Well alrighty then. Seems like we are off to a pretty good start with this thing. It's already "tomorrow" and I can't sleep. I ate dessert too late and I'll be digesting that for some time to come so I'll go ahead and put up Chapter Two.
Poor Boy Makes Out: Chapter Two - Let's Go To Texas
Groan...I woke up with an awful feeling of terror and I was in a flop sweat. I had had the mother of all night mares. I dreamed I was Bill Dance! Lordy, in my dream I was just walking through the house and I happen to look in a mirror as I passed it and there, looking back at me with a stupid grin was Bill Dance. Oh, the relief I felt when I realized it was just a dream....From another part of the house, Billy McDaniel's voice pulled me back to reality.
....."Lets just go on and do it" said Billy. I think we should just go ahead and move on over there."
"Well, we have made an awful lot of friends there and the fishing is just awesome", I said. Let me have a couple of months to tie up loose ends and we should be able to be settled in on the Texas Gulf Coast by the time the water warms up good. I'm thinkin' the middle of May."
Billy and I had been talkin' about movin' down to the Texas Coast for a couple of years, now. We had gotten to be the best of friends since that fateful day he saw me fishing on the dock at the marina in Florida. We had been fishing a lot but we wanted a change. We had gotten quite friendly with a group of Texicans that were serious fishermen and great people. Now it looked like this was actually gonna happen. It'd mean big changes for both of us but we were both committed to doing it. I was at the end of my contract for the TV shows and I'd have to restructure some of my other business interests but it could be done. Billy would have to completey relocate all his rod building facility and equipment but that too was a can-do thing.
3 Months later and Billy and I are standing on the 2nd sand bar off Surfside Beach, fishing the back side on the "Dawn Patrol". The water is "trout green" and only slightly wavy and absolutely full of speckled trout. Billy had just perfected a new design for a spiral wrap top-water plug rod and the action was machine-gun fast. For the last hour and 20 minutes, beginning about a half hour before the gorgeous pink sun came up in our faces (it looked like a giant piece of electric bubble gum) we had been hitting the specs in the 5 to 8 pound class.Billy kept speculating on ways to further improve this latest new rod but I couldn't see any way for it to be any better. It was just the best. It felt like that the rod didn't need me for anything except to hold it up out of the water. The fish had NO chance against this rod.
We hated to leave 'em bitin' but 2 old men can only take so much fun. We went back to our new house and cleaned our catch. We normally did the catch n release thing but this morning we kept a couple of nice ones for lunch. Molly, our friend had dropped by and volunteered to do the cooking for us. She was kinda on the run from a stalker back in florida named Josh who had created this whole crazy fantasy about her and was relentlessly chasing her all over the country....but that's another story.....
We had a nice lunch of fried trout and cold boiled shrimp with Molly's secret cocktail sauce recipe and a few cold Shiner Bocks. Then the conversation turned more serious. Billy had wanted for a long time to go on a special fishing adventure and his plan was now coming together. He was having a new boat built, a 56 foot sport fishing boat with ALL the bells and whistles. He had made arrangements to have it dilivered to New Orleans and we were just 4 days away from delivery date. Time to fish or cut bait as they say.
We arrived in New Orleans on the appointed day and met up with the boat at the Marina. The boat is launched and christened, the dotted line is signed and it is now time to set out on our trip. The plan is to fish from New Orleans, where the Mississippi River dumps into the Gulf of Mexico, all the way down to Matagorda. Get off the boat and have a good restaurant meal and sleep one night in a nice motel and then fish our way back up the coast to our home in Freeport.
We shoved off at dawn the next morning and the first place we fished was just loaded with fish. We were not too far off shore and these fish weren't as big as some we expected to get into in a couple of days. Feisty, hard fighting fish on medium weight BillyStiX rods....just about all the fun you can have in a boat! At one point we both had fish on and they were really workin' out on us. We just looked and each other and smiled. Words weren't necessary and besides, there ARE no word for this kind of feeling. We both decked our fish and decided to move on along to the next spot.
