Mrs. Coach and Crew visit the Bayou!
It was a long time coming, but Mrs. Coach’s family and their friends finally arrived Wednesday evening after a couple days of traveling down from Oklahoma. I felt like I was not meeting a new friend, but seeing an old friend again for the first time in a long time. Does that make sense?
Mrs. and Mr. Coach are a delightful young couple, rearing two very well-adjusted youths–a 13 yo son and a 11 yo daughter who were a joy to be around.
Another family came with them–the husbands are first cousins and Mrs. Coach and Kass could be sisters. They had their 2 yo son, “Red” with them. We all got along grandly! This pic courtesy of Mrs. Coach.
As soon as the vehicles were unloaded, Bryce (13 yo) and I headed to the bayou side with his favorite rod and reel combo. And guess what? First cast, he caught a bass! In no time at all, he caught and released about six or seven. I was as surprised as they were. I had no clue the young bass were so abundant in the bayou right there! He was a little disappointed, though, because he was hoping for his first red fish.
Friday morning a storm system delayed us about an hour, but after the clouds cleared, we headed to my favorite and (in the past) most productive spot for catching reds on plastic baits and gold spoons.
Seemed “Lady Fishing Luck” was on Mrs. Coach’s side. Even though she wasn’t able to land the big red that grabbed her hook, she managed to catch and release about six nice little bass. She definitely outfished all the men on this trip! Go girl power!
(At this point, I will apologize for my lack of illustrious photos. My back was “out” and thus restricted my ability to grab the camera every time someone caught a fish. So, I missed a bunch of photo ops. Sorry.)
When it was apparent the fish weren’t biting any more, we headed to the crab canal only to find a boatload of people having a high time catching crabs there and not looking like they were ready to leave any time soon. So, we went to a second spot to try our luck at catching the blue crustaceans.
Termite took over at this point, and got everybody hooked up with a crab net and a line tied to a chicken neck.
Within seconds, lines were straightening out and squeals followed,
” GOT ONE!!! I GOT ONE!!! GRAB THE NET!”
They crabbed in the bayou and in the marsh, as seen above, catching all sizes and keeping the biggest ones to cook up later.
We learned how to tell the boys from the girls . . . the girls wear bright orange claw polish, right Tara? (We are designing a line of Wetland Colors nail polish! Our first color is Crab Claw Orange!)
After a couple hours of crabbing, we started fishing again–this time, we fished on the bottom with fresh cracked crab as bait. Bryce caught a 19-inch black drum that we kept to add to our table fare later. Jason hooked a four-foot alligator gar that, fortunately, got off the hook at the boat. I mean, who wants to clean that monster?
Back at the camp, Mrs. Coach had a nice surprise planned for us (just in case we didnt’ catch a big red for the grill).
She brought everything downstairs to make Indian tacos for us . . .
while the men boiled the crab and Nat and Cass got the “fixings” ready upstairs.
The bread dough is a simple flour, baking powder, salt, and water mixture which Mrs. Coach rounded into a ball, patted in a flat circle, and then stretched into a bigger circle using the “hand-flipping” method shown above!
After making a little indentation in the center of each piece, she fried them at about 400 degrees until golden brown.
We filled them with a delicious ground beef mixture (buffalo is better but not available here) seasoned southwest style and then topped with our favorites–cheese, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa.
And don’t forget the boiled crabs. Termite did an excellent job on them. They were seasoned and cooked just right.
We stuffed ourselves on Indian Tacos while they stuffed themselves with boiled crab. You should have heard the slurping going on and seen the crab juice running down chins and elbows!
Beautiful sounds and sights!
We headed out again in the boat a couple hours before sunset to see if we might catch the reds feeding on the falling tide–still no luck. Again, we headed to the crab canal hoping the greedy crabbers from earlier would be gone. They were.
Mrs. Coach and family had a good time catching more blue crab to ice down for the trip home. I hope they will be able to find the crab boil we use or that they had the foresight to buy some before they left so they can share this delicacy with their Oklahoma family.
I’m really glad Mrs. Coach booked their summer vacation on the bayou with us. It really was great meeting them, and once again proves the theory that you can network with and meet some wonderful folks on the world wide web. The kids got along well together, and the only way the trip could have been better is if we would have had more time to find those illusive red fish! Sorry, Coach. Maybe next time?
