Memorial Day Fishing in Port O' Conner, Texas

While I was finishing the well house at the place my brother, Mike was spending three days fishing with a friend in Port O’ Conner. I talked with him on the phone and he sounded baked and tired. It sounds like he had a good trip, caught fish, but was just plain worn out. The sun and salt water has a way of doing that to you real quick. I have a lot of respect for those people that do it day in and day out. Here are some pictures from Mike’s trip and a short report. Wild Ed

This year has been a busy fishing season for me. I started fishing the waters around Port O’Conner which I have never fished before. The more I explore POC, the more fascinated I have become with the area. My past trips have centered around the jetties and a couple of islands, but this Memorial Day weekend trip was mostly drifting the shallow flats, wading small estuaries and fishing around shoreline structure. A family friend took me out on his flats boat and we spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday exploring the bays. The wind was bad, the crowds were terrible and we had to put in a lot of time and effort to reap the rewards. As the pictures show, it was worth the effort. Just a (painful) reminder to everyone, be very careful when handling all fish and especially hardheads! I have never been finned quite as bad as I was this weekend when a hardhead got my left thumb. The fin hit the bone and it was quite difficult to pull it out. After 15 or so minutes of profuse bleeding, I remembered how painful those wounds can be. My thumb is still swollen to ½ again it’s normal size and I am sure it will remind me for days to come to use a hook remover in the future. Be careful out on the water and remember, life is short, get out and enjoy it!
Tight Lines!
Mike

Mike's Bud with a nice Red

Freedom Isn't Free

Thank You To All That Paid The Price, Wild Ed

The Well House is Finished

You might remember that a while back I decided to build a well house to match the barn.  Not knowing anything about designing a steel building, cutting steel, welding, cutting sheet metal or hanging sheet metal I decided this would be a learning study as well as a money saving endeavor.  It was an education for sure and I have many new skills including a great respect for the people that do this for a living.  Just getting to work on it for a few hours at a time once in a while it took longer than planned.  Since it was not a standard size everything had to be cut and fitted.  Thanks to the help and advice from my brother along the way it is done and we can finally start some other projects.  It may not be perfect but it matches the barn and will stand for the rest of my life. 

I still have to rock around the well head and make a concrete top but I need to read a couple of books and watch some masonry work videos before I learn how to build it, but that is the new project.  Get out and learn a new skill yourself, Wild Ed

The Barn I was trying to match

POC Texas...Fishing has been RED HOT

I have been so busy fishing lately I have neglected friends, family & pets to try and get in on the fishing action in POC before the dog days of summer get here. This Sunday was no exception. We got out at 6am as usual and sunrise brought us 9 trout on croaker right off the bat. Little did we know those were the last trout of the day? The Sargasso weed was a nightmare and we had a really hard time drift fishing the jetties. You just could not get into the spots to fish as the weed was so thick. We worked all morning without much luck and finally decided to anchor up in some deep water. The croaker and live shrimp were not getting any bites so we decided to switch to sardines. That was the ticket. We caught 5 keeper reds, two keeper black drum, one keeper red snapper and one keeper shark. As you will see in the picture, I caught a decent grouper that was an inch shy so back in the water for another day. We also released several undersize drum, two sheep head, one flounder and two smaller sharks. I can't say enough about changing up baits and trying everything in your arsenal. Sometimes you just have to give the fish what they want! It is rare that they turn down live shrimp, but like today, it does happen. For those that are interested, we did see two large tarpon cruising the inside of the jetty.
Tight lines!
Mike

One Shot: Kenai River, Alaska

We rafted down the Kenai River today near Soldatna, Alaska. I took about 375 shots with my Canon 30D. Most were bad—out of focus, overexposed, poorly framed. But this one, of a flying adult bald eagle, came out all right. It's my One Shot post for today.

Special thanks to all my friends at the Kenai Birding Festival, and especially to our drift-boat guide Ed O'Connor of Advantage Angling.

Those That Catch Fish and Those That Just Fish

Have you ever noticed that there are certain people that always catch fish and usually good sized fish? Sure, anyone can get lucky and catch a really nice trout or redfish once in a while; I am not talking about that. I am talking about the person that day-in and day-out catches fish and more often than not better fish than others at the cleaning station. I am talking about the groups that put fish in the boat while other boats close by don’t catch anything. We all know the fisherman or guide that goes fishing and comes in with a limit more times than not on a regular basis. My grandfather always told me that 10 percent of the fisherman catch 90 percent of all the fish caught on any given day. That means the other 90 percent have to share the remaining 10 percent of the fish caught that day. Not very good odds if you are not in the top 10 percent.

The purpose of this article is to tell you how to be in the top 10 percent. Now, I am not talking about the guy that has the money to go out with a guide every trip, nor am I talking about those that can afford to fish in exotic destinations with the best guides. I am talking about being successful and in the top group wherever you fish. Remember, in order to be good at something you have to invest time, effort and money. One cannot pull your rods and reels out of the closet once or twice a year, head out on the water, and expect to be in the top 10 percent of the fisherman that come in to clean their catch at the end of the day.

Here is my advice to become good at whatever you pick. First try to go with others that are better than you are at the given task. Pay attention to what they do and ask questions. Learn what they have to teach and put it into practice. In this day and time you can buy books and DVDs from some of the best experts in their fields. If you want to become a top speckled trout fisherman then get videos from the guys that win trout tournaments and competitions or those that guide for trout and learn all you can from them. If you want to be a top shallow water fisherman go to shallow water fishing shows, seminars and hit the flats at every opportunity. Spend the money even if you have to take a whole group to go out and fish with one of the top guides in the area and for a species that you want to lean about. Ask questions of these experts, what an opportunity to learn to be a better fisherman. If you want to be a redfish fisherman of note, learn all you can about redfish; their habits and where they are in the water at different times of the year. Learn everything you can about them and the equipment you need to catch them. Practice casting, purchase the best most sensitive equipment you can afford and go fish. When you ask people questions ask what bait they used, what line weight, what depth were they fishing, what kind of retrieve, what colors were effective, what kind of rig and anything else that might help. Just do not ask them where they caught the fish. I find experts are more than willing to give out lots of information until someone wants to know their hotspots. Would you want to come back tomorrow or next week and find strangers fishing your best spot? I know I don’t and I figure no one else does either.

Lastly but most important is to set goals and stick to them. If you want to catch a 30 inch speckled trout then you must use baits and tactics to catch large speckled trout. That may mean fishing with large top water baits and catching nothing while those around you pull in 15 inch trout all day on shrimp tails. If your goal is just to catch more fish or fill your limit more often, evaluate how you are doing in reaching that goal. If you are not reaching your goal then don’t keep doing the same thing over and over. If what you are doing is not working change something and keep learning until it starts making sense. Did I say practice, practice, practice?


I know people that can look at an area and tell you where the fish will be, where the bait will come from, what part of the bay will hold the largest fish. They were not born with that ability, but learned it just as you can if you are willing to put in the time, effort and money to be in the top 10 percent.


Have fun in your quest, Wild Ed

O Happy Day! Again!

In the spring of 2008 when I walked into Salem-Liberty Elementary School, and into daughter Phoebe's 6th grade classroom, it was the highlight of my professional career. That was the day that I handed all the 6th graders their own copies of The Young Birder's Guide to Birds of Eastern North America—a book they'd helped me create over the previous two years.

I felt such pride because the book had been a true collaboration. The kids really helped me to get the content, design, and format just right. I was also proud because I knew the book would help aspiring young birders to enjoy bird watching—to connect with the feathered part of the natural world in a meaningful way. It's the book I wish I'd had when I first noticed birds in 1968. And my hopes for the book were realized. Since it came out in early 2008, many thousands of copies have made their way into the hands of young birders (and into the hands of new birders of all ages, too). I've given talks to and led walks for young bird watchers all over the eastern half of North America.

Yesterday I got to repeat this very special event when I took son Liam's classmates their copies of the The Young Birder's Guide to Birds of North America, which they helped me create. The new book, which I've blogged about before, was created by expanding the eastern guide, and adding 100+ western species, to cover all of North America. Now young birders in the West have a book to get them started birding.

Yesterday afternoon, just as the school day was winding down, I gave the Salem-Liberty 6th graders their books, signed most of them, then we went out in front of the tiny rural school and snapped a photo for posterity (above). All of these kids are in their last days at Salem-Liberty. Next year they will all attend Fort Frye High School on the other side of the county. I thought back on the many dozens of birding walks we'd taken around the school grounds since 2006. I feel so lucky to have been a part of these book projects with these young folks. We've always had fun.

I believe that birds are the easiest way to connect young people to nature and that's been my mission with these two books. It will continue to be my mission for the rest of my life. But there's no way I could have done it without the great minds and enthusiastic helpers at Salem-Liberty Elementary School.

I'll be forever grateful to those amazing Salem-Liberty kids and their dedicated teachers.

Texas Newborn Fawns Off Limits

This is the time of year we are seeing this years fawn crop in more and more neighborhoods as we encroach into their habitat with housing developments. Here in Suburbia the deer are quite at home with living on the forage found in large yards and greenbelts. Several generations have been raised among the houses and traffic and thus it is normal for them. What is not normal are the numbers of fawns that are picked up by well meaning souls that find them laying in the yard or on the edge of a hike and bike trail. A doe will place her fawn somewhere she feels is secure and go off to feed. She will later return to check the fawn and nurse it as needed. So many city folks that run across these fawns think they are abandoned or the mother is dead and take them. Not being equipped nor trained in raising deer they either have to get help or raise it themselves. Many can not get the little fawn to nurse or give it the wrong kind of milk and start it towards a cruel death even though they had good intentions. Rehabbers in our area have an over abundance of whitetail fawns they are raising because well intentioned people have picked them up.

Remember that if you find a fawn to leave it where it is unless it is covered by fire ants. Do not get your scent on it. The doe will return and retrieve her fawn later. If you really think it is abandoned come back and check on it later. Ninety-nine percent of the time the doe will have moved it. It is illegal for you to possess a fawn in Texas so if it truly needs help you should go to the Texas Parks and Wildlife website and locate a licensed rehabber in your area. They will take the fawn and give it a chance to survive. Feel free to observe the beautiful wildlife of Texas but do it from a distance, Wild Ed

Caption Contest #22!

Most of you know the drill by now for these BOTB Caption Contests. I mean, we've done 21 of them! For any fresh-faced newcomers, here's how it goes:

Use the Comment interface at the bottom of this post to write a silly/funny/engaging/philosophical caption for the photograph shown above, then wait around twiddling your thumbs while our panel of world-renowned caption experts debates the merits of all submissions (and guzzles huge amounts of micro-brewed pale ale, or if it's breakfast time, bird-friendly shade-grown coffee and a few pale ales). They pick a winner. If it's you, you get a fabbo prize: in this case one of the brand-new products from Bird Watcher's Digest: a optics cleaning kit.

So huff some fog on your spec lenses and clean off the schmutz so you can see to write your most bestest, funniest caption. I can't wait to read it!

The Backyard Beehive

Just two short weeks ago the Williamson County Bee Keepers Association brought in the bulk bee packages that members were able to order through the club. I had ordered two packages which were two three pound packages of bees with a queen included in her own cage in each package. I installed one package of bees in a hive in my mom’s backyard to pollinate her garden and the other in my backyard so that I could test out an all natural system of keeping bees while keeping a close eye on them. This package of bees will be kept without chemicals and on foundationless frames. They will only be fed pure cane sugar and then only to start the hive or in severe drought. Honey will only be taken from this hive if there is a surplus and at no other time.


I installed the bee package, which was basically just shaking the bees out of the box into the hive and pulling the plastic cap off the queen cage. I did dig about half of the candy plug out of the end of the queen cage so it would not take so long to set her free. I then placed one sugar praline and one feeder of 1 to 1 sugar water in the top box to provide feed and wax building stimulus for the new bees. In three days I checked to see if the queen was released and she had been released. The bees had built a two part comb attached to the inner lid where I had removed the frames to put the feeder in the top box. I removed the feeder and cut the comb from the top lid. I then put it in a frame holding it in place with rubber bands. I went to check on them today which is day thirteen since they were placed in the hive and was amazed at what they have accomplished in just under two weeks. The following pictures show the magic of what bees do in constructing comb. Remember there was no foundation in the frames and all the comb was built by the bees in just thirteen days. I am very excited about this foundationless system and think it will work well with the natural style of bee keeping. Think about becoming a bee keeper yourself and do something for the world we all live in, Wild Ed

I want to give a Special Thanks to my friend Chris Smith for helping me through my first hive inspection a few short months ago and to Chris, Gary, Jimmy and all the other members of WCABA for the advice and classroom training along the way.  Ed

Feel free to click on Comments below and leave a comment or read the comments of others. Thanks, Ed