El Loco Pescador

 Yesterday, my buddy Justin and I took a fishing trip recently down to Galveston to fish the causeway bridge at night. So after waking up at 1:15am we loaded up and got to the bridge and had our kayak's in the water, ready to fish around 3:30am or so (yes I know we are crazy, but we both love to fish - so whats a little sleep ;). We fished the lights around the bridge for speckled trout, and whatever else we could catch. We each caught a few dinks too small to keep and just missed some bigger fish. Justin ended up with 1 keeper Spec, and I kept a large sand trout. After that we went to another spot up the road around 7am. There I caught a really nice 18 inch flounder and a small croaker, and that was that. We packed up and headed back, after having lunch at a really cool restaurant in Galveston called the Sunflower Bakery and Cafe - I need to bring Melanie back to this one, she would love it. We were hoping for more fish, but had fun none the less.

Founder & Sand Trout

The fish tasted great spiced up and grilled with some lemon butter

Fox Fire Vacation

Well, we just got back from our summer vacation to the Sabinal River, just North of Utopia, Tx. We had a blast getting to stay at Fox Fire cabins with Melanie's parents. We had fun fishing and swimming in the river, and had some close encounters with nature that we usually dont see in our neck of the woods.

The first day there, right after breakfast Tatum let out a scream (which is not uncommon - our kids are screamers :) while on the front porch and started yelling Tarantula! Tarantula! - Mel's dad and I gave each other a look like yeah right here we go again, but come to find out there was indeed a Tarantula where Tatum was hunting for Rolley-Polies (I guess the huge spider was hunting too!). We were all a little surprised, as tarantulas are not a common sight in Houston.

Well after that encounter, we went down to the river for a swim and after about an hour or so, a visitor decided to come to our side of the river, and Melanie was in rare form as she began yelling to the girls to get out of the water quick as a snake came across to our side of the river (needless to say, Melanie did not make it back in the river again on the trip - snakes are not on her list of favorites) After a blow from a rock and a .22 the snake regretted its decision to come across to our side of the river...

The guy who ran the place, Bert, said that a flood about a month ago was probably the cause of this guy getting washed down around our part of the river. He said that he hadn't seen a seen a snake in quite a while - Just our luck. After a little research on my part, I found out it was a Rat snake also called a chicken snake - non venomous.

After the snake drama, we decided to head to the house for naps, and later that night we drove about 45 minutes southwest of Utopia to a bat cave, home to more than 10,000,000 bats, and as we walked up a few hundred thousand decided to come out for the night, and this is what it looked like... (sorry for the bumpy footage)

                                    

These bats were Brazilian (or Mexican) bats, and after the first wave of bats, there was another much bigger wave that came out as the sun was going down. This wave was much longer, and bats were still pouring out as we left. Our guide said that this is the second biggest known bat colony in the world.

Even Bodie was impressed by all the bats

Mamma and her little bats

 Well, after seeing Tarantulas, Snakes, and Bats (and that was just day 1), We decided to head for civilization in the form of a water park in Bandera at the Flying L Ranch. We had lots of fun there and Mel didn't have to worry about snakes getting her babies!

What is better on a hot day after a water park than an ice cram cone from a neat little place in Medina called the Apple Store, known for its apple flavored ice cream. 

 The next day, I had the opportunity to do some fly fishing on stretches of the river and catch some real pretty Perch, Blue Gill, and Bass in the river. I got to use my grandpa Kratky's fly fishing reel, and I had been practicing casting at home for the past couple of weeks, and it paid off as you can see...

 

 And on the last day there, I went to the Utopia Park Lake to do some fishing from my Kayak. In the morning I arrived about 6:45 and set up shop in the lake and was all ready to go when I realized that I left my tackle bags back at the house... bummer... major bummer! Well, I had a decision to make. I could either load up and go back to the house and get my tackle (a 45 minute trip), or use the one swim tail worm that I had and fish with it, and see how long it would last. I decided to go on ahead and fish with what I had. At least I would have some pretty scenery and get some exercise paddling the Lake. I ended up catching 10-12 bass there, with the biggest two being 3+ pounds. Not bad for a little green texas rigged worm with a light spinning rod & reel. 

Big Dawg

My tackle for the Lake

  Here are a few pics of the Lake in Utopia - A real pretty sight...

Well, I guess you can see what my favorite thing to do was on vacation, but there was alot of fun to be had on the river. When I got back Papa and me took the girls did a little fishing as well on the river. Even Melanie got into the act, and before the end of the trip she was casting a spinning rod like a pro!

And yes... another first, as Laney caught a whopper on the river that day...

                                   

After about 20 minutes of fishing, the girls decided it was time to make like a fish and swim. The girls swam and played and had fun trying to catch minnows on the shore. Here are a couple of videos of play time in the river...

                                

More from the Sabinal...

                                

  Here are a few more pics of out time at Fox Fire...

Bodie & Nana

 

Watermelon anyone?

3 of the most wanted criminals in Texas...

 

  

 Well, I originally intended this to be a quick recap of our vacation, but as I got going I found more and more pictures, videos, and stories to tell here. All in all we had a blast at Fox Fire, as it was nice to get away from the big city and have some fun. Looking back on the trip it does seem a little traumatic with all the different animals we came in contact with, but the girls and Bodie were all troopers and had fun with our surroundings. Having Nana and Papa there made it extra special, and we enjoyed sharing time with them on our 2012 vacation to Fire Fox.