What a fabulous weekend we had in Fredericksburg! I think everyone caught fish, with Coco being the first, landing a 15" bass from her kayak. The Back 40 has a private lake shaped like a horse shoe around the beautiful grounds. There are several quaint cottages, a spa and pool, and several long horn cattle roaming in the pasture. The mullet mixer was well attended, and we were all presented with a gift of 4 flies in a nice fly box that were provided by Martin Pursch. Martin and his wife, Betty, also joined us at the mullet mixer.

The weather Saturday started out very cold, with an unseasonable early morning temperature hovering around freezing. Jim Stephenson and Robert Anderson braved the cold to get an early head start with the fishing. They got cold hands and no fish. It warmed up quickly, though, and soon after coffee and breakfast we were all comfortably fishing. The fish were biting most of the day, a lot of perch and small bass. Occasional large bass was landed, the biggest I believe was caught by Linda Love. It measured 18-1/4 inches. Way to go, Linda!

Robert and Mike set down their rods so they could cook the hamburgers and hot dogs for our luncheon benefit for Casting for Recovery®. Everyone had a good time and soon we were back to the water. There is a large water hole on the back side of the property that holds several large bass. We could see them from the cliffs, but they were not biting on anything we put out there after we wound our way to the lower area for access to the hole. What a challenge, but we just couldn't get them to take the bait.

Much to our amazement and awe, a baby long horn calf was born Saturday afternoon. We didn't witness the actual birth, but we watched everything else. Patricia, the owner, said she noticed all the long horns circle around the mother, she was down. As she retrieved her binoculars, the baby was born. It took some time to get up, and some of us were worried whether all was well. By Sunday morning, the calf was venturing out away from the mother and it looked rather healthy. And, the Pope died. It was expected, he passed away while we were fishing Saturday afternoon.

Mary Rohrer kindly made reservations for our dinner at Friedhelm's Bavarian Restaurant. Most of us met there at 6:30, while others stayed behind to fish. Freewheel's has an excellent menu, the food was very good, and the service was outstanding.

Sunday, we met at the Back 40 for an outside breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls baked by Patricia, with fruit, coffee and juice. We held our meeting just after breakfast. Angela will contact past members for one last chance to re-join before the membership list gets reconciled for this year. We approved the budget that was prepared by our treasurer, Mary Rohrer, as well as the minutes from our last meeting.

We look forward to the Bud Priddy contest, where Audrey and Sarah will provide breakfast tacos, coffee, and juice to raise funds for CFR. Bring your money and appetite!