Good Day for a Hike and a History Lesson...

After a day of cloudy, windy rain and overcast skies Saturday was sunny and warmer so we took the opportunity to drive to San Augustine, Tx to check out Mission Delores State Historical Area for the history and some light hiking.  

Of course the Spanish Franciscan Priests probably had good intentions when they first came in 1721 to build a mission but there was some soldiers and politics involved and since there was the possibility of the French employing the same program heading west from Louisiana this and other missions build through East Texas served as an early warning for foreign intrusion. It's a familiar strategy that's still in use today in various places around the world. 

I kind of imagine a young Spanish GI, he's a long way from home. In the 50 on again off again years the mission there might be a few priests, two soldiers and the local Ais Indians. The soldiers probably did the work of hunting, fishing, building and gathering firewood. After a day of this they returned to the mission to be quizzed, "See a Frenchman in the woods anywhere?" 

We know from evidence unearthed at the site that it probably was not this scary for a young solider to see a Frenchman in the woods. With everyone so isolated there seems to have been illegal trade that went on between the groups. Pottery shards made by the Indians and from England, France, Holland and China have been found around the site. Like the song says, come on people now, smile on your brother...           

 

We also visited Lobanillo Swales, the preserved ruts of the El Camino Real. These 12' deep ruts were made by the traffic of 300 years worth of travel by anyone that was anybody going between Louisiana and Mexico City. LaSalle and de Leon passed through here. Early Texas pioneer Gil Y'Barbo had a ranchero nearby. Chances are you know some of his kin folks. They are still in the area. Miguel and Milo, instead of making history on this spot were simply considering the eternal question. Mexican or Cajun this evening? 

Seems reference material indicate two swales but the historical marker indicated three trails running parallel. I could see three provided this is not a four wheeler track since this is on private land. Visitation by the public is welcome just behave. 

Mary and the boys on a creek at the mission campground. Good looking spring water was one of the reasons for settling here and if this flows all year might be a worthy spot this summer to cool it.  

Cathy hikes down the swale. Her shoulder replacement is fine and we will probably resume water aerobics tomorrow. This light hike was good conditioning for some inactivity due to a couple of other ailments that cropped up over the last month. 

We did pick Cajun for supper and the kids would not eat the catfish. The screamed, "Not the same as Pop-Pop's!"  

Fishing Lure Tips...

We were on our way to hit the spring East Texas white bass run and made a pitstop at one of those bright, shiny and modern convenience stores. It was all colorful and cheerful with clean restrooms, unlimited choices of caffeinated beverages, high carb snacks and probably brought in a million dollars a year in beer sales. In a place like this which is in close proximity to a hot public sandbass spot there is also usually a small tackle corner which I like to check just incase they stock a brainstorm lure locally made by the resident fish whisperer. There was nothing like this and the standard white bass staples hung on the racks including my favorite the Blakemore Roadrunner. Recalling a Trinity River trip I took decades ago when the water level was low and though the fish bit well I hung up and lost a ball cap full of hair crappie jigs on the old river snags it occurred to me that a few more Roadrunners for the box wouldn't hurt. I passed when I saw the premium market price with the sandbass run full on was $10 for a pack of two dressed with tails. I didn't need them that bad.   

They have been making Roadrunners since 1958 and I've fished them for about 40 years. Except for maybe the so called rough fish like gar, carp, buffalo, and grinnell which I imagine would bite if it crossed their path, I have caught everything else in Sam Rayburn Reservoir using this bait. Once I even hiked to the top of a rainforest mountain in Puerto Rico and caught some fish I never identified with a Ronco Pocket Fisherman and a Roadrunner. 

Even though you can buy a Roadrunner with any kind of wiggle tail you think attracts fish I usually buy mine in the bulk packages, undressed and they are $5. I then put my own tails on them. A few things to know about the Roadrunner is that you can't fish it wrong as long as you fish it slow and that any color is right as long as it is yellow, white or chartreuse. Usually I'll keep a few red or pink heads in stock and either the 1/16 or 1/8 size depending on the skill of the casters on the expedition. 

Grab a couple of Roadrunner packs, a variety of plastic wiggle tails and some light fishing tackle and head out to any place, any country and catch a fish dinner.    

 

Neches River Fishing Trip...

 

Seems that I've noticed a groundswell of public opinion that Cathy catches all the fish. We don't really keep count even though one time she tucked a wooden child's toy abacus into the fishing pack which no matter how much longer the Arabs or the Chinese or who ever the next war is with has been doing math than we have it was nowhere near adequate to manage the numbers we're talking about. That made us pretty much abandon keeping a count but there have been occasional trips where one of us did not speak to the other one much. 

Whatever the score is I want ya'll to remember that I always pick the spot and yesterday I picked Chandler River Park to see if we could cash in on the famed Texas white bass run.  Actually the white bass were not very cooperative as the spawning run seems to be happening in waves, good one day, off the next but we did manage a nice string of yellow bass. There is no size limit or numbers restriction on the yellow bass and while they run smaller than the whites I find the meat less coarse and tasty like a panfish.    

Our favorite white bass location, River Ridge Campground on the Sabine River, is closing down this year due to the health of the owners. It has been good access but this spot is about the same distance away and there are no fees to fish. As with any public spot there can be others fishing the same area and I imagine a weekend could get crowded but everyone I met was polite and courteous more so than the average largemouth bass angler you encounter on Sam Rayburn.

Here's Cathy with the 16 yellow bass we caught. Now and then we would see someone bring in a larger white bass and people that had been further up than us had fair mixed strings but reported that waders or hip boots would be necessary to reach these areas.   

 

Good eating. I like white bass but they are a stronger flavored fish than I'm used to and there is no way I want to be thawing frozen white bass on the Fourth of July.  

Only thing was that the money I saved from the free fishing park and the fresh caught fish dinner will go toward payment of the speeding ticket I got in some podunk town that seemed to be named Cooney, Tx. The police headquarters was located in a rusty mobile home. 

About 9pm last night I noted a car speed down my little dead-end neighborhood road that's partially asphalt and road base at a high rate of speed. If you count the mailman there might be seven people drive on this road in a day so anything out of the ordinary is pretty noticeable. Right after this vehicle passed another car followed. This was more out of the ordinary so I checked out back and sure enough the last car was law enforcement with lights flashing. I stood on my back deck to see what was going down and suddenly there was laughing from the parties involved, the speeding car left and the police shortly followed.

Now I admit guilt in my traffic stop but it is a bit galling that whatever this situation it was all fun and games to the people involved while I pay a big ticket.       

Go fishing, drive slow, cook what you catch. Have a laugh with the cops and write your own blog post.  

The Great Sand Bass Round Up...

We called it the Great Sand Bass Round Up because after all shouldn't we use social media to make life grander than it is? You don't have to answer that question but in the words of one of the fishing guides based out of River Ridge Campground and Guide Service after viewing our catch "that's nine more than you had." 

Matt was the big winner with six fish, Cathy had two and you see the photo of my one. The sandbar at for bank fishing at River Ridge is kind of a feast or famine type spot. They will be there or not. Boat fisherman are reporting 25 fish limits for every person in the boat chasing up and down the river and when I ask the guide if his clients were catching them well he said, "oh yeah." 

Cathy holds up a big sand bass. Using light tackle and roadrunner jigs it's fun fishing. All but two fish we caught were spawning females full of eggs. 

The san bar is a good place to set up a lawn chair and sit was the river flows past. Being this is a privately owned guide operation, campground and boat launch there is what they call a day camper fee which increased from $10 to $15 (I don't think you can blame this on Joe Biden) since our last visit. Ice is still $2 if you need it and while the guides were hanging around this day it's an honor system for payments. Fill out your permit, get ice from the freezer, drop your money through a slot in the office door. There is a fish cleaning station available, bathrooms, cabins for rent and a few trailer hook ups 

I think it's worth it. The only other bank fisherman showed up as we were leaving, there were maybe a dozen boat launchers and we saw only occasional traffic on the river and the area is clean and trash free. The guides reported that there were 47 cars at a nearby public fishing access point.  

