhandle tournament that was August 9! Probably because there wasn't much to report. Seven couples, fourteen people and only four fish weighed in! It was terribly brutal! Hot, windy, and muddy water that would put Lake Ft. Phantom to shame. The four fish weighed in didn't even break ten pounds! I'm telling you it was awful! Floyd and Tonya Karwer won with two fish weighing 4.83. Robert Rains and LeAnn Rains had one fish weighing in at 2.74 and Frank and I had one fish that went 2.26! Floyd & Tonya also had the big fish of the tournament that was a whopper at 2.85! So do you believe me now?

We really were looking forward to fishing this tournament because Frank had fished there the weekend before with Stillwater. He didn't weigh a single fish in, didn't even have a nibble! But after the tournament, he did a little more fishing and snagged a nice 9+ pound fish!

He was by himself and only had his cell phone so he did the best he could.

So, yes, we were a bit excited to be going back the very next weekend knowing we were fishing with one of our smaller clubs! But that didn't do us much good! It was a totally different lake the next week!

So now we just wait for our next tournament which is not until September. But it is the big one, our Championship tournament. We are looking forward to seeing some couples that we haven't seen since last year and having a great time in Del Rio. Just 29 days to go! That's about 28 to many for me!

And speaking of Del Rio, check out the link in my side bar for the Open Texas State Couples Championship! I am sure we will be there and are planning on having a lot of fun. You don't have to be a member of either of the club sponsors. So grab you partner and head that way in early November! Hope to see you there!

Final Tournamet for TBC West - It was Hot!!

2009-07-26T22:06:00.014-05:00

Frank had been to Ivie the past two weekends with no luck. Some times pre-fishing gets you discouraged instead of helping you out. So Saturday, I actually went with him. I didn't do much fishing. I hate pre-fishing the day before a tournament. I love to fish tournaments, I love to pre-fish at least two days before, and I love to just go fish for the sake of fishing, but please don't make me pre-fish the day before a tournament. So when I wasn't sleeping, I was taking pictures. It was a good thing I did, because I sure didn't take any today! It was just to hot and we were fishing hard.

We hit the lake a little later than what we intended, but we sure did enjoy our breakfast at Concho Park Marina and the visitation with our friends. We did make it out early enough for sunrise, so of course I had to take a few pictures of that. I tried to get Frank in some to change them up a bit.

If I had a dollar for every sunrise picture I have, I could probably fund our fishing habits! You just never know what your going to get when you aim the camera into the sun and can't see what you are actually looking at.

These next two pictures are reversed and I am just too tired to fix them!

We don't fish up in the creeks much. Why? I don't know. We used to fish creeks all the time. So we headed up into Elm Creek just to see what was going on. I can't remember if he was throwing a Texas or Carolina rig, but I do know he was throwing a brush hog, watermelon with the tail dipped in chartreuse. He pulled out this nice little guy probably between one and two.

He threw a buzz bait most of the morning, actually more like most of the day which is odd for this time of the year! He caught this nice little keeper about 9:30 yesterday morning. He had a few more blow ups on it, so we marked this spot and headed on out into the main lake.

We marked a few new humps we hadn't seen before and headed up into the creek. This young lady couldn't decided weather to run off or come on down and check us out. She posed long enough for me to get a couple of pictures, then she was off. We see deer around the park all the time, but not very often when we are out on the lake. Isn't she an odd orange color? All the deer are this color right now. Usually they are more brown before the turn sort of grey during the winter. They sure do show up in the brush!

After loading up and getting our showers, we headed over to Elm Creek for registration. On our way over Frank said he saw a plane on the lake. And sure enough he did. We tried to get to a good place to take pictures before they took off, but didn't make it. We could tell it was a Coast Guard plane, but couldn't figure out what they were doing. Some of our friends were still on the lake when they landed and they went over and talked to them. They are based out of San Francisco and just came over to check out the lake. Pretty neat if you ask me. It's not every day you get to see a CG plane land on a lake in west Texas!

After a wonderful dinner and some strange happenings at Big O's in Valera, we headed back to Concho and of course had a bit more fellowship with our friends before we hit the sack. Had to get up at five this morning! Two days in a row just kill me!

Most of the morning on Sunday, we threw our buzz baits into stick ups. Not these kinds of stick ups, that would be to easy.

These kinds of stick ups! What you can't see is the grass just below the surface of the water. Chunk, wind, pick off the grass! That gets old after awhile! I think you can see Frank's buzz bait in this picture. This was right at sunrise. Remember, I didn't take many pictures today.

I bet Frank threw that buzz bait until 11:30. I changed over to a spinner bait after a bit. It's easier to get the grass off one of those. And it's what I caught my one little keeper on. Frank caught four of his on the buzz bait I think. I kind of forgot some stuff today - I am sure it is the heat wiping out my brain cells!

We stayed here most of the morning then headed over to the dam to fish some of the new humps we had found with no luck. Then headed into Elm Creek. And after that we headed closer to weigh in where we finished out the day. We were going to keep fishing until about 3:10 because we were so close to weigh in, but after a check on the fish and finding we had some stressing out, we decided to call it a day. We finished the day with five fishing weighing in at 12.16. Points but no money! The story of our lives.

This was the last monthly tournament for the West Region before the Championship (being held at Amistad) and Pam said we may have made it into the top six. After checking out last months standings and estimating the points today, it will be a push. It would be nice but I am not getting my hopes up. We have one more tournament for the Panhandle region. It's in two weeks at Lake Stamford. Maybe we can catch enough there to end in the top six. I'll let you know!

Have a great week!

2009-07-25T10:43:00.001-05:00

It is hot already! Lots of fishing going on just not a lot of catching! I really hope it's better tomorrow for the tournament! Does anyone have any suggestions?

Praying for Rain or a Cool Front

2009-07-22T10:16:00.003-05:00

We have our last tournament for the West region before we fish the classic! We will be fishing O.H. Ivie. This is the last Sunday of July. July means it is hot! Frank has done some pre-fishing the past two weekends with no luck. So maybe we will get a little cool front to lower the temperature so we won't be completely miserable. Rain would be even more welcome!

If anybody has any clue as to what they are biting on or where they are hiding, give us a call! We can use all the help we can get!!

Busbee Math - Am I a Victim?

2009-07-12T21:27:00.008-05:00

Welcome to Miller Creek!

We left the house at 3:45 this morning to eighty degrees. I love to see the high at 80 degrees, but eighty degrees at four in the morning is already hot. There were times today the air felt heavy, like I was standing in an oven. The sky told of what the rest of the day would be like, clear with little to no wind. That wind thing is so unusual. We almost always have a 10 MPH breeze, but today it was still, a lot. We did have some wind, and when we did it was actually welcomed, but it seemed during the hotter parts of the day it was still. God sent us several clouds to cover the sun for a bit, which gave us a little relief, but for the most part it was sunny and HOT!

We don't fish this lake very often. It has been over a year since we last fished here. There were some great things to see and some not so great. The area around the lake is mostly farm land so we had company from several cows today. I'm not sure which is funnier, Frank "mooing" at the cows to see their reaction or the cows reaction to Frank "mooing" at them. Both are pretty funny.

There were flowers blooming all around the lake. These pretty purple flowers -

Aren't they pretty? I don't remember seeing these before and I don't know what they are. I found it very odd that they were blooming in July. Wild flowers around here usually bloom in the spring, not the dead, dry heat of summer. There were also a lot of dragon flies. Three different kinds, the normal blue ones we always have, a large one that had a type of tiger stripe to it, and a very small bright orange one. I could have taken time to take pictures, but between texting my friends and taking pictures, Frank gets a little miffed at me!

If you read here, you will see one of the reasons I don't like this lake. SNAKES. I am not a fan. And Miller Creek didn't disappoint today. We say lots. None of the ugly black snakes that we saw last time but snakes none the less and they were there. Ewwww!

To tell the truth, as hot as it was, when we started cutting across the water at around six this morning, I got a little chill. But once the boat stopped that went away fast. We started the morning with some top water action, if you want to call it that. I was the only one to catch a fish, if you call it a fish. Frank couldn't believe what I had done. I actually caught a minnow! Yep, a minnow, foul hooked on my Pop'R! I had to take a picture because I didn't think anyone would believe me and because, well, that's what I do!
So there is the proof! If you or anyone you know has ever caught a smaller fish, I would love to see a picture!

And Frank gets the award for the largest fish of the day. He was throwing a crank bait into a ball of minnows, and when it hit, it hit hard. It felt like he almost fell out of the boat. His rod was bent over like I have never seen it before. I dropped my rig and grabbed the net. Boy were we disappointed when the fish surfaced...

A drum! Needless to say, we were a bit (a lot) disappointed. But he did take the opportunity to play a joke on some friends that were fishing across the lake. They were far enough away that he knew they couldn't see what species of fish it was, but close enough he knew they could hear him. He did a little Mike Icconelli on the front of the boat, a little yelling and dancing, then tossed that big thing right out of the boat! It didn't take them long to make their way over just to check out what was really going on. All in fun, guys, all in fun!!!

We had three fish (2 decent, 1 dink) in the live well when all of this was going on. We had been alternating with Texas rigged worms and lizards, with top water, spinner baits and crank baits. We each had a nice fish on a 6" black lizard with a chartouse (sp) tail. Yeah, the dink was mine, but I didn't feel so bad because I did have that other one in there and we figured it weighed about 2.5.

The day only drug on after that. Hot, no wind, hot, no fish, and did I mention IT WAS HOT! We could handle the hot a lot better if we had been catching fish, but when your not, the day just drags on.

Because of the heat, weigh in was moved up to 2:30, which is not good for us. We tend to start really catching fish around two. Today, I just couldn't make it. About 1:30 the heat really got to me and I started having that sinking, sick feeling of heat exhaustion, so I told Frank I was done. He wanted to take me to the truck but I wanted him to just keep fishing. And true to form, Frank got into some schooling fish and filled up our live well. Seven fish in seven cast. It was great until I couldn't keep up with him in culling. At one point I had to yell at him not to cast again because I had too many fish in the boat and needed help. We culled my little dink and a couple others and ended up with a nice 17.22 bag.

He is really happy in this picture, but the sweat had started running into his eyes!

We ended up in second place which isn't bad. In fact it is great! Tommy and Pam Busbee (our tournament directors) edged us out by less than half a pound (I think, check here to get the exact amount). We have been fishing with the Busbees for a long long time. We have sometimes questioned their mathematical skills and have even come up with the term "Busbee Math" when things might not seem on the up and up. And today was one of those questionable days. They assured us that they had witnesses to the weight of the their fish, but I sure would have liked to have seen the numbers on the scales myself!

Now don't go gettin' all high an' mighty on me! Tommy and Pam know what I say is all in good fun! If I didn't trust them, do you think I would still be fishing with them?

At last count, Frank and I were tied for 7th in the west region and were in 5th place in the panhandle region. We have one tournament left in each region before the Championship so all the points we get sure do help us out! July 26 we will fish O.H.Ivie for our final tournament in west and August 9 we will be fishing Stamford for the panhandle. Wish us luck! We sure would like to be in the top six for both regions!

Twin Buttes Tournament

2009-06-29T16:25:00.009-05:00

It was a very hot weekend! Weatherbug kept telling me on Sunday that it was ninety eight degrees, but when I got in the pickup, the thermometer was reading 105. I tend to believe my vehicle!

Registration was at Field and Stream (thank you Cliff) and then most of us headed over to Logan's Roadhouse for a bite to eat and a few had a drink or two (the margaritas are great!). I think a fun time was had by all!

