Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Fishing with Troy

I took off a couple of days this week to spend some time with Matt & Carly as they arrived on Saturday after completing the spring semester at OC.

They had to make a trip to the dentist on Monday morning and had plans on doing a little geocaching in Sugar Land following that so I had some free time in the wee hours of the morning to pursue my favorite recreational activity.

I mentioned my idea to Troy that I was considering a Plastic Navy pre-dawn strike at McNab and suspected that he might also me thinking about some R&R after preaching two great sermons on Sunday. My suspicions proved correct and we made plans to launch at daylight.



The weather had changed significantly as a cool front had come through dropping the temps into the high 40's. The tide was in and we had no trouble on the way in to the lake.



Troy was using a Pelican 116 this trip which proved to be a better paddle than the tandem he had on the last trip. Josh let him borrow it "this time" but I suspect he will be angling to go himself in the future. Troy found out (like Tracy did) that scupper plugs are handy if you don't like a wet seat. The accumulation of water proved to be useful as the reader will see at the end of this post.



We fished the back corner with no luck but as Troy was about to paddle into a flooded area he heard a sound that convinced him to stay out. I couldn't record the sounds as it was too windy but if you click here you can get an idea of what it sounded like.

Gator mating season must be in full swing as we heard several in a relatively small area growling and bellowing. It was pretty cool to be nearby but not too near!

Troy connected with this rat red which proved tro be our only fish of the day.



I almost had a crab but he turned loose just shy of the net. Speaking of nets, I had to recover Troy's net as it got hung up on a low-hanging limb and he returned the favor when mine popped out and was heading for the bottom. We tried to paddle back to the next lake and made it pretty far but didn't find a passage through.

When we returned to the launch, Troy was unloading when he found this little guy in the puddle of water that had collected in his seat:



Talk about a livewell!

I had a great time even though I ended up fishless. Troy is a serious fisherman and we make a formitable team. Bring on the tournament!

2 comments:

Paul Batchelder said...

Gator growl?? You should have baited up the shrimp!

Bawana said...

Troy looks like a good man and a serious prospect for a partner. First however he must pass the ultimate test,following you to SLC through the snow and ice to grab the last hour of daylight wearing dress clothes and sucking the Ice out of the guides every second cast.Obawana has spoken.