Great day of Eagle Fishing

Let me explain my title. We went fishing today thanks totally to the Abilene High football coaches. Steve Warren called me back in March and said "We want to donate some money for your trip but we have one requirement - it must be used for fishing. Yes, we want you to have a nice get-a-way day and just go fishing." That was so thoughtful and generous of those state champs, so today was our Eagle fishing day.

Now let me tell you about the trip. We could have hooked up with some big 42' boat and done some tourist fishing, but we decided on another venue. We took a ferry 12 miles out to Taboga island [pic]- a little pickup picked us up (because it's too much walking uphill for me) and took us to a real picturesque Bed & Breakfast [pic] where they fixed us breakfast - then we went down to the water and met our boat [pic] (Kathy wasn't too prepared for the SS Desta - she still thought it would be some big comfortable ride) - but I wanted simply a local fisherman to take us out like they do each day and Enrique [pic] was our local fisherman (he spoke absolutely no English except 2 words I will tell you later) - he took us out around these small islands in the Pacific - it was a little rough (as you can see from Kathy's fishing position - she's not sunning) [pic] - I simply trolled while Enrique took us around the islands - we did that for about an hour and half with not even a nibble and I was about to tell him that trolling wasn't my favorite or best fishing technique - I wanted to tell him I like how Gary Sitton and I fish back behind his house (not that I have ever caught anything there either but it's much more relaxing) - but about that time, WHAM! - it hit my line and started running - when I got her in, Enrique said it was a sierra [pic] - "good fish" he said. We did a little more trolling then later headed back to land - we walked up to the B & B (every local we passed on the little street said "Good fish") and they prepared our sierra for lunch [pic].

Now for some of you real fishermen, you may not think one sierra is much of a catch - for me it was a highlight reel. Many of you have heard my Breckenridge Phil Dye fishing story, so for me to bring one in all on my own and to be the biggest fish I have ever caught, I was happy. ( I average about one fish every 2 decades, so this big one is good.)

It was a great day especially when you consider the weather - it poured practically all day except for the time we were out away from the B & B - Not a drop - Unbelievable! God was smiling on us, and most likely because He knew there were some great guys from Abilene, Texas who had given from their hearts for this outing! Thanks Steve and the many other coaches at AHS - your gift was appreciated greatly!