FINALLY a successful Bolivar trip. If you recall, last year, the water was so high that we couldn't even launch from Stingeree and halfway through the trip, the weather got so bad that half of the people left. This year was just the opposite. As Ken Jennings would say, it was "ice cream" weather. Except for a little wind Friday morning the weekend was BEAUTIFUL and not one mosquito! Although most of the fish that were caught were undersized, there were still lots of keepers. (On Saturday, my friends Nicky Carnes and Lance Lestig caught 60 reds between them, though most were small.) There were also quite a few flounder caught, including at least three 22"ers, all of which were dutifully released. The majority of fish were caught in the marsh, even some keeper trout. No Big Uglies were reported.

For the second year, we camped at the Bolivar Peninsula RV Park.  As usual, we had a terrific group dinner at the Stingeree Marina Restaurant. There were 11 of us altogether including Leo and Twan who came IN ALL THE WAY FROM DALLAS to join us!  And Chris Arseneaux drove in just to have dinner with us!

It was an interesting "housing" arrangement. Three people had tent cots. David Garza had a home-made camping hammock. There were two brand news travel trailers and a couple of us actually slept in tents.

There were however two unfortunate mishaps. While in the marsh, Nicky got a big hit and over-zealously tried to set the hook, and flipped over backward. At least he was in just one foot of water. Later, his stringer somehow broke and he lost three keeper trout and a beautiful red. Back at the boat ramp, Greg was preparing to take off in his outboard motor canoe, and when he tried to start the motor, he also turtled. Because his 2 1/2 HP motor was submerged, it would not start, and his day of fishing was over before it even began. At least this didn't happen in the marsh! Instead, he and his wife enjoyed themselves birdwatching at High Island.

Brad and Bruce also had a good day Saturday, returning to the marina at dark. They then took some filets to the Stingeree Restaurant where they were cooked for them.

I should also mention, that although the huge motorcycle rally was going on in Galveston, it caused no delays at all (at least for me) at the ferry. 

Due to the fear of passing a kidney stone while in my kayak in the marsh, I chose to restrict my fishing to the surf and the North Jetty, where I caught nothing. As it turned out, when I saw my doctor on Monday, he told me that I had already passed all the stone fragments following lipotripsy. Too bad I didn't know this BEFORE the trip!

Joel Berry