Fishing with Family on the Copano Bay Bridge

I usually avoid fishing the Copano Bay Fishing Bridge. After all It seems like I only catch small sheephead and rat reds, so when Jeff and Kris told me they had bought fishing licenses for their last day in Texas I was in a bit of a quandary.
Not many places to go to as it was mid afternoon so what the heck and we bought a pint of live shrimp and paid our three dollars a pole as we walked onto the bridge. Passing quite a few fishermen we didn't see any stringers and only a few hard head catfish being caught.
Regardless we walked further out and I looked for my secret tell of good places, (and if I told you it wouldn't be a secret would it?). I showed them how to fish pilings for sheephead and actually had a small one steal my bait.
So we fished a bit and Kris yelled for a net but the fish got off. Disappointed she returned to the place of her bite, but it was Jeff's turn as he caught a keeper sheephead. Kris soon followed with another and Jeff added a legal black drum. They were both so excited to be catching fish and here it was the fishing bridge of all places.

They caught other small fish and that was ok as it was so nice to see them having a blast. Returning to the rv I cleaned the fish and we went out to a farewell dinner at Los Comales. The next morning I took their fish to them as they loaded their car and headed north for the snow and the cold.
 It had been a special week for Renita and I as we had missed their wedding while in Alaska. After they left I finally noticed that my tail gate latch had been fixed as the wire I had attached wasn't hanging out. Thanks Kids!

The next day we had to go into Corpus but on Sunday Roy and I returned to the Copano Bay Bridge. Walking clear out to the end we started fishing pilings but we only caught stingrays and hard heads. Working our way back in I had a solid fish on and it took off in a run typical of a nice black Drum.
After a hard fight, Roy netted it for me and it measured 27 inches long. Now I couldn't remember the slot limit for Texas and so I released it and that was ok. Sometimes fish should get lucky.
After several hours of nothing but hard leads and stingrays, we reached the spot where Jeff and Kris had connected with their keepers.The fish had moved but persistence paid off and we caught a nice gaff top catfish and another big drum. Walking over to another couple I asked if they knew the slot limit for black drum and the lady got out her smart phone and looked it up! Maybe I do need a smart phone after all!The black drum was twenty six inches and it would be a nice addition to our fish and chip dinner tonight.

The other couple caught a nice gaff top and gave it to us when they left, so now we had three nice fish. Roy mentioned to me that maybe I need to fish the Copano Bay Bridge as my luck there has changed. I agree! Clear skies

Pompano, A great Day at the Beach

 

Sometimes it happens like it’s supposed to. Weather, surf, and the fish all cooperate and you have a red letter day on the beach. Not that every day at the beach isn’t special. I mean even a tough day at the beach is still better then working.

So it couldn’t have happened at a better time as Renita’s family is here both Pam and Roy and their daughter and her husband who are newlyweds, Kris and Jeff. So of course we headed to the beach, (the kids have never seen the ocean, living in Iowa). Oh and the beach to us is Padre Island National Seashore, which is away from the spring break partiers up near Port Aransas.

It wasn’t five minutes after we arrived that Roy had a nice pompano in the cooler. Soon Jeff fought one in only to have it fall off the hook as he raised it for a picture. About then the happy hour bunch arrived and poles were tossed out up and down the surf.

Pompano were being caught by everyone but one fisher women was on fire and that was Riva. She is a phenomenal surf fisher and she soon had three pompano in her cooler! I wondered what I was doing wrong and so by watching her I realized I was tossing out too far, the fish were in the first cut.

I soon caught one myself although it was smaller than the others, but that’s ok, we had pompano for dinner! Too soon I had to leave for my dentist appointment. Later, when everyone returned to the park, there was no doubt as to the pompano champion, Riva. While everyone caught fish she caught seven nice pompano, (Did I mention she is in her upper seventies and still wades out into the surf)?

Now the kids think that every day on the beach is easy fishing, and filled with sun, sand, and shells. Little do they realize that being retired is tough work…… Clear skies

Death of A Whooper Chick in St Charles Bay

It was the saddest news, a whooper chick was shot and killed by a duck hunter in St Charles Bay. I am sure it was one of the whoopers that we saw when we canoed the bay this past January. His excuse was that he didn't know the area was closed to sand hill crane hunting, "No one told me", he is quoted as saying in the Corpus Christi Times.
Apparently he never saw the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge signs that ring the shore along the bay(Duck hunting blinds ring the shore of St Charles Bay). Apparently he never saw the parents that always fly with their first year young. Never mind that by JANUARY THEY ARE STARTING TO LOSE THEIR GREY PLUMAGE AND REPLACING IT WITH THEIR ADULT WHITE COLORS.

