Alaska Fishing Trip June 6 to June 13, 2009 Sitka, Alaska

The below post includes some pictures that were taken on the trip, to view them all click on the slide show to the left or click on this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/holtnotesrah/SitkaAlaskaFishing#

Henry, Mark, Larry and I left Houston at 9:45 am on a Continental flight via Seattle, Washington to Anchorage, Alaska, to Juneau, Alaska arriving Sitka, Alaska at 11:00 pm. It was an extremely long day, changing planes twice, traveling over 4,000 miles and spending 17 hours to get there. When we booked our flights the only available route was the one we took, there are much shorter routes, we learned after the fact, we could have flown directly to Seattle to Sitka reducing the mileage about 1400 miles. We met up with Danny and Stan in Juneau and rode the 95 mile flight to Sitka with them. Also boarding the plane in Juneau was the Sitka High School baseball team and some fans. This was my first exposure to the remoteness and vastness of Alaska. A 95 mile trip to play baseball and they had to fly to get there.

To get to Sitka you must fly or go by boat, there are no roads leading into Sitka due to the mountains and water surrounding the city. We learned that there are only 14 miles of road available in the whole Sitka borough which is the largest in the 50 states. Not largest in population but area.

The trip was long and tiring and I lost my best camera (taken out of the bin on the airplane as we departed Continental airplane in Seattle), my energy and attitude quickly changed in the Sitka airport when Danny, one of the fishing party told me he heard my name over the loud speaker. I went to the counter and the agent asked me if I had lost something and I replied, No. She reached under the counter and pulled out my wallet, she said the Pilot found it in my seat on the plane. What a relief thanks to the honest pilot; cash credit cards and all personal identification was intact. Thanks Alaska Airlines pilot.

Picture out of the airplane as we arrived at the Sitka, Alaska airport at 11 pm, still daylight
Brown bear on display in the Sitka, Airport. A one gate, one counter airport.
Jim, our host and guide. Very friendly and personable individual. He went out of his way to make our trip succesful and memorable. Normally a Hunter and Bear Guide, Jim also does some fishing trips and is the owner of the Float House we stayed on. He picked us at the airport, took us for supplies and groceries, delivered us to the float house, took us fishing, returned us to Sitka for our last evening and then transported us to the airport on the last day. Thank you, Jim.

Jim our guide and owner of the Float House picked us up at the airport and drove us to the Sitka Hotel for the evening. We visited with him for an hour or two over a couple of drinks at the bar next door to the hotel. We all agreed Jim would join us for breakfast the next morning and we would then go get our fishing license and get our supplies for the week as we were to do our own cooking on the Float House. I woke up after only being in bed a couple of hours, it was about 4am but 7am at home. I was awakened by a horrible screeching noise outside our hotel window. I got up, it was daylight and I could see two huge Ravens fighting over a piece of what looked like chicken. Larry yelled at them and they flew away. I was able to get a couple more hours sleep before waking up to get ready for the day activities.

View from Sitka Hotel Parking Lot on the first morning in Sitka

My first experience to the cost of things in Alaska was at breakfast. Two eggs, two bacon and two sausages with a cup of coffee was $20. I was wondering, what will a week of groceries and supplies cost for 6 people when we go shopping later that morning?

After breakfast, Jim drove us to a sporting goods store to buy our fishing license. A 7 day non resident Alaska fishing license was $87. We then went next door to the grocery store and started shopping for our weeks supply. We bought all the necessary cooking items, breakfast and lunch items. picked up enough dinner items for two meals and planned on 3 of the other dinners would be fish that we caught. The biggest expense was water, drinking and cooking water for 6 people for a week. Water cost $10 for a 24 pack of bottles, at home around $3 on sale.

Loading the truck with supplies. Groceries were not all that expensive. Our total bill in the grocery store was just under $400. $65 per person, not bad for 5 days.

After shopping we went back to the Hotel and checked out. Jim needed to go by his house and let the dogs out for a while before we went fishing. The view from his back yard was unbelievable. A 180 degree view of the bay and mountain ranges with Mt Edgecombe directly across the water from him. We also saw our first eagle sitting in a tree in front of his home. We then went to the fish processing plant to find out how we would be getting our fish processed, packaged and delivered to the airport. We then went and bought our drinks and loaded them on the truck and went from there directly to the boat to head to our Float House and a couple of hours of fishing.

From left to right Henry, Stan, Larry, Danny and in the background Mark. This picture and the below picture was taken in the back of Jim's house. Me with Mt Edgecombe in the background.
Picture taken of the Sitka Harbor from the Lakeside Grocery Store where we did our shopping.Mountains surrounded Sitka, this picture was taken from the dock next to our guide's slip for his boat.


