FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

“SAVE OUR WATERS”

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The Wade Right Fishing Belt

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Check out their new sling!

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I have put myself in the position of having to walk the walk after talking the talk.  Telling folks to stay home and to follow the guidelines so we are all protected made me realize I have to do the same.  So for the time being I am not fishing.  Not saying I won’t anytime soon would be a lie, but I intend to stay at home.  Hard for me to ask you to comply for all our good, and then go fishing.  It is tough but there will be an end.  The more folks keep it up the earlier it will be over.  So stay safe and do what you can.

Random fish pic.  Australian Queenfish.  Talk about a jumper.

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Knockin Tail – Swim bait with a jig head or swim bait hook, a swim jig trailer, on the Alabama Rig, all will rattle your way to more fish!

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The Closings Continue

All state parks in Texas are closing as of today.  Riverside Park in Victoria is closed at least for the weekend.  And now the county ramp on Falcon has closed.  (And before I could even finish this the county has now closed ALL ramps, public or private.)  Ok, but if it is necessary these closing, and many others, should have happened over a month ago.  It still confuses me why a ramp being open is a problem.  (I understand that keeping people indoors and not spreading the virus is the main goal.)  We are not going to be exchanging bodily fluids or some other nonsense.  Closing other facilities that surround them makes sense, but just dropping your boat in and going fishing is one of the safer things you can do as long as you exercise good practice going and coming.  (And unfortunately that is where the problem lies.)  Makes no sense when at the same time some jurisdictions are allowing folks to congregate in large numbers at church.  No possible spread there! But in true Texas style at least you can get some liquor with that to go sandwich to help take the edge off.  We all know booze is an essential activity.  What a long strange trip this is becoming.

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More fun with boat buying.  You can not make this stuff up.

gonna need some work but doable.
make me an offer……….as is where is …..not running ……

How about you pay me to take it off your hands?

needs new battery fuel tank and key switch because the key is lost

No big deal, it runs, trust me.

Boat is gutted and ready to put back together. The twin engines it has do not run.

Other than that it is a great boat.

I dont have a title for it …but other than that it’s a great deal cain’t beat it

I can’t prove ownership but it is a great deal.

Needs some work but good hull.

And the rest of it is a piece of crap.

No motor, just hull and trailer.  I do not have titles to either.

Same old story.

Needs complete interior. Had planned to fix up, haven’t had time.

Man there are a million “plans” out there.

But boat been sitting a little while but I can provide a video of motor running.

That is reassuring.

(15 hours on new power head)

No thanks on that one.

motor starts just needs to be rebuilt, low compression on all cylinders

In other words it is junk.

Boat is no good but engine should be good. started engine last year pouring gas in carb

Comes with a gas can, a pack of smokes, and a lighter.  You can do both at the same time!

I am not given it away so don’t waste my time if you don’t have money !

Take a chill pill bro.  After looking at the pictures you might have to pay to get someone to take it away.

Good boat and trailer n condition no motor are no paper work for good use only

Huh?

I always wonder if folks even read what they posted.  Of course I admit my editorial skills often leave something to be desired but I am not trying to sell you something.  Over the last few months more ads feature haul off your old boat, and there seems to be less junk available than there was.  The examples above are at best junk.  And the usual words of caution – Project, Rare, Easy to Fix, No Title, etc, are red flags.  When used in the same ad it is run as fast as you can.

My last comment on my daily review of boats for sale – There are a ton of what appears to be buyer’s remorse.  Expensive and fancy, often priced above $60k, they must be kidding.  If you can buy a used boat at that price buy new.  And on a year or two old boat if the add says “new power head” or “only x hours on new lower unit” be highly skeptical.  Either the motor was a lemon or it has been abused.  I have a feeling post virus there will be lots of high dollar boats entering the market.

Going nuts offshore in Costa Rica.  It went on for miles.

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Of course with all this at home time watching fishing has taken up some of every day.  And watching it this morning cemented  an opinion I have had for a while.  Shop your local tackle manufacturer.  Zona was fishing the La Perla Ranch Lake where a weekend of fishing is $4000. That is nuts!  You might have heard about it after TPWD decided to give a rich rancher a couple of thousand of our Share A Lunker fry.  It was not anything nefarious, just a collective brain fart on the part of TPWD.  But I digress.

The reason I wrote this is to continue to call on all of us to support your local guy who is just trying to make a living providing us with the stuff we need for a day on the water.  So every time I see someone fishing private waters (Strike King is the worst.)  who has tons of sponsors it reminds me, when you buy their stuff you are supporting their fishing places only the select few can fish.  A lifestyle that is out of most of our price range.  And when they pander to us, telling us how they do this for us, I can only laugh.  (And my favorite, when HUK bought an awesome offshore boat and said we did it for you.  Sure you did, and I assume my invitation is in the mail.)  I am not mad at them, just take what you see on the fishing shows with a grain of salt.  Turn anybody lose on those waters and they will smack them.  And you know what?  A bait from them will not work any better than one from you local guy.  So keep that in mind as you shop.  Easy.  Read the package, where is it made?

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And here are a few of the comments after my last post.

Doug,
Tell your lovely wife Thankyou from my family and myself. Thanks for the words that remind us all that we can’t and shouldn’t take life and our surroundings for granted. Keep on keepin’ on and I wait for the next post. Hopefully with some trout and red pics included. lol.
Thanks,
Ed

And from Joe.

Thank your wife for her service to Victoria.

And SA Joe had plenty to say.

Hey buddy !!! Your last comments hit that nail right on the head. People bust on me for having a flip fone. Its high for $85 and two phones on the account. Just lazy to switch to Consumer Cellular and cut it to $45. But they dont pay my bills and with smart phones they will rope you in with the data plans. So their bills are over $200 a month, plus paying for years on those new phones. I grew up poor and saw my mom struggle with bills, food, the house. Dad was a drunk. Joined the military(20Yrs) because I never took the ACT/SAT=no money. Bought my 1st house at 25 in 1993, then a duplex, then another house by 1996 from saving money. These houses got paid off from renters and in 2008-2011. Turned them around and selling=owner financed. So if a poor kid like me can do this and retire at 47 some will never learn. I married a great woman that saved liked me and invested. When she went to heaven she has taken care of me and her 2 boys. SO when its time to fish again. We need to do so because we’ll come out of this fine with our planning. Prayers and thanks to your wife for going out in these times. Joe Gest

Nancy appreciates your kind words and asks that you pray for those in the high density areas who are really risking their own lives, much less their families.  But we will get through this, what our world will be like remains to be seen.  And Joe, there are lots of folks who have learned a hard lesson with the virus, glad you are doing fine.   So everybody stay safe and help someone if you get the chance.

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Joe Exotic

Who was not amazed, confused, sickened, amused, or a 100 other descriptions that applied to watching the Tiger show.  So I wondered if my daughter had ever interviewed him.  She was a columnist and full time journalist on the state paper at the time.  And guess what?  She not only interviewed Joe, she interviewed Carole.

The punch line, she did not actually do a story after the interviews.  And this was her exact response as to why not.  “They were both bat shit crazy.”  I could not have said it better on just about everyone involved.

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So sorry no fishing reports but it is what it is.  I hope this finds you and yours doing well.  If my ramblings are to off topic for you no problem.  It just gives this old man something to pass the time.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines