My wife and I bought a little house on the waterfront, near Matagorda Bay. We have been going just about every weekend, and I never get tired of the view. I always get up at the crack of dawn, because there's something about drinking a hot cup of coffee while the sun comes up over the bay. It always starts my day off right.



We have recently done some minor remodeling of the house, to improve the view and the sea breeze that blows through the house. We have a big, comfortable chair with a great view of the bay, that my wife and I take turns occupying. Our dog has even gotten in on the action; so much so that she has her own side of the cushion (we flip it over for her to keep the fuzz down to a minimum).



Of course, the sunsets are beautiful too. After the sun goes down, the stars are spectacular. You can see dock-lights from houses like ours way off in the distance, but its not enough to block out the stars. I have seen more shooting stars during the past few months, than I have seen in my entire life.



I haven't even begun to talk about the fishing. We have been eating well, and I have had to come up with creative recipes for flounder, red-fish, and sea trout. Last weekend I cooked a large sheepshead I caught off of the pier. It was surprisingly exceptional table fare.

I think this house has been a very good investment in the quality of our life. When people find out about the three hour drive to get to the bay house, they often question our sanity. My reply is that instead of watching t.v. for three hours, I listen to the radio. After three hours, I get to enjoy the bay for three days. You can't get that from HBO!

Bill, Will, and Chris went fishing at Calcasieu -- and did alright for a change! From what I hear, they were catching larger than average trout, in the 25-inch range. I also heard a story about a 70lb black drum, and a big redfish that broke the line. The fall season will be heating up soon - I plan on catching my share of these soon enough.

Its been a long, hot summer. The fishing has been really tough. I have been out a few times recently, but haven't had much success. Its difficult keeping a fishing blog interesting, when you don't have anything to talk about.

Fortunately, this past weekend I tried something new that worked. My friend Jim and I actually managed to boat about 15 fish. Mostly small Spotted and Guadalupe bass, but there were a couple of nice Largemouth in the mix.

I thought that if we got to the lake early, we might catch a few before the sun came up. I had assumed the bight (if we found one at all) would taper off quick as the temperature started to rise. Our plan was to fish for black bass early, then start looking for schooling whites after the morning bite ended. We figured out a pattern that worked, so we managed to fish for black bass until about 11:00am, with pretty decent success.

Early, they were hitting crank baits. I threw a 1/2 oz Luck Craft in a shad pattern, while Jim through his chrome and black rattletrap. The spotted bass were using the rocks to work their way up to the shallows. Wherever there was a line of rock within two feet of the surface, we were getting strikes. At one point, I caught four in a row, including a nice three pound largemouth.

As the sun came up, we switched to Carolina Rigged worms in about twenty feet of water. I was marking fish between fifteen and twenty feet next to an underwater plateau. I positioned the boat on top of the hump, and cast out into the deep water, working the worm up the slope toward the boat.

Before this weekend, I have never really tried Carolina Rigging with much success. I find it difficult to detect a bite behind such a heavy weight. I must have had the magic touch this time around, because I managed to catch several this way. I even had a very decent size four to five pound bass on the line, that wiggled free just as I got it up to the boat. Jim was quick to remind me that we only count fish that actually make it into the boat. Of course, I pulled the same rule on him earlier in the day when he lost a decent bass before landing it. Instant karma's gonna gitcha, right?

The fishing was tough on Lake Belton, yesterday. The lake is about 4 feet below full, and the water is very clear. The temperature was about 84 degrees at the surface. The sunny sides, combined with the sheer bluff walls around this lake made the fish go deep. I was marking fish on my sonar at about 30 - 35 feet. I must have made 300 casts, and did not get a bite. I tried everything I could to get down to the fish, including some deep diving crankbaits, Carolina rigged worms and jigs. We fished the rocky southern shoreline of the Cow Creek arm, then crossed the lake to fish the trees. We worked our way from the main body of the lake back toward Fort Hood. Jim managed to catch a small bass on a deep diving metal billed chrome blue crankbait amongst the trees. Soon after, he snagged a deep branch of a tree and lost the lure.

We tried fishing the northern half of the lake, including a couple of promising looking coves, but no luck.

Belton is a very picturesque lake, but it seems to be more condusive to striper fishing than anything. I discovered a very pretty waterfall on Belton, that I captured on video.

It is quite a long-haul to get to Belton from my house, so I may not be back for a while.

As it is for very many people, Monterey California is one my favorite places in the world. I have been fortunate enough to vacation here many times over the years. Its one of the few places I can think of that doesn't seem to change much between visits.