The tournament started at 5:45 AM which meant we had to get up at 4:00 AM! Yuk!!! But we did and we even had time to stop at Whataburger for some breakfast. The weather was nice, a bit cloudy and around seventy five degrees and not much wind. Around sunrise, we had a little rain which was nice, but I think it just rained on me and Frank. There were some people fishing about 100 yards from us and the water around them was as smooth as glass. I felt like the "Born Loser" with a little rain cloud just above my head! While we were enjoying the rain, we also noticed a promise from God, a rainbow, in the western sky. It was not very bright but there none the less. I think the worst part of the day, even worse than the heat, was being attacked by gnats and flying ants. Frank didn't believe me when I told him some of those pesky things were ants until they started biting him. I think he wanted to jump in the lake to get them off of him. Those little critters hurt!!! You should see the welts they left on him. As the day wore on and the heat continued to rise we felt as if we should have stayed home. We lost two fish a piece on buzz baits with trailer hooks and thought the day was going to be just like his pre-fishing day - no fish! The mood in the boat was not a very pleasant one, but that too changed. Most of the morning looked like this - just blue skies and the sun shinning bright! It was hot by 10 AM! We both prayed for a little relief; rain, wind, whatever He could do for us to make it through that heat. And He did - He sent some of the most beautiful clouds I have ever seen. It was still hot, but every once in a while there was a break with a cloud over the sun. It was indeed a blessing.

Bored with what we were doing, Frank decided we should change tactics. We started throwing a Hag's Tornado blue fleck, Texas rigged - IT WORKED! About 11:00 we caught fish, both of us at the same time. By the end of the day we had four fish in the live well, three pretty nice and one little dink. We had to measure him again just before weigh in to make sure he still crossed that 14" line. We had a 9.00 bag and were just thrilled. We didn't win, but after Frank's discouraging pre-fish last week, we would have been happy just to have that little dink! (No pictures - we were trying to get them back in the water as quick as possible to reduce stress on them)

We did see another unusual site. We had seen dirt devils all around. Late in the afternoon, one decided to join us in the water. My picture is not very good but you can see how the water was lifting up inside the funnel. It was really pretty neat!

Tourny This Weekend - Twin Buttes

2009-06-26T09:28:00.004-05:00

MAN - IT IS HOT OUTSIDE!!!

We will be fishing with TBC West this Sunday, June 28. Any suggestions? Frank did a little pre-fishing last Sunday with no luck. Everyone that was there last week at least did the same as Frank. This may be a tournament without any fish! They are smart to be hiding out in the water. It is much to hot out of it!

Hopefully, I will have something to report on Monday. But seriously, if you have any suggestions, let us know!

One Fish!

2009-06-08T23:06:00.007-05:00

WOW! I almost let the entire week get away from me before I did this post! It has been a strange week anyway but it is almost over and vacation is next week so all will be fine!

We headed out Saturday afternoon to Post, not in any hurry. We didn't want to have to pay that horrible lake fee for just a few hours! The landscape of Texas is changing, A LOT! Wind turbines are sprouting up in cotton fields and can be seen for miles away. We are (as we should be) the leader in wind energy, because if there is one thing Texas has is wind, lots and lots of wind. We are so used to it that we really only notice if it is not blowing or if it is stronger than about 25 MPH! It is just always there. They are pretty cool to watch though. If you have never been to the Panhandle Plains region of Texas, welcome. You can see how flat it is by this picture. I could take 1,000 pictures and they would all be pretty similar!

We hung around the hotel pretty much all Saturday evening. There is really not a lot to do in Post, TX. City-data.com says there are 3,556 in Post, but I think they counted dogs and cats. There are not a lot of people here. We did find a nice family restaurant to eat supper and it was really good. I wish I could remember the name of it but I can't. It is on the east side of the main street through town, south of downtown. Great enchiladas!

The tournament started at 6:00AM so we had to get up at five which hasn't been so bad on me since I started trying to get up at that time most days anyway. It was a fairly cool morning. Strange since we were expecting temps over 100! There was a little rain that kept the morning cool and the fish from biting. We threw a little bit of everything we could think of and not even a single nibble! I don't remember what part of the day it was but Frank finally had a hit. We were just excited to know there were actually fish in this lake!

We had to be at weigh in by 2:30PM and about one we decided we were going to be skunked! We hate being skunked!!! That is the most horrible feeling in the world. But just as we were having this conversation, Frank caught a fish. Not a lunker, but at this point we really didn't care. We could have 2 under 18" so we didn't even measure this little guy, just put him in the live well and took care of him for the rest of the day. He weighed a whopping 1.12 lbs. Hey, we were thrilled he weighed even a pound! We really didn't think he would.

So my first experience on Lake Alan Henry wasn't the best, but I will say this for it, it is a really pretty lake. I will try to add some pictures and edit this post to show them. Another think that really grabbed my attention about this lake is the wind and water. Most lakes we fish are as rough as all get out when the wind is up. Sunday, I think the wind was about 30MPH and the water was a smooth as glass! It was amazing. The only real rough water we got into was where there were skiers and jet skis. Luckily they didn't get to the lake until about 11, so we had some quiet time to fish.

Hope every one is having a great week. We don't have tournaments for a few more weeks, but we may try to do a little fishing on vacation, it all just depends on Mattie May. This vacation is for her to get to the beach after all!!!

God Bless!

Lake Alan Henry - Pre-fish

2009-06-01T11:18:00.008-05:00

Frank and Poppa have always wanted to fish Lake Alan Henry and neither have gotten the opportunity. Frank has driven past the turnoff several times with drool running down his chin but never made thet turn. Poppa actually got to the ramp last Saturday, but family called and that is as far as he got. Since the Panhandle region of TBC is there next week, Frank wanted to do a little prefishing and Poppa, well I can't say I ever remember him ever turning down an chance to go fishing, so he left the plowing for the day and headed out with Frank.

They had a great time. Poppa took some pictures for me including some of the parking lot so I will know what to expect next week when I have to park. Ever since I hit a guys lower unit with my trailer, I dread parking in a place I am not familiar with. This parking lot looks great. He compared it to Bass Pro Shop parking but it reminded me of Diablo East at Lake Amistad. Lots of parking made for a vehicle and trailer combo and very well marked.

They both caught fish, just nothing of size. Frank pulled this little guy out and it was the largest they caught. I think it is the angle of the camera, but it doesn't look like a four pound fish, but as you can see on the delier, it was 4.01.
I am looking forward to next week. It will be like a mini vacation, going to a new place and all.

Oh! If any of you know a good place to stay that doesn't have a two night minimum on the weekends, let me know. I haven't made reservations yet!

TBC Lake Hubbard

2009-05-25T11:43:00.005-05:00

Oh, Frank and I love Lake Hubbard! We used to always spend our anniversary there. We would always take off work and head over there to spend the day. Until the day Frank fell off the boat and was near hipothermia before we reached Sandy Creek Marina.

Our monthly TBC tournament was there this weekend. It was great. No we didn't win, but there weather was great, we caught lots of fish and just had a great day all together. It was a rough start. Where we started we only caught one fish and we stayed there for the better part of the day. By about one we had four fish in the boat. We had decided that we were just stuck in a rut of catching four fish or less. But then a front hit. We could see it coming. The wind had been at a minimum all day, but on the leading edge of this front the wind really picked up. The water color changed from the normal clowdy brown and turned this really erie bright green. But the fish also started biting! We ended up culling fish! It was great.

So we got out of the four fish rut, yeah us, but we are still stuck in a 12 pound rut! The last few tournaments we have fished, we have weighed in 12+ pounds, but not more than 13! Yep, we had five fish and they weighed 12.97! Oh, these ruts! Well, we will get out of it eventually, I just hope it is by breaking the 13 pound weight and not by coming in under 12!

We topped off the afternoon by taking Buddy, Katie and Mattie May on a quick run of the lake. Mattie May is now 3 and we have been trying to get her on the boat since she was born but every time the weather would turn bad and we didn't want her to have a bad experience on her first time and not want to go back out. Well it took awhile but we managed. I have attached a little video. It is pretty rough but I was sitting in the floor with my back against the front deck, holding the camera and nothing for me to hold on to. Enjoy your ride!

My Two Favorite Guys

2009-05-12T13:26:00.004-05:00

My dad, Poppa, loves to fish and hunt. He spoiled me when I was little by taking me to catfish farms to fish. Once you go to one of those, it is really hard to sit at a lake and wait for a fish to bite! He has been wanting to go over to O.H. Ivie and fish. So last Friday, Frank took off a day that was owed to him and took him fishing.

They had a great time. The morning was beautiful. I called Frank at about 11:30 and the wind had just picked up, but wasn't to bad. And as hot as it was, they needed a little bit of wind to keep from melting. They said they caught fish all day. Luckily, I got my photography bug from Poppa! He had his camera. Not sure how many fish they caught, but here are pictures of three of them. The only one they weighed (on de-liers) was Poppa's and it was 8.08. Nice catch.

I just realized the date on my dad's camera is wrong! These were taken 05/08/09! I guess I better give him a call!

Lake Ft. Phantom

2009-05-05T10:40:00.004-05:00

Yes, you read that correctly, we fished a tournament at Lake Ft. Phantom. TBC Panhandle Region. I don't remember ever being on this lake, but Mom says I have years ago. I sure don't remember that. And we know Frank hadn't been on it in at least twelve years. And it is only about 20 minutes from our house! There is just something about that lake.

We didn't pre-fish, we just headed out and fished a few places Frank remembered fishing all those years ago and it was a pretty good day. We weighed four fish that went twelve something (I can never remember), and we caught fish all day. We had bass, catfish, crappie, hybrids, and perch! Quite a variety!

The weather was not great, windy and cloudy all day. The water was muddy of course. That is all it ever is, red muddy water.

We felt like it was a pretty good day for the conditions and not having been on the lake in so long. Maybe we will take time to fish it more often - maybe!

Wind! Wind! And More Wind! (With a Few Fish and a Snake on the Side)!

2009-04-27T11:12:00.014-05:00

We really thought the windy days were behind us, but then we woke up Saturday morning. WOW! I don't think I ever heard an exact reading but it would blow your wig off if you weren't careful. Plus it really has my allergies flared up and I have no to little voice. It was difficult for Frank to hear me from the back of the boat. I often thought I should just text message him when I got hung up! It would have proved to be just as quick and much less painful on my throat!

Our TBC tournament was on Sunday at O.H. Ivie. We headed out earlier than normal on Saturday so we could stop in Valera to eat at Big O's. We had each won a meal there during the tournament last Saturday and didn't want to let the certificates expire like we did last year. It was great! We even went back Saturday night to eat supper there with Russell and Michelle. It is definitely out of the way for most, but if you ever get the chance to stop, do. Lynn will treat you right!

When we got back to Concho Park, we stopped in to visit with everyone that was hanging out there and order our breakfast. It is so funny to me that when you sit down to listen to anglers, they may tell the same story every time you are around but you laugh like it is the first time to hear it. I guess it is because we have all been there. If you fish as much as we do, and have long time friends, you are going to have some funny stories to tell. And for those of us that were there Saturday night, we now have another one to tell. If you want to read about that, click here.

Sunday morning, the wind had not laid. It was wild. Frank wasn't sure where he wanted to fish because we knew we would be in the wind all day where we had planned and we really didn't know if we wanted to do that. But we decided we would and headed on over. The trip wasn't to bad. I have definitely been on worse. This time we only had about 3' swells! I wore my rain jacket all day just to keep dry from the waves hitting the boat. Frank even changed into his sandals to keep his tennis shoes dry.

There were several tournaments on the lake, but we weren't crowded where we were, but we could sure see a lot of traffic on the lake. We were basically where we fished last weekend, in the hard woods and salt cedars. Not far from where the 12+ was pulled out. We actually had fish all day, we got to cull. We just love when we get to cull, even if it is trading one small fish for one not quite so small!

We flipped a Tornado lure most of the day. I did throw a spinner late and Frank threw a crank bait. But all the fish we had came off Tornado lures. We ended the day with a total of 12.24, nothing to exciting but points on the board none the less. And believe it or not, as windy as it was, we had a fun day.

I think Frank laughed at me the harder than he has in a long time, all due to a stupid black snake! I hate snakes! And it seems the more I fish the more of the stupid things I see. You can read here and here and here to see a few more of our encounters with the slithering serpents! But this time, no pictures, my camera was to close to the snake.

Where we were fishing was in hard woods, dead trees that were left when they lake was built to give the fish some habitat for living and protection. They are great if you like to flip (which you know I hate). But sometime, they make manoeuvring a boat a bit difficult, especially if the wind is blowing, like it was yesterday. Frank tries to not run me into trees while I am back there on the back of the boat, but again, not easily done with the wind. And I TRY not to complain, but again, not always easily done.

