Not many people know that Dallas is home to America's largest urban hardwood forest, some 6000 acres of thick woodland and brush on either side of the meandering Trinity river. There's a number of access points in South East Dallas and we chose McCommas Bluff, clambering down the limestone, rods in hand.
There, on the banks of the Trinity, it's almost as though the city didn't exist and time had stood still since the area was first mapped. It hasn't, of course, and you have to ignore the occasional bit of trash left behind by poachers, fishermen and badly behaved canoe artists. That aside, it's pretty unspoiled and you get the sense of the mighty, mysterious forest weighing in on you from the opposite bank.
We cast off into midstream, hoping to lure some prehistorically large fish that were surging out of the water in search of dragonflies and wasps. But the fish weren't having it, best efforts of Tiny Torpedoes notwithstanding, so the team headed for home before everyone melted in the triple digit chill.
I'd say there's good fishing to be had at McCommas if you get there at the right time with the right bait. Word to the wise, if you're fixing to explore the bluffs, consider taking a gun. No fooling.
In other news, a crazed Muslim went machete Jihad in Belgium, shouting Alahu Akbar as he hacked at a policewomen. Authorities are desperately searching for a motive because it obviously didn't have anything to do with Islam.
God bless,
LSP
18 comments:
That looks like a nice bit of river to wet a line in.
Yes, it is odd that the woods are "urban", but of course they are. Right beyond the boundary stands a ghetto populated by inner city people.
Pretty much right there in the ghetto, with all kinds of associated wickedness. Still, if you're adventurous enough you can get to some interesting wilderness by canoe. There's closely guarded/secret Indian sites too, though I've yet to find them.
Some people hunt there -- strictly forbidden...
Hubby fished a local bayou when he was growing up. Bayou Clear. Which no longer is because of highway construction that was allowed to muddy the bayou. That and all the levees to stop flooding, have left only a small branch of the bayou clear. We used to go up and down a dirt and root hillside, which quite frankly always worried me. It was obvious that a lot of people fished there by the amount of trash they left behind. One weekend we cleaned up as much as we could - except for the trash that the fire ants took over. A few days later, you couldn't tell we had done anything.
Now that his back bothers him more, and I tore my knee last year, I refuse to go down that hill any more. The fact that there were getting to be too many cotton mouths that wanted to make our acquaintance, well, that bothered me too.
I don't know what will happen in our country. Thank you.
Be safe and God bless you, all, too.
Fishing with a blasting cap might be an option, just say'n... Watch out for snakes, all kinds. Blessed be, Padre.
To be fair Padre, the Belgian cops did shoot the attacker pretty immediately, dead. I fear the Belgians are all too well aware of the dangers they face in this regard as most European Jihadists appear to live in Belgium for some reason.
Great urban woodlands and river though. You will need some bass poppers I suspect.
When the fish aren't biting, just toss in a stick of dynamite. Lit, of course. They call that method 'urban fishing.'
You'd be surprised at the efficiency of this twist on the leisurely sport of angling.
Sorry they messed up the bayou and I hate it when people drop trash everywhere. Leave it cleaner than you found it!
Blasting cap? Bang!
Why did they choose Belgium, weird...
Hmmm. Explosive.
Some people maintain that humans are a virus...the older I get, the more I tend to agree.
What leviathans were you planning to pull out of the river? The closest thing we have to that around these parts is the canal system used for irrigation. I understand people actually eat the crawdads they pull out of that. I'm not into mud-dwelling bottom feeders.
I do love me some crawfish! That is big business in Louisiana. Especially for the rice farmers. The local university agricultural center has worked with the rice farmers for many years so that after they harvest the rice, they raise crawfish. The crawfish eat the rice stubble and fertilize the rice fields; and they sell the crawfish either direct to the public, or to the restaurants.
Some restaurants here are only open the 6-8 months of crawfish season. They must do a good business; because they always reopen in the fall.
I do not, however, suck the heads as the locals do. Do not want all that spice in my lungs and I'm sure that is what would happen to me!
Does the sewage from the inner city end up in the Trinity River?
But what does that make the DNC?
I was hoping to see some giant Gar -- they're there...
I've never tried them, oddly...
Let's just say it's a matter of catch and release.
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