Memorial Weekend

Memorial

Weekend

Outdoors Columnist Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the U.S.A. for remembering those who died while serving our country. We should all pause and thank God for these brave men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice so that we may live in THE GREATEST PLACE IN THE WORLD.

When we think of the Memorial weekend, we have thoughts of fishing and great eating with friends and relatives. With the weather having been so bad for several days, the lakes tend to be high and murky, not real good for catching a limit of fish. So, that leaves finding great food.

On the way to Horseshoe Lake I stopped at Bonds Store. The parking lot was completely full of people getting everything from bait to groceries to gas. I walked in and the Boss Lady Natalie was behind the counter extremely busy. I asked about the Boss Man Terry and she told me he was out cooking ribs, pork butts, and chicken on the grill. I hunted around and found him and Dennis Cupples cooking on the largest smoker I have ever seen. They were doing bunches of ribs and butts at the same time. Talk about smell good! You could smell the meat cooking from the highway. Bonds sell them at the store along with beans, slaw and all the fixings. It’s too late to get an order for Memorial Day, but they will have BBQ for the 4th of July and Labor Day. You need to order ahead of time. If they are not sold out, you can get them at the store. After trying a little sample of butt and ribs, I started toward the lake.

Crossing over the bridge at Kamp Karefree I discovered the restaurant was open. Bob Hurt and his wife Sue have opened up the restaurant on Friday through Saturday. They have catfish specials and regular dinners and veggies. Kamp Karefree has boat launching and pier fishing, both for $5. There were several people fishing and they were catching some nice bream and a few catfish. The parking lot for the boat launch was full. There were many fishermen and water skiers on the lake. Karefree is in the middle of the lake. Bob says quite a few people just stop by and sit on the benches just watching the lake.

While visiting around I made a new friend in Kevin Baker who lives in Horseshoe. He was gassing up at Bonds and we started talking about grilling and he said he had a whole pig on the grill. I had to stop by and get a picture of this! He and his wife were very friendly and showed me his new club house on the bayou, along with a good size pig cooking. It wasn’t ready yet, so no samples. We were talking about special day eating and Kevin invited me to the Tari Memorial Day Party that she and friends have put on for the last 10 years the Sunday before Memorial Day. It is a big time fish fry in the pecan grove just before entering the town of Horseshoe. About 100 folks attend and eat way too much good fish with all the trimmings. There was no shortage of great fish and fixings. Kevin even had his race car under the shade trees and kids were playing in it.

I have had some people ask why their fishing contests or event has not been in the paper. You have to let me know when and where you have an event and I will be glad to tell folks about it. Send some pictures and stories so we can share these happenings with others.

Maybe the weather will settle down and the fish will start biting again. Remember that being on the lake with a storm and howling wind is dangerous. Please don’t chance it. Aways wear a life jacket. Don’t take chances, there will be better days ahead.

Thank you for reading my page. Remember, take that kid with you. Mother Nature is a great host. Lakeside Taxidermy does mount hogs. By the way, both the pork butt and ribs were great!

Papa Duck Lakeside Taxidermy 870-732-0455 or 901-4823430 jhcriner@hotmail.com

By John Criner