The river is low, which is generally good for the sand bass run but with the currents it's an ever changing environment of sand as the Sabine flows to Toledo Bend Reservoir. This is the sand piles that are cleared to keep the boat ramp open. 

If you operate a private boat ramp on the Sabine River I think you should consider investing in a dragline.  

We fried a few fillets but the highlight of the evening meal was fillets on the grill topped with Cajun Power Spaghetti Sauce, a few popcorn shrimp, diced Zummo's sausage, lime, Cajun seasoning and butter. I served mine on a bed of seasoned home fries.  

A guide trip out of River Ridge will run $350 for two people. Of course that's limits of fish. White bass of which I have eaten plenty of is kind of a course fish when compared to catfish or crappie but tasty when well seasoned and grilled or blackened and depending on the body of water may have a consumption advisory I don't really need a freezer full of these things. Nothing screams fish like frozen sand bass you caught in March thawed out for a July 4th fish fry which of course, I have done just trying to make life grander than it is.

 

Checking Out The Sabine, Big Foot, Rare Blonde Albino Sabine Thang and More...

My fishing log shows that for the past several years we have been catch a few white bass on the Sabine River about this time of the year. We picked up Morgan and Parker and took a run over there just to see. 

On the way down the road to the river we saw this sign. I'm not saying it was Big Foot they saw but down along the Sabine is as good a place as any to look and at this unparalleled time in the history of the world when someone that barely got out of high school knows more than a person who has studied their whole life you can bet it probably was Big Foot.  

We did spot this rare blond albino juvenile Sabine Thang whipping the water to a frenzy with a Zebco 202 casting rig. As with so many sightings like this those people down the bank act like they are not seeing anything.  

The guide at River Ridge Jane Gallenbach  reported that a little rise from recent rain the bite, which had been in the river itself as opposed to up a creek when the water is high should pick up in a few days. We have not used a guide, preferring to fish from what they call "the sandbar." It can be hit or miss from the bank if you can't chase down fish in a boat but white bass is kind of a coarse eating fish and depending on the water body may have some consumption advisories. Sabine River white bass eaters are allowed six meals a month. That's more than I want anyway but be aware that with Trinity River and Lake Livingston white bass you are limited to I think one meal a month and none if in child bearing years.   

You do know the difference in a coon ass and a jack ass? It's the Sabine River. Guess which side they are on. 

Note that while sitting to fish the river has risen to Cathy's chair in a couple of hours. This was Cathy's first retirement fishing trip. I love the beautiful white sand beaches. Good place for the kids to play with lots of big mussel shells to find. The big filter feeders are usually a sign of clean water and big catfish. 

Rare blonde albino Sabine Thang was impressed with Pop-Pop's mud hogging abilities in the wet river sand. For some reason the grand kids always ask "what are you doing Pop-Pop?"   

The Zebco 202 rig has been a go to lately. Lots of practice casting in the yard, little bit of river fishing and it's perfect for luring those crafty felines out from under the truck. I think it might be unbreakable. 

If there is no rain we will probably check the Sabine again soon. We might catch fish, see a Big Foot or just kill the day sitting in a lawn chair. It will be ok whatever happens. 

 

Another White Bass Report...

Cathy used to tell me all the time how she was an old creek fisherwoman. Only thing she married a guy with a boat. She learned pretty quick how to fish from a boat. The past few years we have been making the trip up to River Ridge for some spring Sabine River sand bass fishing so she has had a bit of return to the roots.

If you do not know River Ridge it's a private property with some cabins and campsites to rent, a small boat launch, bank fishing and guide services available. It's never been crowded when I have been there but even though we have had pretty good luck a few times early season I don't think we have hit the main part of the run. People will come from everywhere for sand bass and it is often hit or miss depending on river flows with a bit rain likely to scatter fish way back up into the creeks. We like fishing from the sandbar at the boat launch because it's easy access and fishing. Here's our bank fishing wagon.   

River fishing can have a lot of hang ups and tossing the 1/16th and 1/8th ounce roadrunners the sandies like is a light tackle business. I remember a trip for a sand bass run on the Trinity way back in the late 70s. River access there usually involves climbing up and down steep, crumbling sandy banks. This particular year the river was low and we were casting white and yellow maribou jigs and we caught them well but due to the trees felled into the river by swift currents we lost a hatful of those jigs. I wear a big hat.     

Cathy usually catches the first fish and for some reason even though I have a nice heavy duty saltwater float stringer she always reaches for the one with the homemade pool noodle float.

 The sand bass run on the Trinity is reported to be on. For your info as to why I'm not fishing there is that due to mercury contamination the state advises three 8 ounce meals a month for adults, and one 8 ounce meal for women of childbearing age and children under 12. If you are eating Sabine sand bass it's 6.6 meals a month with no restriction mentioned for women and children. I like those odds.     

I talked to the guides before I left and they reported hit or miss, load the boat one day the next nothing. They expect action to pick up after Valentines day. Baring big rains we will try again after the big polar front. 

 

Two For One Blog Fishing Report...

I'm trying to keep up with the fishing reports. I'm tired of winter despite the fact that 60% of the USA, enough to win a presidential election gets snow. We have been as busy as an executive order fishing this week. 

I made a canoe trip up old Popher's Creek. That's the FM 2109 bridge. You remember old Chief Popher. I think about him every time I visit this area. His son killed a white man and fled. When the posse came the old Chief offered his life instead and one indigenous person was as good as another. They hung Chief Popher on the banks of this creek.  

Canoe trips are usually something I do alone or with my son Morgan. Cathy does not like to paddle. She will go in the canoe if I paddle and set her up with a cork fishing rig with a worm on a hook. We have caught a decent mess of panfish and bass out of this creek but I only managed one small bass today. I think it needs just a bit of water. 

Nutria rat swims upstream. If he saw me he paid me no mind. Looks like a small bear swimming. See my blog post from last week on rodents of unusual size. 

I don't think this white tailed deer has seen a man in a canoe before. She was real curious. With the road nearby you could hear road noises till the first bend was rounded but then it was all deer, birds, pine trees and woodpecker knocks. 

Our second trip this week was to River Ridge on the Sabine. You can see Cathy fishing from the clean white sand beaches. This is a private campground, boat ramp and guide service but a $10 day camper fee will let you fish from the bank and we have never been crowded fishing here. Apparently they own their own small dragline and it looks like a full time operation to keep the ramp from sanding in by the river currents.   

Total for the day was only 4 white bass but that's enough for supper. White bass is a course meat compared to catfish or crappie and for my taste it's best in blackened or broiled dishes. Fun to catch but I don't need a freezer full of these things. It's at the beginning of their spring run and we will probably check them out again. I do hear of fishing reports that indicate a good bite on white bass up the Angelina River from Lake Sam Rayburn.  

 

White Bass Report...

The grandkids came and we made a run to the Sabine River for some bank fishing to check on the white bass. Looks like boaters that had been out early were doing well. They are not quite in full swing from the bank and we caught 8 fat white bass. That may not seem like many but it fed 5 adults and two kids with a little bit of left overs. White bass are not quite the fine eating that Rayburn channel cats are but we won't turn down fresh fish ever.

Warren holds up one. With only 8 caught it's hard to make a scientific analysis but it seems a plain curly tail jig out fished the roadrunner today.  

One reason we like that Sabine is that there is plenty of sand for the kids to play in. 

Also a good place of a picnic lunch. 

Grandma fishes while the kids play. 

Once up on a time I was a dangerous dude. Nowadays I breeze right past homeland security in the airport and the game wardens drove right up, launched their boat and paid zero attention to me standing there fishing.  

While I fried fish we had a little crawfish to go from T-Boy's in Huntington. I think I got to do about everything I liked to do yesterday. I fished, I cooked, my mom came out, and the grandkids were there. I did not play guitar but that's ok. The grandkids were well aware that this was not "the big fish fry." 

Contrast to the grinnel fisherman in the last blog post is the fly fisherman. Several fly fishers on the river yesterday. 

The catch.