FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

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I want to start off with a Merry Christmas to all of you out there.  I hope you and your family have a great holiday and are looking forward to the new year.  At the end of every year I look back, and it never ceases to amaze me.  Having a real record lets me put things in perspective.  It has been an interesting year for lots or reasons.  A couple of great trips, some really big bass, and then a forced layoff, made it a different kind of year to say the least.  Normally I fish Christmas day, but this year I am getting stuff organized for a trip to see the folks, and then the kids.  We then finish out the year with a trip to Colorado for some snowmobiling and 4wheeling, along with a little fishing.  So out with old and in with the new.

January

Killed them on the Bang O Lure this month.

My first Colorado Rainbow on the fly.  Hope to repeat that this month.

And we did some dog sledding which as a blast.

February

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My Coast Ourdoors came on board with the Controlled Descent Lures.

The reds and trout cooperated on the bay.

And the lake continued hot.

And this my friends is a big one!

The lake was stupid good!  No wonder I spent so much time there.

And there was a killing on the Neuces.  It was a hell of a month!

March

POC remaind good and the Controlled Descent Paddle Shad smacked em’.

And a trip to Lake Travis was really good.

And the big fish on Coleto just kept on coming.

April

Coleto was seriously good all spring.

And the bay was hot.

It was hard to decide where to fish it was so consistent this month.

But Australia took the cake.  What a trip!

My second blue marlin of the trip.

A Queenfish.   A tarpon has nothing on this jumper!

The Boss won the crazy fish award.  What a fight.

And several mackeral.

And I paid a visit to the holy grail of offshore fishing, the Cairns Big Game Fishing Club.  This is why the little boy sat by the tv every weekend hoping to see some marlin fishing and dreaming about his turn.   Where my dreams were made.

Half of Lee Marvin’s Grander mounted on the ceiling at the tackle store.  Really the trip of a lifetime.  That was a freakin’ fish!

MAY

I had a great 3 day trip to Amistad with lots of nice bass.

And of course some buzzbait fishing on Coleto.

They were eating the buzzbait.  Never did figure out why this big one bled.  The hook was in his jaw.

JUNE

Coleto kept spitting out the big ones.

No wonder I spent so much time bass fishing this year.  Doing this gives me a real chance to see how it went, and as far as bass this spring it was good.

JULY

I had not been feeling well for a while, and then the dreaded news, surgery.  Even better, on my birthday!  It was ugly, but could have been so much worse.  I am so thankful to the everyone who took care of me at Detar, and to the Boss who was there by my side the whole time.  Thankfully things worked out so much better than I deserve, I know I skated by on that one.  But the real problem, absolutely no boating for 6 weeks.   So it was a rough month on me, the recovery not so much, the no boating was the worst of it all.  But finally I was back in action in August.

AUGUST

I fished little this month as I recovered but did put a few in the boat.

And one of the best sunrises ever over Biloxi Bay.

SEPTEMBER

And the trip to Grand Isle LA was freakin’ redfish heaven.

The Controlled Descent Paddle Shad had it’s moments in a consistent month on the bay.

This one was a real one!

Of course I took some time out to catch a bass or two this month.  It was a good month.

OCTOBER

The bass fishing slowed as the month went on but this one took a little of the sting out.

We had a great trip 4wheeling in New Mexico.

The Austin Boys came and we had a good trip.  The bay fishing this month was consistent with a good topwater bite.

And it was great sunrises one after another this month.

NOVEMBER

Some good wading out of POC.

I have seen tons of gators but this guy was a real monster.

The Lavaca River and Garcitas Creek were like catching fish in a barrel.

And the Bang O Lure kept putting them in the boat.

DECEMBER

A hurricane and snow in the same year.  It is true what they say about Texas weather.

We laid the smack down on some nice drum when the Austin Boys were here.

And this was the result of a twitch bait bite.

We finished a great trip off with a fish fry for 25.

Turn out the lights the party is over.  So long to 2017.

So there you have it, what a grown boy did all year.  It was different from years past for lots of reasons, and I look forward to a better year this year.  I was fortunate enough to get to fish with some great new people, much less fish Amistad, Lake Travis, the Nueces, the Great Barrier Reef, Colorado, and Grand Isle Louisiana, along with my usual stomping grounds.  The bass fishing this spring was so good, and the bay fishing rarely disappointed. Looking at it this way it was a heck of a year and I have no complaint.

2018 is looming and first up it will be some winter time trout fishing in Colorado.  From there who knows.  But I know there are a couple of things that are definitely happening.  A 2 day offshore trip in Peru (Could we possibly add a 5th marlin to our life total?) and then time on the Amazon which should be right up there with some of the more interesting places we have been.  Amistad and Falcon are definitely on the list this year, as is Baffin.  (Not making it there this year is irritating.)  And a striper trip to Lake Texoma will be awesome.  While I did not fish the Gulf as much as usual, this year part of the plan is fishing on the bay with more new folks.  Fishing with new folks keeps it fresh and I look forward to meeting more of you.

With everything that happened this year the blog at times was a chore.  When I was down this summer it seemed like a good time to finally close this chapter in my life, but the new year has given me a renewed determination to keep it going.  Your support has been appreciated.  Every day we have a fishing rod in hand is a good day, and it is easy to lose sight of that.  So this year I will try to balance the blog and the fishing, remember what this is all about.  Spending time outdoors, meeting new folks, stretching some fishing stories, and even catching that occasional “big one.”

So a final thanks to those of you who have stayed with me.  Faye, Joe, Jim, Aaron, Rusty, Rick, Billy, My Coast Outdoors, Coastal Fishing Gear, and all of the rest of you it would take a list a mile long to thank, you know who you are:  Thanks!  To everyone who sent a comment or a report, it makes this a much better blog so keep them coming.  And finally to the Boss:  You have made this possible, you never complain when I hitch the boat and head out, you let me be me and act like the spoiled brat that I am.   I am forever grateful to the best wife a guy could have.

There is so much more to say but it is time to close the book on 2017.  New water, new faces, and lots of new stories to tell, 2018 will be a new day.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines!