Our Favorite Saltwater Fish

Just as we have different tastes, Renita and I both rate the Saltwater Sheepshead as our favorite fish to eat! Close behind it is the Black Drum, followed by Speckled trout, and finally Redfish. There are many fish that are better, Flounder and Pompano are two, but we rarely catch them. Right now, the Sheepshead are moving into the bays for spawning and are very catchable. If you have never caught a sheepshead, think of a freshwater bluegill that may weigh up to eight pounds and be a length up to twenty-three inches. The fish in Texas must be fifteen inches to keep, and a measuring stick is a must! Our favorite ways to cook them includes beer batter and baked Parmesan Crusted Fillets. We also like to grill them on a half shell, (after filleting them leave the skin on). The grilled half shell works good for redfish. Finally, there are other fish we sometimes enjoy, Gaff Topped Catfish is one and Spanish Mackerel are both great when grilled or smoked. Also add Black Tipped, Bonnethead, and Atlantic Shark to the list, but we rarely catch them. (I am limiting myself to Texas Saltwater fish). Feel free to add your favorite in the comments. Clear skies ps and of course they are best when freshly caught, cleaned, and cooked. Yesterday, I cuaght my personal best sheepshead, a 21.5 inch fish

Watching a dolphin fish in Rockport's Harbor

December has been an extremely busy month! Between Renita shopping and my rush to make jewelry, we haven’t done a lot of exploring. So, when our friend John told us about a place where we could catch fish from shore, we decided to take a short drive down Waters Street. Parking, we grabbed our phones and polarized sunglasses and headed out for a short walk along a small, protected part of the Harbor. As we neared the end of the walkway a dolphin surfaced.

It had been doing its own fishing and didn’t stop just because it had an audience. The large male dolphin would swim and herd the school of mullet into a frenzied mass before it would dive under and rising through the school emerge with a fresh fish in its mouth! I

t was the first time we have ever seen a dolphin with a fish in its mouth, and the first time it had a large mullet or speckled trout! Swallowing its meal it then hurried to cause the school to panic into a tight group before it again dive and then rose through the middle of the school with another lunch in its mouth! We only had our phones for pictures, (the pictures are Renita's using her old I phone), so they are not the best but she caught the action. Now that Christmas is over, we hope to do some fishing ourselves. Renita is excited about the new fishing reel Santa left her! Clear skies

Our fishing report, Texas 2025

I never thought of retirement as time to relax. One friend, a retired English teacher told me to never sit in a rocking chair as you will end up rocking your life away. You may also think you have lots of time, but when you retire you find out that time is the most precious thing you have left, so don’t waste it! I haven’t posted a new blog in a while because there is never enough time, so here is a brief catchup post. My time for the first half of December has been spent fishing and making jewelry for next year’s shows. The fishing was good, for the most part. My friend Dave and I have been concentrating on black drum. He did catch and release a thirty-six-inch red fish, one that big is a spawner and must be released) My big fish so far is a thirty-five-inch black drum, about 21 pounds. Thats too big to keep and so it was released unharmed. We have caught and eaten slot sized black drum, which is between fourteen to thirty inches and they taste great. Many anglers here in Texas prefer Red Fish but we like sheepshead, black drum, and speckled trout, (I don’t even mention flounder because its rare for us to catch a keeper.

The cold fronts are driving the speckled trout away from the shore, where we have been catching them on crankbaits. Our friend Dan did catch a beautiful 20-inch sheepshead which will feed two to four people. Today a cold front with winds from 20-30 mph is coming through so it’s a good time to catch upon the blog (which is our journal about retirement, its a way for us to remember and we have now been retired for eighteen yaers). I also have some repair work to do on our rv, if you didn’t know the initals rv, stands for repair vehicle. So hopefully I will get the work done early and go back to having fun, making jewelry while we watch the Broncos play the Green Bay Packers. Go Broncos! Clear skies

Fishing the Bitterroot, Hamilton, Montana

Our time up North was drawing to a close, we still had one thing to do, and that was to visit our daughter Jen and her husband Eric. Of course, the main purpose was to see them, but we had also never fished on the Bitterroot. It’s one of the classic Western streams that contains native Cutthroat, introduced Browns, and even some rainbows. No fishing trip would be complete without going to the local fly shop and buying flies, both dry and wet. The owner was very knowledgeable and talked us into spending about one hundred dollars, he also told us that if it was a clear sunny day and the fish wouldn’t be biting. Walking out of the shop we enjoyed the warmth of the bright sun.

A hatch was occurring of tiny, and I mean tiny mayflies so besides various nymphs, wet flies that sink, I purchased some size 22 and 24 dries that matched the hatch. The Bitterroot runs from south to north so we drove to a public access point to the north and if the first spot didn’t work would drive south fishing other access points if needed, At the first stop Jen and Eric walked upstream while Renita and I started at the bridge. I was throwing a streamer, which resembles a minnow, and Renita tied on a size 14 purple haze, (which he also said worked and it’s a fly we use a lot in Wyoming). Neither of us had any takers, or even lookers so we walked upstream. I waded out to a small island and saw two fish taking something off the top. Changing flies, I put on a dry purple haze and on the second cast a fish rose and took my dry! I was so excited I pulled the fly out of its mouth and missed it. After numerous casts, I switched to a tiny size 24 mayfly but still no luck.

We walked further upstream and at a sunken tree I spotted probably the biggest cutthroat I have ever seen. Casting my fly, the trout simply swam into a mass of roots, all I could see was its tail. It never looked at my fly! I should have taken a picture with my phone as I didn’t have a snowballs chance in hell of catching it. Even if it had taken my offering, it would have simply swam into the roots and broken my leader. Meanwhile Renita headed to another spot and tried again without any success. Jen and Eric met us and I told them about the huge trout. They never saw the fish as it had moved deeper into its lair. We decided to move to another access point, without any luck. To add to our misery there were quite a few fish taking very small flies, which we couldn’t see. I switched to a size 24 dry, but it didn’t matter, The sun was still shining brightly, (note the excuse from the fly shop owner)! A bald eagle flew overhead deciding we were no threat to its food source, (do you like the way I change the subject)? Jen hadn’t caught any fish either and talked about spotting a school of large fish feeding on the bottom. They were probably Mountain whitefish, a tasty white meat fish, but they wouldn’t bite on our offerings. As we prepared to leave, the sun was still shining brightly! Renita and I both kept casting until Jen told us we had to go, as we had reservations at our favorite steakhouse. It wasn’t the first time we had been skunked. We will be back! Clear skies

Port Aransas, Bollards, A Bittern, and Black Drum

We hadn’t been to Port Aransas for a while and we have been meaning to go see the Bollard coverings. Each year volunteers cover the bollards, (posts that prevent cars from entering areas, with knitting that decorates them. The coverings are removed before spring break.

Dan and Barb had also planned on going so we got together and planned a mutual adventure. Arriving at the beach, after purchasing a beach permit, we started to walk, view, and photograph them, ( we did this several years ago and tried to just take pics of the newest ones).

We were surprised to see that there are now over four hundred covered bollards, and the walk turned into a pleasant form of exercise.

Here is another of our favorites!

After finishing our walk our next plan was to go birding at Charles Pasture and then the Leorna Turnbill Birding Center. We had just finished eating our picnic lunch at Charley’ Pasture when Renita spotted an American Bittern. They are extremely hard to spot as their camoflague is excellent. Renita had her camera and I had left mine in the car!

Dan also had his camera which has the same zoom lens we do and so they both followed the American Bittern as it walked and stopped looking for its prey! The large bird didn’t seem to care about us but it stayed in the brownish brush, making it difficult to focus.

Still, Dan and Renita both got some good shots, (the first two are Dans).

It turned out to be a new life bird for Barb and Dan, they already had a least bittern, one bird we have not yet seen. It was a fun day at Port Aransas! Thanks for sharing the day we us!

Another day Dave and I went fishing to one of our favorite places. I had an exceptional day catching three Black drum. Two measured just under thirty inches and a third was twenty six inches. I ended up taking two home, (I accidently dropped the other twenty nine inch fish overboard while trying to put it into the live well). While I have caught my limit of black drum, these were the three largest I have caught in a single day! Clear skies

Black drum

It’s been too long since I have written in the blog, (which is really my personal journal). It’s now time to catch up! Our jewelry and rock shows are about to start and my excuses for not writing are many. So, the first catch up blog is basically a fishing report. I have been fishing with my friend Dave who as usual out fished me in the catching department. We have concentrated on black drum, mostly with lots of small fish and an occasional keeper. Did I forget to mention oversize fish? Both the red and black drums have slot limits. For the black drum the fish must be at least fourteen inches and with a maximum size of thirty inches. All others must be released, (unless you catch a black drum over fifty-four inches which is not going to happen). The huge black drum are the spawners. They are tremendous fighters and difficult to get in the boat. Their bite starts as a few taps and then they run. Twice this year Dave and I have both been spooled. That means that the fish decides to head out for Gulf of Mexico and takes all the line off your reel. Yup all the line! Tightening the drag, already set, causes the knot or line to brake, (which is a good way to release the fish as the hook quickly rust out) Another tactic of the fish is too head for the nearest barnacle covered object. When the fish gets around it the line is quickly cut by the razor-sharp edges. Sometimes I use reels with fifty-pound braid, with the same result! The largest we boated this year was the one first pictured, a black drum that measured forty-six inches, (estimated at forty-nine pounds, with the world record being over one hundred and thirteen pounds).

My largest this year was thirty-seven inches and the one pictured is thirty-two inches and all were safely released.The one in the cooler is twenty seven inches and tasted great!

Did I say that they are one of my favorite fish to eat? The pictures speak for themselves, Clear skies, and tight lines!

Summer shows and friends visits

It’s been a crazy busy three weeks! In that time, we have attended, set up, and sold at three shows, had visits from two sets of friends, and even found time to go fishing. While I have already discussed the Alpine and Cody Shows, which are multiday shows, we also had a very abbreviated show at our rv park.

Renita did take an image of me actually working at the Cody Show, (several had suggested that I make her do all the work, which is not true as I do help her with advice…. She also took some images of the 4th of July parade at Cody, Wyoming.

Last week our dear friends Bob and Nancy visited us. Unfortunately, hot weather arrived and their VRBO did not have any air conditioning. We don’t have it either and we never had air conditioning when we lived in Gillette. Here the temperature drops as soon as the sun sets and is usually in the forties or fifties. Bob and I did attempt to go fishing at my secret fishing hole, but the altitude made the walking treacherous and so after an hour we slowly headed back to our place, (we caught and released four large trout, three cutthroats and a brown. These are all wild native fish. That evening they told us they needed to return home, but not before we taught them how to play Jokers and Pegs. Last weekend we had a record sales in the show at our park. Renita was so busy with the credit cards that I almost felt guilty, but she knows better than to let me mess things up. My job is to tell stories, which are mostly true. We may sell at another show but we really need to make cabochons to replace all that we have sold. Our biggest selling stones for this year were made of Kingman turquoise, larimar, and Wyoming jade. We usually make the stones in the summer and then finish them into jewelry in the winter time. We have also played quite a bit of Pickleball, and even though we love playing we have been beaten badly, even getting pickled, (when you don’t score a point). It doesn’t matter as long as we get our exercise and try to improve our game, have fun, and don’t fall!

Finally, we were visited by an old friend Robert Woolery. I mentored him when he was a new hire in Gillette and he told us he won teacher of the year in his Arizona and Syracuse Schools. It was so nice to see him again and to tell old teaching stories. Thanks for the visits! Clear skies

Birding on Grand Isle, Walking around the State Park

As always, we left Grand Isle on a happy note. It’s such a wonderful place and Connie and Gary are the best! Gary took me fishing to his secret place and I caught a sixteen-inch trout. He also took me out in his boat and after I set a record for small hardheads he finally found the spot and we caught three keeper trout and a bull red, (which of course was released unharmed as it was 36 inches).

We also took pictures of the destroyed Observation Tower and Fishing pier.

Dolphins feed in the surf, and as usual there were plenty of todaloo, which is a hermit crab.

They all posed menacingly shwoing their claws.

Our luck was against us and we didn’t see any, but we did see a flock of elegant terns. Renita also got a picture of a Summer Tanager, and a local birder told us of a tree called the Toothache tree.

Its leaves deaden your mouth, just don’t put in the whole leaf! Connie told us that a bird fallout happened right after we left. Clear skies

Daves New Boat and First Fish

It was the first time out testing Daves new Boat. His old aluminum boat had seen better days, and the motor was toast. Water had backed up through the exhaust port and even though it had been flushed after the last use in March, the crankshaft bearings had rusted. His son-in -law hated to see Dave not being able to fish and had told him to buy a used boat, for his Christmas present. Waiting until the Mechanic Roy, (my brother in law), arrived from Iowa, they poured over used boats on Marketplace and found a possible replacement. Checking the boat out, a fiberglass 1974 Predator, the motor had started and ran great, so they both agreed, and Dave bought it. The boat and trailer needed work and Roy did the work with the expertise of years of experience. When it was seaworthy, Dave and I took it out on its maiden voyage. It behaved flawlessly. The fish didn’t cooperate with us and so we only had one bite, or should I say Dave had one bite…. After an hour by the bridge, we decided to move, and he picked up his pole and started to wind it in. The rod twitched and a fish started to make a run. It headed away from the bridge, with its razor-sharp barnacles, and doubled over the rod. It was a big fish, but Dave was up to the task. Stowing the poles and grabbing the fishnet I watched as it made made run after run, before finally tiring. When he finally got it to the surface it was still a few minutes before I was able to swipe the fish headfirst into the net and fold it over the fish, (it was longer than the net). Using both hands, it took all of my strength to lift it into the boat.

It was perfect! The only fish of the day and Dave caught it! It was too big for us to lift up for a picture, (and to be kept), over forty inches long, and so we were able to release it safely. We both watched as it made a couple of flips of its tail and then returned to the depths. It was a great release! That was the only fish of the day, but what a fish! It was not the biggest he ever caught but it was a beautiful black drum! A great first fish to christen the boat, Well done Dave! Clear skies

Flamingoes, Fishing the Jetty, and more Birding at Port Aransas

Our friends Dan and Barb arrived and wanted to see the flamingoes. While they had seen them in zoos, they had never seen them in the wild and so they could add them to their birding life list. They started it after they retired and have taken a picture of each bird and added it to the list. They have spotted over two hundred and seventy birds and that’s a lot of pictures!

We drove to Charles Pasture, North, and the flamingoes were still there, (and they still are today). What was great was that they were the closest we have ever seen them and have some pretty good images! After the flamingoes we next went to the Leorna Turnbill birding Center looking for the clapper rail but no luck.

Still, we got some great pics and especially a Wilson’s snipe, a willet eating a blue crab and a white ibis also eating a crab meal. A white ibis also joined the crab feast.

I really got a kick out how the willet stunned the crab and then swallowed it tail first so the claw would be closed.

Later we made another trip Port Aransas but this time we added fishing to the day’s agenda. We had hoped that the sheepshead had moved in, but nothing was happening. The fishing was mediocre as the fish were tiny. Dave caught five small grunts and I caught four small catfish.

While we fished, Betty, Renita, and Jane watched the huge tankers entering the shipping channel. Some were accompanied by bottlenose dolphins, which were of course bow riding. After fishing we went to eat at a Mexican restaurant and after lunch, we decided to go birding. Without our good cameras the pictures were not the best. Hoping for a clapper rail we were again thwarted, spotting both the sora and Virgina but not the rail we wanted. Still the huge alligator was sunning, and the water was covered with ducks as hunting season has started and the ducks like the refuge.

pictured is a redish egret. It extends its wings while wading after fish in what is described a as drunken walk. Today several fronts are moving towards us and perhaps they will bring the sheepshead into the jetty and back bays. They come into the rocks and bays for spawning. Hope they come in soon as we are running out of fish in the freezer! It was the worst fishing ever and the jetty had very few people on it. Clear skies

November 2023 fishing Report

The weather here is the limiting factor on our fishing. When we first got here it was so hot and humid that we stayed inside. In Wyoming we rarely use our air conditioner, and when we had a house, we didn’t have air conditioning for thirty years. Here it’s a must. We did manage to have some breaks in the weather and have gotten out three times. The first time was at Goose Island State Park, where we caught small, speckled trout, an alligator gar, and small sand trout. Its always fun to catch fish but we had hoped for some to eat. A week later the wind was down, and Renita and I took our kayaks out to our favorite spot. Arriving we were dismayed to see a boat sitting on it. We fished in other places with no luck. Finally the boat left the spot and we paddled frantically to the shell ridge.

