May 24, 2006 - Lake Texoma, OK - Fishing trip   

Thought you might like to see what Cartwright, OK, looks like.  It's the town we're near and the P.O. where we pick up our mail.  About a mile from where we're parked.  Not much here, but enough.  Enjoyed the small Baptist church last Sunday, and may well go again this Sunday.  It's around the corner to the right just past those trees in the picture on the right.

All of these shots were taken from the same place.  Not many cities can claim the beauty of this small town, eh?  These wild flowers are all over the place.  We suspect it's a springtime thing, as it does get pretty hot here.  Of course, they get rain in the summer so maybe things won't all dry up, eh?

There I am fishing and wishing.  We're actually on a little arm of the big lake (Lake Texoma--separates Texas & Oklahoma).  About 500 miles of shoreline to this lake.  Manmade, of course.  There was a fishing derby, and I was full of questions.  Hadn't even seen a striped bass at this point, but did manage to catch a small mouth bass who lived to be caught another day.  Don't let that sign fool you, we're still in Oklahoma.

That's JP with me, telling me about his web business.  Mostly connected with fishing.  Told me about www.sixoldgeezers.com which drove me nuts as it's all about these old guys (like me) and fishing on Lake Texoma.  He's got a bunch of websites, among them my favorite, www.g2pix.com.

The guys with the airboat couldn't get the engine to run right, so they put it back on the trailer and went away.  Sorry their day was spoiled, but it sure was noisy.

And they're off!  This team was one of only 5 that showed up for the tournament.  Darn shame, but understandable as the wind was really blowing hard.  And there's my first view of the striped bass I'm interested in catching.  Weighed about 3 pounds or so.

Top prize went to the team (two guys) with the heaviest 2 fish.  9.82# took the prize.  And then a big fish......erman with a smaller fish.  In the background you can see the loop for staging the trailers to get in line to use the boat ramp.  Good looking fish, and strong fighters from what I've been told.

Top prize included more than $100 in cash and some goodies besides.  Not bad for a total of 9+ pounds of fish. 

Look carefully, and you'll see my big grin.  Yup, that's me sitting back there with Stu.  Actually on a boat and heading out to go striper fishing.  See what begging and whining will get you?  Actually, the story goes like this.

While I was talking to JP about the tournament business, Stu walked up and was asking about the striper fishing.  We got to chatting, and eventually I learned that he had a laptop with WiFi, so I invited him to come down and connect using our router.  A few days later he did, and I got to meet his wife Karen in the process.  Barb was at work.  (I'll be putting up some pictures of her at the office later.)  While Karen was on the computer, Stu and I got to telling stories and eventually I mentioned Weyerhaeuser, the company I was working for when we started this lifestyle.  That caught his ear, as a cousin of his who was here at the lake with him used to work for them too.  And there was a chance we may know some of the same people as Leon had retired in 1999.  Later that same day, here comes Stu with Leon in tow along with Dee Anna.  (Pardon me if I get the spelling of these names wrong.)  Seems everybody's related and there's three RV's of them with two boats.  Sure enough, Leon and I know many of the same people and we had a great time laughing about people still working for a living while we're goofing off.  Actually, we feel sorry for those of you still working......but we need your Social Security money, so we thank you very much.

Just before they left, Leon asked me a silly question.  He asked me if I had a fishing rod that needed some exercise.  He hardly got the question out and I say "YES" very emphatically, and about two hours later there we were.  Larry is the boat owner and that's Leon standing by him as we leave for the adventure.  I'm already having fun, as you can imagine.

Jerry and Dee Anna getting ready to shove off.  That brown thing on the beach to the left of them is the ladder used to climb aboard this big catamaran at the bow.  They just drive the boats onto the beach/grass for the night.  No concerns about tide changes, don't you know.

My first experience with the big Honda engines, and were they sweet!  So quiet at idle that when I was in the bow I couldn't tell if they were running or not.  No vibration, and just a whisper to let you know they were on.  I've had several smaller Honda engines on my skiffs and liked them, but these were something else.

