Fish live here

[Ron Mc]

but wait, I'm getting ahead of myself.
You gotta start somewhere

hey, it gets better.
Curtis got the next one for the morning

This is already a pretty good wade-hike-wade, but I would have settled for this beauty for my fish for the day

waded in the hundred-year-old dam and caught 3 of these right away

Called Tony upriver and put him on the spot - the hundred-year-old dam is to the left

a nice view from the skinny water at the top of the hundred year old dam pool

Curtis near the top

And after he passed me up, looking upriver from the next riffle

looking downriver at Jake

still farther upriver, the weir above is the end of the wade

but I didn't hang, I beat back down to the cypress tunnel
and got my bass of the day

and not a bad way to end

ever seen a red-ear with his head as big as your hand?

[LabRat]

Holy smokes that thing is huge!

[Ron Mc]

I've caught some big red ears, but I think that's the best.
They're pretty smart fish. When you release them, they hang close to your feet and watch you until you leave their territory.

Curtis sent me some photos, and I guess I picked these to show.
his best lily pad bass


and great color on a yellow belly


a little lepomis sp. warmouth, a species you don't see posted too often


Curtis also aimed his camera at me with a little yellow belly and a lonsdale stogie


Mark, you should have connected with Curtis and ridden to join us. We fished 5 people and 3 kayaks came downriver, and we never got in each other's way.
There is so much great water here, you can't fish it all, and you want to keep moving to see what's next.

[Jimbo Roberts]

That Red Ear is enormous !
I'd trade that one for my day here in Wyoming.

Jimbo

[LabRat]

I seriously thought about it, but a friend was speaking at church and I didn't want to miss that. Plus I had hopes that Brushy Creek would be fishable, but it is still out of its banks in the section I wanted to fish. I will have to take a rain check.

[Ron Mc]

I didn't even mention the chile relleno at Mamacitas

[LabRat]

Nice! Where is that restaurant?

[Ron Mc]

the original is in Kerrville, and is kind of a standard stop for us when we fish Hunt.
http://www.mamacitas.com/Locations/All-Locations

[Ron Mc]

That Red Ear is enormous !
I'd trade that one for my day here in Wyoming.

Jimbo

posting on the forum - you must be home again

The red ear was a brute on my little Driggs River cane - I was standing on the gravel bar at the top of Schumacher's lake - it drops from ankle-deep to 8', and the fish was going everywhere. I couldn't decide if it was big sunfish or a stumpy bass, because when its back broached the water, it was wide enough to be a bass. Just had to hang on and wait it out. It made several good runs in the open water. It was also doing a really strange flop underwater, like maybe it had learned a way to wrench a hook loose. I've caught several big red ears and usually when you release them, they don't go away - they stay there and watch you to make sure you leave their territory.

We caught this same fish at the same spot for 4 years down from Wagon Wheel - she looks equally old, though not quite as well-fed