He had his head down flipping and trying to get us through the timber with out coming crashing down on it. With the wind in his face and ears, the trolling motor groaning, and the waves crashing on the hull of the boat under his feet, it was very difficult for him to hear my whisper of a voice. I was going from one side of the boat to the other trying to flip into some timber that wasn't just right at the edge of the boat. This particular time, when I turned to my left, I saw it. There was a hugh (yes Frank it was hugh!) black snake curled up on a branch just about two inches from his shoulder. As loud as I could, I yelled "SNAKE" but he couldn't hear me, so I take a deep breath and try again "SNAKE!" Well, he hears me this time, but he thinks I see it in the water so he leans over trying to find it. He sees nothing, so turns to his left to ask me where the snake is. The snake is right at his face but he doesn't see it, but the snake sees him and starts crawling.

This makes me start screaming and I crawl up on my seat and point. Notice I said on my seat, not in it. It is still folded up and snapped shut. I am balancing my big ol' self on the top of it in all that wind! I am yelling as loud as I can and pointing. As he turns back around, he sees it this time! I am still not sure how he missed it the first time. It was so close to his face. He immediately starts to try and get us out of there. The snake has since slithered down inside the hollow tree, probably long gone, some where in the water headed to another tree away from that crazy screaming lunatic, looking for some where peaceful where he can continue his nap, but as far as I am concerned, he is laying there in wait so he can jump out on me, specifically me! I know he has a vendetta against me since I have done nothing to him.

With the wind blowing the way it is, Frank tells me I am going to have to help him get out and to grab the branch behind me. So not taking my eyes off the tree where I had just seen that snake (and he is now lying in wait) I just reach back and grab the tree without looking. I instantly scream and jump off my seat. This scares Frank and he ask me what happens. I really think he is going to fall of the boat from laughing so hard when I tell him nothing is wrong I just forgot to look at the tree before I touched it and was afraid I had touched a snake. He asked me if I felt some thing and, of course I hadn't, I just wasn't sure. Laughing, he tells me to get back on my seat and just wait till he gets us out of there. He makes a few more maneuvers and gets us out, all the while laughing at me.

We continue the day flipping in the timber, but he does manage to keep me far away from the branches. I sit here now, typing and laughing, thinking about how hysterical I must have looked perched up on that boat seat, and wondering where I thought I was going to go if it fell in the boat. I know he was not the only snake in the lake, but he is the only one I could see, and if he had come in I was going swimming!!!

I know I promised to tell you where we were fishing last week and I couldn't because that is where we were going to fish this weekend. We were fishing around Leaday. Last week we threw black/blue fleck power worms and did pretty well. This week we threw F5 Tornados and did good too, considering the weather conditions.

Thanks, Mom, taking pictures for me. We were so glad you and Tom drove over for weigh in. And Poppa and Lorraine, thanks for the burgers Sunday night. It sure was nice not having to figure out what we were going to do for supper.

I hope everyone has a great week! God bless you all as much as he has me.

First I Stole His Heart, Now I Stole His Fish

2009-04-19T15:38:00.011-05:00

What a day! Saturday was absolutely beautiful here in West Texas. If you didn't get to be outside to enjoy it, I'm sorry. God certainly blessed us with a day we don't usually get to see here!

We fished the San Angelo Bass Busters Open Tournament at O.H. Ivie. I came real close to staying home and taking Mattie May to the zoo, but we decided to take her Friday afternoon so I could go fish the tournament. I am so glad I did.

We headed out of Abilene at about 4:30AM to partly cloudy skies and an extremely light breeze. On the way to the lake we saw about 20 deer and one fox (he was running across the road to get out of Frank's way) and one dead skunk. As we got closer to the lake we started to notice some lightening. It looked pretty far away and so we weren't to worried about it. Stopped in at Concho Marina to grab our permit and some drinks. Nina pulled up the weather for us and that storm was getting a little to close for comfort. There were over 260 entries in the tourny, and the majority of them were hanging around the store seeing what the storm was going to do.

We had a wonderful breakfast and visited a little bit. As day light broke, we could see the storm wasn't so bad and decided to head out. Just about the time I got the truck parked, it started to rain. Frank already had his rain gear on and had mine layed out and helped me get it on. Thankfully I didn't get too wet in the process. As we left to get to our hole, the rain wasn't to bad, but still hurt the face! I still don't know why women pay so much for dermabrassion (sp)! I get it on the boat!

When we stopped, we couldn't start fishing until we looked at the splendor around us. This was our welcoming shot.

Isn't that glorious? You can see the rain cloud just in the top edge of the picture, but you can tell by the lake that there was just barely any wind. The photo below is facing back to the west. A rainbow in this direction is a rare treat for us. I don't know about you, but all this just takes my breath away.

When I saw Frank pull out the rods my heart sank. Flipping sticks! YUK! But I made up my mind right then I was going to be a sport and not complain and I didn't until about 1:30PM when my back and shoulders just couldn't take it any longer.

We were fishing a mixture of hard woods and salt cedars. I caught several fish with the cloud cover that morning and Frank caught his later in the day after the clouds broke. He had 3 fish (1 over & 2 under) that went just over eight pounds. I had 3 fish (1 over & 2 under) that went almost seven pounds. What a great day of fishing!

He always accuses me of stealing his heart and he said I wouldn't have had that many fish if I hadn't stolen his fish! Well, how can I steal it if he never caught it? He flipped in a tree twice and missed, then sat down to retie. I felt he was taking way to long and flipped up in that same tree once and caught it! It was my largest at 3 1/2 pounds. It was a really pretty fish too!

We had several friends fishing this tournament too. One of them caught a 12+! I don't remember the exact weight but it was just shy of thirteen pounds! WOW! She was so excited and I really don't blame her. She won women's big fish, big fish overall, and I think 6th place! Sorry, but they weren't fishing far from us so I can't tell you when, where or how because we have another tournament there next weekend. But I promise to give you the particulars after that tourny.

Also, sorry no fish pics! We pulled up to the ramp at ten minutes til three thinking we had until 3:30 to weigh. When Frank went up to get the truck, someone told him we had to be in line at three! NO time to take pictures. When we started pulling fish out of the live well, his watch read 2:57! I almost had a heart attack running up that hill with my weigh bag just to find out we could have weighed in until four!!! Lesson for the day - always have a copy of the rules with you in the boat!

Until next time, hope you all get to get out and enjoy the weather! God is gracious to us!!!

Go Fish or Go Zoo?

2009-04-15T09:23:00.002-05:00

There is an open tournament at OH Ivie this Saturday. It is one that Frank and I fish regularly. But there is also a temporary exhibit at the Dallas Zoo, an albino alligator, that I think Mattie May would really like.

So should I go fish with my wonderful husband at a lake that we absolutely love and visit with friends that we only see this time of year, or should I take my sweet little granddaughter, that would live at the zoo if we would let her, to see an exhibit that will not be there for long?

I'm really torn here. Give me some guidance.

Not Much to Report.

2009-04-06T15:51:00.001-05:00

Frank fished the Stillwaters tournament at Hubbard Creek on Saturday. It was warm but WINDY! He had no fish to weigh so he didn't stick around for the weigh in and headed on home. I think he was really ready to see Mattie May. She was staying with us that night and he had missed her all week while he was in Boston.

Maybe the next tournament will have more to report.

It is getting to be that time of year where there are open tournaments almost every weekend. Maybe we will get to fish a few.

Untill next time, God bless you.

Wind? What Wind?

2009-04-02T10:43:00.003-05:00

My goodness! I don't really remember the wind blowing like this! They just said on the radio it is blowing at 30 MPH with gust up to 48MPH! From my window it looks like a continuous gust!!! It hasn't slowed down a bit!

I am hoping it lays before Saturday. I sure was hoping to get on the lake!

Lake Leon - Better than Last Year

2009-03-22T22:46:00.005-05:00

Tournament #2 for the TBC West Region is done, and I don't plan on looking back!

We met at the hotel on Saturday night, registered, then headed out to supper. The fellowship and visiting was great. The food was good. But the smoke was terrible! I guess, living in Abilene, I am just spoiled to the fact there is no smoking in any public places. When I go out of town, I expect the same. Not so! The little restaurant we were in was a complete smoking establishment so along with my food, I ate smoke. I did manage not to get sick and that was nice.

I am not sure if they are talking about supper, solving all the problems of the world, or telling about the one that got away!

We started with a nice day, partly cloudy skies and not much wind. As usual, a beautiful west Texas sunrise.

Frank had a decent day, three keeper fish, a few small ones (as seen in the picture below! He was so mad at me for taking this!), and one striper that went on a sailing trip when Frank got him off his hook. They put up a pretty good fight so when you get to where you can see them, you are a bit disappointed.

I on the other hand could not stay out of the rocks and trees. I had two small fish with the largest only being 13 1/2". The other one I think was smaller than the one Frank has in the picture above! All in all we had 6.03 pounds, lost about 5 spinner baits, and got beat up by the wind. Weatherbugg reported 29 mph at Dyess AFB with gusts of 45! I am beat, but poor Frank is exhausted from battling the wind from the front of the boat!

We stopped at DQ in Eastland and ate with Russell and Michelle, then headed home. We saw three grass fires to the south of the interstate. We were worried they might close the highway because of smoke.

This is smoke not clouds!

We also saw the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile on the way home. I did take a picture of it. Do you see it? I promise, it is in this picture.

There is a tournament next Saturday at Ivie, but we don't know if we will be fishing or not. It depends on how much time Frank gets to spend with Mattie May this week and what the weather does. I promise you, if the wind blows like it did today, I will not be on that lake!

Finished: Bassmaster Classic Pictures

2009-03-18T01:05:00.004-05:00

FINALLY!

After sorting through almost 1000 pictures, cropping, rotating, spellchecking and a few frustrations with Scrapblog (not all their fault), I finally finished my scrap of the 2009
Bassmaster Classic.

I hope you enjoy it!

Fishing Lake Stamford

2009-03-10T11:56:00.007-05:00

This past Sunday, we fished Lake Stamford with the Panhandle Region of TBC. The day started out pretty good. It was a bit cooler than the weatherman said it would be, but it sure beat last Sunday! Frank and I decided I must have had a bit of a fever because it took me a really long time to warm up and I had an extra long nap on the boat! I have gotten pretty good about not doing that, but I just couldn't help myself.

The wind was also good to us. It didn't blow to hard. The water was a bit muddy and we flipped cat tails almost all day! We caught fish all day, but for some reason couldn't get them in the boat! As Frank set the hook on one, it went through his legs (really, I was watching!), took one bounce on the deck, and off the other side of the boat she went! I had never seen anything like that before. We had several things like that happen.

I caught a really nice white on a spinner bait. Sure wish I could have weighed that one. It was a very nice size.

After Frank tried to electrocute himself (this is a story all it's own) on an electric line running across the lake, we called it a day and went to weigh in. We had three fish that went just under 9 pounds. It took 23 pounds to win. A new couple from the Panhandle won it. I really do like when that happens. It helps to get more couples in the club.

Our next tournament with the West Region is at Lake Leon on March 22. Ya'll come on out if you get the chance.

I Can Not Believe

2009-03-02T11:46:00.004-06:00

...how cold it was! Sunday morning, when we got to the lake it was twenty two degrees!

...how many layers I was wearing to stay warm! Let's say, Randy from "A Christmas Story"!

...how unbelievably sore I am today! Who said fishing is not a real sport? I have the sore muscles to prove it!

...how close we came to not having a fish for weigh in! Weigh in starts at 3:00 on the dot, Frank boated said fish at 2:59!

...how close said fish was to not being legal! Just sweep over the 14" mark!

...how I didn't take pictures this weekend! I have two pictures of a red bird and that's it!

...how happy I was to sleep in my bed last night just after one night away!

...how miserable I was all day, but how much fun we had!

Let's Get This Party Started!

2009-02-27T11:24:00.004-06:00

It is finally here - the first weekend of fishing with Texas Bass Couples, West Region.

Yeah!!

This month we are fishing Lake Brownwood. Saturday February 28, registration will be at Hook & Anchor Marine from 4 to 6 PM. If getting to fish isn't reason enough to come out and register, how about hamburgers? Schwan's will be out during this time cooking hamburgers and Tommy and Pam will have plenty of fixins' to go with them.

If you can't make it out Saturday, they will also hold a registration at Mountain View Lodge from 5:30 to 6:45 AM Sunday morning.

Hope to see you all there! And just for funzzies - if you come out to register because you read it here, let Pam know! I'm just curious if anyone really reads this thing!!!!

Happy Fishing!

Not the Final Note

2009-02-23T20:51:00.007-06:00

Well I had planned on writing one final post on the Bassmaster Championship telling you all about the wonderful time we had and all the things we did. I was going to tell you about all the autographs we got. But I'll tell you what - I am tired! All the excitement of the weekend and the long drive home last night has got to me and I am ready to go to bed. So this will be my next to the last post. I will try to get all my pictures together and make a Scrapblog.

I will give you a couple of pictures though.

Of everything we did and everyone we saw, I must admit, this was my very favorite thing. I not only got to get Hank Parker's autograph and a hug, but he took my phone away from me and started talking to Katie. It was so fun and he was a really great sport.

Sarah and Traci - this is Hank Parker!

Now I had to borrow this next picture from Bassmaster.com. Their photographers have much better equipment than I do and are in great places to get these shots.

Being there for the final weigh in. I was awe struck. It was so wonderful watching Skeet Reese raise the trophy above his head and take the winning lap with his family in his boat. And I like his new hair style too.

To see more pictures of the entire tournament, head on over to Bassmaster.com or keep checking back here and I will try to get a scrapblog together of all the pictures I took.

Oh, and one more thing, last night I noticed a hit from Kalamazoo, MI. Do you think it could have been him, KVD? The world may never know!

And no, I didn't win the boat either!

So Much Fun at the 2009 Bassmaster Classic

2009-02-21T22:04:00.005-06:00

Just one word -

WOW!!!

We are having so much fun!!! Friday we slept in and didn't go to launch but we did go to the Expo and weigh in. What fun. This morning Frank and I did get up and go to launch. So amazing! Tonight we went to day two weigh in which is also elimination day. They cut the field from 51 to 25. To my dismay, Kim and KVD were cut but how amazing to be here when the first woman is competing against the men at the big show! When you consider she finished the day yesterday just behind Kevin VanDam, you can see this is a sport where the women are on a level playing field with the men. As one of the women put it "the fish don't know if it is a man or woman behind that lure". That is so true.

Tomorrow is day three. Frank and I are going to get up a little earlier and hit the launch again. It won't take as long because of the narrowed field. Then back to the Expo and hopefully KVD will hand me the keys to the boat he has been competing in all year. I am sure I will win it (lol)! After that it will be weigh in and the long drive home.

Pictures - yes I am posting this without pictures! Yes, I do have pictures. As a matter of fact, I had to go to CVS and drop them from my cards to disc because I was running out of room on both of my cards, but the computers at the motel won't let me work with my pictures! So I will have pictures as soon as I get home!

So much more to tell you all, but you just can not imagine how much fun we are having. So much fun, we already trying to figure out how we are going to afford making this an annual trip!

Shreveport/Bossier has been a fantastic host. Even with this being the last weekend of Madi Gras, we have not run in to crowds and traffic the way we thought we would. All of the people that we have talked to that call this their home could not be any friendlier! If I wasn't so stuck on Texas, this would be a great place to call home. Thanks Ya'll!!!

2009 Bassmasters In Shreveport/Bossier City

2009-02-19T17:23:00.004-06:00

We made it!!! We are in Louisiana all checked in the hotel. Yes we have been to the casino. I left Frank there (I know, not smart) but I am already out for two very good reasons - the cigarette smoke makes me terribly sick and I have already lost money! Neither of those are my favorite things so I decided to come out and find me a computer and start surfing!!!!

The tournament starts in the morning. If you get up early enough (and I know you do if you are interested in the tournament), watch "Mike and Mike In the Morning" (or set your DVR like I did). They are doing their show from the launch site in the morning and Frank said he is going to do everything he can to get on the show. This is frightening for two reasons 1.he can act pretty weird sometimes and 2. it is Mardi Gras here. Don't look for me! I will be in a good position to take pictures just in case he really does achieve this task.

It has been a fun trip already and I plan on having plenty of pictures, but I don't want to hold up this computer any longer (not that there is a waiting line - I think everyone but me and the employees are in the casino).

I will check in soon!

Louisiana - Here We Come!

2009-02-18T23:37:00.002-06:00

As you can see from my counter - the championship is drawing near. We leave in the morning (EARLY). If the hotel has a guest computer, I will try to post some from the tourney. If not I will get something posted next week.

I am sure I will have a few pictures to share too!

2009 Kick Off

2009-01-30T08:44:00.002-06:00

Last night Frank went to the first meeting of the year for Still Waters. He said there was a good turn out and he enjoyed catching up with friends.

The first tournament will be next Saturday at OH Ivie. I love that lake! We have been having some nice weather on the weekends so I may fish with him.

I am such a fair weather fisherman! I just hate being cold! I don't mind the cold, I just don't like to be out in it if I don't have too. Well will see. If it turns out to be like today I will probably go. I am just glad it is time to start fishing again!

Maybe next week I will have a great fish tale to tell!

2009 Bassmaster Classic

2009-01-14T14:46:00.003-06:00

The count down is on for the 2009 Bassmaster Classic. This year, since it is just a few hours away, Frank and I will be attending! I am so excited!! We have always wanted to go. This year we decided instead of throwing a big party to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary that we would take this trip. And no, this wasn't Frank's idea, it was mine. I look forward to telling you all about it!!!

New Year Weekend 2009

2009-01-05T00:11:00.003-06:00

JUST A QUICK WARNING - THE FOLLOWING POST HAS PICTURES OF DEAD ANIMALS! IF THIS OFFENDS YOU, PLEASE TURN BACK DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER!

I wasn't sure whether to post this on my regular blog or just my fishing and hunting blog, so I just decided to post it to both.

If you really know me, you know how much I hated to leave this
for a week, but I was ready to go out of town! Frank and I spent new years with my mom and several friends. It was a five day trip that was just wonderful and here is a short recap of events. So sit back, relax, and welcome to The DudaThere is a long story as to how Frank and I get invited to this ranch that I don't really need to go into detail here. But what I will tell you is it is pure Texas! We love it here.
This is the second time we have spent new years here with Mom, Tom, Ben and Pat. Oh, and I can't forget Sam. Sam is Ben's dog and he is just one of us. We love him.
I am not sure how long the house has been here but even though it is not The Ritz, it is a great place. It is about 2o miles out of Aspermont and just has one TV station, but that is OK because there is not a lot of TV watching anyway. We spent new year's eve night trying to stay awake to watch the ball drop. None of the men made it that long. Mom had to wake Pat and I up to see it drop then we hugged and went to bed.
The guys all planned to go hunting the next morning, but I think Frank is the only one that got up early and he was actually kind of late. He got back to the house around eight and we, or really Mom, was fixing breakfast.
After we ate, we loaded in the huntin' buggy and went for a ride. We rode around the east part of the place for awhile. Didn't see any wild life and found a turkey roost. On our way out we did spot these turkey tracks.

They had obviously come through after we did. You can see their tracks on top of ours.

Frank and Ben went hunting and Tom, Mom and I went to the country club. Tom had a new call he wanted to try out and I try to never give up a photo op. There are some fantastic sunsets seen at the country club. I have many shots of them to show you later. After supper that night, we had a fire in the fire pit and looked at the beautiful starts. Amazing how being completely away from the city how many more stars you can see. God is awesome and I am so thankful for the sights he has given us.

Our first group portrait.

Me, Frank, Mom, Tom, Ben and Pat (l to r)

The next day Frank did some more hunting and shot this small jake. He wasn't very big but he sure did taste good. Thanks for supper that night Frank.

Ben and Tom were going Sandhill Crane hunting after we were to leave on Sunday. Frank and Ben worked on getting the decoys ready for the trip. I don't know, but there was just something funny to me when I walked out and saw this...

All these "birds" stuck in the fence. Just my warped sense of humor I guess. It ended up be a longer task than they had planned. they worked on them for two days. We went for some walks on Friday and just lounged around the house. That evening, just the girls went to the country club.

God gave us some awesome shots on this night. There were lots of clouds and so many colors in the sky. It was amazing.

Tom had dropped us off so he could go gather some fire wood. He got back after it was pretty dark and we were really glad to see him. It wasn't very long before he showed up we realized we were out there without a gun just in case some critter decided to sneak up on us.

Saturday morning Ben and Frank did some more work on those decoys. This scene still makes me laugh.

We all loaded up in the huntin' buggy and headed down to the river. The Salt Fork of the Brazos runs through the Duda. There is good reason it is called the "Salt Fork".

That is salt, not snow in this picture. There are several places where you find it like this. Mom found some that looked just like rock salt and got up the nerve to taste it. She said it tasted just like rock salt!

Our Group photo at the River

Finally Sam got in the picture

We hiked down and just played down there for about an hour. It was really warm down there. Some people even decided to take a little nap. That Ben! He can sleep anywhere. We dis some more riding around but headed back to the house to eat a bite of lunch and Frank and Ben wanted to do some hunting. We saw this lone covey of quail out in front of the house late that afternoon. (click on the picture to enlarge it and you can see them better)
This is what the guys do while they are waiting on supper.

Mom and Pat are the official cooks and I am the dishwasher. It all works at great that way.

The trip was wonderful! But I must say it was great to get home to Katie and Mattie May. I think Mattie May was pretty happy to see us too! We got home early enough that Frank was able to make one final trip to Clyde and with about 1 minute left in the season shot a doe. So we will have some good venison for awhile. I hope that 2009 started out as wonderful for you as it did for us. I am going to get in my bed. I have missed that too!

I may Loose my Spot on the Boat!

2008-10-13T23:48:00.005-05:00

Frank went fishing this weekend to a two day tournament in San Angelo. It was a three fish stringer per day tournament.

Saturday night, Frank was in forth place. He had fished Twin Buttes most of the day, but when the wind picked up he moved over to Lake Nasworthy. He didn't have a single hit! So Sunday he fished all day at Twin Buttes and fought the wind. He felt that was better than not catching any fish!

He had a very decent stringer and won 2ND!! Yeah Frank!

Our friend Craig won first. He had a 9+ pounder on Saturday, so Frank was really surprised they were so close. Craig's total was 15.61; Frank's was 15.25!! So even though I have no pictures, I have two really nice checks and know he had good fish!

Everyone we talk to looks at me and says "Frank should go without you more often!" Yeah, he probably should, but I hope he doesn't!!!

I Saw GOD Today!

2008-09-28T23:19:00.008-05:00

We have only been gone for two days but it seems like forever. I get back to check my email and, wow, my box is full. I dread seeing my box at work seeing as how I was off Friday and will be off tomorrow too. Oh, as Scarlett says "I will worry about that tomorrow".

We had a good time, most of it spent just the two of us together. We had no travel buddies because we left so late Friday evening and none on the return trip because, well, we left after everyone else! We enjoyed the banquet and awards with lots of old friends and just as many new ones on Friday, but enjoyed a relaxing dinner at Chili's Saturday night, just the two of us. Then a quick trip to Academy and Walmart, we got to bed as early as we could. Four o'clock comes really early on Saturdays! We also ran into a long time friend in Walmart. Scott, we could have visited all night! It was great to see you and I will be sending you an email!

The fishing was not good. We each had one keeper on Saturday and Frank caught his first small mouth bass. It only weighed about 2.5 but it fought like a 10 pounder! We had a total of 4.24 on Saturday.

Sunday, the fishing was not much better. Boat numbers were called at 7:00 AM, and we got to our spot at 7:09 AM. By 7:15 we had two in the box! We thought we were at least going to have a limit, but boy were we wrong. That was it! No more, nada, zilch the rest of the day. We had 3.78 (I think, to lazy to go get my weigh slips!) total for Sunday.
You can see how happy Frank is in this picture. It was a long hot day, and we had a long drive ahead of us. 8.02 for the weekend. It took 22+ to win the tournament and you can read all the results here. It may take Pam til tomorrow night to get everything posted, but she will get it done so keep checking back if it isn't posted.

So now your saying to yourself "So what does this have to do with the title?" Lots!