I've been on commercial boats that weren't laid out as nicely as Larry has his.  He bought the hull and then had the rest built to his specifications.  I was impressed.  In the box on the overhead are the radios.  Tied to the box is a color depth sounder/fish finder, on the top of the dash is another depth sounder.  The large area on the left is the radar screen, the tachometers on the top, temperature gauges, gallons per hour, etc. comprise the rest of the dash gauges.  The ignition keys are in front of his knee.  The throttles and gear levers are combined next to the cup holder with its candy wrapper.  The electrical panel with all the switches for lighting, bilge pump, live bait well, etc., are just below that grab bar.  In the lower left had corner of the picture is a strategically placed rod holder (for the skipper while driving).  Like I said earlier, I was impressed with the layout.  Wish my brother Bill could have seen it.  He'd have drooled all over himself.  With the exception of the bow itself, there was always a hand hold where it belonged.  Never did I feel insecure while the boat was either underway or rolling while we drifted.

We're in the big boat, following Jerry and Dee Anna out.  Jerry and Larry have the same last name, and I had to be careful to remember who was who here at first.  This family have been fishing this lake from this and other locations for over 30 years!  Think they've got it figured out?  I couldn't have paid for a guide with a better equipped boat or more local knowledge.  And the banter that went on among the guys was great.  It's obvious they love to be with each other doing this.

Stu was the first to hook up, and caught a nice 5# fish.  Then the action got busy.  Larry and I were using hardware and Leon and Stu were using live bait.  Shad that had been netted and put in the live bait well earlier in the day.  Shortly after Leon and Stu had landed some more fish, Larry and I converted to live bait as well.  I got a nice 5# fish myself on the first drift with live bait, and then after watching everybody else catch fish, and netting them for them, I heard comments about running out of bait.  At one time I had a fish on, and then Leon got one on and then Stu.  I lost mine about the time Larry hooked up, and we had a three ring circus going on.  If I'd hung on to the fish I'd hooked, it would have been interesting to see who would get the net!  As it was, they let me net the fish, and I was having a ball.

Well, my shad had long ago expired, but because of the low level of bait, and me being a guest and all, I kept using the dead shad, sort of jigging it.  Then Larry, who was watching the fish finders, said, "There's a bunch of them down there about 25', get your lines down quick"  And I did.  And then oh, boy, did I get a strike.  No chance to set the hook, and line was stripping off my reel quickly.  The rod was bent about as far as I'll let it go, I tightened the drag just a tad because I was worrying about the fish taking all my line out.  I only had 150 yards on that little reel I like.  I was using Power Pro line, which is about the diameter of 6# test line, but is braided and has a strength rating of 20#.  I wasn't worried about my knots or the line, but I was concerned about pulling the hook out or simply loosing 150 yards of line and a fish!  As it turned out, I had about 50 yards left when it finally turned.  It was great fun.  The guys were naturally kind to me, being the new guy and all, and when the fish was finally netted and weighed, it came to 11# and was about 32 inches long.  Well, then the fun started.  They threatened to use me as bait, let me swim home, never come fishing with them again, and on and on it went.  I got sore cheeks from grinning.

Those two fish were the only ones I caught.  I lost several others, as I'm still learning the technique for catching these rascals, but beginners luck can't be beat when it came to "the big one".

That's what the fish box looked like when we finally headed home.  Plenty of nice tasting fish in there.  The lake has a limit of 10 fish per person, 2 of which can be more than 20" long.  I was pleased that the guys were careful to pay attention to the rules.  And while I enjoy a beer with the best of them, while we were on the water and fishing, I noticed we were all only drinking water.  I wouldn't have minded them enjoying a beer or two, but I've seen way too much grief caused by overdoing it while on the water.  Off the water too, but you know what I mean.  I'd go with these guys again in a heartbeat, even if the fish weren't biting.

Larry at the wheel, Leon behind him and Stu with the beard.  What great guys.  And Jerry and Dee Anna hadn't done so bad themselves!  A total of 35 fish between the six of us.  And then the work started.

Well, first the new guy "had" to pose for some pictures with his fish.  It was obvious these guys have done this before.  Larry (on the left) let me try to clean one after I'd watched for a while, but it was painfully obvious that I need a lot of practice at this.

Lots of hands, lots of sharp knives, lots of experience.  All 35 fish cleaned in short order with lots of banter thrown in for good measure.  I had a ball.  As I told everybody, I've been fishing a bit, but I can't remember ever having such a good time at it.  This was a memorable trip for me.

And there's our youngest granddaughter in her daddy's arms!  She's either telling us she's 2 or flashing the "V" symbol.  Either way, she's a keeper, eh?  Oh, wait, that's a fishing term.  Oh well, it applies here too.  We're so very blessed. 

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