TBC West Lake Ft Phantom - 06-19-11

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

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

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

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!

Oak Creek March

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

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!

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

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!

Better Late than Never (again!)

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!

Countdown Almost Complete!

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

WHOA! I am Way Behind!

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!

Busbee Math - Am I a Victim?

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!

Tourny This Weekend - Twin Buttes

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!

Let's Get This Party Started!

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!

I Saw GOD Today!

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.

WE'RE GOING FISHING

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!