2005 GREER CABIN TRIP (7th Annual)

Well, another cabin trip in the books. The 2005 edition included rain, snow flurries and high winds. We got shut out the first day with hardly a nibble and had two vehicles get stuck in the snow on day number two. BUT WE STILL HAD A BLAST!! Seven-year vets, Joe Laguna and Louie Padilla were joined this year by returning campers, Chano Gonzales and Louie Aguilar as well as newcomer, Carlos Macias.

FISHING STARTS OUT SLOW

The fishing on Friday was unexpectedly disappointing. We stopped at two reservation lakes (Horseshoe Cienega and Sunrise Lake) on the way to the cabin. These lakes had been hyped all month long by every fishing report we read. We went there feeling "Muy Chingon" thinking we were gonna catch our limit in just a few minutes. Well... it didn't turn out that way. We threw everything we had out there; from Power Bait to worms to fly's to lures and didn't even get a nibble. Needless to say, we were all a little frustrated. And the next day didn't start out any better.

JOE LANDS A LUNKER…………....SORT OF

We decided to try Big Lake on Saturday. South Cove had proved to be a good spot last year where Louie & Joe had found good success. An hour and a half after getting there, Carlos was the only one to have pulled a fish out, so we decided to try another location. The frustration we had felt yesterday was starting to creep in again and for Louie P, it didn't get any better when he snapped his pole. As we were getting ready to move, Joe latched on to a lunker. Actually the lunker latched on to Joe’s fishing pole and almost took the whole thing into the lake with him. After an epic battle pitting man against beast, Joe finally landed the nearly two-pound (1 lb, 14 3/4 oz, officially weighed at the market), 18-inch brook trout that is believed to be the biggest fish caught by anyone on our trips to date. Maybe are luck was about to change. After an hour and a half and only two fish, we decided to move down to Railroad Cove and try to change our luck. But It didn't start out very good there either.

HOW MANY MEXICANS DOES IT TAKE TO GET A CAR STUCK IN THE SNOW?

The road to the parking area at RR Cove had a patch of snow about 15 feet wide, 40 feet long and about a foot and a half to two feet deep. Chano, Louie P and Carlos had already made it across in Chano's Explorer when Louie A and Joe came along in Louie's little Dodge Neon. The others were waiting for Louie A on the other side and strongly advised him NOT to try to cross. But, being the pendejo that he is, he went for it anyways. Well.... we all know what happened next. Yup!! He got stuck. After enduring the embarrassment of getting stuck (even AFTER he was advised not to try it), Louie A then had the pleasure of watching Chano get his Ford Explorer stuck.... on the way back to get us! Luckily, two cowboys in a 4x4 showed up to help us get both vehicles out. But determined as we were, none of that kept us from piling EVERYONE back into Chano’s Explorer and going right back across..... again!

RAILROAD COVE SAVES THE DAY!!!!!

Our determination and persistence finally paid off! Saturday fishing at Railroad Cove turned out to be great! We pulled 30 trout (rainbows & brooks) out of RR Cove. Most everyone was having great success. The only reason we stopped was because we had already reached our bag limit for 5 guys. Most of the guys were fishing with worms (night crawlers), while Joe was using chartreuse Power Bait. It almost didn’t matter what you were using though. I think at one point Louie A actually spit on his hook and caught a fish. As we trudged across the snow-covered banks, dragging our catch behind us, looking like old west mountain men, it was clear that we had rediscovered our machismo. No matter what happened the rest of the trip, we walked off that lake feeling like the bad-ass chingones we thought we were.

COMING SOON...........

"I tot we same culla"!