What bothers me most is not that the excuse was accepted by the federal magistrate in Dallas, (oh did you know the hunter is from Dallas), What bothers me the most is that the federal and state authorities removed all information from their websites before the trial.
So he got off with a fifteen thousand dollar fine and two years of hunting privileges,(A South Dakota man was fined eighty five thousand dollars and lost his hunting and fishing rights for five years).
There is so much I don't know about it all. We have only been watching the whoopers of St Charles Bay for the past five years. I am not anti hunting as I am a hunter and I have hunted all my life. I do know that Texas has a booklet of rules and regulations that I read before I go out into the field. Perhaps the man doesn't know how to read.  Like I said, I don't know.  All I do know is that there is one less whooper chick flying in the clear skies of St Charles Bay...........................

The Gulf Coast Gem and Mineral Show 2013

 

The tables were all set up, the display cases filled, and it was almost ten am with the doors soon to be open. It was our third time here since we started selling and I don’t know what was more exciting to me, the selling or the buying opportunities.

Of course selling is important as we have to sell to make more room and money for new acquisitions, but we are collectors first. Sometimes when we sell a piece Renita looks at me wistfully and says, “I really didn’t want to sell that.”, but it was time to let someone else enjoy the piece.

The day was steady and of course I rushed to our friend Dick’s table, to buy star garnets and tiger eye. Renita had already spent some money on beautiful slabs but that’s what our mad money is for, whatever we want! Later I added some lavender star corundum and some opal, definitely for our private collection.

At the end of the day we had steady sales and I was almost flat broke but that’s how it’s supposed to be. Tired we went home and prepared for the tomorrow by making another pair of chain 14k gold filled wire chain mail earrings.

The next day we slept later before heading back to Robstown for the second day of the show. It didn’t take me long to buy some more stones, and later I picked up some stunning blue agate from Malawi. I also bought the prettiest red flame agate I have ever seen and so it won’t be long before we are back in the shop sawing slabs,

Our sales were good even though the nice weather kept the crowd smaller than last year, but we did make some great connections and that’s the most important thing about the show. That of course is meeting new people who have the same love of rock, minerals and fossils? Clear skies

 

ps the display is one set up and designed by our friend Mark Wolbrink

 

Dental Work, Happy Hour, Rocking at the Rock Shop, and Making Chain Mail, (the Idiots Delight)

I simply can’t believe how fast time flies by! It’s been over a week since I have updated the blog and I guess it’s been because we have been so busy. The past week has seen us busily preparing for the Gulf Coast Gem and Mineral Show, feasting on Happy Hour ribs and brisket, getting caught up on my dental work, and making chain mail,(and yes the pattern is called the Idiots Delight which kind of tells you something).

So let’s get the bad news done first. Last fall I went outside to take a picture of the moon, poking its way through the smoke filled haze. As I was taking images with my mouth open I sneezed and of course my loose dental crown fell out. We spent the next two days looking for it as it fell into gravel, with no luck.

Knowing I now had to plan a trip to Mexico to replace the crown I was so overjoyed that I put it off until my tooth became worse. Deciding that it was time to visit a US dentist, Renita called and found one that had crowns for only 595. So we spent two days driving back and forth from here to Corpus Christi and I had a wonderful time with an extraction and a root canal. Suffice it to say it was more than 595……

The rest of the week was much more pleasant. Our happy hour group had a brisket and ribs cook off and so we all gathered on Friday and enjoyed the work of chefs Jim and Gerry. I of course was restricted to soft food so I concentrated on the desserts. Lois made her carrot cake, (which drew a marriage proposal from one of the men,) and Jane made her homemade and handpicked blackberry pie. They were both to die for!

Saturday we went to the rock shop and I sawed rocks as Renita ground a stunning charoite cabochon As we were working our friend and mentor Dick showed up and gave us his usual expert advice. He told me my beautiful blue chalcedony was dyed and he told Renita her cabochon was asymmetrical, he certainly doesn’t mince words! However at 88 years old he knows about ten times more than we do and so we both thanked him for his input.

Finally I have come up with a design for making chain mail. It’s actually from a silversmith book. I first made a mandrel to form the rings from a piece of straight round wire, then sawed and trimmed each ring, before joining them in a weave pattern called, the Idiots Delight. Now the book says it’s named that because you may feel like an idiot trying to figure it out and suffice it to say I definitely took a while to get it right.

Of course I made my first two in brass and copper and then ordered premade rings from our supplier for one in sterling silver and one in 14k gold filled wire. I really would like to make my own rings from gold and silver but my saw isn’t good enough to cut the rings without a lot of wasted metal. The purchased rings still required me to handle each one three times in preparation for the chaining.

