Red River Fishing Trip

Ben and Zach left early one morning to go on a fishing trip that a friend was taking them on. They took out a fan boat on the Red River (just south of Denison, TX). Their friend paid for a river guide, and Zach said he did not bait a single hook or cast a single line (or clean any of their own fish). They were only supposed to be gone for a half day, but decided to stay longer once they got out there. We didn't hear from them all day, and were very curious about their trip.

When we finally got word, it was from Ben. He informed us that Zach caught a catfish the size of a baby, and it GRUNTED when it came out of the water. I knew we were in trouble then, and that proud Zachary would want to fry that sucker up when he got home.

The Fan Boat

Mike and his HUGE catfish. Look how happy he is!!

Zach tells me Ben caught a striper, but here he is with a catfish. I guess he decided the catfish looked more impressive.

Zach with his prized catch! And it was delicious.

The boys finally came home at 4:30PM. I looked out the window to see the biggest smile on Zach's face- it was the best day of his year! After I noticed how happy he was, I noticed how red he was. They all totally forgot sunblock, and Zach fared worse than the rest. He was horrified in the following week when he peeled TWICE in a row! I have never seen that happen to anyone. He was so shocked by the experience, that now he is wearing an spf15 face lotion every day-- but I digress.

Zach came bounding in with his bag of fish. I helped him figure out how we were gonna cook it, and he made a special trip to Wal*Mart for cornmeal. I helped him, but I did NOT touch the fish. He was really sweet with his nieces (Emma and Brooklyn). They had an assembly line going and were dipping the fish in egg and then breading, and plopping it into the pans. We oven fried it, and the girls, Zach, and Dori gobbled it up. Emma exclaimed "I didn't think I would like it this much mommy!" Dori MADE me have a bite of hers, and though I wanted to barf when I thought about it, I have to admit that it was flavorful and savory. (I just think of fish faces and it makes me really grossed out).We had two pieces left over, and Zach took them to the neighbors. (The neighbors looked like the type to not turn down some free catfish). :)
That was only one of our many fun experiences. We had such a great time in Texas.