According to TPW folks, a bunch (numbers not mentioned) are going to three lakes within the Rio Grande Valley in South-Texas. "Sometime this month" these old ladies will be stocked in Dean Porter Park Resaca in Brownsville, Town Lake in McAllen and in the Old Hidalgo Pumphouse Channel in Hidalgo. The old gals will average out at over 4 pounds and be fit as a fiddle. If you should see them, or be lucky enough to land one, give her a big kiss, thank her for the countless little bass she gave us, and let her go. South-Texas is a great place for retirees, even fish!

And they were the high bidders!

Well, everything went wrong for my plans to escort Kitty Hawk up the channel yesterday. First of all, I sold my beloved old boat, the "hooker" last week. I sold her to a friend who is the ACOE port pilot for Port Isabel, Texas. He said I was welcome to use her anytime I wanted and I had planned to use her yesterday. But, I had a rough morning and didn't think I could make it out and Padrebino had a medical appointment and couldn't make it either. But (2), schedules being what they are, Kitty Hawk didn't show up for her own Hail and Farwell party until nearly noon and had we known that we might have made it after all. But (3), thanks to the guys at RGV Drone footage we have this beautiful but sad video of part of her passage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHxH21h52Mc

South Padre Island, Texas has a bully dolphin! Not to make light of it, but this guy definitely has an attitude problem. It seems he is so used to interaction with humans he now seeks us out. The problem is he tends to do things like separate swimming children from adults and things like that. He hasn't attacked anyone at this point, but the local newspaper and tv items has been aired so that the holiday crowd is at least aware of his activities. I tend to stay away from dolphins, they drive the fish into deep cover when they're around. My old pro buddy looks for areas where they are because he believe it indicates fish activity. "They aren't there eating twinkies," he tells me. Just don't interact with them, I say. They are creatures of the wild regardless of what you see on old TV programs. The picture isn't the bad guy, just a cow and calf that came to see if we were catching anything.

The Rio Grande Valley artificial reef, at this point, has no complete hull structures that I know of, but pieces of many ships have ended up out there - along with tons and tons of concrete, ballast, etc. The fishing out there is fantastic, I hear. Red Snapper as big as your boat.....lol

For those who might not have known, the Kitty Hawk and one other moth-balled carrier were sold to a salvage company for one US dollar, $1.00. I think the other carrier, also moth-balled in Bremerton, Washington is the America, but I'm not sure of that. The salvage company undertook the multi-ocean tow of over 17,000 miles and they have been at sea for over 5 months. Since I moved to Brownsville, Kitty Hawk is the 4th CVA class ship to make that last trip up the ship channel.

The (former) USS Kitty Hawk will arrive off Brownsville, Texas approximately 10:30 May 31st for her last short run up the Brownsville Ship Channel to the wrecking yards where she will be turned to scrap. For sailors everywhere, the death of a great ship is a sad event, especially for such a gallant and decorated warrior. Kitty Hawk was built at the Navy Yard in Camden, N.J. while I was assigned there as part of the pre-commissioning crew for the USS Little Rock, so we share some history. If I am able, my boat and I will provide side-boy support as Kitty Hawk travels those last few miles to her destiny. If recent history is a bench-mark, sailors of all types have honored such ships passing's with crowds of respectful American's. Join us if you can. Not all days are just for fishing.

I'm going to give you a sure-shot catch, but you have to move a little. As long as you are in Oneida cty anyway, go over to Woodruff and Little Arborvitea lake. The cove where the boat launch is located is like a table-top. The edges drop off into deep water but the area right around the launch is 4-5' deep. When everyone else loads up and leaves for the day fish those shallows with a jig and minnow or a leach. If the wind is from the west just drift from the deep water to the shallow shelf, very slowly if possible. Everything comes up to those rock flats for their evening meal! Don't rig too light because there are some decent muskies that hang around there too. I used to live half a mile up Rt 51 and that was my home lake. Best on non-weekend evenings but it will produce for you, I'm sure. Let me know how you do.

Atta boy, passing! I just want to be the one who decides who gets my boat and at what price, not some executor. I'll feel better about it that way.

I wish I was younger too, RJ....lol And I wish none of us were crippled up. Getting old is not for sissies and I've been way too lucky for way too long.

I was quite moved today when I talked to the owner of the marina. He told me "there will always be a boat for you here, my Dargel is at your disposal, anytime you want it." But, I haven't been boatless in many years, even if it was only a kayak. So, you bought the pontoon, huh? The $90 grand one? You going to haul it down next year?

Well at a minimum I'm looking at two surgeries this summer and then I'll be 84 years old. When I was considering selling the boat earlier this spring I got a couple of PM's from stagers who indicated they would be interested if I decided to sell, but I really didn't want to face that so I didn't make a note of them. I'm pretty sure I have a standing offer from a guide who told me he would like to have it as a single customer boat because it's the best two-man platform for the flats he has ever used. So, here are the highlights.

The boat is a 2005 Bayseaker made in Hamlin, Texas. She's 19'2", casting decks fore and aft. The company, and the molds, burned down a few years ago and they went out of business. You can ask any Texas boat dealer about Bayseaker's reputation and they will tell you the boats rank right up there with the biggies.

The motor is a 2020 Mercury 90 HP 4 stroke with about 100 hours on it. All the control cables were replaced when I repowered. It turns right at 6000 and fully fueled and 3 people she'll do about 23 knots.

It has a remote control Haswing 60 lb thrust trolling motor and a Garmin striker 4 contour mapping fish finder. Clean titles on the boat and engine but the trailer has never been licensed. I keep the boat at an indoor storage marina so I never use the trailer.

Saturday we're going to take pictures and Captain Todd is going to price her out. I can tell you she's white, tight and pretty. I've never had a better boat and I've owned whalers and Rangers.

To a good home only, and I'm serious! PM me

As soon as you say "don't" or "can't" they do. I recall a day on the jetty at South Padre Island and the sun was just right and from our vantage point above the water we could see a bunch of reds coming up the channel. There must have been thousands of fish in that school and some were huge. There was little we could do but watch in awe until they passed. They all went somewhere into the Laguna Madre and if they headed north there was no outlet to the gulf until they got to Port Mansfield, 30 or 40 miles away.

Good luck with that, Ben. I've got two little yappers and I've been trying to teach them to sing Handel's Hallelujah Chorus since before Christmas, but they never want to practice.

I'll get this done for less than a thousand - not much less, but a little. And I love this boat better than my left leg, so that's a good thing.