Annahootz, our fishing boat for the week. The configuration of the boat allowed Jim the captain and two of us to ride in the cabin leaving plenty of room for the other 4 on the open deck.

Leaving Sitka Harbor headed for our Float House


Our ride on the way to the float house.

The ride by boat to the Float House took about twenty minutes. The water was blue as the sky and the view was spectacular. We entered into a narrow body of water off the main bay and at the end was a beautiful mountain pictured below. About half way down the narrow body of water we turned left into an opening that entered into the cove where the float house was located.

Mountain at the end of the narrow body of water on the way to the float house.

As we turned into the cove this mountain range was behind us.


This view was off to the right as we turned into the cove.

First view of the float house as we turned into the cove where the float house was moored. Jim moved the float house to the current position the week prior to our arrival.

The float house, to the left was an 18 foot skiff we could use while we were there.

Accomodations & Food (Float House):

The Float House was the neatest place I have ever stayed. Located in a remote cove about 2o minutes by boat from Sitka. There was plenty of room for the 6 of us. The kitchen was well stocked with pots, pans, cups, glasses and silver ware . We took in plenty of groceries and paper products for the week. There are 6 bunks in one room and a queen size bed in a separate room for sleeping. We used four of the bunks, the queen sized bed slept two, leaving two of the bunks for storage of clothing and luggage.

We anticipated we would eat fish for 3 nights and two other nights we would fix spaghetti and bratwursts. Breakfast consisted of eggs, ham, sausage, toast, breakfast tacos, coffee and juice. Lunch was eaten on the fishing boat each day, ham, crackers, apples, bananas, cookies, salami and cheese and plenty of water to drink.

Two evenings Henry fried fish that turned out to be excellent. The third night Henry grilled salmon with a lemon pepper rub and Danny grilled salmon with a brown sugar rub. Every morning Stan had coffee ready for us and cooked the breakfast with Danny's help, we even had skillet toast. Danny made the bratwurst and I cooked the spaghetti. Everyone had a role in the daily meal preparation from meal preparation to washing the dishes. On one occasion we intentialy used more pots and pans than needed so as to pile up the dish washing duties on Larry and Stan. Needless to say there was no weight loss on this trip.

Water was at a premium, the only water available was rain water in a barrel. We brought on gallons of water and 24 pack bottles of water for cooking and consumption. We used the rain water for washing dishes and an occasional sponge bath. (In most instances bathing was not done, individuals used their body wipes for hygiene during the week).

Restroom facilities were at a minimum. There was a shower with a propane heater to heat the water but there was only one barrel of water and we saved it for washing dishes. The marine style porta potty worked, but while it was located inside the cabin, there was a thin sliding door separating you from the bunk beds. We all consider each other to be close friends and or family, however, not that close. One approach was to tell night time stories and jokes to those in bed while sitting on the throne. Great laughter came from this one particular accommodation.

Bunk room at end of the float house, opened out onto a large deck in the rear. I slept in the lower bunk to the left, Danny was above me, Larry slept on the right bottom bunk, Stan slept on the lower bunk at the foot of my bunk and Henry and Mark shared the bed in the small bedroom. The bunks above Larry and Stan were used for storage and staging of our gear. There was ample sleeping bags, pillows and blankets for our comfort. The kitchen and living area proved to be very comfortable, well stocked with utensils and plenty of sitting space for the 6 of us. The wood stove was not used for warmth, as the cabin remained comfortable the whole time we were there.

Weather:
The weather was excellent for us the whole week. Most days were perfect, temperatures ranged from lows in the low 40 degrees to highs in the high 60 degrees. Most days were cloudy, almost every morning there was a thick fog all around but burned off by mid morning. On Wednesday there was hardly a cloud in the sky and you could see for miles. There was a fine mist on a couple of days, we were very fortunate that the weather allowed us to fish the whole time we were there. Dusk was around 11pm and dawn 3am for a total of about 4 hours darkness. There was always enough light to see 24 hours a day without the need of flashlights.

Wednesday morning about 5am picture taken from the front porch of the float house.
Friday morning about 5 am picture taken from the front porch of the float house.

Mt. Edgecombe: Picture was taken on Wednesday while we were fishing. One of the most amazing sites happened at this spot. We were fishing in approximately 150 foot of water and when a small fish was brought up, the change in pressure unfortunately killed the fish. When we discarded the fish back in the water they would float and Eagles would swoop down and grab them in their claws.


About 7am on Thursday morning as we headed out to fish. A cruise ship headed to Sitka.

Clothing and gear:
We tried to pack as light as we could due to the extra cost of bags on the airlines and to manage the amount of luggage we would carry around and store while we were in the hotels and on the float house. Since this time of year in Sitka is the rainy season we made sure to take along plenty of rain clothing and shoes. Additionally, due to the coolness in the morning and warmer temperatures later in the day we took clothing that could be layered, sometimes taking off or adding layers as needed. I personally took along a Simms fishing jacket that proved to be the right approach. Fishing shirt, Simms Jacket, long underwear, fishing pants, a frog togg rain suit and Shimano Evair fhishing boots proved to be my normal dress for the day.

Sun screen, body wipes, toothpaste and tooth brush were essentials.

Wildlife:
While the whole trip was fantastic, the scenery was beautiful, the weather perfect, the fishing fun and a great experience and the float house was a unique and comfortable. Being in the wild and getting to see the wildlife in it's habitat was truly a blessing. We saw numerous birds including a blue herron and eagles. The eagles were a lot of fun to watch, we fed them at night when we cleaned the fish for dinner. At one point there were 11 eagles on the rocky shore by the float house eating the fish carcasses. We saw a mama bear and two cubs and Stan and Mark saw two additonal male brown bear later that same day when they went down to the shore line in the skiff. We saw hundreds of sea lions on a cluster of rock islands. We chased whale on two different occassions, Jim got us so close at one point, when the whale blew it startled a couple of us.

A blue herron as it was landing in the tree top
Eagle in the middle of the picture, it was truly amazing to watch this bird. Their heads are in constant motion moving back and forth searching for prey and food.

Eagles eating the carcasses of fish we cleaned for dinner. The remoteness of our float house was cause for almost complete quite, only noises of nature. You could hear fish bones breaking by the eagles beaks.

A mama bear and her two cubs in the grass.

A sea lion, he was making such a loud snorting and grunting noise, obviously he didn't like us there. We saw hundred of sea lions on a group of rock islands.

Fluke (Tail fin) of a Humpback Whale we chased


Two Humpback Whales one rolling out of the water and the mist coming from the blow whole of another.

Fishing:

Most of the fishing was trolling for Salmon. We decided that we would take turns bringing in the Salmon that was caught while trolling. Jim set up the down rigger (similiar to the picture below), one on each aft side of the boat. The fishing line would be attached to the down rigger and a 10 pound ball attached to a steel line on the down rigger. The ball would be dropped to the depth that we wanted to fish. This takes the bait (we were using herrring) to that depth, usually around 80 to 125 feet. Once the bait and a flasher (attracts the fish) is in place we would troll about 1.5 to 2.5 miles per hour. As you are trolling the fishing pole is somewhat bent from the tension of the flasher and bait. When a fish hits the bait the line would release itself from the down rigger causing the fishing rod to pop up or flutter. The rod is taken from its holder and the hook set and the fish is on (hopefully, we missed a few). Whoever was closest to the rod would set the hook and hand it to the next person who was in line to bring in the salmon.

An example of a down rigger that we used.

The other way we fished was mooching, nothing more than putting on an artificial bait and dropping it to the bottom and then retrieving the bait up about one or two feet. Then raising the rod up and down would catch fish. The fish that we caught other than the Salmon was caught by mooching or sometimes called jigging.

Salmon:

The Chinook salmon or sometimes called the King salmon is blue-green on the back and top of the head with silvery sides and white ventral surfaces. It has black spots on its tail and the upper half of its body; its mouth is dark gray. Adult fish range in size from 33 to 36 inches (840 to 910 mm), but may be up to 58 inches (1.47 meters) in length; they average 10 to 50 pounds (4.54 to 22.7 kg), but may reach 130 pounds (59 kg). The current sport caught World Record is 97 pounds 4 ounces (44.1 kg) and was caught in May 1985 by Les Anderson in the Kenai River (Kenai, Alaska). The commercial catch world record is 126 pounds (57 kg) caught near Petersburg, Alaska in a fish trap in 1949.

We caught 9 keeper salmon of which 1 was a Coho Salmon that Stan caught.

Danny and a nice Salmon
Mark and one of his Salmon that he caught
Stan caught a nice Salmon

Larry and his salmon above

Henry and the huge salmon he caught below

My Salmon caught on Wednesday

Other editable fish we caught:

Halibut:

The one fish we all wanted to catch but didn't. I caught one small Halibut and Mark caught one, it got off the hook but at least he got to see it. Henry hooked a huge fish, it wouldn't budge off the bottom. The way it hit and shook it's head was certainly a huge Halibut. Jim indicated he bet it was 80 lbs or greater, unfortunately the gear and the way we were fishing didn't allow us to catch the Halibut we all desired.

