The Nights Before Christmas

"Twas several nights before Christmas and all along the river, some crazy fishermen were fishing in between the shivers."

We headed to PPRV #7 on Sunday afternoon and got set up in time to attend evening services in Bay City. After church, grocery shopping, and dinner, I headed out to fish for trout in the river. It was cold enough for my wool hat and fishing scarf and I was expecting great things. I caught a 16" speck on the first cast and thought this was going to be one of those nights. It turned out to be a fun night with lots of fish but no more that were legal.

The light puts a mean spot in the water and it attracts the bait like a magnet.

I did catch this small red who was lurking near the rocks on a gulp shrimp.

This little speck took a nice picture for the blog.

The sand trout were small but plentiful.

We were joined by this heron on a few nights. He was a pretty good fisherman!



I got to paddle on Monday morning. McNab was the destination and redfish were the target. I found pretty good water and when I made it to the first fork I also found some redfish! They were undersized but hungry. I ended up paddling all the way to the lake and couldn't find the big ones but it was nice to be out and paddling anyway.


This guy had a short bottom jaw but could still suck in a gulp shrimp!

Sky shot.

Double spot.

This rosy cheek went for a gulp swimming mullet.

I went back out on Tuesday for a rematch. The wind had picked up and I paddled all over the lake before I finally connected with these two brutes.


The first one was a 26" hog that peeled drag like a freight train and made one blistering run after another. I was in a windy spot and he was trying to pull me against the waves. The results were some cold water coming on board but in the end I was happy to string him up.


By the time I had #1 secured, I was pushed up against the bank of the channel leading to the back lake. I heard a big sploosh behind me and flipped my gulp over my shoulder and soon had the 23 incher running for his life.



We had to cut our camping trip short due to the loss of a dear family member.

We will return for some fishing in the New Year. Merry Christmas everyone!