Almost Christmas

 

The great Feast of the Nativity is almost upon us and lights went on at the Compound after a traditional trip to Walmart for last minute Christmas essentials. 

Now look here, punters, some traditions are good and we love them, they add depth, meaning and continuity to our fleeting lives. But other traditions are bad, like going to Walmart right before Christmas.

I tell you, and I'm no snob, don't laugh, it's true, that it was rough in there tonight and this is a country Walmart. Parse that as you will, while recalling that the rule of law is comparatively new here.

Speaking of which, could someone please make a law banning people from wearing pajamas in public, at the supermarket? But I won't neck-tattoo-bang-on, you get the picture. That in mind, let's recall the opening words of the governing Prayer (Collect) for what's left of this season.

Cast away the works of darkness and put upon us the armour of light. Needed, eh?

Stand Fast Against Leviathan,

LSP

Where Is That Great Leviathan?

The Compound's training schedule isn't complex, no, far from it. In between group readings from Maritain, Gilson, Aquinas, Mascall, Berdyaev, the awesome Ratzinger, Farrer and so many more, we go fishing.

X in search of, sort of thing, and that's what we did today, headed out to Lake Whitney dam and tried our luck against the ferocious prehistoric ambush predators, Gar. Well it wasn't easy. Sure there were plenty of fish but they were shell shocked by the current.

You see, thanks to climate change it's been raining, turning Texas into a cross between an Amazonian rain forest and a floodplain. We caught the floodplain today and that meant no catching, the fish were all rolling on the current and not biting.

Still, good to get out in the sun by the water and enjoy the mighty Brazos. It was better once, before the dam and the lake, but that's a different story. 

In the meanwhile, Blue Nugget looks on. Hope, all two of you readers, springs eternal.

Your Old Pal,

LSP

Behold The Great Leviathan

We went in search of Bass. Well not really, we went in search of any fish that'd get on the hook like a Trumptrain express on full loco or like anything at all, we're not fussy. And, to be sure, I wanted my kid to catch.

He did, pulling out Black Drum like a good 'un. We raced for a while, which was fun, but then lost count and finished, I think, pretty much even. I brought up the last fish, a mighty Leviathan Drum and I tell you, it put up a fight.

But here's a thought which makes me want to refigure the calculus. Another fisherman tipped up on the spillway pier and caught a good sized Catfish, a Gar and a decent Drum, all on a circle hook baited with live shad and weighted below the leader, a catfish rig. 

Now, we outfished him with barely weighted small hooks and worms but, and it's a big but, he caught fewer but larger fish, we just caught Drum. What does this mean?

Firstly, larger fish are going after live shad right now, so match the hatch. Secondly, larger fish will go after larger bait, it appeals to them. Translate all of the above into action and add a rod to the mix, baited for bigger fish, and cast off with the worm rigs for opportunistic fun.

That way you should catch more fish. A focused setup for the monsters and a catch-all for everything else.

Next stop? Go after Stripers, Drum are great but we need a change.

God bless you all,

LSP

Get On The Striper

I'll be honest, I've never been on a guided Striper expedition until today and I was wondering, at 0-Dark-Thirty, if it was worth the predawn call to rods. I needn't have worried.

I was immediately impressed by our guide, Pat, and his workmanlike boat, which had that air of I know what we're doing, you're going to catch fish, gentlemen, and sure enough we did.

After motoring out a short way into the gargantuan inland sea that is Lake Whitney, we anchored off an underwater point which showed an abundance of bait fish on the Hummingbird. Then he patiently explained the tactics. 

"Drop the line to the bottom and come up three cranks," he had the depth spot on, "Then put the rod in the holder and wait. When you get a hit, wait and wait again, patience, let that Striper take it down. Then he's yours, reel him in. Here, I'll bait your hook."

One live Shad three cranks up and I didn't have long to wait before the rod was bending double off the boat. Pick it up and wrestle with the mighty Striper, surging and fighting like the predator it is. But  14LB test and a sharp Kahle #3 proved too much for the Leviathan and up he came into the boat and a waiting cooler.

This went on, again and again, until we'd all limited out, after about an hour. Brisk action, I tell you, and it got to the point where Bass were hitting the bait on the way down, steam-training into the Shad with prehistoric aggression. 

It was like Jaws, especially when the monsters dived under the boat. Would it capsize and the hunters become the hunted? That didn't happen, fortunately, and all too soon it was time to head back to the marina where Pat cleaned the fish and I have to say, you couldn't wish for a better guide.

Needless to say, there's no shortage of fish in the fridge.

Tight lines,

LSP

White Bread

Gratuitous Handgun Video

OK, I know this doesn't have anything to do with eating ribeye steak or shooting enormous handguns, like LL's Smith & Wesson .460 Magnum revolver which, by the way, is perfectly capable of taking out a Main Battle Tank (MBT). No, this is about bread.

Bread Rising

One of the things I miss about England and Canada is good white bread. It's hard to find here in rural Texas, especially the white farmhouse loaf that goes so well with a Ploughman's Lunch or just about anything else, for that matter.

So, how to get that bread. By waiting for the Government to give it to me, as in the days of ancient Rome? By waiting for the State to take someone else's bread and deliver to the Compound just because I didn't have any and that's not fair? No, I bypassed Leviathan and its Big Bakery cronies, and made that loaf myself. In fact I made several. And it was right tasty, not that I'm an expert. Moral of the story?

Some Fresh Baked Bread

Don't put up with ersatz rubbish, not least food, and make the effort to be self-sufficient. There's a virtue and no little degree of satisfaction in that. And, of course, shoot huge revolvers whenever possible.

That's a given,

LSP

Don't Be An Idiot, Go Out And Fish

Don't be an idiot, I thought to myself, go out and catch some fish. So that's what happened, but it took a while.

Scientific Method

I casted, using the scientific method: chuck everything in the water and see if something works. Did the method work? Good question.

Ugly Stick

Not at first.

There is That Leviathan!

Then it lifted off and I was reeling in the mighty Leviathans.

Hey, it's a Fish

Monsters of the deep.

Message to market? Don't be an idiot, get out and fish, you never know, you might even catch something.

Fish on,

LSP

I Was Hungry

I took some time off from the tireless campaign against Harvard's lesser, limolib, comsoc ally, Duke, to visit our food bank. 

The food bank feeds a lot of needy people in  our town and it used to provide some help with utility bills. That's stopped now, for the present, and food's the focus.

I used to volunteer there on a pretty regular basis but I've been slack for the last couple of years and that's going to change. After all, there's that bit in Scripture about "I was hungry and you fed me," and we ignore that at our peril.

Does that make me some sort of comsymp leftist shill for the New World Order? On the contrary, it's about charity with accountability at the local level. Let's have more of that and less Leviathan in DC, please.

The Boss of this concern is a good friend, who excitedly told me that someone "from Bynum" had shot a bobcat on his land the other day. Our conversation went like this:

"How big was it?" 

"About as big as a tailgate!"

"Whoa..."

"They used a rabbit distress call, up comes the bobcat, they shot it, then they left!"

"Hunh."

"Well, you come on out and have at it!"

"I sure will!"

And I will. You never know, I might shoot something.

My friend is a very good man and we used to shoot pistols against round bales, which was a lot of fun. He can't do that now, but I understand he still takes the odd shot from a 410 (purchased, ahem, for his wife) now and again. 

God bless,

LSP

That Great Leviathan

Drove off into a storm with my Wittgensteinian friend GWB, an all 'round sportsman, to go fishing.

Got through the storm to the lake,

and caught some fish.

And for me, that was an excellent result. Must go fishing far more often.

God bless,

LSP