I don't know that I've ever been schooled at fishing as happened yesterday. Don Gormley and I left here about 3:30 and had intended to go to Paul's Mott. He wanted to see Half Moon Reef. The water temperature was 71 degrees with a light south wind. We went first to the "pipe" and he caught a few small ones. We then went to the two reefs about one-half mile east of the pipe. Don immediately caught an 18 inch trout and then a 15 and one-half trout. Meanwhile I had boated a couple of 10 inch trout. I knew it was time to leave. We went to Half Moon. There he proceeded to boat a 16 inch trout and then a 22 incher. By this time I had added a couple more of the 11 inch variety. We were both using DOA shrimp of the clear variety. I did notice late that his was a one fourth ounce and mine was a half ounce. I gave up on the one fourth ounce type long ago because the hook is small and I lost too many bigger trout. I guess, however, it may be better to lose big trout rather than to never hook them at all! I think you can see in the picture which is the 22 incher. Don had been out to Lap Reef on Saturday and reported eight other boats there and no luck at all.
Kevin(501) went to Copano on Saturday and Long Reef on Sunday and brought back one trout each day. He said the one at Long Reef took a large gold spoon and was eighteen inches.
Today the wind was strong with gusts to 42 miles an hour, but the temperature was 92 in Corpus for a new record high for the date. Tomorrow the gusts are to go to 50 mph.
I did notice on Sunday that there were a lot of birds on the water. We saw about five large groups and stopped at one to see what they were on and it was only very small trout. I do believe it could mean that the shrimp are coming back into the bays.
There was showing by a realty agent of unit 203 this afternoon. They didn't stay long. I think Gus still has the price at $337k.

Fishing is still spotty. Don Gormley and friends went to Cedar Bayou on Wednesday and came back with two trout. They did catch many small ones. Friday they went to Long Reef and St. Charles Bay and came back with one flounder. Bill caught two keepers wading by the causeway. There are eight people fishing on our pier as I write this. Of course, this is Saturday and weekenders have to hit it hard while they can.
The Rockport Pilot has a story of a fishing trip that was going nowhere fast until they tried at Paul's Mott. There they found their limits of reds and drum in no time. This time of the years is always good at Paul's Mott and then it slows there until the fall.
I saw Ryan Martinez and his family yesterday at Panjo's. You may recall that Ryan worked maintenance here a couple of years ago. They are doing great and have leased an area on Broadway for the horse they just bought. He is still working in Corpus.
The Pilot also listed a maintenance job opening at Kontiki. I think it is really for the Villas and that will give John more time to spend here.
Rob is working on 101 this morning. The latest I hear now is that Chris and Karra will live there while their house on Key Allegro is being remodeled. Work is still not complete on the motel.

Scott(702) reported that the weather was not as poor as predicted last Friday and he and his friends had a good trip. As has been happening lately, the fishing was great, but he the catching was problematic. Scott did pick up one keeper at Long Reef and many small ones. He said that the DOA shrimp was the way to go. His two experienced friends tried most everything in their tackle boxes with no success until one acceped a DOA from Scott and at least caught some small ones.
The latest guide reports have commented on the high tides that we have had this winter. They also report catching many small trout and hope that portends for a really good summer, but then the guides are perpetually predicting a great next week or next month.
Last week must have been a good time to stay in and work on a computer. This site had 88 total hits from 50 different people. There were 15 cities in Texas and nine states that sent site traffic. There were first time hits from Florida, South Carolina, and Arizona.