Frank and I are so grateful for everything we have. As I have told you before, we know it is ours through God. He is so good to us. So look at the following pictures and tell me if you see Him. (Don;t forget, you can click on each image to enlarge it!)

He is there! Did you see Him? If not go back and look one more time. He is there, I promise!

We are firm believers in Christ, we believe it is He that created all in the universe. George Strait is my all time favorite singer and his song "I saw God Today" will be my favorite forever. We see God in every sunrise, sunset, animal and bird. He is there keeping us safe as we travel and as we face the elements as we fish. Amazing landscapes! Fabulous trees growing in crevices in rocks on cliffs. And then we come home to the most precious gifts of all... Our wonderful Father in Heaven,

Thank you for everything you have given us, our girls and each other. Please keep growing in our hearts as you continue to shower us with Your grace.

Time is Running Out

2008-09-25T23:30:00.004-05:00

If you look at my counter, you will see that it is just hours away from our TBC Championship. We will not make it in time for all the festivities in the morning, but hopefully we will be there in time for dinner and get our information for start times on Saturday and Sunday mornings and weigh in times also.

I will try to do a couple of post while we are there, but if not, I will bring you up to date on Monday. Have a great weekend everyone!

Our First Trip to Lake Belton

2008-08-31T22:25:00.011-05:00

Like I stated in an earlier blog, we have never been to Lake Belton. We have driven over it several times, but never fished it, skied it, nothing. But not anymore! If you don't know where Lake Belton is, here is a map to help you out. It is on I-35 about half way between Waco and Austin. Very pretty lake. It reminded me of Possum Kingdom, clear water, deep cliffs, lots to see.

We started our trip on Friday. Here is Frank driving.
He looks happy for me to be taking his picture, huh. This will not be the last time in this post that you see this expression on his face. We didn't leave until after work, so it was late when we got there. We checked in to the hotel, grabbed a bite to eat, and did some sight seeing in the dark. Have you ever done that, looked around a new place after the sun goes down? I have decided doing this is about as exciting as looking at Christmas lights during the day. You just don't get the same effects!

Saturday morning, we slept in a bit, woke up about 6, then we had breakfast and headed to the lake. This is as we were pulling away from the ramp.

Nice and smooth. One of those great mornings.

This is the ramp. See our truck?
Does this help? The yellow circle is our truck. The pink circle? That is the "toilet". I use that term loosely. A whole in the ground with seats and four walls and two stalls. Not the best, but when you gotta go, you gotta go!!!
Just some of the shore line. Some of God's handy work.

From what we could tell, the lake looks low. This picture shows what we think is the water line. This is what it would look like around our home lakes. I am sure if this is not the case, I will have some nice person leave me a comment correcting me.
I think this is an Egret. Really pretty bird. It posed for me then took off.
And I think this is a Heron. It stuck around a little longer than the Egret, but not much.
This is not what any fisher person wants to spend their time doing.

(Note, there is that face again)

Just more of the cliffs.

This is my OH MY moment!

Have you tried these things. They are fantastic!

Just remember to put them in the cooler if you will be outside in the heat!

This was about the time of day I got really bored and my wrist was killing me. (I have got to get to the doctor this week to check it out)
One of my favorite past times, looking at clouds. This is another thing that drives Frank crazy, me finding shapes in the clouds.
See this man? He is an old man, not happy or sad.
OK, if you don't see it, I have used red to outline it.
Did that help? I hope so.

See the elephant?

Again, I have used red to outline him.

OK, one more.
See the elf face?
Here he is.
I know, most of you can see these shapes. These outlines are for the Franks out there that don't see the shapes.

I love trees with character. This is one of those trees. It is dead, but don't you know at one time is was beautiful. Just imagine it during fall.
This was a surprise to us. A waterfall.
This is at the bottom of a water processing plant. Very pretty and surprising.

This is at the damn. Someone put in a lot of time here.

Oh, here is the face again. He was not happy having to take me over here to take this picture.
This was up in one of the coves. The best we could tell, this is a permanent dock, it is just out in the lake, not attached to the shore like most docks. They sure were having a lot of fun. We found it funny that being in between Baylor and UT that they had...
this flag flying.
Those Aggies are everywhere!!

Sunday morning brought some more wildlife. This roadrunner was running up and down the shore.
And when I took down my camera, I saw this!

OH! You know how I hate snakes and this one was about two feet from the boat. I think the roadrunner was looking for him too.

This little turtle was all alone sunning himself. He was tiny. I don't think I have ever seen one this little alone.

We did quite a bit of moving around the lake. At one point, we were in a flock of buzzards! Here are three of them.
Yes there are three, see the arrow.
They are not the prettiest birds, but the serve a great purpose. But on this day, I think we were right in their flight path. They would fly so close to our heads, we could feel the wind off their wings as they took off.
We ended our trip by going through Killeen to find the airport where I will have to pick Frank up before our tournament. Then had to turn around and go back when we realized I had left my purse at Jack In The Box! I was so mad! It took an hour to take care of that.

Then just as we pulled into Tuscola, Frank got a call that he had to go to work. The OT is always nice, I just wish he would have had some time to rest. Maybe next time he will let me do some of the driving.

OH, I'm sorry. Did you come hear wanting to read a fishing report? Well not much to say. We caught nothing on Saturday and Frank caught four fish on Sunday and they were just barely 14". So, any of you nice people that fish this lake often, if you have any suggestions, we sure would appreciate it. We will return the favor when you come fish some of our home lakes!

WE'RE GOING FISHING

2008-08-28T16:38:00.005-05:00

Have you missed me? Did you wonder where I have been?

Well, not fishing! We were supposed to go a couple of weeks ago and had to cancel due to circumstances beyond our control. But that was OK, we were needed here so here is where we stayed.

We are going to go prefish at Lake Belton. Neither of us has ever been there. Oh, we have both been to Temple and Killeen, and we have probably driven by or over the lake, but we have never fished it. We usually like to keep our prefishing to one or two weeks before our actual tournament, but since this is a three day weekend and Frank will be in Atlanta the week before and we will have our Stillwater tournament next week, this was the only weekend we could go. So go we will.

Of course I will have my camera and I will try to post some pictures while we are there, but no promises. Frank gets mad at me when I go down to the public computers and play. But I do promise to post some pictures and hopefully a story or two next week.

Only 28 days to the TBC Championship Tournament!

The Worst Day Fishing...

2008-08-11T18:34:00.003-05:00

I know you, if you are a fisherperson you have heard the saying "The worst day fishing is better than a good day working."

We are here to tell you, that is not true.

Saturday, Frank fished a tournament at Lake Stamford with Warren (it was a team tournament). Other than the regular fishing stories, "you should have seen the one that got away" told by both men, there was the broken favorite flipping rod, the loosing the rod and reel while running across the lake, and the oh so famous trolling battery that pooted out.

I still haven't been told the whole story on how the rod was broken but he did tell me the "Rod Saver" will have to be replaced. It didn't hold up going across the rough lake hence the lost combo. But when the wind picked up and the trolling motor wouldn't keep up with it, he checked and he had lost a battery. So Warren kept fishing while Frank made a run into the Wal-Marts in Stamford to purchase a new battery.

Needless to say, the tournament was won by someone other than these two, but they made it home safe! And Frank said he would have rather been working, at least that was guaranteed money!

Trip Canceled

2008-08-06T23:12:00.003-05:00

Well, we had discussed with friends when we would go pre-fish Lake Belton. A weekend was agreed upon and Pam called to make the reservations for all of us.

It seems there is a large convention in Temple on that same weekend and there are no rooms available at any of the hotels. The CSR at the hotel said Temple was expecting 10,000 people for this "convention"! My goodness, if there are that many people, it looks like they would go to a larger metropolitan place that could accommodate them better.

Oh well, we will try to figure out a different weekend to go on. I will be able to talk about fishing then!

(I did not say the group that is having the "convention" on purpose. I have already been accused of being non-politically correct once today.)

August Stilwater Tourny

2008-08-02T22:43:00.003-05:00

Today was our August tournament on Hubbard Creek Lake in Breckenridge and I don't have much to report. Frank and I decided after a bit of discussion that I should pass on this one. The weather forcast was hot, hot, hot, and not much wind. I know, we normally hate for the wind to blow, but when it is August and hot in west Texas, you need the wind to cool off.

Frank did fish and weighed in a 7+ pound stringer. I can 't even tell you his exact weight, but I know it was not enough to win anything.

I, on the other hand, spent my day with our daughter and granddaughter. It was the annual Zoo Day at the Abilene Zoo and we thought we were getting there in plenty of time to beat the heat and the crowd. We handled the heat much better than I did the crowd, so we only stayed about 2 hours. It was a great 2 hours watching them enjoy the zoo, but we came home early to eat lunch and get a nap.

Hopefully, it won't be quite so hot in September and I will join him again on the lake and will have a better report. Until then, hope you catch a big 'un!

Fishing in July

2008-07-14T06:29:00.002-05:00

Baby, IT'S HOT OUTSIDE!!!

This was the reading on our mirror Saturday afternoon on our way to Lake O.H. Ivie. That is crazy! Luckily we were in our nice air conditioned truck!
I thought I saw some goats sweating as we passed them on the road. No wonder!

Gas prices are about to cut into our fishing, as I am sure they are doing the same to you. Four dollars a gallon! We're going to have to start winning some tournaments to be able to pay for the gas. Do you remember when this price was the cost of a gallon of gas?
Now it will only buy you a soda to get you on your way down the road!
We got there in plenty of time to get registered, and have a hamburger at Concho Park Marina before Frank had to get some work done on the boat. Last week he had some problems with the tachometer, but one phone call to our friend Mike, and he knew what he needed to do get to it working. He couldn't do it at home because he needed the motor running. So I backed him down the ramp and he got it done.
We always feel like we are the only ones with boat trouble, but this picture shows, if your going to own a boat, your going to have trouble.
Because of the hot weather (remember photo #1) our tournament started at 5:00 AM! Crazy I know but much cooler. I took a short video so you can see and hear the sites and sounds of the lake at five in the morning.

OK, so maybe just the sounds of five in the morning. You see in that video exactly what we saw, darkness. It is that dark that early.

We only had one fish. Frank caught it and it weighed 1.54 (I think). We had one of the few one fish stringers, but we did not have the smallest weight. Check out Tommy and Pam Busbee, the founders and West directors of TBC...

Some stringer! The funny thing, its total weight was less than our one fish. So always look for that silver lining.

The weather was hot, but not much wind. That is very odd for a mid July day. It allowed us some time to play after the tournament. To really appreciate the video below, turn your A/C off for a couple of hours, then place an industrial fan where it will blow the hot air directly into your face.

Wasn't that a nice ride? Mattie May loves this video. She told her mommy "I ride de boat again, Mommie" and she pushes the play button for another ride. Why can't the wind be like this when we take her to the lake?

Lake Ivie is one of our favorite lakes, even though it was not very nice to us this weekend. It is outside of Ballinger, a great Texas small town. One of the sites to see in Ballinger is "The Cross". It is great to see at any time of the day and has a wonderful story behind it. If you are ever out this way, definitely stop and see it.
Our monthly tournaments for TBC are done for the the year. We now start planning for our championship that will be held on Lake Belton in September. Be sure to go to the TBC web site for more information on that.

Miller's Creek 06.28.08

2008-06-29T23:11:00.008-05:00

Stillwater's tournament was yesterday, Saturday June 28. I had never been there before. We had a pretty good day and lots of fun.

The tournament started at 6AM, and the lake is about 2 hours away, so the alarm went off at 3:15AM! Sorry, I thought there was only one 3o'clock and that it was only in the afternoon! Frank was nice and let me sleep on the way.

We were greeted at the lake by swarms of mosquito's. I must say I put mosquitoes right there with gnats - Why God, why? I am sure there is a reason, just like everything else, I just don't know what it is!

It really was a nice morning, not much wind and a great ride on the water. This is where we started -

Yeah I know, it was still kind of dark! But there are birds in those trees, their white. This is where we spent most of our day. We both caught fish here and it was out of the wind (the weather men still can't predict wind -it blew!).