One day, about half way down to Matagorda, we got into some huge blue marlin. Billy quickly got out the big guns and we set our bee-hinds in the fighting chairs and our feet firmly on the deck. I'll never forget the scene, The sun is starting to glow a golden orange and sink slowly in the western sky. The monster fish comes up out of the water, clearing the surface by a good 10 feet and shaking his head ferociously to dislodge the hook in his mouth. HIs gill plates are flared way out and he is putting every ounce of power he has into this fight for his life. Too bad he doesn't realize that he is up against a BIllyStiX Blue Marlin Special. If he knew that he'd probably not even bother fighting cause it's just no use. He's one caught fish! Billy and I each catch 2 of these glorious creatures and release them and by that time it's time to haul out the cooler with the cold Shiner Bock.
We fished our way down to Matagorda, High adventure every day. Catching all different kinds of fish and using a wide variety of BillyStiX rods. It all seems like a dream to me...a dream I quietly hope will never end. When we left for home the next morning, I had an empty feeling in my gut. A feeling that the adventure of my life was almost over. But we still had a few days of good fishing left so I decided to try to relax and enjoy it to the full.
Four days before we were to get back into Freeport we were about 200 miles out when I felt the most ferocious hit of my fishing life. I started screaming for help. I was in my fighting chair and what ever was on the other end of my line was trying to pull me right out of my harness. Billy came a runnin' and when he saw the situation, he turned with out a word and cranked up the boat and started running with the fish. We ran for over 8 hours before the fish began to slow. Billy killed the engines and I continued to struggle with the monster of my life. 3 more hours and I had him with in about 100 feet of the boat. He surfaced and rolled slowly and I got a good look at him. It was a 3,000 pound blue fin tuna! Billy got out some heavy nylon cables and we motored up to the fish, now completely spent and docile, and rigged him up and towed him in. It took a couple of days but we got our fish in and the press was waiting for us. We gave our interviews even though we were exhausted.
Molly showed up and met us there and gave us a ride back to the house. A funny thing...Just as we turned onto our street there was a suspicious looking dark green Ford Ranger parked against the curb across the street. When he saw us he pulled out in a hurry. He had a familiar look about him too. The last thing I noticed was a cute black dog in the back, front paws up on the tailgate, and he had a blue flip-flop in his mouth. Rang a familiar bell, for sure.
Billy and I are all rested up now and back to our daily routines. We sure love livin' in Texas and eagerly await our next great adventure of catching fish on our BillyStiX Custom Spiral Wrapped Rods.
To be continued.....
Poor Boy Makes Out: Chapter Two - Let's Go To Texas
Groan...I woke up with an awful feeling of terror and I was in a flop sweat. I had had the mother of all night mares. I dreamed I was Bill Dance! Lordy, in my dream I was just walking through the house and I happen to look in a mirror as I passed it and there, looking back at me with a stupid grin was Bill Dance. Oh, the relief I felt when I realized it was just a dream....From another part of the house, Billy McDaniel's voice pulled me back to reality.
....."Lets just go on and do it" said Billy. I think we should just go ahead and move on over there."
"Well, we have made an awful lot of friends there and the fishing is just awesome", I said. Let me have a couple of months to tie up loose ends and we should be able to be settled in on the Texas Gulf Coast by the time the water warms up good. I'm thinkin' the middle of May."
Billy and I had been talkin' about movin' down to the Texas Coast for a couple of years, now. We had gotten to be the best of friends since that fateful day he saw me fishing on the dock at the marina in Florida. We had been fishing a lot but we wanted a change. We had gotten quite friendly with a group of Texicans that were serious fishermen and great people. Now it looked like this was actually gonna happen. It'd mean big changes for both of us but we were both committed to doing it. I was at the end of my contract for the TV shows and I'd have to restructure some of my other business interests but it could be done. Billy would have to completey relocate all his rod building facility and equipment but that too was a can-do thing.
3 Months later and Billy and I are standing on the 2nd sand bar off Surfside Beach, fishing the back side on the "Dawn Patrol". The water is "trout green" and only slightly wavy and absolutely full of speckled trout. Billy had just perfected a new design for a spiral wrap top-water plug rod and the action was machine-gun fast. For the last hour and 20 minutes, beginning about a half hour before the gorgeous pink sun came up in our faces (it looked like a giant piece of electric bubble gum) we had been hitting the specs in the 5 to 8 pound class.Billy kept speculating on ways to further improve this latest new rod but I couldn't see any way for it to be any better. It was just the best. It felt like that the rod didn't need me for anything except to hold it up out of the water. The fish had NO chance against this rod.
