Sunday, April 20, 2008

Fishing in Walnut Creek

This Saturday we spent the day at the farm again fishing, exploring the woods, and hanging out with friends and family. As expected, the fish were biting and THIS TIME we had a fish fry! Some of us took a break from the fishing and just hiked around the area. Walnut Creek runs the entire length of the farm behind the woods. Fresh water from underground aquafers seeps to the surface and feeds into the creek - in most parts of the creek, the water is so clear, you can see huge catfish and Bass swimming around. Walnut creek spans 22 miles and drains into the Colorado River. The creek is also home to the Golden Cheeked Warbler. This bird is known to live nowhere on the planet except in Texas, with a migration each winter to Central America. Above the creek and under some ancient Oak trees, is the Tonkawa Indian Campsite, preserved by the farm. In the near future, this site too will be opened to the public. The creek winds and turns mysteriously through the woods and many of us are adamant that there's a nearby cave on the farm. 13 caves have been discovered so far off of Walnut Creek in Austin, but I'm not sure exactly where they're located. I'm planning to attend a meeting with the Texas Underground grotto (local cavers/spelunkers) and plan to ask them what they know about those 13 caves and possibly get a few people together (from the farm) for ridgewalking - this consists of looking for sinkholes, rock outcroppings, water disappearing into the ground, etc. Can you see Josh on the bluff? Alan on the bank. Caitlin. More Bass! This is one of the biggest Perch I've ever seen. Last night was the first time I've eaten fresh Perch in a long time! Brought back memories of my old fishing days back in Missouri when we used to fish off of Turkey Ridge. I'll have to ask my mother if she has any pictures to scan of our fishing escapades!

Tonkawa Indian Site

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful place.. Yummy on the fish fry.

Anonymous said...

Wow, The camera really took some great pictures. I missed out on the fishing!