As a teenager, when my parents would take the family to Pebble Beach on vacation, I liked to go fishing down at Stillwater Cove. My brother and I would build a campfire, and use surf rods to fish for rockfish. We would use squid or blood-worms for bait. The fishing was usually pretty slow, but occasionally you caught a nice fish.

I caught a very nice Ling Cod once. I did not know what it was, and I almost threw it back because the inside of its mouth was bright blue. I'm glad I kept it, because it tasted great.



Once I went poke-pole fishing for Monkeyface Prickleback Eel at low tide off of Carmel Beach. The technique was to use a cane pole with a heavy gauge wire wrapped around the tip, and protruding about 2 feet with a small loop on the end. You tie a hook onto the loop and bait it with a freshly smashed mussel. Wearing waders, you would walk around in about knee-deep water, looking for large rocks with submerged holes under them. The eels would hide in the holes, so when you poked the bait down into the hole, you sometimes caught one. My brother hooked one that broke his cane pole! It was a huge California Moray Eel. Prickleback Eels are surprisingly good to eat.



Another time, my brother and I went fishing off of the 7th hole at Pebble Beach. This is that famous golf hole where the green is at the end of a peninsula, below the horizon from where you tee off. You have to launch the ball out into the clear blue yonder and hope it lands on the green. Fortunately for me, the balls often landed in the water, so low tide was a gold-mine. Believe me, golfers who play Pebble Beach don't use range balls. I would go out at low tide, and collect loads of golf balls. I would sort them, then sell them back home in Houston for $.50 or $.75 each, depending upon the quality. It put cash in my pocket that was otherwise hard to come by as a teen.

We went fishing at low tide, but before we knew it the tide had started come up behind us, leaving us stranded on the rocks. The Pacific Ocean is mighty cold, and there are things like Great White Sharks and Killer Wales to think about. The waves can be pretty brutal, even in 'Stillwater Cove'. There was no getting around it though, the tide was coming up quick and the sun was going down, so we had to make a swim for it. My parent's house was a couple of miles from the beach. Although we made it to shore without much incident, by the time we got back to the house I was so cold that I could not feel my feet! Have you ever gotten into a tub of water when you are chilled to the bone? Even room temperature water feels like it is about two thousand degrees!

On one trip, I bought a two-man rubber boat. My brother and I had the bright idea to paddle out to the island at Stillwater Cove, and see if we could find some Abalone. We got about halfway to the island, when I jumped in the water to get used to the cold. I had my wetsuit, goggles, and flippers on. I put my head down into the water to clear my mask, and looked down to see a long vine of sea-weed going down until it dissapeared in the murky depths. It was really deep. I had only imagined that it was about ten feet deep, but it must have been a hundred! I was quickly beginning to get freaked out, when my brother tapped the side of the boat and said that he thought he saw a shadow. Thats all it took to cause me to give up on the abalone plan. I was beach-side in minutes after that!



Another time, I went fishing with my step father and younger brother on one of those party boats. The depth drops to about 1000 feet right off the coast of Monterey. The captain would drive around looking for fish, then everyone would drop their line to the bottom, and reel up whatever number of cranks the captain would tell us. Dropping at a rate of about two feet per second, it takes about 500 seconds to reach the bottom. You can imagine how long it takes to reel back up. We would have four hooks on the line, spaced about one foot apart. There would be a piece of yellow and red yarn on the hook for bait (apparently fish get really stupid once you get past 500 feet). You would jig up and down until the line got heavy, reel up, and usually have two or more fish on the line. After reeling up 1000 feet of line, you would be pretty tired. The problem is that if you slow down, your fish would get robbed by sharks or seals. Also, after reeling up from that depth, the fishes stomachs would be protruding from their mouths, and their eyes would be bugged out. Often times the fish would come off of the hooks and bob around in the water waiting for something to eat them.

My step-dad spent too much time in the galley on the way out to the fishing waters, and my brother was running around the boat looking at things in the water. I learned early on to sit on the outside edge of the boat and watch the horizon. Needless to say, by the time I was fishing, they were chumming. It was up to me to catch the limit for all of us, so I put eight hooks on my line. Well, I was pulling up four to six fish at a time! I have to admit, it was pretty exciting. My adrenaline was pumped up, so I didn't notice that I was wearing out my arms. By the end of the trip, I couldn't move my arms. I had pulled every muscle in both fore-arms, and it hurt for a week! I have since given up party-boat fishing, which I equate to commercial fishing. There is no sport in it. If I want to get meat, I will go down to the local HEB. The grocery store in my neighborhood has a nice sea-food selection, and it is all fresh. I prefer to fish for sport, and I usually catch and release. Of course, if I get into some keeper sized Speckled trout I will bring home dinner.



