Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
Sorted by date Results 151 - 175 of 269
IT CAN ALWAYS GET WORSE Capt. Dickie Colburn For The Record Unfortunately, the longer I fish the longer my “It can’t get any worse than this...” list grows.Easily one of the most annoying and potentially dangerous mishaps involves wrapping a ghost crab trap around your prop.Colder weather only magnifies the problem as it invariably requires climbing out of the boat to solve the problem. A ghost trap, by frustrated angler definition, is one of the countless wire traps lying on the bottom of the lake with no visible float...
Capt. Dickie Colburn For The Record Larry Breaux and a friend were cinching down the four wheeler in the bed of his truck when I first spotted them in the far corner of the high school parking lot.It was still an hour before kickoff and while the rest of the family had already made their way into the stadium, Larry was checking his list one more time. “I have a serious love-hate relationship with this time of the year,” said Breaux.“There just isn’t enough time!”Sound familiar? “Connie and I went to the JV game last night,...
Capt. Dickie Colburn For The Record The S.A.L.T. Club will host their 3^rd annual “KIDS” tournament on October 1st and now that you know about it, there is no good reason for not getting there with your youngster.In fact, the only reason that it has not grown faster than it has over the past two years is that it somehow slips by under the radar. While the convenience factor for the parents and grandparents alone makes this a “can’t miss” event, it’s the grand prize that is the icing on the cake.Every youngster between the...
Capt. Dickie Colburn For The Record At some point, virtually every day, I check out the water in the river and bayous at several locations around the area even when I have no intention of fishing.Water clarity, tide movement and the effect of a big wind from any direction all figure into planning my next fishing trip. The most enjoyable part of that daily milk run, however, is visiting with the folks that frequent those same spots hoping to catch a few fish.There is nothing sophisticated about their approach and they are not...
First redfish ever was a good one! Capt. Dickie Colburn For The Record Two short weeks ago I was convinced that we had turned the corner as far as the “trout catching” was concerned on Sabine lake.A mini-drought of sorts that had parched local lawns had also yielded a much clearer lake with higher salinity levels. Catching trout was simply a matter of locating them and locating them was simply a matter of finding a mixed bag of terns and gulls riding herd on schools of sha...
Capt. Dickie Colburn For The Record The Triangle Tailchasers hosted their year-end championship event this past Saturday and had it been a horse race rather than a fishing tournament, the winning ticket would not have earned you much at the windows.The “odds-on” favorites once again showed why they were the “odds-on” favorites. In spite of the fact that there are some very skilled teams that participate in this local redfish circuit throughout the year, the Vaughans have been all but unbeatable from start to finish. Michael a...
Dickie Colburn - For The Record While it made life outdoors slightly more tolerable, the stiff wind that churned up white caps across Sabine Lake Saturday afternoon made the catching a little tougher for the field of 260 plus local anglers.The wind was not, however, a factor for the anglers that started Friday evening nor was it that bad Saturday morning. OCARC Director, John Thomas, was obviously pleased with exceeding the 260 entry number for the 29^th annual tournament.“Our business sponsors as well as the fishing c...
People of all ages take part in the annual OCARC fishing tournament each year. The family oriented event is the oldest local tournament in Orange with hundreds of people participating. File Photo Capt. Dickie Colburn - For The Record Having run much farther up Black’s Bayou than I intended to in an attempt to elude a quick moving thunderstorm, I nosed the bow of the boat into the mouth of a small cut to wait it out.I managed to stay dry, but a southwest wind continued to b...
Capt. Dickie Colburn - For The Record Due to the low salinity level in Sabine Lake and a howling south wind that seems to blow every day just because, this reminder is probably more pertinent for area bass fishermen than saltwater enthusiasts.Your non-resident Louisiana fishing license expired June 30^th ! It is easy to overlook with the July Fourth weekend and vacations, but the Game Wardens don’t forget.It has been my experience that they are somewhat lenient for the first two weeks of July, but I wouldn’t push my luc...
Capt. Dickie Colburn - For The Record After consuming way too much barbeque and homemade peach ice cream, Mason Sawyer decided to climb in his bass boat and watch the fireworks from the open lake.“I couldn’t talk the kids or grandkids into joining me,” said Sawyer.“I think they enjoy the adrenalin rush of lighting the fuse and running for cover as much as the explosions and you can’t do that in a boat.” Once the fireworks show in front of his own camp had subsided, he decided to fish his way back in and that is when his ow...
THANK GOD FOR OUR INDEPENDENCE Lower gas prices, strong consumer confidence and a strong economy will lead to more families hitting the road this Fourth of July weekend. A record 41.3 million Americans will be traveling. This tops the previous record set in 2007. This summer, for the same reasons, all time vacation travel records are expected to be broken. The number of travelers is expected to be 10.7 percent higher than the average number during the last 15 years. AAA estimates that United States drivers have saved $20...
Gene and Micah teamed up on this nice redfish! Capt. Dickie Colburn - For The Record “I was already pretty good, but I am really good now,” announced the youngster as he launched his quarter ounce jig well out into deeper water.As far as I was concerned, the first part of that statement was right on the money while the second part could best be termed an overly exuberant fabrication. The truth in its entirety was that thirty minutes prior to that very proficient cast, eig...
