Got some photos for you....we are having a great April.

Several folks want to see the electrofishing boat. It's listed as an 18 foot Smith-Root boat, pushed by a 40 HP Honda engine. Here's a couple of photos of it parked. When I can (and I think about it), I'll shoot some photos of it on a lake, in action. Sorry, when I'm at the helm, I ain't thinkin' about photos of the boat...got too many other things to do.





At some point, I plan to wrap the console and livewell with a Pond Boss logo...kinda "doll" it up a little bit.

On Saturday, April 18, Debbie and I tagged along with some of our friends to Frisco, to participate in a Jimmy Buffett pre-concert party. Holy Cow! I've never been around so many Parrotheads...age 17 to 75, dressed up in pirate garb, tropical clothes and some of the most interesting tiki bars ever set up on trailers. There were golf carts, limos, and all walks of life. Glad I was sober (unlike most of the rest of those 20,000+ people) so I could absorb the spectacle. Bumped into former Texas Ranger outfielder Rusty Greer and got to talk about his lake. He's a neat, down to earth guy. We stayed only until about 6 pm (six hours was enough...trust me.) and then headed home.

Then, last Tuesday, I got an email from Al Allred, a referral from good friend and client Stan Graff. Al asked if I could cut loose and go with him to his ranch south of Childress, Texas. Well, I had the entire day set aside to work on Pond Boss, but it didn't take a minute to decide to go, especially when he said we would fly from Dallas' Love Field in a KingAir. What I didn't know was that I would leave the house at 5:30 a.m. and get back home at 11:30 that night. Weather...good decision and I had a blast. Here's some photos.



There are numerous small ponds along with a new, fairly small lake on the ranch. I wanted to see what kind of fish they had. Here's one of several green sunfish we caught and released. All hail to JHAP and his fellow greenie heads.



Here's a pretty good bass, caught by ranch hand Jarrod. The ranch covers about 37,000 acres. I had no idea it was that large until we were there. Actually, it's a pretty famous ranch in those parts, with lots of cool history. It's called the "Buckle L". There's one story about a man who robbed a bank in the late 1800's and was shot as he made his escape. He made it back to his hideout...on this ranch...and died inside the cave where he planned to hide. The posse found him several days later, dead inside the cave. That cave is still there. Cool.

While there, the owners had hired a helicopter, owned by Luke Boedeker, to try to eradicate some feral hogs from the air. Here's what they rode in.



The guys were plotting their strategy. It was 99 degrees last Thursday in Childress with wind gusts up to 30 mph.



Ready for takeoff on the first run. They were shooting a 12 gauge shotgun that holds six rounds.



And, there they go!



Toward the end of the day, Al asked if I wanted to see the lake and some of the ponds from the air. Absolutely! Into the chopper, strapped in, and lighter than air. Here's the bigger lake, maybe 18 acres. Pretty cool looking lake from the air, isn't it? By the way, the watershed for this lake covers 25,000 acres. It has an extra large spillway.



This is a "typical" pond on the ranch. Notice how rugged and red the land is. Lots of cedar and mesquite with some native grasses. They need rain.



Here's some of that "rugged" land...beautiful in its own way.

As soon as I got home, I hit the sack and then Friday headed back to Eagle's Nest. Had a great meeting with Mr. Mitchell and ranch manager Jarrod Baum. Met up with Dan VanSchaik, there, too.



First thing we did was release six boxes of golden shiner fry from Anderson's Minnow Farm. Here's Jarrod holding a bag. All that dusty-looking stuff is the quarter million fry.



We released them in several different places.



We had an amazing evening of electrofishing. We had 3 double-digit bass in the livewell at the same time. The largest was 10-11. Spent maybe two hours and saw several thousand fish. Mr. Mitchell holds two of the largest.



This is the biggest fish.



Then, it was homeward on Saturday because we were rained out. But, Chad delivered more than 1,000 pounds of tilapia to a variety of customers.



Here's a sample of the fish.



A larger one.

But, one of my favorite parts of this lifestyle is the time we spend with grandkids. Debbie keeps the two smaller ones four days a week. This morning, Debbie wanted to check one of the wood duck boxes. We knew it had eggs in it and the hen has been sitting, but we wanted to count the eggs. So, off to that box we went.



As we got closer, the hen emerged and then flew off. See her perched in the hole, ready for takeoff?



Debbie and Nolan (4 years old) made their way to the box.



I opened the box, counted 10 eggs, then held the camera up and shot a photo or two. One egg is hidden. We left, the hen came back and took up her spot. We'll leave her alone now.



Be sure to stop and smell the roses. Little Nolan did, this morning...a freshly opened bud. What a great life! I want to encourage each and everyone of you to live life fully every day. Do we have problems? Sure we do. We ALL do! At the same time, give thanks for what you have been blessed with.

Fish on!




Teach a man to grow fish...
He can teach to catch fish...