My youngest son, Wesly, came up for Thanksgiving Day and we headed for Lake Ballinger for some pre-turkey father, son time. Lake is extremely high due to recent rain run-off. In past, have found fishing poor in such conditions. Water temp was 50 degrees at 15' (normally, can only hit 10' off the pier). Lake was flat calm, no breeze at all. Arrived at about 7:30 and fished 'til 10:00. Mostly spin-casting a variety of lures... had a couple of bumps, as the lures neared the pier. Did manage to pick up (C&R) a couple Cutthroat, one 10" and one 12" on worms fished off the bottom.
More important than the fish, was the "fishing"... time spent with my son which seems to be at a premium these days. He is going to college and working full-time, so not much time left over. Two older sons have their families and other obligations, so I don't get a whole lot of time with them either. Wes and I were able to smoke a pipe-full of good tobacco and have some laughs and share stories for a couple of hours, doing what we did so many times together as the boys were growing up. I am so thankful that I made time for all those fishing trips when the boys were young... so many awesome memories! The boys still enjoy fishing, but don't share the same passion that I have for the sport. That's alright, I can live with that, besides, I now have six grandsons and a granddaughter I can begin working on!
Standing on the pier this morning, I began to consider all that I am truly thankful for... so very much... a wonderful, loving wife, awesome sons and their families... the joy of fishing, and the knowledge that a loving and gracious God watches over me every day! PTL!

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