The Fat Fish of Morgan's Lake...

While moving Morgan this past weekend to his new house we were able to take fishing breaks at his new lake. Maybe we should have a contest to name it but right now we could call it Hungry Fish Hangout. Two fishing sessions of about an hour each landed 20-30 fish each trip. It is well stocked with bass and at least three species of panfish. 

First photo Cathy took of a small bass clearing the water on Morgan. Second photo is a nice bass Cathy caught. Third photo average sized bream. I also caught a couple of world class goggle eyes. Third photo is a nice bass I caught. Thanks to Morgan for letting me fish naked in his new lake. 

All fish were caught on lures. We used small beetle spins, road runners, a small hard body minnow and a variety of paddle tail jigs and crappie slider type worms.  

First tube Trip...

Mary warms up the knee board on the first ski trip of the season. Her eyes flash dark. Her teeth shine white and happy. She does not have to take turns with brother and sisters. 

Mary and Miguel fly outside the boat wake. 

Where did they find a Texas flag out here?  

Whoops, Here's the Pictures...

Morgan's New House...

Moving into Morgan's new house was great fun this weekend.

First picture is the from view. Second photo is the garage and boat shed. 

Third photo looks from the front door to the pond. 

Forth photo looks at the back. that gas grill cooks great streaks. 

And last but not least, the facilities. 

It's a great place. Helping Morgan out, grilling and fishing in the pond was almost like a little vacation. 

We will get inside photos and fish pictures up later. 

Housing Market Gets Boost...

Congratulations to Morgan who is scheduled to sign the papers tomorrow on the purchase of this home outside Bryan. These photos are from the first visit he and I made to check it out a little over a month ago. 

Note the pond. Looks fishy. The boat in the corner of the photo is included in the deal. Sign up here for guided fishing trips. Don't worry that the dock project you see is unfinished. All Morgan's friends are Texas Aggie engineers. A house warming party invite is all it should take to get a first class landing in operation. 

They Were Getting the Band Back Together...

 Few photos left from Morgan's recent crawfish boil of folks jamming.

First photo Miguel and Cathy, second photo Jared and Pop. All have jammed at fish frys before. They were getting the band back together...

East Texas Summer Fest...

Music scene has picked up a little bit in good old Lufkin with a day long Summer Fest music headed up  Robert Earl Keen and band (pictured in the top two photos) a number of other up and coming East Texas bands and a BBQ cook off. 

Turn out was fair to good. A little hard to tell with every one scattered all around the big Expo Center. I would say from the sing alongs expected at his performances all the folks that were local REK fans were there. Those that weren't need to take advantage of the cheap ticket price to see quality music done by gracious performers who are glad you came to see them play. I think prices of the big touring acts may be on the decline but it's still possible to pay $100 for the worst seat in the house at some big rattle rattle here come the cattle place. This show was a good bargain.  

Bottom photo was former Lufkin native the Dave Fenley Band. A little different take on the Texas music thing with the square cajon drum a even a little beat boxing thrown in. I have noticed some of the young local groups playing roots type music using the cajon. Seeing a band a few notches up the success ladder using one must mean it's the thing now. Maybe when Mary graduates, gets married, moves away and quits me as a drummer next year I'll get one of these. In the mean time I can work on lumbar stabilization exercises so it won't hurt my back to squat for long periods on one of those things. 

On another note it seems from seeing these bands yesterday and also some fellows on the national level that have come to my attention that the day of the heavy set sensitive bearded guy has arrived in country music. I would guess that even though I might be a little long in the tooth for singing songs about drinking Mexican beer on the Guadalupe River I would be willing to apply a little hair dye to my beard if Rolling Stone or even People Magazine required a cover photo. 

At any rate this makes it seem success is right around the corner for me. I bought a couple of CDs by the up and coming bands to help them out. I have made that my policy lately when I see a small time guy selling his stuff I buy some.  REK had quite the Merchandise booth with all kinds of things to buy. I think boxer shorts with "Mudbelly" across the buttocks would sell just fine at my shows. I can just hear the Asian women I contract in a far East sweat shop factory roll the double "L" as they churn out product to meet my ever increasing demand.  

Anyway the ship appears to have sailed off course. The message is:

Support Local Music and Local goods and services. Just kidding about the sweat shop contract. And thanks to all the people I saw yesterday that asked if I had played. I didn't. 

Saw This Boom on the Lake...

It is in the back of the Monterrey Park boat ramp cove sealing off the old creek channel. This area was probably dry land during the drought. The only thing I can suspect is that the invasive plant species Giant Salvinia has been spotted in this area. If you laid the two photos side by side for a panoramic view and added about another 1/3 that is the total length of the blockade.

Most plants growing in the lake are in some way good for the fishing. If you don't know about Giant Salvinia it's a real threat. It mats the surface preventing wave action that  contributes to good oxygenation for the fish. It's growth rate is unbelievable if not controlled.

This area in the photos was a nice little fishing drift over the bends in the creek bed when we spent some lazy days pan fishing with the kids through the years.  Hope the problem stays controlled. I expect it possible to see wash stations or something for your boat to prevent this plant from hitchhiking a ride to other lakes.    

Coraline's Official Glamour Photo...

Coraline had an official glamour photo made recently. This is the copy I got. I noticed my wife got one bigger than this and my mother got an even bigger one. That's ok, it's a nice photo. Coraline is getting big. Talking a lot. That's one thing she has learned from her mother. When you see other people, start talking to them. 

From the Way Back Machine...

That's me and Mary. Once upon a time. We got those wooden fish in Mexico. Cathy sewed them on our hats. 

As strange as it seems I don't think I have that hat anymore. Can't be sure though. There's lots of hats around here.  I'll ask Mary if she still has hers.

Sometimes I get asked by blog readers if I ever wear a shirt. I do. To work and church, places like that.  

Catfish Killers...

Cathy and Mary pull up a double. That was one of many this day as we caught 35 cats. They were slip corked 5' deep on a big shallow flat between two islands. With last summer's drought the area in front of the girls was dry land. Low water has never kept me from catching fish but it is nice to have the lake nice and full for the start of summer.




Did I catch any fish you say? Well while they were in the front of the boat
catfish killing I was in the back butter fly chilling. You can see it
on my hat. They told me if I moved it would die. Is that right?
You can see here that I took no chances, keeping my neck real still.



























 Mary with her friend. Are butterflies good to eat?


Anyway we had my Mom out, fried these boys (the catfish, not the butterflies) nice and crisp and ate too much. Today for lunch I even had a fish sandwich with the left overs. Toasted bread, pickles, onion, home made tarter sauce and two fat fish fillets. It reminded me of the shrimp, oyster and fish loaf sandwich's you can get at Casimento's restaurant on Magazine Street in New Orleans.

Happy Mother's Day...

 My Mom opens her card and reacts with surprise and delight at a litttle Mother's day fish fry we held Saturday evening. The potted plant is her gift.


Happy mother's day!

They Weren't Mardi Gras Indians...

But There were Indian dancers at Cinco De Mayo last weekend. With colorful costumes and drums what more could you want? 

My guess as to what is going on would be some kind of reenactment of a conquistador story. Those were not good times for the poor old Indians. You know how it goes. Everything is going well for you.  Some guys show up, they want your stuff and want stuff you don't have. There are nasty. You get sick. If you don't get sick they shoot you. Things aren't like they used to be anymore and the new ways don't seem like much of an improvement. 

I think this cycle is still being repeated in various parts of the world today. 

Boxing...

There was a boxing tournament at the Cinco De Mayo fest this weekend. Looked like several East Texas boxing clubs represented. No, that's not me in the black but it did make me miss taekwondo. 

I have not been ablt to work out at teach since I started my new job. It's just too much with the extra drive time each day. I was getting a little burnt out on the teaching part because it was a bit like continuing to see patients each day. My mind needs a rest from that. May be I can soon slip in a occasional Saturday morning class and just work out. After devoting 12 years to taekwondo I hate to forget my material. 

While these young men made me want to spar a bit I was glad I was not out there running around in the early May heat. My tongue wound have been dragging around on that mat. 

Happy Birthday Cathy...

 Love you!

It's Not Jazz Fest But It's Not Bad....

Got some good music photos from the Cinco De Mayo Celebration. Good bands all day. Couldn't be in New Orleans for Jazz Fest this weekend but it's not all bad around here. I don't think I got photos of all the bands that played and space constraints keep me form posting all I have here. I had to leave out a cumbia band which is what I like the best I think out of all his music. 

Hispanic music is like American music, all kinds. I can't name them other than knowing a cumbia when I hear it but the first photo is a traditional Mariachi group. I did hear one of the guitarist play a snippet of "Secret Agent Man" during sound check. It was in a finger picked flamingo type style. Next picture is an accordion/ bajo sexto group. May be some one will post on this that can name the style.

Next photo is a dual saxophone group.  The drummers in this group dug me making their picture. Next group is accordion, sax, valve trombone and timbales. That'a Edwin on timbales from AMG.  Seems the drums would lay out, then come in to accent certain parts with grand flourishes. It's a style, don't know what it is. They also used the keyboard electronic tuba sounds. Tuba is big (it's always big) in Hispanic music. I guess they use the electronic sounds because not many tuba players around and I don't think I have time for any more music than I am doing now.  

Later in the evening a caught a Cajun trio, more accordion at the Standpipe Coffee House. I did not make pictures, check their facebook for photos.