We hated to leave 'em bitin' but 2 old men can only take so much fun. We went back to our new house and cleaned our catch. We normally did the catch n release thing but this morning we kept a couple of nice ones for lunch. Molly, our friend had dropped by and volunteered to do the cooking for us. She was kinda on the run from a stalker back in florida named Josh who had created this whole crazy fantasy about her and was relentlessly chasing her all over the country....but that's another story.....
We had a nice lunch of fried trout and cold boiled shrimp with Molly's secret cocktail sauce recipe and a few cold Shiner Bocks. Then the conversation turned more serious. Billy had wanted for a long time to go on a special fishing adventure and his plan was now coming together. He was having a new boat built, a 56 foot sport fishing boat with ALL the bells and whistles. He had made arrangements to have it dilivered to New Orleans and we were just 4 days away from delivery date. Time to fish or cut bait as they say.
We arrived in New Orleans on the appointed day and met up with the boat at the Marina. The boat is launched and christened, the dotted line is signed and it is now time to set out on our trip. The plan is to fish from New Orleans, where the Mississippi River dumps into the Gulf of Mexico, all the way down to Matagorda. Get off the boat and have a good restaurant meal and sleep one night in a nice motel and then fish our way back up the coast to our home in Freeport.
We shoved off at dawn the next morning and the first place we fished was just loaded with fish. We were not too far off shore and these fish weren't as big as some we expected to get into in a couple of days. Feisty, hard fighting fish on medium weight BillyStiX rods....just about all the fun you can have in a boat! At one point we both had fish on and they were really workin' out on us. We just looked and each other and smiled. Words weren't necessary and besides, there ARE no word for this kind of feeling. We both decked our fish and decided to move on along to the next spot.
One day, about half way down to Matagorda, we got into some huge blue marlin. Billy quickly got out the big guns and we set our bee-hinds in the fighting chairs and our feet firmly on the deck. I'll never forget the scene, The sun is starting to glow a golden orange and sink slowly in the western sky. The monster fish comes up out of the water, clearing the surface by a good 10 feet and shaking his head ferociously to dislodge the hook in his mouth. HIs gill plates are flared way out and he is putting every ounce of power he has into this fight for his life. Too bad he doesn't realize that he is up against a BIllyStiX Blue Marlin Special. If he knew that he'd probably not even bother fighting cause it's just no use. He's one caught fish! Billy and I each catch 2 of these glorious creatures and release them and by that time it's time to haul out the cooler with the cold Shiner Bock.
We fished our way down to Matagorda, High adventure every day. Catching all different kinds of fish and using a wide variety of BillyStiX rods. It all seems like a dream to me...a dream I quietly hope will never end. When we left for home the next morning, I had an empty feeling in my gut. A feeling that the adventure of my life was almost over. But we still had a few days of good fishing left so I decided to try to relax and enjoy it to the full.
Four days before we were to get back into Freeport we were about 200 miles out when I felt the most ferocious hit of my fishing life. I started screaming for help. I was in my fighting chair and what ever was on the other end of my line was trying to pull me right out of my harness. Billy came a runnin' and when he saw the situation, he turned with out a word and cranked up the boat and started running with the fish. We ran for over 8 hours before the fish began to slow. Billy killed the engines and I continued to struggle with the monster of my life. 3 more hours and I had him with in about 100 feet of the boat. He surfaced and rolled slowly and I got a good look at him. It was a 3,000 pound blue fin tuna! Billy got out some heavy nylon cables and we motored up to the fish, now completely spent and docile, and rigged him up and towed him in. It took a couple of days but we got our fish in and the press was waiting for us. We gave our interviews even though we were exhausted.
Molly showed up and met us there and gave us a ride back to the house. A funny thing...Just as we turned onto our street there was a suspicious looking dark green Ford Ranger parked against the curb across the street. When he saw us he pulled out in a hurry. He had a familiar look about him too. The last thing I noticed was a cute black dog in the back, front paws up on the tailgate, and he had a blue flip-flop in his mouth. Rang a familiar bell, for sure.
Billy and I are all rested up now and back to our daily routines. We sure love livin' in Texas and eagerly await our next great adventure of catching fish on our BillyStiX Custom Spiral Wrapped Rods.
To be continued.....
