FISHING! My son Joe and I have been bow hunting, golfing and fishing,
not in that order, for the last couple of weeks since the Texas summer
heat has somewhat subsided. For the last three times Joe and I have
been on the lake, my boat has taken on water. After spending some $350
on new depth finders, a new 50# thrust trolling motor, a new pedestal
for Joe to lean against when casting and new spark plugs for the big
motor, I was ready for some serious bass fishing, not fly fishing, mind
you, for that's a little hard for the two of us in an 18 foot bass boat,
to keep from hooking each other. So, here lately, we've done the
chunking and winding thing. We've caught lots of nice bass and a couple
of catfish and an assortment of crappie, who thought our bass jigs
looked appetizing. What we didn't expect was for my boat to begin
taking on water! Our first day out last week was absolutely GREAT! The
top water bite was on and it reminded me of the time when my Dad and I
caught 100 + bluegills in a little over an hour. We were truly, but
happily worn out at the end of the day. When I pulled the boat onto the
trailer, I just happened to lift the back cover on the deck and what did
I find! About 6" of water in the bilge. So, when we got home, Joe and
I gave the boat a really good going over before draining out the bilge.
As I checked the live well fill/drain in the bilge, I saw some giblets
of black hose. My thought was that the old hose had probably rotted to
the point that water was coming in, so I shut it off completely, by
sticking a rubber plug in the intake/release at the bottom of the boat
next to the drain plug. Went out again yesterday, which was a real blue
bird day as the temp had dropped to the lowest of the fall, 48 degrees.
That drastic weather change really put the fish off their feed.
Worrying about the leak, I began periodically checking the bilge and
you guessed it - water was coming in again. This was getting to be like
the twilight zone for I'd already checked every possible place for a
leak and nothing showed. The only place I couldn't check on the hull
was where the boat sat on the carpeted runners. When I got home, I let
the boat set for about an hour before draining it, just to see if water
came out anywhere on the hull. It didn''t, so I unscrewed the drain
plug and let the water out, some 8 gallons. My next step was to call
Fiberglass Masters and make an appointment to have my boat put on their
hoist and raised to see if there's any gouges on the hull where it sits
on the carpeted runners. I had a similar leak years ago and they were
very helpfull and made the necessary repairs and didn't charge me an arm
and a leg! If there's no gouges under the runners I don't know what
I'll do. Get a new bilge pump, I guess!
HUNTING! Neither of us got a trophy buck, but we saw lots of really
nice ones. We hunted out of Joe's tree stands on the 2,500 acres his
company owns about 18 miles west of us. We saw a big black Feral Hog,
with tusks around 8 inches long, but once he noticed there was no corn
on the ground under the feeder, he left. Feral hogs are a lot like fire
ants, here in Texas. They're everywhere. They'll root up your lawn,
your garden and cause untold erosion of soil, especially on slopes. A
big boar is something you don't want to tangle with. Besides damage to
crops, the next most damaging concern is the transmission of disease,
like foot and mouth and other diseases that can be transmitted to us
humans. Dressing a hog is just like field dressing a deer. The only
difference is that you'd better wear protective gloves to ward off the
catching of some disease. They taste good, but most folks don't want to
eat something that carries lethal disease. The feral hogs of Texas can
trace their ancestry all the way back to the spanish explorers some 300
to 400 years ago. Then there's some that came from europe, the Russian
Boar in Tennessee and the originals brought in when the settlers first
came ashore. Texas has some 1.5 million of wild hogs, and nationwide
their population is estimated to be 2 million plus. There is no closed
season on Feral Hogs in Texas. The best thing to do is shoot them and
dig a hole and cover them up. Joe's co-workers and he have a backhoe on
the property and it's simple for them to dig a hole and bury the hog.
Or, if they simply leave the hog, the Turkey Buzzards will clean up.
In case you think killing them and leaving them for the buzzards is
cruel, read what Dr. Billy Higginbotham, Texas A&M Extension specialist
has to say. "With an estimated 1.5 million in Texas alone, feral hogs
surpass all Texas city populations, except Houston, for state bragging
rights. But don't think of Babe, the pink farm pig who talked his way
through two feature films. These dark and furry hogs are known to nearly
every Texas county, except the extreme western portions of the state,
and are notorious for tearing up land, destroying crops and causing land
erosion. The sows can have 3-4 litters per year of 4 to 6 piglets and
females are old enough to breed in less than a year months."
GOLF! Didn't mean to give you the life history of Feral Hogs, but it was
an integral part of my report/quote for today. Finally, the golf game
literally sucked. At least for me it did. Joe always shoots in the
70's and consistently drives the ball 300 yards +. I shot, well let's
put it like this. My score was lacking. The funny things is that I hit
90 % of the fairways, but can no longer hit the ball far enough to make
many pars. My arthritic right shoulder prevents a full turn on my
backswing. My second shot is usually the killer though. I usually wind
up just short of the green, pitch up, two put and get my BOGEY. I still
enjoy the game though, especially just being out with Joe.
The Quote: "Feral Hogs in Texas are just like Fire Ants. They're
everywhere!"
IF YOU'RE interested further discussion of Feral Hogs, contact me off list.
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JIMMY D. MOORE [EMAIL PROTECTED]
North Zone Fishing Editor - Texas Fish & Game Mag,
Author - Moon Holler Misfits Fishing & Hunting Club,
Humorist, Past VP Guadalupe River Trout Unlimited,
Member TOWA, Retired Scout Exec. BSA.
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