Crappie spawn when the water hits a bit below 60, but pre-spawn they go onto the flats in a feeding frenzy. I’ve hit the frenzy twice, years ago, once at Lake Raven in Huntsville State Park and once on a farm pond, and it’s unforgettable. After the hard freezes last week the Houston temperature has climbed back into the high 60s, and I thought I might catch the frenzy. I didn’t, There were no crappie in the shallows so I fished for bass.
Damon’s 7 Lakes is a cluster of private lakes in Brazoria County about an hour from our house. Brazoria County was part of the original William B. Travis land grant, and pre-Civil War it was the richest county in Texas. It’s wealth was slave based, producing sugar and cotton off slave plantations. A great-great grandfather and grandmother, William Hamilton Todd and Martha Ann Mangrum Todd, are buried nearby in the Confederate Cemetery in Alvin. I don’t know why he ended up in Alvin (since he didn’t get there until 1880 or so), and his son, my grandmother’s father, left for the Oklahoma land rush after the 1900 Galveston flood. At least I think that’s when he left.
The community of Damon sports the highest point in the county, rising 144 feet above sea level. There’s no significant temperature change because of the higher elevation, so there are no trout streams.
We’ve been going to Damon for five or six years now, and I think Kris is a little bored. She spent the day birding. I like it though. I like to cast and there’s no good reason not to when bass fishing. Cast and cast and cast. Cast 20 feet, cast 60 feet, boom one out there or not. As long as there’s structure you’ve got as much chance at a fish on one cast as any other.
Even better though is that on the way to Damon’s, only a few miles out of the way, is Pena’s Donut Heaven.
I know that Mr. Pena is a retired Houston firefighter, and I know that he is a donut genius. I had the red cake donut with the cream, the maple and bacon, and the blueberry with sprinkles.
On the way home, only a half-hour out of the way, is Killen’s Barbeque. Mr. Killen is a meat genius. I had never seen Killen’s without a line down the street, but it was close to 3 when we got there. Kris ordered the fried chicken, which seemed like apostasy, but it was pretty good.
And my brisket sandwich was certainly good.
I fished my 7 weight, a Loomis Asquith (presumably named after something, but I can’t figure out what) with a Tibor Back Country reel. I had a winter redfish line on, because that’s my usual saltwater rod, and I was fishing an olive meat wagon. Caught three bass, two small and one ok. We fished about an hour.
Probably not my last Texas fish in this project, but it’s my first state, Texas.
