Just for Fun

"This article appeared in a beagle magazine, SMALL PACK OPTION—THE GUNDOGGER"

When the fun's gone, I'm gone! This was a statement I heard many times over the past ten years while my beagle buddy, Tommy Vinson and I ran up and down the nations highways. It seems that some of the fun is gone, because my buddy and I no longer travel together.

I had my family nearly raised when I started field training, but Tommy now has two beautiful daughters ages 5 and less than 1. He spends most of his time working a full time job, plus farming and ranching after hours and on the weekends. Oh, he still has a kennel full of well-bred beagles, and he rabbit hunts some during the winter. He just doesn't have the time to field trail much anymore. I got to get in on a couple of hunts with him last season. Just getting to hear Boggy Creek Target (Seven Cedar's Nugget X Circle C Tara) puts a bunch of fun into the hunt. Her mouth is not a true clone of her dam, but its close. I think that I once stated that Tara could raise chill-bumps on a fence post. Let me tell you, I'm sure that Target can do the same. What a mouth! Oh well, you know what I mean.

I probably have more time now than I ever had, I just can't drive all day and all night like I once could. My knees also limit me to spectator status at most trials. I can no longer stay with the hounds well enough to be a competent judge. That is, I can't stay with what I call Real Rabbit Hounds. I have no trouble staying up with some of the pottering babbling idiots I see on occasions. However, those types of beagles make me sick, so to speak, and I have no desire to inflict self-imposed sickness upon myself.

Another factor at this time of year is, Pylodictis Olivaris. No, that is not some strange disease; it is the scientific name for the flathead catfish. In 1977, the late Ross McCorstin taught me how to catch these big cats and I have had an annual harvest since that time. In 1979, I caught 49 flatheads that weighed a total of 496 pounds, for a cool 10-pound average. My worst year was 1990 when the lake flooded. I caught only four fist that weighed a total of 88 pounds. That was the best average per fish I ever had, but the worst year. Needless to say, my 3 brothers and 2 sisters didn't get much fist that year. After two record years, 1,000 pounds in 1998 and 1,200 pounds in 1999 I dropped down to 200 pounds in 2000 and 300 pounds in 2001. (These amounts are approximate, but within a few pounds of the actual amount.) Everyone who gets in on eating these fish is wishing me well in 2002.

Did I mention that I catch many of these fish with my hands? Going down under water and sticking your hand in a hole under a rock is not for the faint-of-heart. If a big fish is in the hole, you're going to get bit. To do this, you don't have to be crazy, but it helps. I also catch flatheads on trotlines, using 10-0 hooks with no bait. It has everything to do with location, location, location. The hooks have to be super sharp and right on the bottom. Yes, it is all legal and lots of fun, but also a lot of hard work. Why is it that having fun usually involves so much strenuous work?

I also fish for channel and blue catfish with a rod and reel. For them, I use what is commonly referred to as stink bait. I use the eggs out of the flatheads and mix them with cheese. I put it in a five-gallon bucket and every time I can catch the wind just right and get close enough to the bucket, I stir it. I have a boat stall rented at Alberta Creek and the water is 40 feet deep in the stall. I bait it with hog feed, corn, and cattle cubes. In addition to the catfish, I also catch some big Buffalo fish, which is a lot of fun too. Some I never get to the top, which leave me wondering just how big they were.

I cooked fish for two beagle clubs one summer at a joint get-together and we had a great time. However, since fishing is so unpredictable, we scheduled a potluck picnic for the next summer. If things go well, I may be able to feed the beaglers fish at one of our trails.

I confess to being a thief. I stone the title of the article from ALBERTA CREEK RESTORT & MARINA. This resort is where I do all of my fishing and I consider it to be the best fishing place on planet earth. Bill and Laurie Glascock are the owner/operators. For a motto they very appropriately selected "JUST FOR FUN". I informed Bill that I was going to steal his motto. Since I have done so, I feel obligated to give a little more detail about the resort. ALBERTA CREEK RESORT & MARINA is located on Lake Texoma. Alberta is number one numerically and alphabetically on the lake map and is also number one in hospitality. The café on the water has a great chef and some of the finest food in this area.

Texoma is an 89,000 acre lake and was built in the early 1940's and filled to capacity in the spring of 1945. It was built and maintained by the Corps of Engineers. The normal pool elevation is 617 and the spillway is at 640. The lake has flooded and gone over the spillway three times (1957, 1990, and 2007). The government bought ever ten-acre tract of land that bordered the 645-elevation mark. The dam, near Denison, Texas dammed up two rivers, the Washita in Oklahoma and the Red River which constitutes most of the border between Oklahoma and Texas.

Along these two rivers are some great swamp rabbit hunting spots. When you come to see me, we can run swampers and then have a meal of flathead catfish. The flathead is one of the best eating fish there is, if it is properly cleaned. When Branko and Freda came by for a visit a couple of years ago, my wife fried up a big platter of flathead. I think each of them initially took only one piece of fish. After tasting it, they were ready for more.

Once, about 20 years ago, when my two youngest children, Phillip and Marla were little, we had Leo Dillow, a friend, over for dinner. After Leo piled his plate high for the third time, Phillip remarked, "Daddy, he eats more that any man I have ever seen." I scolded, "Phillip!" But when I said that little Marla chimed, "But Daddy, he does." I was so embarrassed, but it didn't bother Leo in the least. He just took another bite of fish, cackled out with laughter, and responded, "Don't get on to them for telling the truth."

The Corps land around Lake Texoma is where we run most of our field trials. Does anyone want to guess how we came up with a name for Texoma Beagle Club? Our ARHA sister club is very appropriately named, Oklahoma Lake Country Rabbit Hunter's Association. When I was younger, I would tell people, "I live at Lake Texoma, if you happen to get down that way, drop in."

Check out the website for ALBERTA CREEK RESORT & MARINA, its www.albertacreek.com. You will get to see most of the Striped Bass guides that work out of this resort. They are a great bunch of guts and work very hard to insure that their customers have a memorial trip. There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 to 300 guides on Lake Texoma. In my biased opinion, those working out of Alberta Creek are as good as the best and better than the rest. SO if you get down this way, drop in, just for fun.