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Getting Ready to Go Fishing!!!

October 13th, 2009 | Author: admin

We are now ten days away from the next family camping trip, which will be the first time that we have ever gone camping just as the four of us. We have gone multiple times in the past and have very much enjoyed having company on each of these past trips. We are looking forward to something different this time though. No distractions from the city, technology, and everyday life, with just the four of us.

We are trying a new campground. We asked for suggestions, and after checking to see which campgrounds still had sites available, (we seem to be going on a busy camping weekend) we used various factors to determine that we would go to Fairfield State Park. One factor was drive time, as we are only going for four days and three nights. We don’t want to spend the entire trip on the road! We also wanted to be sure there are plenty of trails to hike. Fairfield has 15 miles of continuous, multi-use trails. In addition, there is a two-mile nature trail, and a one-mile bird watching trail!

Lastly we wanted there to be fishing! On past camping trips, we have gone “fishing,” which means we have helped the kids to cast the lines on their little poles into the water without bait. They have used a small casting plug, which is designed to help them get the hang of casting and reeling, without the dangers of hooking themselves, mommy, or daddy! This time, we decided to buy fishing poles and a small supply of tackle to do some basic fishing off of a fishing pier at Fairfield State Park, which is apparently a great fishing lake.

The following was taken from the website of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. “Fairfield Lake is warmed by the TXU Big Brown power plant. Because of our warm water, people come from all over Texas to enjoy some fantastic winter fishing opportunities. From November through February, we have tournaments every weekend. Fishing Clubs from the Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Waco, Austin, and Tyler areas host tournaments here. Why drive all the way to the Texas Gulf Coast to enjoy fishing for Red Drum! What makes Fairfield different then most lakes is that, because of the warm winter temperatures, it is stocked with Red Drum (aka Red Fish). The state record for Inland Red Drum was taken here at Fairfield Lake. (44 inches, 36.83 lbs.)”

So, yesterday, we went and purchased a small tackle box, and enough tackle to do some basic fishing and fill up one area of the tackle box. This morning, during a school break, the kids wanted to help me set it up. Here are some pictures of the fun…

Here we are getting ready to load the tackle box! Looks like someone forgot to comb his hair this morning!

Here we are with all of the stuff to put in the tackle box! Looks like someone forgot to comb his hair this morning...