Regardless, I love making the chain mail and the modified necklaces and Renita says I do tend to sit there and grin while making them, hmmmm. Clear skies.

Valentine’s Day, At the Beach of Course!

 

Valentine’s Day arrived and of course the age old dilemma was here, what to do? Candy is out and restaurants rarely have a balanced diet so……Lets go fishing at the beach! I mean doesn’t every women want to don her waders, dress warmly and fish for pompano and whiting?

So Renita made a picnic lunch and we headed for the Padre Island National Seashore. It’s one of our favorite places to fish and beachcomb as there isn’t much pressure. There had also been an article in the newspaper saying that the pompano had been biting and we both love grilled pompano.

It’s a bit of a drive from here, about fifty miles, and it involves riding the ferry so an hour and a half later we reached one of our gps fishing spots. Setting up two poles Renita quickly had a bite and reeled in a whiting. Now whiting are a good white meat, fish so into the ice chest it went.

I added another and then had a good hit that turned out to be a pompano, yeah! For the next three hours we had bite after bite, and had to stop fishing so we could eat lunch. The wind increased and the tide started coming in so it was almost time to leave. We had a dozen whiting and three nice pompano so it looked like dinner would be fresh fish!

The drive home was a lot quicker,(Renita was behind the wheel), and now for the fish cleaning. Renita and our friends all helped. Some even threatened to snatch fish fillets off of the cleaning table. I had to yell at one of the brown pelicans who was almost touching me, and the gulls oh well they are gulls after all.

It didn’t take long and I was soon dipping the whiting fillets into beer batter. Nothing like fish and chips, along with Loretta’s Southwest salad to complete the meal. It was a perfect Valentine’s day, a picnic  on the beach, fishing and a seafood dinner! Clear skies

Rain, Rock, and a Small Show

We taught a wire wrapping class and then it was time to get ready for our shows. So besides going to the shop, for more sawing, we also did some wire wrapping, and getting our display items priced and ready.

Somehow we have reached the point where we have too much stuff. I had a nice talk at the lapidary shop with our friend Mark about the difference between collecting and hoarding and we decided it’s not hoarding if you sell items.

I was actually able to finish sawing the British Columbia and Alaskan Jade and the juror is in. It’s mostly crummy jade. Yes I will be able to make some pieces and yes we do have one piece that is head and shoulders above the other rocks, but for most part the northern jade is simply too fractured, I refuse to wax and buff the jade, which hides the flaws and is what is done with all the Chinese made jade figures sold in Alaska and BC).

Renita did make several beautiful pieces on the grinding wheels, her usual stunning red jasper piece and several leopard skin jasper cabs that are almost too beautiful to sell,)ok we will sell one but only if the price is right).

Back home,(remember we live in a fifth wheel), I made a beautiful 14k gold filled wire/charoite bracelet that we are listing at $495, and that’s a good price for stunning charoite as the others on Etsy at that price are sterling silver. I also wrapped a charoite pendant to match, also in 14k gfw, and priced it at $165.

The morning of our rv parks arts and crafts sale came and so did the rain. Molly and I went for a walk and the rain hit so hard and fast that we got a free bath. It poured as it only does in tropical areas and soon the streets were flooded, (rain amounts were recorded at 3-4 inches in less than three hours.

The rain finally slowed and we were able to set up in the recreation hall. We really didn’t have a lot of hope but it was good for us to practice our setup before our big show in March, (there we have four tables reserved). Both of us were a little surprised as we filled two ten foot tables with ease, and that was just with our cabochons and custom made jewelry, (yep we made it all here in the USA and its hand made one of a kind wearable art).

A few people showed up but we did sell some pieces and we did have more people request another wire wrapping class and so that’s good.  We were not allowed to advertise outside the park as there is no parking here, but that’s ok as this really isn’t our market. Our market is at juried arts and craft shows and gem, mineral, and fossil shows,( did I mention we are also now selling fish fossils, mammoth and mastodon teeth, and even fossil horse teeth from the Peace River in Florida, not collected by us but bought from an estate sale).

So we still have some samples to saw and polish, but for the most part we are show ready. We do hope to have some more success here and we are looking forward to the coming summer in Wyoming. Now if I can just figure out how to make a five piece tiger eye pendant and matching neck wire before we get there….. Clear skies




ps, there is some ok jade in BC but its all sold to China and  the BC jade mine wouldn't sell us any. Plus even the best in Alaska and Canada is not as good as the stunning quality Wyoming nephrite jade, and you can take that to the bank!