Jackson Kayak National Fishing Team

This has been an awesome month for me. I have had many opportunities come my way this month but the most notable is that I am now a member of the Jackson Kayak National Fishing Team. I consider this a huge honor and look forward to the many opportunities that it will bring my way in the years to come.

Red River Rendezvous

This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday the first ever Red River Rendezvous will take place at Bonham State Park. Fly tyers from all over the nation will gather there to relax and tie flies for 3 days. You don't want to miss out on this event.

http://redriverrendezvous.vpweb.com

New Year, New Fish

Well here we are 2012!!!
I have turned over a new leaf this year.
In the past I have caught and released hundreds of stocker trout.
This year I was convinced to keep some, clean them, and cook them.
I did just that. I took home a limit of 5, cut their heads off,
gutted them, removed the blood vein from the cavity, seasoned them,
and put them in the Orion. After 45 minutes I removed them and they
were fully cooked and ready to eat. You could slightly lift the skin
near the tail with a fork, hold the meat down and pull the tail which
removed all of the skin and the bones leaving nice flaky white fish.
We really enjoyed them. So, I went back on several occasions while on
my Christmas break (in January) and caught a limit, cleaned them,
and Patty put them in the freezer.

Saturday I got to take one of my 3 year old clients on a fishing trip to Bethany Lakes. He was able to catch (due to my excellent guiding skills) a bass and 2 bluegills.

Fishing last Saturday

About 9 of us kayakers went to Texoma last Saturday morning to try and catch a few fish. It was very, very cold but we did it anyway. We launched at Eisenhower State Park and after getting past the boat houses we scattered like a bunch of rats. I fished the boathouse coves the entire trip. I was successful at catching a bass before calling it a day.



The other 8 folks caught 2 fish. I was pretty happy!!!

Beau & Grandpa Fishing

Today I had the privilege of taking my grandson fishing for the first time.
We headed out with the intention of going to Cabelas to get bait, go to Mc Donalds for lunch, and then to the pond to fish. We got to Cabelas, looked around, found our bait, and left. Once in the truck Beau says "I want to go fishing and then go eat". Okay, it's his day so we'll go with that. We get to the pond, bait his hook, I cast it out and within 3 or 4 minutes its "fish on!!!".

Then we moved around the pond and caught several more.

It was a really fun day. At one point he said "you are a really good grandpa" to me. Yes, I choked back a tear!!!

Latest stuff...

Today I fished Loy Lake with Greg. It was a windy nightmare and my first skunking at Loy. My main objective was to try out the new yak with the fish finder and anchor trolley installed. They worked perfectly.

Yesterday we went to Tish to the Blue River Trout Derby to talk fly fishing. We met lots of folks and had a great time.

We met a guy named Ted Meador who caught the biggest trout on Sunday weighing in at over 10 pounds.

(photo by Barry Shrader)


Last Saturday we had a fishing get-together at Pickens Lake with Mariner Sails.

Patty and I went to Tish a few weeks ago and camped on Pennington Creek. It is a beautiful park and the fishing is great there on the creek.

Catch up post (again)!!! :- )

Things have been a little crazy lately so I'll try to bring the old blog up to speed.

1st - I broke down and bought a new truck. The old 2003 was tired and needed to be put out to pasture. So, here's the new baby.

2nd - I had my first "turtle" experience in the yak on the Norfolk River in Arkansas last Friday so I was then ready for a new yak.

Last week we were at the FFF SOC Conclave in Mt Home, Arkansas.
We had a great time cooking, fishing, presenting, and fellowshipping.

We are also making plans for the Red River Rendezvous.
More details here:

http://redriverrendezvous.vpweb.com/