Lingcod (Ophiodon elong-atus):

Hexagrammids, a family of fish unique to the west coast of North America. Unlike their name implies, they are not true cods, but are greenlings. They can be found from the Alaska Peninsula/Aleutian Islands south to Baja California. They are common throughout Southeast Alaska, the outer Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak, and Prince William Sound. While found to depths of 1,000 feet (300 m), lingcod more typically inhabit nearshore rocky reefs from 30 to 330 feet (10–100 m). Lingcod are voracious predators and can grow to weigh over 80 pounds (35 kg) and measure 60 inches (150 cm) in length. They are characterized by a large mouth with 18 sharp teeth. Their color is variable, usually with dark brown or copper blotches arranged in clusters.

We caught a number of lingcod, however due to the limits imposed we had to release a number of them, including the one in the picture below. The current limit is between 30 and 35 inches long and over 55 inches can be kept. This one was over 35 inches but not over the 55 inch limit We ate fresh lingcod on the float house, it was excellent.

Lingcod, caught and released as it didn't meet the 30 to 35 inch and 55 inch and over limit.

Yellow Eyed Rockfish or Red Snapper:

In keeping with their name, these fish sport bright yellow eyes. They are commonly known as Red Snapper. These fish may be found in shallow water in early spring, sometimes feeding on lingcod spawn, Their eyes are highlighted with a spine above each eye socket and rough ridges behind each eye. Their coloring is yellow-orange washed with pink tones. Fins are pink with black on the lips and include a large spiny dorsal fin with irregular notches. Average length is 50 cm, life span is up to 115 years.

Yellow Eyed Snapper, we caught many of these. The limit on these is two per fisherman. After our second day of fishing we had our limit a total of 12 nice fish. We continued to catch the Snapper but had to release them .

Quillback Rockfish:

These fish are often found near rock reefs, in inlets and in shallow rock piles. A quillback is easily identified by its high dorsal fin with deep notches between the spines, large mouth and compressed body. Colouring is brown and yellow with orange-brown speckling on the lower back. The fins are dark, except for a yellow streak through the spiny dorsal fin. Average length is 35 cm, life span is up to 76 years.

Watch out for those spiny fins. One of the fish flopped on the deck of the boat, the spiny dorsal fin went through my fishing boot and into the top of my foot.

We caught a number of Quillback Rockfish, this was one of my favorite fish to eat while on the float house. This picture was taken from the internet as I did not get a picture on the trip.

Copper Rockfish:

These fish are striking in their variable colors, which may include dark or olive brown tones washed with copper-pink and occasionally spashed with yellow. Two yellow bands radiate backwards from the eyes, and the fins are copper-black. Length is up to 55 cm, life span can be 45 years.

We caught some Copper Rockfish but we didn't keep any, they were all released. Internet picture also.

Black Sea Bass (Stereolepis gigas):

Fish native to the northern Pacific Ocean With its conspicuous size and a curious nature, it is surprising that relatively little is known about its biology or behavior. There are published reports of giant sea bass reaching a size of 2.5 m (8.2 feet) and a weight of up to 255 kg (562 lbs). However in Charles F. Holder's book The Channels Islands published in 1910, the author claims specimens taken from the Gulf of California attained 800 pounds (360 kg). In the eastern Pacific its range is from Humboldt Bay, California to the Gulf of California, Mexico, most common from Point Conception southward. In the western Pacific it is found in the sea around Japan. It usually stays in relatively shallow water, near kelp forests, drop offs or rocky bottoms.

We caught more of the Black Sea Bass than any other fish. We ate some for dinner one night and it too was excellent.


This is one fish that we caught and threw back every time. I think Jim said it was called a pistachio or picassio fish or something like that. We did catch a lot of them. I will try and get the real name and add it to this picture when I do.

The trip turned out to be more than I could have expected. It was two years in the making. Henry had met Jim, our host and guide a couple of years ago on a bear hunting trip. Henry set up the trip and we were originally scheduled to go last year in June but Danny and his wife Marci had twins the first week in June and we postponed the trip until this June (obviously a glorious occassion and great reason to reschedule).

We brought home about 27 lbs of fish each and more memories than can be weighed. I had a great time, thanks Henry, Mark, Larry, Stan and Danny for being such good friends and making the week so much fun. Thanks especially to Henry for setting up the trip and to Jim for being our guide and host.

Next fishing trip, who knows, maybe Blue Marlin somewhere in the world?

Sitka, Alaska Fishing Trip

Our trip is just a matter of a few days away. Myself and 5 other friends will be headed to fish for Salmon, Halibut, Rockfish and Ling Cod. Our flight will take us via Seattle to Anchorage to Sitka and will take about 11 hours of flying and airport time to get there. Our first and last evenings will be spent in a hotel in Sitka. Or flight arrival is late in the evening on Saturday and we will spend Sunday shopping for food and fishing license. Our fishing guide and host is picking us up at the airport when we arrive and will transport us to the hotel and then on Sunday to the float house we will spend our week, located in a river outside of Sitka about 18 minutes by boat ride.




The City and Borough of Sitka is located on the west side of Baronof Island in the Pacific Ocean (part of the Alaska Panhandle). With an estimated population of 8,986 in 2005, Sitka is the fourth-largest city by population in Alaska and the largest city in the United States by area. Sitka is located Southeast of Juneau, Alaska and can be seen in the lower right of the above picture.


Sitka has been voted the most beautiful Alaskan seaside community. This picture and the below picture came from the Sitka Tourism Bureau.

An actual copy of the Sitka Web cam in the early evening hours on May 27, 2009. It was 6:01pm there and 9:01 pm here in Texas.

A picture of the float house we will be staying in for 5 nights. We will be fishing for 5 days Monday through Friday. Below is another picture of the float house and the boat we will be using for our fishing trips.

Wildlife is Sitka’s hidden treasure with Brown Bear, Sitka Blacktail Deer, Sea Otters, Whales, Sea Lions, Puffins and many more all in large abundance right around each turn. Host to World Class fishing of King Salmon and Halibut plus other goodies like King Crab and Shrimp. Sitka is also a popular feeding ground for the large Humpback Whales in late fall and early spring, but frequent the waters nearly year around. St. Lazaria National Wildlife Refuge is only a 30 minute boat ride from town and is populated with tufted puffins, sea gulls, bald eagles and other sea birds. Or guide indicated that we had a good shot of seeing a number of the wildlife mentioned above.

The weather forecast projects lows in the 40s and highs in the 60s. This is the rainy part of the year in that region and we were told to be sure and bring rain shoes and clothing as well as be able to layer clothing for warmth in the early part of the day and take off layers in the afternoon.

I will be taking pictures and writing notes about our trip while we are gone. I will post an update on the blog when I return.

You can get me once, but you can't get me twice. Another Sabine Lake Fishing Trip May 22, 2009.

L to R: Rob, Larry and Henry with 3 of our nice trout out of a total of 22 trout and 3 red fish
(The fish in our hands may not be one we caught, this is a staged picture :))

This fishing trip was booked about 3 months ago. It is our pre warm up trip for Sitka, Alaska in two weeks - June 6, 2009 to June 13, 2009. We enjoy fishing with Dickie Colburn on Sabine Lake. This makes the 5th trip I personally have gone on with Dickie as the guide. In total, there were 6 of us fishing on two boats. It turned out to be a great and successful trip for us and a spectacular trip for the 3 other guys on the second boat.

Henry and I left for the trip on Thursday and drove over to Lake Charles for some gumbo, etoufee and crawfish pistolets. Our favorite place to eat is the old Steamboat Bills on MLK Blvd, not the one on the highway. The one on MLK has a lot of atmosphere and the food has always been great. Last time we were there the food wasn't up to par and this time it was worse. I hope it isn't on the way out, but based on our last two visits it will be just a matter of time before it shuts the doors.

Larry and the other 3 guys were at the hotel when we got back and they had brought a grill and cooked sausage, boudin, ribs, a pork loin, 4 huge steaks and corn on the cob. There was enough food for 25 people. It was really good and we enjoyed the evening getting to know the 3 fellows we would be fishing with the next day.

Dickie, our guide, picked us up at 5am on Friday morning. He had called us on Wednesday and told us to get a Louisiana fishing license as we would be fishing in the Louisiana portion of Sabine Lake. We headed out and drove almost an hour to the southern side of the lake and launched near Pelican Island. The boat ride was about 3o minutes. By the time we got to the fishing spot there were 8 other boats and it was about 6:30.

On my second cast, I caught a really nice trout on a dark plastic bait, bouncing it off the bottom. We fished there for almost an hour, more boats came in, 14 in total, the word must have gotten out. We left that spot and decided to go join up with the other boat. When we got to them we could tell they were in the fish. As we arrived, all 3 fishermen had fish on the line at the same time. Immediately we started drifting and the game was on. Any bait or lure that was used caught fish, it had to be dark colored, light color did not work. The most fish and action was on top water working the floating bait very slow, popping it and reeling very slowly and then pop again. At 9:30 the other guide and his party pulled up beside us and said they limited out on trout. A limit of 10 trout per fisherman for a total of 30 trout. The trout were not small trout, the average was 3 to 4 pounds and some 5 pounds and over were caught. The other boat of guys caught and released almost a 9 pound trout and a couple of 6.5 pound trout before they caught their limit. They wanted to go fish for some red fish and Dickie directed them to an area he knew that had been active recently. We fished for about another hour and our team ended up with 22 trout, I had 6 nice trout and had thrown back a flounder. The bite lasted a little over an hour and half.

Next, Dickie drove us to a reef in the middle of the lake where he had been catching red fish. On the first drift Dickie caught a red fish and I caught a nice drum. Larry and Henry each landed a red fish on one of the several drifts we made. I caught another small flounder. On two occasions I hooked a large fish. The first fish was absolutely fighting for its life and pulled drag for a number of minutes. After about a five minute fight, the line broke and the fish was gone. On the second fish, the hook was bent and came out of the fish's mouth. A lot of fun, I would have liked to have gotten a glimpse of the fish, since we were in red fish country I am almost certain they were both two big red fish.

About 1:30 the catching of fish stopped. We decided to head in and call it a day, cleaning the fish and a drive home was still ahead of us. When the other boat joined us at the loading ramp we learned that they had not only limited out in trout but they had caught their limit of red fish, 3 per fisherman for a total of 9. They said it took a long time to catch the 9 red fish, because trout were hitting their lines and they couldn't keep any more trout. They told us that they released 17 more trout for a total of 47 trout and 9 reds. With the 3 large trout that they released earlier in the day, their count was 5o trout and 9 reds. Our count was 22 trout and 3 reds for a grand total of catch and release for the two boats of 72 trout and 12 red fish. I did not keep count of the number of fish we missed, caught and put back because they were too small. There were a number however, the point being that it was a wild and furious day of fishing. I call it a day, it was only 6 hours of fishing time.

It was a great time, the weather was beautiful, the fishing was outstanding, the food was exceptional, the fishing friends were fun and I got to make some new friends.

Coming up in a few weeks, my blog will report out on fishing in Sitka, Alaska. Hope it is a good as the pre warm up trip turned out to be.

Walt Disney World, Florida

This picture was taken within a couple of hours after we entered the park.
(Double click on pictures to view the original.)


Our trip to Florida was a very enjoyable and memorable trip. This is truly a magical place. The weather was perfect as we had to wear jackets and sweaters in the early morning and after the sun went down. The days were in the low 70 degrees and the humidity was almost none.



We got there in the early afternoon just as one of the parades was coming down main street.

I will be brief and share a few pictures and highlights as I know Amy will be posting to her blog also.

Susie had booked dinner at 3:30 with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet. I had never eaten with a bear, tiger, donkey or pig before. All be it, there has been an occasion or two. that a few donkeys have been at the table.



My favorite part of the trip was the happiness that this place brought to all of us. The excitement and joy, the smiles and clapping and dancing to the music and the sheer heart warming feeling that I got from watching everyone's reactions to the various sights and rides.



It also brought back memories of our previous visits with Kristin and Amy. On numerous occasions the sights and sounds are the same as twenty years ago when they were both so small. Now here we are with Amy and Josh as adults and their two boys. We talked about Kristin and I had numerous thoughts of her during the trip, while we miss her dearly this place, as I said. is so magical and it created some very fond and happy thoughts.



We stayed on the grounds at the Port Orleans Riverside Resort. It reminded me of Oak Alley in Louisiana.
Looking out from our hotel across the river to the Food center and Lobby at the Port Orleans Riverside Resort.




Magic Kingdom Park just at dusk.


Prior to the Disney World visit, we attended a the wedding for Meredith, a high school friend and family friend of ours. It was an outside wedding, very beautiful and a lot of fun. Below are a few more pictures of the 150 or so pictures I took. I will give them to Amy and Josh to add to the ones they took. I also have over an hour of video that captured some of the highlights of the trip.



Noah stayed with Susie and I while Amy, Josh and Andy went to the rehearsal and luncheon prior to the wedding. We stayed at the Marriott in Buena Vista just a few blocks from where the wedding took place.



Noah and his new sun glasses, you need sun glasses in Florida.



Noah watching cartoons with Granny.






Josh, Amy, Andy and Noah just after the wedding standing on the beach where the wedding took place in Buena Vista, Florida. Amy was a brides maid in the wedding, she looked stunning.





Noah dancing with Sarah.

On our last day we rode the Disney Magical Express bus from the park to the airport. I think these last two pictures sums up the trip.

Noah and Grampy relaxing after a fun week in Florida.



Andy sitting with his Mom on the way to the Airport. A good time was had by all.

Fishing Sabine Lake - Texas/Louisiana Border

Left to right: Henry, Larry and Rob with 3 nice trout.

A fishing trip to remember or maybe not.

