Here are the boys aboard the Texsun II, a fine boat available for charter into the Galveston Bay. The CFO at the hospital (Chuck - the guy in the hat and sunglasses right behind the boys) invited us to go on a charter fishing trip this Saturday with his church. The morning trip booked before we could get our reservations made, so we decided to book an afternoon trip. In this picture, we are leaving Pier 19 on the way to our first stop in the bay for a little fishing. With Cap'n John at the wheel, and Ken the Deckhand assisting the fellars in the back of the boat, greatness awaited one of us.
Turns out that the mighty fisherman among us was Austin, who was fishing beside me off the back of the boat. After catching a couple of 1 - 2 pound hardhead catfish, Austin hooked this beast which you see above. It hit his bait hard, and bent his rod so much I thought it might break. He try to control it for a little while, then said "Dad, I'm going to need some help with this one." I handed my rod to Chuck, asked him to keep Braden from falling off the boat, then started cranking on this stingray with Austin. Kenny had everyone on the back of the boat pull up their line, so we were free to roam across the full back end of the ship to try and keep this winged water-beast below us. We'd crank and reel, it would run and pull out line, we'd crank and reel some more. Eventually, we stripped the reel because we were trying to reel it in while it was running out. That meant I had the pole, Austin worked the reel, and the K-man held the line against the pole to keep La Pescado Diablo from pulling out any more line.
Once we wore it out, Austin and I managed to pull the fish up to the surface of the water, where Ken gaffed it and pulled it up onto the boat. By this point, all 10 or so of the fisher-persons on the back end of the boat were just watching the action, with Austin right in the middle of it all. The Horst family fishing record books will reflect that on Saturday, June 17, Austin caught a 50 pound Stingray in Galveston Bay. Not bad, considering his Class 2 Medical Form we just completed for scout camp lists him @ 84 pounds himself!
From spot to spot in the Bay, we would go inside the cabin and have something to drink and horse around. Here Braden is recreating the look on the face of one of the catfish he caught as he pulled it out of the water. Braden and I worked one of the fishing poles together, and everytime I would feel a fish on the line I'd have him reel it in - very exciting! "Hey Brur, you wanna see my fish?" A fellar four spots over from us caught a 4-foot long hammerhead shark, which (needless to say) Braden thought was very cool. After we watched them remove the hook and put the shark on ice, Braden turned back to me and said "OK Da-ee, now we catch a shark".
After how well they did on our trip (4 hours total), I took the boys over to the beach for a couple of hours while we still had some daylight. The beach was nasty, the wind was blowing, but Braden is a beach boy in his soul. He ran and played non-stop until we finally had to take showers, get back in the car and go home. After dinner at Chick Fil A, he was asleep in his car seat before I was able to get out of the parking lot. It was a quiet, happy trip home to hot showers and cool beds.
Now we just need to figure out the best way to prepare stingray filets, because I have about 15 pounds worth in my freezer...
1 comment:
The funniest, most diversified 11 year old grandson in the world!
Captain Ahab would be proud!
A 50-pound stingray - good grief!
What a great Father's Day outing for the three of you. Loved all the pictures; how did Austin keep from breaking his face with those
great smiles! Braden's fish expression and his playing on the
beach pictures were precious.
Once again, thanks for sharing all your fun times. Makes me feel as if I were there. Hugs to all you
fishermen!! Can hardly wait to see you.
Love and hugs, Mom/Grandma
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