Our friend's Craig and Mae fished in this area too. This is Craig -

Oh, I'm sure, he is telling some fishing story. He and Mae were both fishing out of tubes! They have a perfectly good boat, and they fish out of tubes! They are CRAZY!!!!! I know, lots of people fish out of tubes. This is why I don't fish from a tube...

Yes, that is a huge snake! Right on a branch hanging in the lake. And this picture...

Is of the same branch about two seconds later! That huge snake went right into the water. That is why I don't fish from a tube! I don't like snakes at all! I like them less than I do gnats or mosquito's!

We spend a lot of time outside, on the lake. We love to fish. And I take a lot of pictures, usually of Mattie May (my favorite subject) or of fish. But two things I am not is a professional photographer or a birder. I know there are several of you out there that do both of these things very well. That brings me to my next series of pictures. We saw several of these birds on Saturday. We would like to know what they are. Two things I can tell you about them that you can't tell from the pictures is that they are loud and annoying! They have one of the loudest calls I have ever heard. And they annoyingly do it over and over, weather they are in the air, the water, or on land.

So if anyone out there can help, Frank and I would really appreciate it.

So, we flipped all day. And most of you know how much I hate flipping, but I did it all day without complaining. I did have to remind Frank why I don't like it, my rod always ends up in the trees, and remember that snake? Yeah, I don't like flipping.

Frank had three fish for a total of 12.54 and I had one fish for 3.54. He caught fish all day, and even culled. We just couldn't ever come across that kicker fish we are always looking for. That is the story of our fishing lives!

HOT, HOT, HOT

2008-06-17T12:41:00.004-05:00

I am back and alive. After a month of illness, throwing my back out the Monday before vacation then being on vacation, I am up, moving, and fishing. Well I am not back to 100% but I am getting there. Sunday was very hot and extremely windy. The wind did not help my back any but here are pics from our tournament on Father's day.

Does this picture look familiar?
SALT CEDARS! No we didn't fish OH Ivie again, this is Hubbard Lake. What we were really fishing was grass, lots of grass, all around these salt cedars. We threw spinner baits, rattle traps, frogs, and worms. But we just couldn't get any decent fish to take the bait. We had two fish that weighed just over three pounds, definitely nothing to brag about.

Because my back is still not back to normal, this is what I saw most of the day.

You don't recognized this? It is looking through the top of my hat that I kept over my face while I laid in the back of the boat with my feet up in my chair. It was the only way I could get any relief.

Without the hat, this is what we saw.
Isn't that a beautiful blue sky? That really is the sky, clear and sunny all day. There were no clouds at all. Oops,
there's one,

and a few more. These were late in the day and obviously gave no break from the sun and heat.

So not a great day on the lake, but, as usual, we had fun!

I do still live, Just on vacation!

2008-06-08T00:11:00.002-05:00

We are in vacation this weekend. Pop over to Lolo's Blog and check out our adventures!

Where is Brandi

2008-06-03T10:34:00.002-05:00

Please see this post as to what is going on and why I have not posted here for awhile!

Yes, I Know I'm Late!

2008-05-22T09:27:00.002-05:00

I'm am sorry I do not have my fishing report up yet. As many of you that fish with me know, I have been sick. As soon as I am able to sit at the computer for more than two minutes without having a sinking spell, I will get it posted and pictures too. I promise!

Mattie May Makes the News!

2008-05-13T15:08:00.005-05:00

Well for those of you that don't live in tour viewing area or just could not stay awake last night, Mattie May made it on the sports of KTAB news! If you would like to watch it, click here then click on the "Watch" button under catch of the day. Thank you David Robinett and yeah May May!!

Not Picture Worthy (for Us Anyway!).

2008-05-03T23:30:00.007-05:00

Frank and I have talked at length about joining Stillwaters Bass Club, and today we made the commitment. What a great faith based organization this is. We knew many of the members already through work, clubs and years of friendships. They are very family oriented, but very competitive. And the tournaments are held on Saturdays! That is a bonus for us.

The tournament was held at O.H. Ivie, our third tournament there in three weeks. It was extremely strange weather for May. We woke up to forty three degree temperatures and 20 to 25 mph winds! What a shock to the system. We decided to fish the same area we had fished in the two prior tournaments. It was not as good to us this weekend as it was previously, due in most part to the wind. That was the reason for no pictures (see this post). The area has not changed much in the past three weeks, but no snakes this time!

This time, Frank and I were actually fishing against each other which is rather hard to do. Really the only thing we do differently is keep his and her fish in separate live wells. His live well carried two fish for the majority of the day. Mine carried...nothing. I could not catch a measurable fish to save my life. Frank said it was because of the wind and the trouble he was having with the boat. I say it is because he is the better fisherman!

Needless to say, we walked away from this tournament a little lighter in the pocketbook and a bit more beat up from the wind. We did both manage to not get sunburned and I managed to stay on my feet in the boat (again, see this post!).

It was a picture day for many of the fishermen today. Be sure to check out the Stillwaters web page to check out the club and see the big fish of the tournament. It was a doozy!

Everyone at Stillwaters, thank you for making us feel so welcome and we look forward to many years of fishing with you.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for allowing us the time to spend together doing something we love and for everyone in this great club that we have joined. Thank you for keeping everyone safe today and for the cooler weather. Thank you for all in your wonderful creation and the fabulous things you have given us.
In Jesus name,
Amen.

Waiting on Pictures

2008-04-30T10:32:00.004-05:00

We went back to Lake Cisco this past weekend but the pictures I took are saved on my camera and not a memory stick. I don't have the proper cable to get the pictures from my camera to the computer. So as soon as I can I will get these pictures posted and stories from our escapades. The fish were not biting as good as they were a couple of weeks ago but we still had a great time. My Uncle Ryan was there and it was wonderful getting to visit with him. I had not seen him in about 3 years. The visiting was great even if the fishing was not. And isn't that what it is all about anyway?

Twofer

2008-04-21T07:01:00.001-05:00

First things first -

We had a great weekend and I want to give thanks to God. Frank and I both know that in all we do, none would be possible without Him. He has given us the ability to this mentally, physically and financially. We are so grateful for all he continues to do for us.

This will be a long post. Sorry. I will try to make it as entertaining as possible!

We have known for quite some time that Frank would be fishing the Concho Bass Club's open tournament this past Saturday. We also planned that I would go with him and just ride in the boat (and sleep) to keep him from having to come back to Abilene to get me for our Sunday tournament or from me having to drive myself. Either way, with the cost of gas, it just made sense for me to go with him on Saturday morning. What we had forgotten was the ladies big bass they pay for this open. So I ended up fishing with him on Saturday.

Saturday evening, we signed up for Texas Bass Couples (TBC) tournament on Sunday and our friends Dennis and Gail Brown fixed Bar B Q. It was so good to see them again and of course the fellowship with everyone was great. And the supper was great. Thank you Brown's for a great meal!

Have you ever wondered why it is always windy in Texas? Insects. That's right it is windy because of insects. If the wind is not blowing the insects will drive you nuts!! This weekend it was gnats. Gnats - swarms of gnats. They crawl on your face and continually buzz in your ears. ARGH, I can't stand gnats. Of all the insects there are, as much as I hate them, I can see benefits from them as far as birds, spiders and other creatures eat them. But from all the birds flying around, I did not see a one eat a gnat. And when you have sunscreen and chap stick on, the little suckers stick to you! I don't think I was ever so glad to see the breeze pick up as I was this weekend!

We were fishing in the salt cedars. Oh, I'm sorry, you don't know what a salt cedar is? Well this is a salt cedar.

And this is a salt cedar.

All of that that makes the shore line, those are salt cedar too.
Deceivingly pretty, aren't they? They drink way to much water and they love to eat fishing line and lures! I asked Frank how in the world I was supposed to get a fish out of that mess if I caught one and his answer? "We will worry about that when you catch a fish!" Isn't he sweet? That is why I love him so.

And in that third picture, see that dead tree? Those are just thick under the water. You can't see them in that picture but they are there. And they, too love to eat lures and line. They also like to fool you and make you think you have a huge gigantic fish. And if they decide they want to be really mean, they will not let go. One such tree played this trick on me Saturday. I thought I had caught a huge fish and set the hook. Well when I did, I lost the rod as it came around my head after pinching my arm and leaving a big giant bruise, and it hit me in the head. Not just a little tap, a big ol' thud that hurt. I did manage to real in the "fish" only to get it to the top to see I had a nice, gunky covered tree limb. I guess when I set the hook the limb was still attached to the tree and it pulled back. That is what caused me to loose my grip and almost my rod. But that was only the first of the stupid things I would do this weekend. (More on that in just a second.)

We fished hard and had a really good time. The hard part was knowing where to fish so we didn't just beat the spots we normally fish since we had another tournament. We both caught fish, Frank had a 5.13 stringer and mine was 3.27. Not bad! Frank did loose a pretty good size fish late in the afternoon, but you should have seen the smile on his face because we knew where she was for the next day. The tournament only paid 30 places, but they had some special prizes, such as $100.00 for 50th place. He missed that by about .10! Dadgumit! We did win some door prizes. I got Mattie May a new reel and he got the niftiest tool set. It attaches to the boat so your tools are up out of the way (I should have taken a picture).

Sunday started out cool, not cold, but enough for a long sleeve under our fishing shirts. It was cloudy but nice. We headed for the place we had saved for Sunday. It was a nice ride across the water, not much wind to make it rough. We started fishing about 7:15 and Boom. Boom. Two fish, one each. Not very big (I am not really sure they would even register on the scale), but we could each keep two fish under 18" so into the live well they went. A couple of our friends were fishing on the other side of the cove where we really wanted to be and we decided to wait them out. The bad thing is, these two are like vacuum cleaners, they leave nothing behind. But we just knew there were good fish there. So we fished and waited.

It was about 8:00 and, remember that fish Frank lost Saturday? Well she took it again! He set the hook, reeled her in, and when she saw who it was, she smiled and spit out that spinner bait! Well his reaction this time was not quite the same. I thought for a minute we were going to have a Mike Icconelli episode on the front of our boat. I managed to make eye contact with him after a few foot stomping seconds, asked him to please breath and go on. He did calm down, but was still poutty but we moved on.

It was about 15/20 minutes later when I was back there minding my own business and he said rather loudly "oh, s*#&!". He has been real good about his language lately so this really caught my attention. Of course my reaction was "What!" as I turned to look at him and that is when I saw this...
Yep, Mr. Weird Looking, Almost Orange Snake!

Now, I do not know how many of you are fond of snakes, but I am not. And I really do not want one joining me in the boat. I really don't have much room for myself back there, and if I choose to share, it is not going to be with a snake. Well from his days of fishing from a tube, Frank learned that if you just hit the water with something, the snake will turn and go on his merry way. I don't know who it was, but someone forgot to give this guy that little bit of information. Frank hit the water with the end of his rod and the snake came straighter to the boat than he was. He struck the water again and he just kept coming.

After a few "Frank, Do Something" pleas from me, it finally dawned on me to grab the camera. This of course did not please Frank but I really don't know what else he intended for me to do! So I started snapping. By this time, he had quit hitting the water and started hitting the snake. That crazy thing finally went limp in the water and looked like this...
We thought he was dead. So I asked Frank to flip him over so I could get some pictures of the back of him (remember, I was late with the camera). When he did, that stupid thing started flopping and squirming around and woke up. He had only knocked him unconscious. We left that spot promptly and let that guy have his peace. I wanted nothing more to do with him.

We were still waiting for the other boat to leave, but continued to fish our area. Frank caught another fish. He had been flipping his fish into the boat but this time he called for the net. As I stepped off the back deck, I fell face first into the bottom of the boat. My family doesn't call me grace for nothing! I managed to get the net, after struggling to get it free from under my foot, and got the fish to the live well.

Our friends finally moved out. We waited until they were out of sight and moved over to that area of the lake. We made a couple of casts and just as I made one more, I felt Frank set the hook. All he said this time was "NET!!!!" Again, as I stepped off the back deck, I fell to the bottom of the boat. But this time it got even better. There the tiniest of steps in the middle of the boat and I tripped over it too! My shins hit the upper deck and I have some really nice bruises to prove it. Again, Frank yells "NET BRANDI, WHERE IS THE NET?" As I grabbed it this time, it tangled in a couple of rods. By this time we are both laughing. But he is afraid if he lifts the fish, he might hit the side of the boat and knock her off, so it is safer to just fight her in the water. The handle on this net is only about 1 1/2 to 2 foot long, so when I reach in the lake to get her, I loose my balance and almost fall in and at the same time I hit her with the net. I try one more time and get her in the boat. Sitting in the floor with the fish and the net between my legs, I look at Frank. He has the funnest expression on his face. He ask me if I am OK and also what was going on with me. My only response, "that short handled net is not working for me!"