This past Monday January 26, 2009 the first fishing trip of 2009 was taken. Henry, Larry and I left home at 4:30 am and traveled two hours just outside Bay City, Texas to meet our fishing guide. We were in the water by 7:30 am, 51 degrees, wind was blowing like crazy and the water temperature was about 58 degrees. The day turned out to be an outstanding big trout fishing trip. Seventeen trout in all for the day all except one over twenty inches and some 5 and 6 pound fish were caught.

Outstanding trip in this case is defined as an outstanding trip for our guide and Larry. The guide caught eleven, Larry landed five and Henry put one in the box. I was skunked.

The day started off fishing under the birds. After chasing birds for a couple of hours, only two small fish had been caught. We moved across the Lake and started drift fishing when the large trout were found. They were caught on Corky's, Catch 5s and Catch 22s. We fished hard all day getting off the water around 5 pm.

It is really interesting how fishing works, the day for me was a comedy of errors. At first I wasn't gettting any distance from my casts. I was fishing with a brand new reel and rod and I couldn't get the distance I needed to get out to where the fish were. The next thing I started fishing with a Corky that was brand new and after about two hours the guide mentioned he didn't think it was working the way it should. The next thing, I changed reels and started getting the distance but I couldn't get a hit to save me. The guide caught fish on every lure he threw. He would catch fish, hand me the lure and put on another. I couldn't get a fish to hit a thing. I watched the guides' pattern, fished right beside him, copied his fishing pattern, used the same lures and I got only 2 hits all day long. One fish I hooked, got it all the way to the boat and before it could be netted it came off.

There are good days and bad days fishing, I have had many more good than bad from a catching stand point. As far as fishing days, everyone of them are great days whether I catch or not.

Susie fixed some of the filets for dinner last night. Pecan Crusted filets in a bourbon cream sauce. The fish were great, I thought the bourbon was a little too strong but really didn't want to complain. When she asked if I liked the fish, I was honest and told her yes, but the bourbon flavor was a little too over bearing. She laughed and said that she trippled the amount of bourbon called for in the recipe.

I wondered why I staggered when I went to take the empty plate back to the kitchen, now I know!!!!!!!!

We have booked our flights for Sitka, Alaska leaving Houston on June 6, 2009 and returning June 13, 2009. I am really looking forward to this trip. We are going to Disney World on February 6th with Amy, Josh, Noah and Andy and I know this will be fun.. Susie and I are also planning a fall trip to Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Massachusetts and Connecticut, maybe New York city if we have time.

Until the next posting, the best to all who read this post.

Sunrise in Indianola, Texas to Sunset in Seattle, Washington

Just for fun, I wanted to take some of my favorite surise/sunset pictures and develop a video with background music. I love the beginning and ending of the day. Is my favorite part of the day the early morning, as the sun comes up or the end of the day, as the sun goes down? If I am alone, my favorite part of the day depends on where I am. In this case my favorite part of the day in Texas is the morning and my favorite part of the day in Washington is in the evening.
In other situations, while not being alone, my favorite part of the day is when that day includes being with my family. Enjoy my test video by:
Double clicking on the picture to the right, watch and listen to the video.

Tennessee and Kentucky Trip November 2008

The intent of this blog was to capture my love for fishing, however Hurricane Ike took away all plans for the normal fall fishing trips during the Flounder run. The Texas Parks and Wildlife recommended to not eat fish out of the Galveston bay system due to pollution. Bait was not to be found as so many fishing boats and bait camps were destroyed and I was concerned about all of the debris under water and the hazard that could bring wade fishing and or danger to any boating activity.

In order to keep the blog active I will share another great trip we took in early November. (There are a number of pictures in the body of this posting, if you would like to see some other pictures we took on the trip click on the Slideshow of Tennessee and Kentucky Trip to the right). I took over 200 cemetery photos that I haven't included, if you want to see them, send me an email holtnotesrah@aol.com.

We flew to Nashville and rented a car. The first day we went to the Tennessee State Archives researching books and documents. The Archives Library is located across from the Tennessee State Capital. We spent the whole day researching and then that evening we drove out to the Grand Ole Opry Hotel and Convention Center. The Christmas lights and music were beautiful. Later that evening we decided to take in a Nashville show.

Downtown Nashville, Tennessee from the balcony of our room the first day on our trip

The State Capital of Tennessee

Beautiful lights and music on the grounds of the Grand Ole Opry Hotel and Convention Center

We enjoyed the Dinner and show at the Nashville Theatre

The second day we left Nashville and drove to Clarksville, Montgomery County, Tennessee. We spent time in the library and drove around the area where our ancestors lived back in the early 1800's based on census and cemetery records we have identified.