And maybe next time, my back will be 100% and we will have more than one day to fish. Ya think?
Thanks for coming, Mrs. Coach and Crew, and we look forward to a LONG comment from you once you’ve rested up from your trip home.
BW
Looking forward to seeing the pictures!
Me too!
Me 3!!
I was so busy having fun, I’m not sure I took very many! BUT, they had a couple cameras snapping, so I will have to wait for her to get home and send them to me.
Ok not buying that story but ok. More rain this week, every time I take my socks off I check for webbing. Warm rain tonight very rare up here.
The whole story is, my back went out Thursday and I have not been myself. You know personally how back pain can consume you. I was doing good just to be in the boat . . . my creative photography skills were not flowing, suffice it to say. But I will post pics as soon as I can.
Blufloyd, if you were down here, you would be pouring some type of oil or moisturizer on your feet!! My skin looks like a half scaled fish!! It is HOT and HOTTER! At least we are not being inundated with flood water like those poor folks in N.D.
Looking forward to those photos BW and Mrs. Coach!
Ok that is bad news mine has been knotted and spasmed off and on since the 99 deg days back a couple weeks. Jambalaya on stove.
I didn’t get a bite catfishing.
Blu, try some pickle juice or banana’s for those crams, that’s what college trainers use during track season.
Pickle juice is palatable vinegar which helps with the muscle nerve conductivity. Banana’s are large on potassium.
What have ya got to lose but the crams?
I felt so bad for you! Your back was really giving you problems. I will be back to leave a longer comment as soon as I’ve adjusted to the “truck lag”. We had so much fun! I think Jason is already looking at the school calendar to pick a time to come back. We are getting ready to boil up the rest of the crab for dinner. I just noticed today we both had on pink hats and turquoise shirts! Turtle was so tired from his week of travels that I think he slept most of the way home.
Just wondering….how many of the tours end with someone else swabbing down the boat deck for you? I loved every minute of the time there and will gladly clean the boat deck to do it again!
Nobody from a tour has swabbed the deck for me, and I sure did appreciate it! When friends go fishing with me, they help clean the boat when we get back, though!
Everybody notice how BW didn’t say HOW she hurt her back. BW, you’re not fooling us. We know you hurt it trying to get back in the boat after that wade fishing trip. LOL! Seriously, sorry the back is out. I’m glad y’all were able to meet and have a good time. Mrs. Coach (and family)…come back soon. There is a lot of Louisiana to experience.
No, Steph, it wasn’t that. It just sneaked up and pinched me Thursday morning for no apparent reason. It’s finally getting better, though, and I am so glad.
Really sorry to hear about the back. That’s just the worst. I had a go-around with mine some years ago – actually had a stress fracture in my lower spine. The dr said it most likely was genetic. BUT it was the sort of thing that could be cured with exercises, and it was.
I need to get a little weight off now, just to be sweet to my bones! LOL
Ya’ll need a couple back exercises?
Planks. No not that silly internet thing. A pushup on your elbows held as long as you can stand it. Really tightens the ‘core’.
Not sure of name but flat on back raise knees so feets flat on floor now push the lower unit aka butt off floor and hold till I post to stop.
Bike riding helps too.
Nice looking group. I had visions of older and well older….
Been converting burrito tostado things into pizza. More tweaking tomorrow.
BW, sorry about that back problem. Been there, done that and frequently go back. UGH But, a slant board I found at a garage sale works miracles. So do the exercises Blu suggested.
Mrs. Coach, you have a lovely family and I could tell you were all having a wonderful time. I would love to spend a weekend at the camp but, can’t travel but a few miles right now. What part of OK do you hail from? My mom is from Talahani or is it Talihani? Any way she is from that direction and we spent a lot of summers up there.
Really enjoyed the photos. Thanks for sharing them.
Cammy- we are from NE Ok, a little town called Afton. Talihina is a 2 hours or so south. I lived there for a few years growing up.
MrsCoach, I’ve been through Afton more times than I can count! Mom used to live outside KC, and my aunt and some cousins are still there. When I’d drive from Houston I liked taking 69 up to Afton where I’d pick up 44 over to Joplin.