The last time I went to Monterey, I brought my wife. We stayed at the Inn at Spanish Bay, which is a pretty ritzy place. Unfortunately, my wife was very intimidated by the whole experience. She is Latina, and she had never been exposed to the level of wealth that is common place around this area of Monterey. She passed some snob of a woman in the hall that asked her for some towels or something, so she sulked in the room for the rest of the time. On the other hand, I have no problem being myself in front of snobs. I find it quite humorous at times. On this trip, I wanted to go fishing. I went on a charter boat by myself, and returned with my limit of fish, smelling like the underside of Cannery Row! The bellman thought it was very funny, and you should have seen the appalling looks I was getting. Ha, ha!



The last few times we have visited my mom (who is lucky enough to live in Carmel Valley), we have rented convertables. It has become a tradition of sorts. I think it really adds to the experience, and it is not much more expensive than renting a mid-size car. We have done and seen all of the tourest attractions, so I am planning to do more hiking and picture taking next time we go. I enjoy the scenery and wildlife more than anything, and fishing can be a hassle when you don't have any of your gear. If I go fishing in California again, it will probably be for tuna off of Baja. I think I will leave the Monterey fish alone, at least until I can afford to live there and own a boat.

I'm guessing someone let a pet pacu go in the local pond, and it grew up. This one looks like a heavy smoker. Here's the story quoted from Local6.com

Fisherman Scott Curry reeled in the 20-pound fish on Buffalo Springs Lake and immediately noticed the catch had human-like teeth.

A game warden photographed the fish and is attempting to identify it.

General Manager of Buffalo Springs Lake Greg Thornton told KLBK13-TV in Texas that he has never seen anything like the fish in the 36 years he has lived near the lake.

A search for what the fish may be suggested that it may be a pacu, which is found in South America.

Curry said he believes he saw another similar fish while on the lake.

A Texas television station reported that lake officials will give $100 to anyone catching a similar fish.

My wife an I drove down to the coast this weekend. We had heard that the Port Lavaca area was a diamond in the rough, so we wanted to check it out. Our primary objective was to scope out some property in the area, but I did bring my fishing poles (of course). We met our friends, who brought their kids along too. The plan was to check out the property, then the gals would go for a long drive while the guys went fishing.





Fishing appears to be the primary recreation in the area, evident by the many piers and bait shops. To our surprise, the area was not choked with tourists and fishermen, like in Aransas Pass. We did do a little afternoon fishing, when the tide started flowing. We paid five bucks each to fish from the pier at Indianola Fishing Marina. Although we did not catch much, the bait was cheap and there was easy access to shade and cold beer. There was a glut of pogies in the water, and some small aggressive fish that would steal your bait. I caught a small White Grunt, that had really sharp teeth.



Down the road from the hotel is the causeway bridge between Port Lavaca and Port Comfort. After not catching much at the Indianola pier, we tried to fish at the city park which is on the Port Lavaca side of the bridge. We did not catch anything here, and we ultimately called it quits for the day.

The city park had a bird walk, which was a semi-circular pier that was erected over a grass marsh (or estuary). There were various bird species in the marshes, with placards placed along the pier explaining things. There were also a billion or so mosquitoes (I suppose they could have been birds; they were certainly large enough).



There is an old washed out road with a pier on the Port Comfort side of the causeway bridge. I took note of this as I passed over the bridge on my way to Palacios. I planned to catch some bait with my cast net, and try this spot out in the morning.

Early the next morning, I found a spot where a small bridge passed over a bayou with a public boat ramp. I threw my cast net a few times, and captured some pogies and finger-mullet. There was a small alligator (about 4 feet long) in the water, that swam around just out of reach. We tried fishing here for about 20 minutes, but after not getting any bites, we made our way across the causeway bridge to fish the spot I had picked out the day before. The water was very clear, and the tide was low. There were redfish chasing finger-mullet in the shallows. I was successful in landing a small redfish, that put up a formidable fight. I saw the redfish chasing bait, so I threw a silver spoon ahead of the fish and lured it to strike. The fish was not large, but it was not too small either.

Fishing from the bank can be difficult, so catching that one allowed me to finish my trip on a positive note.



As I explored the area, I noticed lots of intriguing spots that I could reach if I had a boat. One of these days I will probably trade my bass boat in for a bay boat. I think a bay boat would be more flexible. I could use it for fresh water or salt water fishing. I really liked the area, and see why it is considered by some to be a diamond in the rough.

I'm going down to Port Lavaca this weekend, to look a vacation house, and to do a little wade fishing. My wife was doing some research about the area, and came across this story. Apparently a 4 foot alligator tried to eat the family pet. Thankfully it was rescued in time, and is presumably doing well. I'm not so sure about wade fishing now. Maybe I will bring my boat...