Oysterfest in Fulton, Texas
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The first weekend in March is Oysterfest time!
THURSDAY, MARCH 6TH - SUNDAY, MARCH 9TH, 2008
Each year the Fulton Volunteer Fire Department & the Town of Fulton sponsor Oysterfest, a salute to the tasty bi-valve found in our local waters. Oysterfest features carnival rides, games, food, an oyster eating contest, live music, unique vendor booths and most of all - FUN!
29th ANNUAL FULTON Oysterfest The Fulton Volunteer Fire Dept. and the Town of Fulton are pulling out all the stops in preparation for the Annual Fulton Oysterfest. The 2008 festival is scheduled for Thursday, March 6TH – Sunday, March 9th, on the waterfront in Fulton, Texas. Fulton Volunteer Fire Dept leaders are putting on the final touches for the annual party. This promises to be even larger than the 2007 event, which was the most successful in the festival's history with over 30,000 visitors.
Fulton Oysterfest Schedule of Events
$3.00 Per Person (12yrs. and up)Carnival Open - Thursday, Friday, & Saturday ‘til??Sunday close at 6:00 p.m.Free Bus pickup to festival grounds
Cash Prizes Men’s & Women’s Raw Oyster Eating Contests1st – Prize $200, 2nd – Prize $100, 3rd – Prize $50Oyster Shucking Contest1st – Prize $700, 2nd – Prize $200, 3rd – Prize $100
Thursday, March 6th
Grounds Open 5-10 p.m.
Arts & Crafts Tent 5-10pm
5-6:30pm Live Music byAmber Lynn
6:30 p.m.Shaman Dura Dancers
7—10 p.m. Live Music byWhiskey Bent
Saturday, March 8th
11am Oysterfest Parade
Grounds Open 10 a.m.-Midnight
Arts & Crafts Tent 11am - 8pm
12 – 3p.m. Live Music by T K & Bandana Rose
1:30 p.m.Shireen & MysticEastern Dancers
3 - 6pm Live Music byBackwoods
4 p.m.Men's Raw OysterEating Contest
6 - 8 p.m. Live Music byJohnny Lyons8 p.m. – 12 a.m. Live Music
8-10pmDarren & Gene Brown
10pm-MidnightBobby Flores
Sunday, March 9th
Grounds Open 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Arts & Crafts Tent 10am - 6pm
10:30 - 11:45 a.m. Live Music byBailey Family & Song of Glory
12 - 4p.m. Live Music byTumble Dry Low
1 p.m.Shireen & MysticEastern Dancers(Outside stage)
2 p.m.Women's Raw OysterKids Ray OysterEating Contest(Outside stage)
3 p.m.Oyster Shucking Contest
4 – 6 p.m. Live Music byKelly Kenning




Friday, March 7th
Grounds Open 5-11 p.m.
Arts & Crafts Tent 5-10pm
5-7:45 p.m. Live Music byCountry Class
7:45 p.m.Decorated Oyster Contest
8:15 p.m.Shaman Dura Dancers
9-11p.m. Live Music byRiptide
For More Information:PO Box 393, Fulton, TX 78358361-790-8362 or 361-463-9955E-mail bgaris@garisfamily.com
Oysterfest officials have been working with seafood sources along the Texas Gulf Coast to locate the freshest oysters and other seafood for the event and, as usual, the most popular entertainment. This year’s celebration is a labor of love for the Fulton Volunteer Fire Dept. Over the past 28 years, they have used proceeds from the festival to purchase life saving and fire fighting equipment. This year proceeds will be used to pay off the New Truck and equipment. Oysterfest proceeds are the major source of funding for fire protection equipment in the community.

Come join us in Fulton for a fun-filled weekend!!

Merlin(506) and I went out on Monday morning. The forecast was not good so the thought was to get out early and stay close. As it turned out the day could not have been better. We had light wind and clouds and warm. The only problem was again the trout bite. Merlin used live shrimp until I started catching small trout while he had no action at all. Soon he switched to a DOA like most people do who fish with me. Merlin turned 82 on the 21st of January, but he wasn't too set in his ways to not switch to a lure that worked. We had a good time even if only one keeper trout was boated. Most of the trout were at Scotch Tom reef.
A new auto repair shop is having its grand opening this Saturday. The owner is Ken Smith, a San Antonio investor, who also purchased the Diner a couple of months ago. The place is called Copano Auto Repair. I took my car over on Wednesday to have the water pump belt replaced and they seem to have a good operation.
Ron is power washing the buildings to get the green algae off. They look much better.
Scott(702) came in today for the weekend. He has a couple of business clients here for a fishing trip. The wind forecast is not good, but his boat is big enough that they will go out anyway. I ran into Scott and Otis(604) at Walmart. Otis always knows where the fish are, but even he couldn't give Scott any good tips for tomorrow.
It appears 508 has finally closed. I had heard that the buyer is Sandy Sanders from Corpus, but that was quite a while ago. The "SOLD" sign was posted on Tuesday of this week. I included the photo for some reason.