No wonder your kids “know fishing”. Spend much time at those lakes?
Wonderful pics. I know you had a terrific time. I’m going to ask a friend who moved to the Lawton area if she’s had those tacos yet!
Wow! It is a small world, is it not? Pretty amazing! And I’ll answer for her . . . . they fish Grand Lake. Her son’s fishing skills were quite impressive. They were just a joy to have on board!
I have so many things I want to say so forgive me for the novel this comment may end up being.
We came to Bayou Dularge as tourists and strangers to the Billiot family and left feeling like locals and family. It is now my goal to become a regular at Schmoopy’s! The hopsitality shown to us was above and beyond the job of hostess and guide. If you haven’t had the Captain Wendy treatment I suggest you make your reservation and get down there.
I grew up on Grand Lake O’ The Cherokees fishing with my Grandfather, it’s not really my thing as an adult, it’s just not the same without him now. I took some pictures and enjoyed the scenery as long as I could before I picked up the fishing rod Wendy offered me. I couldn’t put it down! It could have been that I was skunking the boys with my fishing skills. My first fish was a croaker, it had pink on it. That’s all it took, I was all for the fishing. Then we went crabbing, that my friends, was a blast! I could literally do that all day. The kids had such a good time fishing but seeing them shout “I have one” over and over again while bringing up the crab was trully a memory this mama will hold onto forever. “Red” as Wendy called him even had a good time. She was so patient with him and he had a really busy week before we got on the water so his attention span wasn’t the best. Wendy explained everything any of us asked and gave suggestions and tips to ensure everyone got the most out of the time we spent on the water. Termite was just as knowledgeable as his mother and was so sweet to the kids and to us adults as he tried to quietly blend in. We wouldn’t have any of that, we are used to teenage boys around our house so we wanted to him to be part of the group and have as much fun as we were. It just wouldn’t be a normal day for us if there weren’t other kids involved.
Thursday we went to New Orleans to tour the French Quarter, it was a great experience and the kids can say they have been but we were all wishing we were back at Camp Dularge fishing or exploring so our day trip ended early and we headed back. You know your having a good time when New Orleans can’t keep your attention!
Friday nights dinner was a lot of fun for us, we got to sit and visit with our new friends. Termite boiled up crab for us with Jason watching closely so he could repeat the process at home. I’m sure it was a change for the Coach to be coached but Termite did a great job. I wish we had stayed for his games on Saturday morning but it would have made a long day on the road even longer. I was so honored to make Indian tacos for them and let them enjoy something out of the norm just as we had done all week.
If you know Wendy or have read this blog for very long you know how powerful this next statement is—–she let me have free reign of her fig tree!!!!! I was the only one of our group who really enjoyed the fresh, just picked, figs but that’s ok, I ate enough for everyone! I brought about 10 home in a ziploc and am savoring a couple each day just to make the experience last.
I can’t say enough how thankful we are to Wendy and family and to the other people we met at Bayou Dularge who were so friendly and welcoming. The whole trip was one to be remembered and talked about for many, many years to come and I hope that we will be back on the bayou soon. After all, I have a red to settle a score with!
p.s. Bryce told Wendy she could use the photo of him and his fish if she put “Bryce the Magnificent caught this drum”. So now you know….Bryce the Magnificent caught that drum!
It was a genuine pleasure hosting you, your family and your friends. We had as much fun (sans the back ache) as y’all did! I have added his photo AND the mandated caption! Thanks for sending on the photos! I hope you get back here soon, too! BW
Shoreacres-
If your friend is in the Lawton area they are in the heart of Comanche country, I recommend they go to the Comanche Nation fair the end of September, it’s an experience to remember. Lots of great local artists, vendors and food.
Mrs. Coach, would you post the recipe for the Indian Bread? I keep looking at those tacos and drooling on the keyboard!
BW, hope your back is all better. I mimicked you last night. Don’t know what I did to pull it out either.
She gave me the recipe, so I will post it up for you. Sorry to hear about your back. It’s been a week and a day on mine, and although the pain is better it is stiff as a board . . . . hang in there!