Spring Break Fishing Trip

Fishing trips at spring break seem to be a Ham family tradition. Honestly the last few years I was too exhausted to go with Sandy fishing and he has taken his brother and some other buddies. But this year I was rested so off to Lake Texoma we went. We stayed at Little Mineral Marina and Resort near Pottsboro, Texas. Sandy has stayed there the last few years but I had never been there. We had always gone to Buncombe Creek on the Oklahoma side. Generally the weather is cold and windy but this year was a little different - it was in the 70s and 80s and only windy on one day. (Updated - the weather was nice if you weren't out on the lake but out on the lake it was cold - I wore long johns everyday.) We got lots of fishing in and actually caught fish which is a new phenomena for me. I usually only catch one or two small fish but I outfished Sandy this time!!

Kaiden and his mom with Saturday's catch - can you see his excitement?
They woke us up from a nap just to get this picture.
That's our cabin in the upper right corner

Alyssa, Lichar, Kaiden and Ashley came up from Houston so Kaiden could join the Hamfam tradition of spring break fishing. When Sandy and I left Amarillo on Friday afternoon it was snowing!! Yes - snowing - big huge wet flakes that would have been beautiful if we weren't traveling. It snowed on us until we were south of Clarendon and then it turned into rain. But we made it safe and sound. The kids also drove in rain most of the way. Since we all arrived very late, we slept in on Saturday morning. I enjoyed playing with Kaiden while the rest of the group went out in the boat. (I'll post more Kaiden pictures later.) They actually caught fish on Saturday and Sunday! In fact, Ashley caught a 6 pound one Sunday. Kaiden took his first boat ride on Sunday. The kids had to leave Sunday afternoon and I finally went out with Sandy. I caught two (released one that was small) that day and he caught two so the score was even.

Ashley with her 6 pounder

Kaiden's first experience with fishing - he seemed bored!

Sunday's catch including Ashley's big one and my good sized one!

Monday morning we went out and I caught one 4-5 pounder but we forgot to get a picture. Tuesday morning Sandy went out to catch some shad with his fishing guide buddy, J.D. at 4:00 a.m. - I slept in. Later that morning we went with J.D., his wife Jolene and two of their grandchildren and did just a little fishing. The only fish we brought in that morning was from their trot lines. We took a nap and went back out later in the afternoon. J.D. took us to a great place for trolling. J.D. generally uses live bait but Sandy brought his thunderstick lures and we all caught fish. It was a really great time and I enjoyed getting to know Jolene. Sandy had the "lucky" lure and kept reeling them in. I can't really remember the count but he did catch one or two more than me that evening.

Tuesday evening's catch

We had a great time!

Wednesday morning we got up early and were out on the lake with J.D. and his grandson by 7:00 a.m. We went back to the same spot trolling and caught our limit before 10:30 a.m. The boys all grabbed a rod and had it in the water before I had a chance to get ready but somehow I ended up with the "lucky" lure from the previous day. I brought 10 or 11 in and lost another 4 or 5 - 2 of them just as I was bringing them in to the boat. I finally got so tired of reeling in fish that I quit and gave the "lucky" lure to Sandy!!! Between Sandy and J.D./Jeremy we ended up with another 15 or so fish. But I brought more in than any one of those guys! Woo-hoo! It was a rockin' trip for me.

Our big catch - 26 fish!

Sandy and Jeremy

I had so much fun that I actually held a fish up for the picture!

That afternoon my good friend Pam came over from Weatherford with her hubby, Mike and son, Kutter. The boys went out fishing while Pam and I got to catch up with the latest. We actually sat and talked for over 2 hours before we realized it. Then we had to stop and go get something to drink for our parched throats! The guys went back to the magic spot and caught 10 more between the 3 of them. It was a super great afternoon for all of us! Thanks to Mike and Kutter for bringing Pam over so we could have some great girl time.

The boys and their catch