Capt. Dickie Colburn - For The Record While the bass fishermen would very much like to see the lake level a little lower on Toledo Bend, Sabine Lake anglers are benefiting from the lighter discharge of water out of the massive impoundment.The water continues to clear up not only in the lake, but in the bayous and river as well and more folks are now enjoying more consistent catches. Depending on where you are at the moment, daily local rains have had little effect on clarity or salinity.If you are in the wrong place at the wr...
Capt. Dickie Colburn - For The Record I was mired in my own world and strolling aimlessly through the fishing department of the Beaumont Academy store last Monday when I snapped to the fact that I was being followed by a young teen-ager. When I glanced at him he would widen the gap, but he was never far behind. Finally, before he could hastily retreat once again, I asked him if he was looking for a particular lure or just killing time while his Mom shopped. “I don’t know how you knew my Mom was shopping with my sis...
DEADLIEST MASS SHOOTING IN UNITED STATES HISTORY A 29-year-old American will go down in history for committing the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. Omar Mateen was born in New York where he attended public schools. The shooting that killed 49 people and injured 58 others took place in the wee hours of Sunday morning, June 12, in an Orlando, Florida gay night club. The act of terrorism was also a hate crime. Mateen used an assault rifle to shoot over 100 people, some as man...
Capt. Dickie Colburn - For The Record “Lots” is not a very definitive word when it comes to speculating as to how many bass fishermen filled every cove and creek on Toledo Bend last weekend in search of a big pay day, but I can assure you it was a “lot”! There was no doubt that it was going to take a double digit bass to win the Sealy Big bass Splash event, but even the most seasoned T-Bend anglers were shocked by the numbers of quality bass brought to the scales over the thr...
Dickie Colburn - For The Record “This Swim Bait is tough to fish through this slimy moss,” barked Marvin Denmer as he hurried his slime covered lure back across the surface.“I know this goo is in patches, but if you don’t hit an open spot, ninety percent of your cast is wasted.” His analysis was on the money, but our better redfish and flounder were holding in the small pockets in the slime and, while it was a lot more work, we were catching some pretty solid fish. Needing only two more flounder to fill their limits, I...
Capt. Dickie Colburn For The Record Surrounded by lightning and miserably engulfed by a driving rain, Redfish Elite officials and the seven finalists patiently sought cover while hoping to out wait the storm and get Day 3 of the tournament under way.To avoid having to cross the open lake, the anglers had trailered around the lake to a more protected launch in the back of Johnson’s Bayou. If anything, the conditions the prior day had proven even more precarious as a full field of anglers found themselves struggling to s...
Captain Dickie Colburn - For The Record The pro anglers fishing the first qualifying tournament of the year on the Elite Redfish Circuit are back on Sabine. The Pt. Arthur Convention Center will host this event, but the anglers will be plying the same waters they fished in the Classic hosted out of Orange only two weeks ago. The tournament kicks off Friday morning. Even with the benefit of having fished the area so recently, I don’t see the winner posting a heavier winning weight than Clark Jordan brought to the scales.I d...
FLOOD WATERS AND LOOPS The rains came Monday morning. Several places got more than we did but I saw water on roads, in yards and everywhere. In several places the water was too deep to drive through. I saw way more water coming out of the river banks after Monday’s rain than I did during the ten day mandatory evacuation. I still can’t get over how silly that was. A big waste of money. Over the last four weeks, it’s been a guessing game where and when commissioners court would meet. They met in Vidor, met on Wednesday, didn...
Flounder stealing the show on Sabine. Capt. Dickie Colburn - For The Record “I can’t believe that I let you talk me into this,” mumbled Jim Ray while climbing into the boat with a sack of soggy kolaches, his signature lukewarm diet Dr.Pepper and a pair of really smelly Frogg Toggs.“We darned sure couldn’t have white perch fished at my place today……it was already pouring when I crossed the dam.” “Did you bring that rain suit I gave you just to prove that you haven’t lost it o...
RIDE ‘UM COWBOY IT’S RODEO TIME The annual Orange County Sheriff’s Posse Rodeo will be held this Friday and Saturday at the arena on Highway 105. We hear there will be plenty of brave cowboys coming from different parts of the country to try their luck at riding. The stock will be as good as we’ve seen in years. A couple of those mean ol’ bulls ain’t never been rode, but there is always some cowboy out there who doesn’t believe that any bull is too bad to ride. It should be a lot of fun. Bring the kids for special activ...
Captain Dickie Colburn - For The Record While I prefer to believe that no one needs this reminder, there are still a lot of folks in Orange and Newton County that need help getting back into their homes following the flood.It is far from over for them! At least one trio of working women, all of whom assured me that they would have to kill me if I mentioned their names, have been using their noon breaks to unexpectedly provide lunch for random families burdened with the chore of cleaning up. “It makes you feel so good as they...
Captain Dickie Colburn - For The Record It wasn’t until we unpacked the computer that I realized that I had failed to send in my column last week.It got packed up and moved to higher ground along with other items that my wife deemed irreplaceable when the emergency center declared a mandatory evacuation for our area. When I hooked it back up, the amount of unread emails was endless. Many of them were from folks asking why my column wasn’t in the paper, but the majority of the...
“Howdy Tex” was a common greeting from other anglers as Bink Grimes and I strode down the sidewalk towards our waiting boat. “I wonder how they know we’re from Texas” I thought to myself, then I looked down at my rods and it hit me as gazed at the fist full of baitcasters. We were in Florida and baitcasters are a dead giveaway that you are from the Lone Star State, down in the Sunshine State spinning tackle rules the angling world. Now before you go get in a fired up huff and quit reading this article because you think it...