By now owners who requested monthly financial statements from Johnson and Cate have received the December copy. Two items that jump out at me are first, that the first installment of the big assessment has been carried as revenue for December of 2007. This adds $108,500 as revenue for 2007 and makes the year's ending statement look a lot better than the year that we really had. This is misleading and not in accordance with generally accepted accounting practices. The assessment was explicitly defined as a 2008 activity and no monies were due until January 2008. A CPA that I know said that Johnson and Cate are wrong on this one. Secondly, we were assured at the owners' meeting that a separate account would be set up for the big assessment and the monies would not be combined with general revenue. Now it appears the first installment is irrevocably mixed into 2007 activity even though no projects have been started. It does appear in this December statement that the information that I had from Johnson and Cate concerning an additional $50,000 loan from the Crowleys in November was incorrect. The $50,000 was an advance on the assessment that wasn't due until January. I spent another hour at Johnson and Cate on last Wednesday to look at the latest bookkeeping, but that's another story. I'll post about what I found later.

I received my first bill from my new retail energy company last week. What a difference from CP&L. I compared the last CP&L bill and the newest bill and the savings was $55. I can't see why anyone would stay with CP&L. I called CP&L to see why their rates were so much more and their response was that they would voluntarily give a 15% reduction on their rates. So why are they not doing that for everyone now? My new company, YEP, posted on their website yesterday that they will now give a bill credit of $25 to both a new customer and the referring customer. Cyrena(501) told me about YEP and I told two others and we didn't get any credits. I guess its just like buying something and then seeing it on sale.
AT&T didn't waste any time coming out to replace the junction pedestal. The repairman noted it on Tuesday and on Wednesday a contractor came out and replaced the old one.
Fishing has been about as poor as it gets. The weather is great and conditions look good, but no one can find the fish. I went with Don and Dennis Gormley on Friday. We used Don's Blue Wave. We covered nearly all the areas around Aransas Pass. There were some small trout at Ransom Island and a few at Hog Island, but no keepers.
Several boats went out on Saturday and not a one came back with a keeper anything. One went straight to Long Reef, down St. Jose to Lydia Ann, out the jetties and along the outside of St. Jose. John Carson and I went out to the nearest reefs around here without much luck. I did hook a really big trout at Half Moon reef. John had him in the net and on the way up to the boat, the fish made a final leap and away it went. If you're wondering how that happened, you need to see my net. Through the years and repairs it now looks more like a worn out tennis racquet and I may need to invest in a new one. The trout was about 20 inches, but each time I relive the moment, the fish seems to get larger.
Ardath(102) and friend,Gary, got in today from Wichita.
The picture below shows how we are preventing rain from coming into 401 and 405 until the windows can be replaced. In the old days Chet used to joke that he needed to caulk every window every other month to prevent leakage. I know since Chet left very little caulk work has been done and these are likely not the only windows that are not rain proof. I know we had a big expense last year to replace windows and stucco in the 700 building because of window leaks.

A new manager began work in the onsite rental office on Monday. There is talk that he will live in the 700 building for the present. I'm sure Rachel is glad to give up that responsibility.
Keith and Ruth Ann Boyer(606) arrived today. I haven't had a chance to talk to them yet.
I have had much trouble with my phone line for the last six weeks. Today AT&T finally came out and found a rusted wire in the box outside. They will have to replace the whole box soon. I did get a number for the local office so we can get expedited service in the future. I didn't even know they had an office in Rockport. If anyone has phone problems here I can share the number with them.
Some asphalt was put into some of the larger potholes in the entrance road. For the first time in my experience, all the lights on both piers now work. A timer has been installed on the Phase II pier lights. Last evening about 11:30 I was trying out the now working lights when a guy about 30 came out. Since anyone under 60 this time of year is suspect, I asked where he was staying. As has happened before he told me he was renting at the Villas and since the same person owned them as well as Kontiki, the renters at the Villas could us the common elements at Kontiki anytime. So much for security and parking permits. He did share that maintenance at the Villas is problematic at best. He said the wait time is long and the personnel are always changing. I can relate to that.
I have come to the realization that the winter Texans who stay here are not representative of their age group. They never cease to amaze me with their vitality. Yesterday Betty(103) decided to ride her bike to Walmart. She had a flat and hitchhiked the rest of the way. She promptly purchased another bike and rode it back to Kontiki. I checked last evening and Walmart is more than four miles away. She said she has no problems with ten miles. I might make ten minutes.
This evening I went to see The Bucket List. There were five of us at that showing. The movie has been on here for almost a month. I can see why. It is very powerful and definitely an old guy's movie. It was not the comedy I expected.
The winds remain fierce and the fishing not so great. Bill did wade the HEB shoreline yesterday and picked up one keeper, barely. Thursday looks like it might be the day to take the boat out.