Blue River Brunch

The early morning was an absolute joy today. I went to that place - the one known as fly-fishing. The sky was overcast keeping the sun in check and the temperature was a good five or ten degrees cooler than yesterday morning.

I battled five different species of fish including the green sunfish, redbreast, catfish, drum, and carp. Four flies were lost to the giant queens of Rock Creek but at least they gave their lives on the field of battle and not to the clutches of a tree.

Back home shortly after nine o'clock it was time for something in the Dutch, and today I chose to fix brunch - Blue River Brunch as a matter of fact.

This recipe is so good, you'll want to run out as soon as you read this and get the stuff to make it.

Here's what you'll need:

3 medium Russet potatoes - diced
1 large yellow onion - diced
1 large green bell pepper - diced
1 tablespoon of season salt
1 jar of Pace mild or medium picante
1 8 oz. package of shredded cheese (Cheddar or Monterrey Jack)
4 slices of hickory smoked bacon (cut into 1 inch squares with scissors)
4 jumbo eggs
4 wide mouth mason jar rings

Here's how you do it.

Mix diced potatoes, onion, and bell pepper together and season with season salt. Place mixture in oiled Dutch oven. Add layer of picante sauce on top of mixture. Add shredded cheese to cover all of mixture. Add bacon to cover all of mixture.

Using a ten inch Dutch, place six coals on bottom and fourteen coals on top. You will cook this mixture for forty-five minutes.

Five minutes before the recipe is done, lift lid and place jar rings on top of mixture and gently seat them into mixture. Add one egg to each ring, replace lid and cook another five minutes.

Remove coals and let rest for five minutes before serving.



This is what the mixture will look like before adding coals.



If you need additional servings, simply add to all ingredients and eliminate mason jar lids. Simply set the number of eggs you need directly on top of mixture. The jar rings are required only to make individual servings.

Purple Skies And Fish

There's something special about being on the water in the late afternoon and evening hours. There's something extra special about being on the water in the late afternoon and evening hours.... with a friend. And then, there's something remarkable about watching the blue skies of late afternoon slowly give way to evening's purple sage background hovering above the western horizon.

It's during this time that some of us, like me, garnish a certain sense of euphoria. Such was the case this past Thursday while fishing with my friend Curt Tully.

As I stared at the purple sage skies, I found myself asking if there is anything, besides fishing, I really want to do. I already know the answer to the question, but finding a solution continues to elude me.

For Curt, it was more of a sense of Deja Vu and that's easy to understand since he has spent many an enjoyable hour on this particular water over the last several years.

The fish were more than willing from the beginning. Curt would find the first bass using a lizard pattern. It was a healthy young bass full of vim and vigor.



The bass would seem to favor Curt's offerings and the crystal chenille bugger I was using had attracted a rather large fan-base of panfish. With every cast there was a strike, a bump, or a grab at the tail of the bugger. The panfish were also quite healthy and beautifully colored like this brilliant Redbreast.



We eventually drifted to the other side of the pond, leaving the panfish behind, and I found my first bass using a black popper. Again, another extremely healthy fish with lots of fight and spirit.

The summer-like temperatures here of late has caused the moss to flourish and even Curt, being as familiar with this water as he is, was surprised at the crawl of the moss. Stripping my bugger or Clouser threw the moss was pretty much an exercise in futility, so I went straight top-water for awhile.



Meanwhile, Curt continue to dredge and bounce his lizard pattern off of the bottom and kept catching bass including this dandy four pound plus specimen.



It's darn hard to try and take a picture holding the camera with one hand and the fish with the other, and as you can see... this fish was nowhere in frame.



The stars came upon us quicker than we thought and the fishing started slowing down somewhat. But, it was a great afternoon and evening to be on the water. Curt mentioned fishing Arbuckle Lake next, and of course I'm good to go.



Many thanks to Curt for taking me a-fishin'.