The GPS took us to this location which was part of an original land grant of an ancestor in Montgomery County, Tennessee.

Fall colors were fantastic

We left Tennesse on the third day driving into Todd County, Kentucky researching history on my mother's side of the family. We met a distant cousin there and he spent time showing us where our ancestors lived and owned and ran a general store many years ago. We also spent time in the County Courthouse and we were able to obtain a copy of my Great Grandparents Marriage License on my mothers side. We also visited a number of cemeteries in the area where ancestors are buried.

Tyewhoppety, Kentucky old house and land where our ancestors lived.

Location of the General Store owned by ancestors in Tyewhoppety. The location of the gas pumps can still be seen by the rock on the front of the property.

We left Kentucky and drove South back into Tennessee ending up in Culleoka, Maury County, Tennessee and from there we went to Bedford County, Tennessee home of the Tennessee Walking Horse. We went to the library in Shelbyville, Tennessee and drove around the area visiting numerous cemeteries where family members are buried.

In Culleoka, Tennessee an old farm house built by an ancestor in 1917, the original log cabin was moved. The current owners said the log cabin sat just to the left and behind the current home. A number of out buildings are still there. The home and 75 acres is all that is left from an original land grant of 1280 acres. The family cemetery is about a half mile from the home and the graves date back to ancestors born in the 1700s.

After enjoying Shelbyville and the surrounding area we headed to Lynchburg, Tennessee a very quaint small town in the rolling hills of southern Tennessee. The fall colors were great. We spent the night in a bed and breakfast which was an old house outside Lynchburg. Our host was the daughter of a gentleman who was the General Manager for the Jack Daniels Distillery for many years. She also runs the carriage rides in downtown Lynchburg, Tennessee. Her Brother in law lives next door and he invited us over to his home for early morning coffee and then the 3 of us joined our host for a wonderful breakfast. While in Lynchburg we visited the Tennessee Walking Horse Museum, visited a number of different shops and took a tour of the Jack Daniel Distillery.

Picture of the Jack Daniel Distillery, very pretty grounds, the tour took just about an hour. The next picture is showing the fall colors near Lynchburg as we headed out of town.

We left Lynchburg and decided that we would head to Wartrace, Tennessee. Antother nice small town full of antiques and crafts. We had a wonderful lunch there and enjoyed looking at all of the old relics.

Back road near Wartrace, Tennessee

Bugshuffle road near Haley Tennessee

Late in the afternoon we headed for Haley, Tennessee to visit a family cemetery. It started getting dark and we left the cemetery with the intent of spending the night in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. As we approached the above bridge a car flashed its headlights and both Susie and I said "Why did he do that" just as this came out of my mouth I noticed my lane ended. I swerved to keep from going over into the creek and caught the right front tire on the rock ledge. We went up on the two left wheels and hit the left side of the bridge which knocked us back to four wheels hiting back on the right side and then back to the left ending up dragging the whole underneath of the car to the other side of the bridge. We ended up in our lane about 30 yards on the other side of the bridge and the car stalled. The right front tire was bent sideways and it looked like the axle was broken. After 3 hours, county, state, local police enforcement, volunteer firemen and passers by we were able to get the car towed back into Wartrace. The rental car company brought us another car and took the wrecked car back to Nashville. Fortunately for us, the only thing left open in Wartrace was the Walking Horse Hotel and Restaurant. An old refurbished hotel with an outstanding menu. We were very fortunate to have gone through this ordeal without harm. We learned that a Florida couple had gone off the road directly into the creek, destroying the car and ending up in the Hospital just 5 days prior.

The next morning we had a great breakfast in the local cafe in Wartrace. We left there headed to Franklin, Tennessee just south of Nashville. With shaken nerves we took our time and wanted to get back into Nashville early enough to spend the night and head to the airport to come home the next morning. The last night in Nashville we spent downtown eating dinner and enjoying all of the different bars where country music wanna be stars were playing.

The last two pictures are of a mansion and property of an ancestor that was part of a 1280 acre land grant. Only 200 acres remain of the original land grant and is still owned by the family. I met the current owner and enjoyed visiting with him about the history of the home and land. A major portion of the land has been subdivided and multi million dollar homes were built. The area is now called Brentwood, many country western stars built their homes in this area.

We had a great trip, and enjoyed the fall colors. We were able to obtain additional documentation about my family history on both my Dad and Mother's side. While I had hope that we would uncover something new and more confirmation about my Dad's side, we did not.

The next planned trip for fishing is Sitka, Alaska. I will be posting information about this trip in the near future.

To all that read this: I wish you and your family a very Healthy and Happy New Year!!!