We get her situated in the live well and continue fishing. Frank lands three more nice bass that are all over 18" and we have a fairly nice stringer. We never could come across another fish to cull my little baby fish, but we still had a good stringer.

Not sure what my little guy weighed but we got a picture...
Isn't he just the cutest thing you have ever seen?

This is Frank's big one. She weighed 6.80 pounds, not enough for big fish, but still a great catch...
This is our 4th place stringer. If you look real close you can see my little guy hanging on the back of the fish in my right hand...
This was one of those tournaments that we fished relaxed because we had fish in the boat so early. We laughed all day long and talked to God about the wonderful things he has given us. Great weather, wonderful friends, fish in the live well, and a check on top of everything else.

Our next tournament will be on Lake Brownwood. We have already started praying about that one. We don't usually do so great on that lake, but we try.

If you get a chance, get out and go fishing. Take a kid too. The tournament Saturday had a kids division and they all got a prize. Teach 'em early!!!!

Still Another Week Til Next Tournament!!!!!

2008-04-12T22:39:00.007-05:00

Ok, so we still have another week until our next tournament. So what do we do to pass the time? Take the kids fishing of course! We went to my dad's lake cabin at Cisco and had a very enjoyable afternoon. This was Mattie May's very first fishing trip ever. She is still a little young to get the whole sit and wait part, but she did try. She even helped reel in a crappie. Enjoy the pictures. For a mid-April day, it was a bit cool and it was very windy. But we still had a great time and are looking forward to many more days at the lake with the girls.

Katie showing Mattie May how to fish.

Chris and Nikki joined us and had a good time.

Oh! They caught one! Mattie May tried real hard to reel it in.

We will start with crappie and move up the chain.

Mattie May's First Fish! (with Mommie's help)

Here is a video of the first few minutes of our day. You can hear how windy it was and see for that matter. Enjoy!

Panhandle 1st

2008-03-30T17:46:00.006-05:00

The Panhandle Region had their first tournament at Lake Allen Henry yesterday. I think there were ten couples fish. A good turn out for a regions first tournament. Frank and I didn't get to fish this one, but we heard there were some nice fish caught. You can get more information on the tournament here. If the news letter is not posted, be patient and keep checking back. It may take them a couple of days.

Hope to see you at OH Ivie on April 20!

SIX WEEKS!

2008-03-27T10:02:00.003-05:00

There are six weeks in between our March tournament and our April tournament! That is a really long time!! With Easter being so early this year it threw the March tournament early. I may go stir crazy before then! Maybe we can go fishing just for fun between now and then. I am so bored!

The End

2008-03-17T09:48:00.004-05:00

Well, we tried, but it seems there is not enough interest in C.A.S.T. West. There were only three couples show up so John has decided to not try again until next year.

But the good news is, (no I didn't save a bundle on car insurance) you can still join Texas Bass Couples. This is a great club! We enjoy fishing with them and have made so many friendships that will last forever. Our next tournament will be at OH Ivie on April 20. Click here to see results from our tournament at Lake Leon and to get more information on the next tournament.

I have also noticed a few hits from the Panhandle Region on this blog. If you are interested in fishing with that region, click here. Remember, your membership fee allows you to fish in any region, so if you want to join any of us, come on!

What's Old is New Again

2008-03-14T21:51:00.006-05:00

We're going to try a new club, well, old club that's new. We used to fish with C.A.S.T. (Couples Association of Bass Tournaments). It is the club we originally started fishing with. We are still going to fish TBC (because we love them so much) but we decided we would try to fish two circuits.

This may not work out. There may not be enough interest in a West Region for C.A.S.T. and then the region will dissolve. Also, we have to be sure to have time for two tournaments a month and the money to support them. With the price of gas, motels and the entry - whew, the funds could run low.

Our first tournament with C.A.S.T. will be this Sunday at Twin Buttes in San Angelo. Registration will be at the ramp and take off with be at safe light. Since I was a bit out of it last week, I have no idea what time safe light is. I guess I will find out Sunday when Frank tells me to get up and get ready.

The weather should be better than last month and I hope the fish are biting. We'll see. I will let you know how we did when we get back.

This was a Tournament I Would Rather Forget!

2008-03-10T13:29:00.002-05:00

This was just one of those days. It actually started Saturday night when we called for our wake up call. I reminded the man to set his clock forward one hour and he quickly informed me that I was wrong. He would set his clock up SUNDAY night just like everyone else. So as a precaution Frank and I set our phone alarms and sure enough. we received our wake up call at 7 AM one hour late. We were actually walking out the door. We had kind of hung around to see if the phone would actually ring.

We didn't get in a real hurry to get to the lake and stopped and had breakfast. It was still dark due to the time change and it had been awhile since Frank had been on the lake and we didn't want to damage the boat.

Once on the water, I was still not feeling very well so I slept most of the morning. Frank struggled to find a place to fish. There was land where there was none and there were no cattails where they used to be. He felt like he was on a lake he had never been on. And he kept trying to make sure I was OK, such a good doctor.

I am not sure what time the wind hit but it was very strong. Poor Frank, it just kills his back when it is like that, but he will not give up. He just kept fishing. I finally started fishing around noon with no luck. Second cast and my rod with the spinner bait was done for the day. I put a knot in the line that was not coming out and we will just have to strip the line and start over. Then I fished with my crank bait. This went ok, I had a few backlashes but nothing I couldn't get out. We were fishing around some docks and it wasn't to long until I casted up over a dock and the lure hung on the railing on the back side of the dock. There was no getting to the little guy and we just had to break the line and leave him hanging there.

By this time we only had about an hour to fish so I threw Frank's spinner bait until he decided he had had enough and we headed in. He did boat a couple of fish and I had one little dink that I could barely feel on the line, but nothing to weigh.

Congratulations to Warren and Liz Hutcherson. They won with around 10 pounds. And I'm sorry, I don't remember who won Ladies Big fish or Big Fish. You can click here to see more snap shots from weigh in. Check out the TBC web site here to get more information from the tournament.

Our next tournament is April 20 at O.H. Ivie. Hope to see you all there.

Tournament #2

2008-03-04T14:42:00.004-06:00

Boy this month has gone by fast. I just realized that we have a tournament this weekend.

TBC will be fishing at Lake Leon in Eastland. We will be staying Saturday night at the Super 8 Motel (click here for info) and will be having registration in Tommy and Pam's room from 5PM to 6PM. I don't know of many places to eat in Eastland, but if I have anything to do with it, I am sure we will all go somewhere after registration.

Hope to see you at there!

This was way before CPR

Just think how big some of those guys could have gotten!

2008 Bassmaster Classic

2008-02-24T23:01:00.005-06:00

Three hard days of fishing on a lake that was extremely low due to drought but Alton Jones comes out on top. Congratulations and you can read the entire story here and click here to see the ESPN Photo Gallery.

How cool would that win be. Do you dream about winning the Classic like some people dream about winning the Super Bowl? Leave me a comment and let me know.

My dream is that Mattie May will win it some day sponsored by Team Grumpy!

Texas Bass Couples Welcome Panhandle

2008-02-19T00:05:00.006-06:00

I just read an email from Tommy announcing a new region for Texas Bass Couples - The Panhandle Region. I thought I would show their schedule for anyone interested.

March 29,2008 Lake Alan Henry
April 26,2008 Lake Alan Henry
May 31.2008 Lake Alan Henry
June 28,2008 Lake Alan Henry
July 26,2008 Lake Stamford
August 30,2008 Lake Greenbelt

Welcome Kevin and Ginny Phillips as the directors. We are so excited that TBC is growing so fast. Anyone interested in any of the regions can click here for the TBC main web page. If the information you need is not there, leave me a comment and I will get you in contact with the right people.

Hope to see you at the lake.

#1 Is In The Books

2008-02-11T09:32:00.000-06:00

Well, the first tournament of 2008 has come and gone. It wasn't to bad. The morning started off cold and clear. The sunrise was just beautiful. Frank actually stopped for a minute to look. I am still not sure if he was actually watching the sunrise or was gripping at me for taking more pictures. I tend to block him out when he gripes about that.

Anyway, we didn't get in any hurry to get out on the lake and got out there about 7:15AM. The lake was extremely smooth so we got to enjoy a great fast run which is something rare in West Texas.

We started fishing crank baits up in a small cove a bit north and west of the damn, and continued for about two hours. Deep diving crank baits - man is my arm sore this morning.

We continued to throw crank baits over by the damn. While we were there, the strangest front came through. We could see the clouds but the weather didn't change until the clouds past over. Then the wind picked up on the back side of the clouds. Weirdest thing I remember. But they were our typical winds, strong (about 20 mp) and cold. I don't know how Frank stays up on the front of that boat! But I am glad he does. He had on way to many clothes yesterday for me to fish him out of the lake.

It was at the point I took out my blanket and took a nap. My laryngitis had just about disappeared and I wasn't sure what the wind was going to do to my throat. (Yeah, I know I always take a nap, but this is a real good excuse.)

After about an hour in the wind, Frank decided to take us up a creek. It was nice up there. Lots of boats but out of the wind. He flipped a worm and I chunked my spinner. I hate flipping! We fished in the creek for awhile and nothing, so he moved us out to this point just around from the ramp. I had never fished this lake so, I had no idea where we were. He just knew there had to be fish there. We threw all sorts of stuff at this hump and nothing. About 2:30 we got out the Carolina rigs. Why we had not done this sooner is a mystery to both of us but, oh well, live and learn. On about the second cast, I had turned to say something to Frank, and I had this odd little tug at the end of my line. We had been in grass and rocks all day but this just felt different. I had a nice little two pounder that just loved the look of that power worm I was throwing.

Frank switched baits real quick and about 20 minutes later I had another nice little tug, but I just couldn't get the hook set. I am sure it was not a huge fish, but it would have been nice to have had twins in the live well, but we will never know.

We are just so thankful that we had the one fish to weigh. She didn't get us in the money, but she did get us some points. And I got to sit at the top of the Ladies Big Bass for about two minutes! That's always nice.

All in all it was a great weekend. Great fellowship on Saturday night along with great food. We had 30 couples fish and we are expecting more next month. This club is really growing. It is always nice to meet new friends.

Our next tournament will be in March at Lake Leon in Eastland. It is not too late to join. You can click here for more information on the West Region and for links to the Central and South Regions. We always enjoy having new members sign up.

God Bless You.

Come Join The Fun!

2008-02-07T09:54:00.000-06:00

Pam and I thought this weekend would never get here. Sunday is Texas Bass Couples West Region's first tournament for 2008. We will be fishing at Twin Buttes in San Angelo. Registration will be Saturday evening at Field and Stream Sporting Goods (thank you Cliff and Sarah) from 4 to 5. Then we plan on all going to eat somewhere before we hit the motel room to start re-stinging and re-tying (no we can't do that earlier, it would break tradition).

If you can't make it to registration Saturday, Tommy and Pam will be at the ramp at 6AM to take registration. We will start fishing at 7AM. According to the weatherman, it will be about 42 degrees when we start fishing and will warm up to about 63. So it should be a good day for fishing.

Frank has been over there twice and has not found fish. So, if you know where they are, please leave me a comment!

I am looking forward to visiting with friends I have not seen since September and meeting new ones that join us this weekend. If you have not fished with us before and you need more information than what I have posted here, please go to the TBC website for more information.

God Bless.

Happy Anniversary Sweetheart

2008-02-04T14:17:00.001-06:00

Today is our wedding anniversary. Click here to read all about it.

New fishing Duds

2008-01-14T11:36:00.000-06:00

I told you in a previous post that Frank had a new shirt and new pair of draw's that he would be sport'n this year. Here is a preview -

SEE YOU AT THE LAKE!

