A good time was had by all at the 8th Boliver "Hilton" weekend, even though we didn't enjoy the incredible meat hauls of past trips. Three of us, Joel B. Bill Leary and Frank Stanley stayed at the beach house Thursday night so as to get an early start Friday morning. Before most of us even got our boats  in the water, Bruce had already caught enough fish to feed all of us at the fish fry on Sat. night. The weather was beautiful, and most of us caught fish. Bill had a 26" red and keeper flounder. Ken had a keeper red. Joel had 2 flounder. Aaron had 2 trout and slot red and Brad V. and Chris B. had slams. Frank almost got stranded back in the marsh on the falling tide, but managed to escape with the greatest effort. Friday night we enjoyed a delicious brisket dinner provided by yours truly.

     The flounder run was definitely on, though most were on the small side. I don't recall so many flounder ever being caught on previous trips. FYI, the excellent  resturant at Stingeree will cook your fish for you, along with 2 sides for about $9, as long as you clean it. Bruce and Joel took advantage of this and had delicious fresh fish lunches there.

     Late Friday night, a ferocious storm passed through. Thank the lawdy we were in a house, and not primitive camping!

     We had great hopes for ideal conditions for Saturday morning. There was supposed to be a strong falling tide in the marsh, made even stronger by north winds. But when we arrived at Stingeree Sat. morning, we were greeted by howling 25-30mph winds. Most of us had the good sense to stay on dry land, and live to fish another day, but 4 daredevils (Bruce, Chris, Mike Emshoff, and Brad) couldn't resist the prospect of another Boliver meat haul and took off into the white caps. Trip leader Joel Berry made sure that waivers were signed before they took off!  Surprisingly, only a few fish were caught, and even the mighty Bruce Behrens got skunked! At least they made it back alive. John Staigerwald theorized that the low barometric pressure from the previous nights storm was the reason for the all-but-non-existent bite.

     Never the less, thanks to Bruce's efforts on Friday, we had more than enough fish for a terrific outdoor fish fry feast that night. And to top it off, a new member, Amir Athari, brought his humidor and treated us to exotic (and expensive) cigars! And as usual, our master brewer, Mike Harris provided the St. Arnolds beer, so I would guess that everyone went to bed that night with a full stomach and a satisfied smile on their face. 

    Sunday was beautiful, and the bite was on in the marsh, especially for those with live bait. Many keeper reds were taken, and Greg Corbett caught an especially nice flounder. Amir also caught his first fish from a kayak, another nice flounder.

     I should mention that this weekend was also the Long Star motorcycle rally in Galveston, which attracted some 350,000 people. I don't know how many motorcycles that translates to, but there was a shitload of beautiful bikes on Boliver all weekend. The only downside was when taking the ferry back Sunday afternoon. Most of us opted to go through Winnie to I 10.

     Thanks for everyones' contributions, and especially those who helped clean the house! We'll  do it again next year!