11-24-2007 Thanksgiving at Caddo Lake State Park

I spent most of my time off this past summer on the water fishing and neglected going on trips with the family. The flats season is over for me this year so I took the family to Caddo lake state park this holiday weekend. The weather was a bit cool on Thursday when we arrived around noon. We made camp and had time to explore part of the park before dark. The old mill pond area is beautiful and easily viewed from the lighted fishing pier. There the beautiful Cypress trees line the shallow lake and many photo opportunities abound.We opted to rent a canoe and paddle around the lake. As we quietly slipped along the clear tannin colored waters we saw several Chain Pickerels, Bass , Sun Perch, turtle's and assorted birds. I wish I had brought my 4 wt. fly rod, the water looks sooo fishable! I didn't bring my camera in the canoe, I had the wife, Preston and Dutch the family pet on board. I trusted Press and Stacy but it was Dutches 1st time in a canoe and I didn't want to take a chance on a cool dip in the pond. Dutch did well and we didn't have any close calls. We did see evidence of damage some Beavers had done to the Cypress tree trunks, about a foot above the water line we could see the chew marks of the Beavers teeth on about 85% of the trees in the pond. I hope TP&W relocated the critters, it would be a shame to loose such a special place that has survived all these years. Friday was a beautiful day also. The sun shone bright and the sky was blue most of the day. We got to hike some more of the parks trails and had many great photographic opportunities. I got this great shot of Preston studying a Peeping Toad he caught in the leaf litter along the trail. If you have ever done much photography you can under stand why I say this picture was the one out of a hundred shots that captured the moment. We had a great time and thanks to modern technology we got to eat microwave Turkey dinners in the camper on Thanksgiving day. If you are ever in the North Eastern part of the state make the drive to Caddo lake and check out this truly special place that seems frozen in time. Tight lines, Mike