It's almost Time

2007-12-27T11:38:00.000-06:00

I know it has been months since I have posted on this blog. But the new fishing season is almost here! Christmas day '07 has past and is now a memory locked in with all the other family celebrations that we have shared.

We have received items to help us become better anglers. A new scale and Academy gift cards to get the rest of the gear we might need. Even some witty new T-shirts in odd colors. Frank has even received a pair of boxers from his favorite girl that he insists he will be sporting over his jeans/shorts this year (his lucky drawers as it may be).

We have begun to check the long term forecast to try and plan what all we might need for our first tournament. Reservations have been made for the motel and we have started putting back a little extra cash for the gas we will be needing. As the days approach, I promise to post more often on this blog. I am sure there will be some interesting things on the fishing front between now and February.

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and I hope the new year brings many more memories for you to share.

Dream Big in 2008

Kevin VanDam

2008 Schedule

2007-10-03T08:25:00.000-05:00

I have received our tournament schedule for the coming year. TBC would love to have you join! Please look over the schedule and sign up to fish.

Feb. 10, 2008 Twin Buttes Lake

March 09,2008 Lake Leon

April 20, 2008 Lake O.H. Ivie

May 18, 2008 Hubbard Creek

June 15, 2008 Lake Brownwood

July 13, 2008 Lake Brady

Championship 2008

Sept. 26, 27 & 28 , 2008

The City of Temple & Lake Belton

We always have a great time. To join, please see the Texas Bass Couples web sight (see Links) and see what all the excitement is about!

In Between Seasons

2007-09-18T14:56:00.000-05:00

I was told that it I needed to update my blog. Well, when you are finished with your fishing season and hunting season hasn't started yet, it is really hard to find something to write about.

With out last tournament for the year being behind us, I am looking to forward to football season. But that is really boring to talk about because we get to watch so many different teams. It is easier to talk about my granddaughter.

So until something in the outdoor world gets me all excited and eager to write, be sure to read "Lolo's Blog" (see Links) and enjoy all the musings about my family.

Brandi

God Has Blessed Us.

2007-09-09T19:03:00.000-05:00

The title is so true and in so many ways. I was born in to a wonderful family. Almost 24 years ago I was blessed with a wonderful husband and then a daughter. Now we have a beautiful granddaughter. Frank and I have been blessed with great jobs that allow us to do things we love, and that includes fishing.

This weekend we have been blessed with good fishing weather and we caught fish. Yesterday we had a little more than 7 lbs of fish in 20 minutes (see previous post). But today, we had one of those days that you get just about once every couple of years.

We started off fishing on the north side of the bridge in Crystal Canyon. We didn't start fishing until about seven this morning and at 7:05 we had our first keeper in the live well. Already we are having a better day than we did yesterday. By 10 we had four fish all of a decent size. We stayed up in this cove until about noon and then we decided to go back up into California Creek and fish in some of the places that we did yesterday. I told Frank, I didn't care where we fished, but that I wanted to be in the same place at 2 o'clock that we were yesterday. He promised me that and I am so glad that he did.

At 2 we started fishing the same pattern that we had the day before. At 2:05 he caught a 5.30 lb bass. That was the prettiest fish I do believe I had ever seen. He caught another nice fish and we started culling, we never get to cull. Then he caught another - at this point I quit fishing so I could take care of the fish and cull. At about 2:23 he caught another that went just over 5 lbs and I culled our last fish. He made two more cast and we headed to weigh in.

We weighed in just over 17 lbs for the day and 24 combined for the two. We were so happy but little did we know how good it really was. WE WON FORTH PLACE. We both thought the tournament was only going to pay 3 places so we were really shocked and elated.

We both no that none of this would not be possible without the grace of God. He has made all of this possible and blesses our lives in so many ways everyday.

Good things Come to Those Who Wait

2007-09-08T19:10:00.000-05:00

Well, hello everyone. It is Saturday evening and we are having a really good time. Yesterday, Frank did some more pre-fishing while I went with the rest of the girls and toured Del Rio. We started off at the Val Verde Winery, wine samples before noon. Yeah, I really liked that. We went to a few shops in the downtown area and ate lunch at "The Brown Bag". That was a really good experience. We finished off the night with "Border Buttermilk" at registration. Needless to say, Friday was a good day.

This morning we started off fishing at a little after 6AM, yeah, that is my favorite time of the morning. Frank threw a top water, I rested for a bit. No really, we both new if I started fishing in the dark that I would end up tangled in a tree that I could not see. Around 7 o'clock it was day light enough that I could see where to cast. We fished top water for awhile with no success. We decided to venture on the north side of the bridge past the dam. It was not as rough as Thursday, but by the time we decided to move, it was a very light sprinkle. If anyone is interested in a facial, save your money. I had a derm-abrasion this morning going 50 mph across the lake! I felt clean and refreshed by the time we stop to fish!

The lake was rough, but we did not do any flying this morning! However, as long as we have been fishing, I don't remember getting sick in the boat. I got sick today from the rocking of the boat! Poor Frank was doing his best to keep us in a position to fish, but when the trolling motor spends more time out of the water than it does in, that is kind of hard to do. About 25 minutes of that was all we could handle and we headed back to the south side of the bridge (and another facial).

Lets just say we were not having the best of fishing days! I had prayed for God to keep us safe and felt it would be selfish to pray for a keeper fish. He had, after all, kept the boat upright for the past three days, I really didn't want to push my luck!

By 1:30, I was getting a little disheartened. Frank had been frustrated for several hours already. Seven and half hours on the lake and no fish in the live well! Who wouldn't be at wits end? In the midst of my frustration, I told Frank I was tying on a pink Baby Tiki . That really made him mad and I was trying to decided if I would be sleeping in the pick up or if we could afford another room for the night. A few cast later, with no luck, it was time to move again.

Weigh in closes in 2 hours and we a going to be skunked. I HATE BEING SKUNKED!

We managed to keep our frustration in check and stayed very civil to each other, but he is still a bit angry at my choice of bait. And then it happened! At 2:10, I caught a keeper. Not a monster but a keeper and we were not going to be skunked. It was at this point that things really changed. Frank tied on the same bait and he caught a keeper. Dear sweet Lord, thank you for answering our prayers. By 2:30 we had caught 8 fish, 4 keepers. We decided not to be greedy. We stopped fishing, said a prayer of thanks and packed up to head to the ramp.

By the time we get loaded and up the ramp we are the next to the last couple to weigh in at 3:25. We really like to keep people wondering about us! We weighed in 7.47 pounds. Not bad for those who had no fish just an hour earlier. I was just glad we had shown proof at 2 that we had no fish or no one would have believed us!

Prayers and patients pay off again. Thank you again Lord for blessing us with the means and ability to fish and for always answering our prayers.

Not the brightest crayon

2007-09-06T21:37:00.000-05:00

Well, we made it to Del Rio last night without incident. Several deer on the side of the road but none felt compelled to run out in front of us.

This morning started out wonderful. The water was so smooth, just a few ripples from the south breeze. The fish were biting and it was great morning. Then the alarm woke me up and everything changed!

The wind was blowing 15 to 20 mph so the weatherman said, but I don't think he was right. We got to the lake and for the first time we decided we would fish on the other side of the bridge. Not in Mexico but on the same side of the lake.

At first it wasn't to bad, but the further we went the worse it got. There were swells of about 3'. The boat became airborne more times than I would like to remember. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy flying, I just prefer to to it in an airplane.

Being airborne in a boat is really not the bad part, it is what you know is coming that is bad. As the steady hum of the engine changes to a high pitched squeal from lack of water, you prepare yourself for the landing. It jars every bone in your body. And just about the time you catch your breath, the sound changes again and you have to prepare yourself to do it again.

Frank realized how scared I was and we turned back. Going back into the wind is really a bit better than the ride with the wind. Still rough, but you don't go fly, you just get showered.

As we fished the rest of the day in some of our usual spots, I reflected on what we had experienced this morning. At this point, I went from being scared to being mad. Frank and I are not stupid people, but this morning our actions made us look really dumb. I mean, here we go in a $30thousand boat plus all our equipment not to mention our lives, putting ourselves in danger to practice to win $1,000. Makes it look like there are a lot brighter crayons in the box besides us!

So goes the first day of our trip. Nothing exciting other than forget to put on the sunscreen I had to go back in the house for (I am a bit red tonight).
Tomorrow,Frank will try again, but I am staying safely on land and spending the day with the rest of the fishing ladies. The Chamber of Commerce has a full day planned for us including a trip to the winery and shopping. Now who wouldn't look forward to that?

Best Fishes from Del Rio!
Wish you were here.

The Night Before

2007-09-04T00:03:00.000-05:00

Tonight is the night before we leave on our fishing trip to Del Rio, our championship tournament on Lake Amistad. This evening has been rather uneventful. Frank is off tomorrow so he can prepare all of his things tomorrow. I on the other hand thought we were leaving on Thursday morning, therefore I did not request vacation and have to work on Wednesday. I have received a "little" bit of grief for that.

Anyway, like I said, it has not been to eventful. I fixed supper, mostly left overs, and started doing laundry. Everyone knows, you have to do laundry the night before so no one inadvertently wears something that should have been kept for the trip. I have one load left in the dryer and one in the washer. Luckily, the last load can be dried tomorrow, it is Frank's work pants that he won't need until we get back.

We have already had one "small" problem that was easily fixed, hotel reservations. The hotel had our reservations from Thursday to Saturday night only. I am glad I had to call to tell them we are coming tomorrow or we would have been a night short. That has happened before and it is usually not a problem to add the extra night. So let's hope that this is the only problem we have on this trip.

Frank has gone to bed, he needs his rest so he can drive tomorrow. That is one chore he won't let me do. He says I make him nervous. What's up with that? He makes me nervous telling me how to drive. I don't know how I get anywhere when he isn't with me.

Anyway, back to my original thought. Since he has gone to bed I will start gathering all my things that need to be packed so I can get them in the suitcase tomorrow at lunch. I sure hope he will fix me a sandwich. We will be leaving as soon as I get off work.

While we are gone, I will try to sneak down to the community computer at the hotel and update you on our trip. If I can't, I will Let you know how it went next week. Pray for a safe trip and return home.

Best Fishes,

Brandi (Frank too)

Welcome

2007-08-30T01:06:00.000-05:00

I am up late waiting for some pictures to download so I can enter them in the fair(I think I will be a famous photographer some day). As I was working on them, I came across pictures from some of our fishing tournaments. We love to fish, sometimes I think that is what helps us keep our sanity! Funny thing is, we always tell people how much fun we have. Ha! Sitting, going through those pictures, we are all smiles and laughing. But I think about some of the trips we've had and there have been some pretty bad times.

When most people think about fishing, they think of leisure days kicked back in the sun with a soda, just relaxing the day away. This is not true of the tournament fisherman.

The trip begins weeks before the tournament. Maps are pulled out, frantic searches through "Bass Master Magazine" to find that article that "I just read the other day", hours watching The Weather Channel and praying that the forecast cooperates (most times it does not - to hot, to cold, to windy - typical West Texas weather).

The night before the packing starts. This is one of the most exciting times. It usually goes something like this...

Brandi: "How cold (hot) is it going to be?"

Frank: "Not very. It should only be about 27 at safe light."

B: "Are you kidding me?! Do you want me to pack your long johns?"

F: "No, my long sleeve T-shirt should do the trick."

B:"I am packing jeans, my long sleeve T, long johns and a sweat shirt. Oh, will you go get the coveralls from the garage?"

F: "It is not going to be that cold. All you will need is a light jacket."

B: "Are you kidding me, all this is just for the motel room! I haven't started packing for the boat yet."

F: ***Silence***(Does anyone hear the crickets besides me?)

So, you can see how our trips start off and you can imagine how much fun they are when we start fishing! Some day I will tell you all the fun we have on the boat! It gets real exciting after 7 1/2 hours of fishing when it is 107 out and no breeze (yes there are days in West Texas when the wind doesn't blow) and there are no fish in the live well. Better yet all the stories about the problems with the boat. I do not remember our boat ever breaking down that we were not in a tournament. Imagine that!

I look forward to telling you all about our trips and how much fun we had. Hum, it is funny that sitting here writing, of all the trips we had, the one thing I always tell people is "Man, did we have a good time".