On the first cast I caught an eighteen-inch sheepshead! It’s one of our favorite eating fish along with black drum, pompano, flounder, and speckled trout. Lots of people here love redfish, and while we do keep ones for grilling on the half shell, its down our list of fish to eat, (leaving the skin on and grilling the fillet). The flesh is somewhat coarse compared to our other favorites. It was Renita’s turn next, and she caught several speckled trout, a nice sting ray, and even wound in a blue crab! I got lucky and added a keeper speckled trout. Just before we left. Renita landed a large sting ray and the biggest speckled trout of the day, over sixteen inches! This all happened in less than two hours before the wind came up and we had to leave. It was starting to whitecap. Our kayaks are small and while we could handle the waves it’s too hard to paddle and so we headed back to our car..

On our third trip we returned to the state park. This time the speckled trout were hitting and we both caught several but Renita took the cake. I had to go back to the car and when I returned, she was fighting a nice fish on my pole! We were both surprised when she landed a nice pompano. Usually, we only catch them while surf fishing and this was the first and largest pompano we have caught! I later filleted the fish, and the two fillets were more than we could eat at one setting. So the fishing has been good, when we get out, and we have had three meals from our catches. There is nothing better than fresh fish. However, another cold front, with strong winds, has passed through and it looks like we won’t get out till next Wednesday.

Yankton, South Dakota

We arrived at our Nancy and Bob's new home in Yankton, South Dakota. They have a beautiful and large apartment in a fifty-five plus complex. After the welcome hugs they showed us where to park in the underground garage and they helped us with our bags. Their apartment has an elevator, which is just what we needed. The evening was spent in reminiscing about old times, and it was an early night as we were tired from the two days of driving. The next morning, we rested a bit before going on a walk in the park along the Missouri River. We also crossed an old railroad bridge that had an elevated/suspension roadway that had been turned into a pedestrian and bike path. It felt good to be able to walk again and to stretch out our legs after the prolonged trip. That night Nancy and Bob taught us how to play dominoes, a simple game called chicken foot. The game took quite a while and Nancy could do no wrong. She won five different hands and she easily beat all of us!

The next day they drove us to the Gavin Point Dam. The dam headquarters had exhibits about Lewis and Clark and from the overlook we could see boats lined up, fishing for paddlefish. The paddlefish do not bite and so the people were tossing rigs with treble hooks and sinkers. As soon as the rig hit the water each person would rip their rod upward hoping to snag one of the giant fish, (we never saw anyone hook up with one of the monsters).

The exhibits had a mounted golded eagle, an American indian pipe with pipestone from Minnesota, and a bull boat. The bull boat was made from a buffalo hide, (we highly reccomend the new Ken Burns documentary on American Buffalo). The road crossed the dam to a nice park and campground where we walked along the shoreline enjoying the nice day. One of the boats caught a fish, it kind of loo

ked like a perch, which is great to eat! Finding a nice picnic table, we enjoyed the lunch Nancy and Bob had packed. That evening we tried another game of Chicken Foot but again Nancy won. We decided that we should rename the game and call it Nancy’s Foot. She said that she had just been lucky, but it seemed to us that we would need another rematch the next evening before we renamed the game. The next day we had planned on leaving but high winds and rain made us rethink our decision to leave and so we stayed another day and night. As we hadn’t eaten out yet, we went out to eat at one of our favorite fast food places. Culvers. The food was good, but the hot fudge sundae was great, (I have gained back some weight and so ice cream is now pretty much out of my diet).

After lunch we went to the Mead Sanitarium. The first exhibits were dedicated to the nurses who trained and worked with the patients. One exbibit contained a straitjacket, (it made me remember when one of my fellow teachers had a break down and was subdued and hauled away), and another had an exhibit of techniques for lobotomies(barbaric).

There were other exhibits including several rooms describing the Lewis and Clark Expedition. That evening, Bob grilled steaks on his new Ninja Grill! After the delicious supper out came the dominoes. Perhaps Nancy eased off, but I won and Renita came in second. Talk about kind hosts! It had been a great stop, it always is with friends. They may visit us in Rockport or even come out to Wyoming for some fly fishing and bear watching. Clear skies