Lake Texoma news

The Preston Trail Chapter NSDAR held its first meeting of the year on Thursday, September 15, at Georgetown Baptist Church in Pottsboro.  A Social Hour was held at 5 pm with finger sandwiches and beverages.  A Birthday Cake for the U.S. Constitution was served for dessert.

Regent Gloria Morton called the meeting to order at 6 pm and prayer was led by Chaplain Carolyn Dexheimer.  Gloria Huhtala led the DAR Pledge and the Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mary Nan Story.  The Pledge to the Texas Flag was led by Jonnie Templeton and Vicki McComack led The American’s Creed.  Martha Neyman led the Preamble to the Constitution and all sang The Star-Spangled Banner.

A program on “American Fashions 1760-1925” was presented by a DAR Correspondent Docent team from the Mary Isham Keith Chapter in Ft. Worth made up of Past Recording Secretary General and current National Chair of the Continental Congress Committee, Joy Cardinal; NSDAR Museum Outreach Vice Chair – South Central Division and Texas Constitution Week State Chair, Welba Dorsey; past Director of District II, Paula Smith; and Docent in Training Dawn Needles.  Librarian Elizabeth Landers presented a book about the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution that will be donated in their honor to the Pottsboro Library.

Registrar Sandy Sharp and Chaplain Carolyn Dexheimer led the new member installation of Gay Fallin and Connie Maynard.  The Chapter welcomed them and they were presented with Chapter Yearbooks.

The Constitution Minute was read by Constitution Week Co-Chair, Gay Fallin, who also read a Constitution Week Proclamation from Denison Mayor Jared Johnson.  Lisa Lettie gave the Treasurer’s Report and presented the budget which was unanimously approved by members.  Natalie Bauman, Chair of the Historic Preservation Committee, reported on a service project to be held in conjunction with NSDAR’s National Day of Service in October.

Membership in DAR is open to women ages 18 and older who can prove lineage with someone who either fought in or gave support to American patriots during the Revolutionary War.  Trained genealogist volunteers are available at no charge to assist in lineage research.  For more information, contact Membership Chair, Jonnie Templeton, at 903.965.7151 or Morton at 903.624.9166.

Thunder, lightning, wind..ugh…Saturday as I was driving to the lake to get the boat ready for my trip, I almost called them and said go back to bed because of 40 mph winds, rain, and lightning…I’m glad I didn’t! We pulled out of the slip at 6:40 with light drizzle. By 7:15am it was game on! 

We had 3 to 5 fish on at the same time for a while. They schooled pretty much all morning until the front came in at 9:30 with clearing skies and a strong north wind. Pulled a dozen more in the breeze, but it had pretty much shut them down. Ended up catching around 150 and cleaned 72! 

Almost all these fish were caught casting slabs. They were up in the water column and did not want to bite consistently using the typical bouncing on the bottom technique. Ripping them and dropping them worked a few times, but they really wanted that slab moving horizontally instead of the normal up and down fishing. Chunk it out , wait a couple of seconds, and medium retrieve back worked the best…on 1/2 oz slabs.

Sunday morning was absolutely beautiful! 55 degrees, cool, clean, crisp air! Fall is coming! I was a little worried because the day after a front can be tough. We went to the “getting” spot first, but the sandies slept in, lol. So, we moved around picking up one here and there. After a few hours we had some fish in the cooler, but not like on Saturday. Then as I was scanning a ledge with my sidescan, I spotted a GOOD school in 15 feet of water on a drop off. I spun the boat around, told my group to drop their slabs, and bam, bam, bam, bam…4 fish on! That school was moving fast, but we managed to get on them several times and ended up the day with a pretty darn good box considering the post front conditions.

That big school had some nice fat 17 inch sandbass as well! Back at the dock, we fished for catfish on cut shad while I cleaned their catch. Sam, 7 years old, set the hook, and almost got pulled off the dock! 10 minutes later, huffing and puffing and almost breaking a sweat, he caught the biggest fish he had ever seen in person!! Congrats Sam on your 30 lb Blue Cat!

Thanks for reading my report and for more information on Lake Texoma, or more fishing reports, or how I catch em on Lake Texoma, check out my blog on Texoma Striper Hunter!

See y’all out there!

Capt. Stephen

Call or text 972-816-6000

Toll free 888-8TEXOMA

www.texomastriperhunter.com

Contact me

Boating Industry Magazine Report: “Ethanol Repair Issues Growing”

By Boat Owners Association of The United States | June 30, 2016

When it comes to recreational boating and the Federal Renewable Fuel Standard’s requirement to put more corn ethanol into gasoline, those that see its negative consequences the most are the industry workers that build, maintain, store or sell boats.

A newly released survey by Boating Industry magazine points to ethanol as playing an even “bigger role” in service issues than it was just a year ago, with a remarkable “87% of our respondents reporting seeing boat engine damage caused by ethanol,” said Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Sweet. The magazine reported that was up from 73 percent in the same survey in April 2015. BoatUS, a member of the Smarter Fuel Future coalition, hopes to share the survey’s findings to help change the broken federal ethanol mandate.

“Dealers, manufacturers and marinas are clearly very concerned about the increased use of ethanol,” added Sweet. “According to our readers, ethanol is playing an increasing role in causing engine damage and other repair issues.”

The survey, sent to a mix of readers from dealerships, marinas, engine and boat manufacturers around the country, was answered in April and May. Most notably, many respondents raised concerns of misfueling at roadside gas stations. The Boating Industry survey follows a Harris Poll study conducted for the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute earlier this year, with 64 percent of American adults reporting they weren’t sure or didn’t pay attention to the type of gas they used.

“Misfueling is our #1 concern,” said BoatUS Government Affairs Senior Program Manager David Kennedy. About 40% of over half a million BoatUS members report filling up the family boat at a gas station and another 35% use portable gas cans.

Continuing to make the connection between the Federal ethanol mandate and the negative consequences to recreational boat owners, survey respondents noted that while ethanol may be helping drive service department business, frequent issues run the risk of driving more people out of boating. As one boat manufacturer said in survey, “Ethanol is a boom for the service departments. Ethanol is a huge drag on our industry because it negatively affects the customers. It makes them hate boating. It ruins their day, their boat and their entire boating experience.”

According to the National Marine Manufacturers Association, the recreational boating industry in the United States has an annual economic impact of more than $121.5 billion, supporting 650,015 direct and indirect American jobs and nearly 35,000 businesses.

Signed into law in 2005, the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requires an increasing amount of biofuels such as corn ethanol to be blended into the gasoline supply. When it was written, the RFS assumed that America’s use of gasoline would continue to grow.

Since 2005, however, gasoline usage has actually declined steadily which today forces more ethanol into each gallon of gas. To keep up with the RFS mandate, in 2010 the EPA permitted E15 (fuel containing up to 15% ethanol) into the marketplace. Even though E15 is prohibited for use in marine engines, snowmobiles, motorcycles, lawnmowers, and any vehicle made before 2001, it can now be found in 23 states, including: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin.