October 2019 Lake Martin ~ Cajun Navy ~ TS Imelda ~ Argentina
We do not own the Earth, we are borrowing from our children. We cannot only "hope" to leave it better than we found it. We can take action and make the world a better place for our children than it has been for us. Last time I looked this was a free country. What have you done for your Mother Earth today? Photo courtesy of Philip Gould
October 2019 Cajun Navy Tropical Storm Imelda Southeast Texas
This months edition of the Catahoula Adventures Outdoor Online magazine will open and feature the Cajun Navy in the wake of Tropical Storm Imelda dropping 40 " of rain on the third weekend of September 2019.
Study this photo.
One hand driving the boat and the other hand steadying grandma's hand...
And look at his face: Classic Bad Boy!
Driving right down the middle of a flooded road in Houston, Texas.
And look behind him is a floating convoy of more of the Cajun Navy.
The genesis of the Cajun Navy began the day after Hurricane Katrina just barely missed New Orleans and roared through the state of Mississippi. The irony is the city of New Orleans did not flood during the day the storm made landfall but flooded during the night 'after' Katrina ripped the state of Mississippi. A state senator from Abbeville, Louisiana got the idea for local fishermen and hunters to haul their boats and volunteer for rescuing people in NOLA and a call went out in the Lafayette area for volunteers to meet in the Acadiana Mall parking lot the next morning on the south side of Lafayette. What happened next was unexpected as hundreds began showing up in the wee hours of the morning and a convey began to follow the senator east on Interstate 10 for the 130-mile drive to Louisiana's largest city which is surrounded by Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana swamp and saltwater tidal marshland.
The next two were taken in March 2011 at the Uncle Earl's Hog Dog Trails in Winnfield, Louisiana
Below are photos of my Bad Boy Jonah and his dad on a river in Northern California bringing in some late season King Salmon for the family table.
A giant Surubi from the Paraguay River
MARK JONES - A BRIEF HISTORY OF MY LIFE AS A FISHERMAN
PROLOGUE
I was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, to parents of very mixed ancestry. Recently I had my DNA tested by National Geographic, as part of their ongoing studies on the Origins of Mankind. As well as having a fairly large (6-7%) dollop of Neanderthal genetic material, I am roughly 25% Russian Jew, 25% German, 20% Celtic, 6% Spanish, 6% Scandanavian, with the rest coming from a few interlopers such as an Armenian in the woodpile, somewhere down the line. I mention this because, because unusually for the time, I was brought up to believe that I was part of a large community of nations, rather than just parochial old NZ. My father worked for GEC in Birmingham, England, and the first thirteen years of my life was spent following him, with the rest of my family, to exotic (for the time) places like Egypt, India and Central Africa, as well as NZ and England. There is no doubt that this period enriched my life, and gave me an outlook that none of my peers had. My father had the attitude that if you teach a boy early to read and to fish, it will keep him out of trouble. Unfortunately, learning to read at an early age gave me wonderful ideas, such as “a man does not go fishing just to catch fish”; so I was always in trouble.
Whenever we went to a new place, I met up with a whole new species list of fish to catch, and in the 1950’s I was catching fish like Vundu, Tigerfish, Mahseer, and so on, decades before sports fishermen even knew of their existence. This developed a pattern of behaviour; go somewhere new, check out the fishing first. So, by the time I was thirteen, I was fairly well experienced in catching, and knowing where to find, species of fish that anglers pay a fortune to fish for these days. Spending five years at Boarding School, Military Service, Marriage, Children and University, put a dent in my fishing activities, and in fact. I was, at this time, more interested in Diving, Spearfishing and catching Crays.
However, in 1976, when I was a Computer Analyst with the Ford Motor Company, I was, first, transferred to Ford UK, and then to Ford Argentina. I had requested this, because, when my Grandmother’s family first emigrated from Scotland they had decided to go to Patagonia, with some stud sheep, where there was a thriving Welsh community of sheep farmers. However, life proved too tough for them, and they packed up their sheep and moved on to NZ. So, there was an interesting family connection there. Before leaving England, I went to the Argentine Embassy to collect some info about the country (no internet then) and was given a fairly comprehensive booklet called “Hunting and Fishing in Argentina”. I discovered an amazing fish called the Dorado….
….and it’s friends, the Surubi….
…..and Manguruyu.
The result was that I was back in Fishing mode, and also completely hooked on Argentina.
As time went by, I found myself back in NZ, and went into partnership with an old friend of mine, Paul Wyborn, who had obtained oyster farming leases in Coromandel, and formed Wyborn Marine Farms. One drunken night in 1981 at the Shakespeare Tavern in Auckland, Paul and I, together with my brother-in-law Ken Hicks, decided to take a three week fishing holiday to Argentina, to check out my extravagant (but true) claims about the country. They were blown away with everything, and we made a pact never to tell anyone about our adventures, and to spend a month there every year.
We managed this for twenty five years, but the following year Ken died of lung cancer, and los tres amigos was finished. Fortunately I had a Plan B, and knew the day would come when the old adventure would be over. In the twenty five years, we had never met another gringo in Paso de la Patria, and I knew that it was virgin fishing territory to outsiders. In 2007 I started taking friends and family, and judging by their reaction, I realised that I could make a business from Adventure Fishing. In addition to Argentina, I had been working extensively in Russia on a Sturgeon farming project, that gave me access to places in Russia not accessible to others, and offered travel in Eastern Europe, and Asia, where I was able to network with influential people who could facilitate fishing expeditions to remote, but fruitful, areas; often off-limits to the general public.
In 2009 I wound up my IT consulting business and started Argentina Fishing Adventures. That year I took my first group fishing on the Paraguay River. From this, word of mouth reached ICON Films, who produced “River Monsters” with Jeremy Wade. He had heard from the anglers who fished with me about the Giant Short Tailed River Ray, which can reach at least 260 kgs in weight…
He was keen to do a programme on the Ray for “River Monsters”, and I was happy to oblige. This was my introduction to Adventure Fishing films, and working with Jeremy Wade for two seasons of his programme was a good introduction to Television. However, after the initial adrenalin rush, I realised that Jeremy was not a good angler, didn’t accept good advice, his programmes were a work of fiction and set out to vilify perfectly harmless (though large) fish. That was the end of our relationship; but I had gained a lot of know how and experience. The programme on the Ray (“Silent Assassin”) became the third most viewed programme ever on Animal Planet, and was made into three versions; separate versions also for Discovery and UKITV. I was also gaining a lot of experience working in other countries, and with different species of fish,
During this period I was still taking groups on fishing trips, but my interest was certainly moving in the direction of Adventure Fishing programmes.
After a short break I was approached by Jakub Vagner, who was making a series with National Geographic called “Fish Warrior”. He wanted someone, who could gain access to the Corbett National Park in India, to organise a trip for him to fish for Goonch. I had mentioned to a fishing guide in Texas that my wife at the time came from a family that had lived in India for nearly two hundred years, and she was a personal friend of the Maharaja of Bharatpur; who was a keen fisherman. He told me that he could gain access to Corbett, even though no-one had been allowed to fish inside the park since its foundation in 1936. I mention this to stress the importance of being able to network, which is one of my strengths.
So I gained access for Jakub and Czech TV, and we caught an IGFA world record Goonch (although, to be honest, there are only three types of fish in my eyes; small, medium, and large) and the largest Golden Mahseer recorded out of the Ramganga River this century. We were also able to film spectacular wildlife and had exciting incidents such arriving on the scene minutes after a tiger had mauled a woman, and attending the cremation of a young woman who we had pulled out of the wreckage of an SUV the day before. Tragic, but indicative of life in this part of the world. We incorporated all of this footage in the first programme of a new series for Czech TV and Discovery called “Fishing Legends”
I organised a total of 11 programmes for Jakub, with some pretty spectacular results.
However, after two series I was ready to move on, but not after I had arranged a new series for Jakub with Discovery called “Big Fish Man”, which aired in 2015. The content was not good, and the series ran for only five episodes before it was dropped. In retrospect, I am now glad that I dropped out before production started.
In 2015 I started work with Zeb Hogan of National Geographic and his series “Monster Fish”. I enjoyed working with him in Argentina, and had plans to work on a new series with him at a later date.
At the same time I was planning to move back to NZ for family reasons. While I was here I watched this innovative programme, with two presenters who provided just the right sort of chat, called “Big Angry Fish”, and I guess you can say that the rest is (recent history).
For a person who does not seek the limelight, it is very difficult for me to say what I would bring to a new series, but I will give it a go:- - I have more adventure fishing experience than anyone else I know; more than sixty years. I have been to 134 (proper) countries, and fished in a great number of them. I also have an extensive network of experts in their field, and most importantly, influential people. - I have had close on ten years experience working as a “fixer” and occasional “expert presenter”; somewhere between 30-40 programmes to-date. At no time have I failed to find the fish for the team. - I have a Degree in Marine Zoology (Hons), and am considered an expert in the study of Abalone and Freshwater Stingrays. I am co-author of a recent publication on this subject. So from a scientific point of view I know a bit about fish. - I am easy to get along with, and my excessive age is a benefit when negotiating in countries that show great respect to the elderly (my health, both mental and physical is excellent). I am a good problem solver and mediator. - I have a synopsis for at least 20 programmes for locations and species of fish in remote and exciting locations, that have never been shown on english language TV before. - I like and am enthusiastic about the way “Big Angry Fish” is developed, and of course Milan and Nathan.
This is just a brief presentation; I can expand if you like with some really “Ripping Yarns”... you just need to get me started.
EPILOGUE
I can still catch (really) “Big Angry Fish”.......!
THE END
October 2019 Cajun Navy Tropical Storm Imelda Southeast Texas
This months edition of the Catahoula Adventures Outdoor Online magazine will open and feature the Cajun Navy in the wake of Tropical Storm Imelda dropping 40 " of rain on the third weekend of September 2019.
One hand driving the boat and the other hand steadying grandma's hand...
And look at his face: Classic Bad Boy!
Driving right down the middle of a flooded road in Houston, Texas.
And look behind him is a floating convoy of more of the Cajun Navy.
After being raised on the water in the Atchafalaya Basin,
and our boat is our main mode of transportation because we work and play on the water. To drive the flooded streets of New Orleans and later Houston is no problem.
The magazine content will evolve as many of the articles this month will be ongoing stories...
Such as it was last month with the premiere of the Catahoula Adventures Outdoor Online magazine.
Such as it was last month with the premiere of the Catahoula Adventures Outdoor Online magazine.
Below is my beautiful and sassy seventh-grade girlfriend from about 1968
Above is Babette, who took the next 8 photos all from Rookery Road at Lake Martin Louisiana
(Babette is one of the ongoing stories, I warned you about)
(Babette is one of the ongoing stories, I warned you about)
The next two were taken in March 2011 at the Uncle Earl's Hog Dog Trails in Winnfield, Louisiana
Below are photos of my Bad Boy Jonah and his dad on a river in Northern California bringing in some late season King Salmon for the family table.
The photos below were taken in Argentina at the Argentina Fishing Adventures Guide Service
Manguruyu 180kgs
A giant Surubi from the Paraguay River
And here is Mark's story of how Argentina came to be his stomping ground
MARK JONES - A BRIEF HISTORY OF MY LIFE AS A FISHERMAN
PROLOGUE
I was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, to parents of very mixed ancestry. Recently I had my DNA tested by National Geographic, as part of their ongoing studies on the Origins of Mankind. As well as having a fairly large (6-7%) dollop of Neanderthal genetic material, I am roughly 25% Russian Jew, 25% German, 20% Celtic, 6% Spanish, 6% Scandanavian, with the rest coming from a few interlopers such as an Armenian in the woodpile, somewhere down the line. I mention this because, because unusually for the time, I was brought up to believe that I was part of a large community of nations, rather than just parochial old NZ. My father worked for GEC in Birmingham, England, and the first thirteen years of my life was spent following him, with the rest of my family, to exotic (for the time) places like Egypt, India and Central Africa, as well as NZ and England. There is no doubt that this period enriched my life, and gave me an outlook that none of my peers had. My father had the attitude that if you teach a boy early to read and to fish, it will keep him out of trouble. Unfortunately, learning to read at an early age gave me wonderful ideas, such as “a man does not go fishing just to catch fish”; so I was always in trouble.
Whenever we went to a new place, I met up with a whole new species list of fish to catch, and in the 1950’s I was catching fish like Vundu, Tigerfish, Mahseer, and so on, decades before sports fishermen even knew of their existence. This developed a pattern of behaviour; go somewhere new, check out the fishing first. So, by the time I was thirteen, I was fairly well experienced in catching, and knowing where to find, species of fish that anglers pay a fortune to fish for these days. Spending five years at Boarding School, Military Service, Marriage, Children and University, put a dent in my fishing activities, and in fact. I was, at this time, more interested in Diving, Spearfishing and catching Crays.
However, in 1976, when I was a Computer Analyst with the Ford Motor Company, I was, first, transferred to Ford UK, and then to Ford Argentina. I had requested this, because, when my Grandmother’s family first emigrated from Scotland they had decided to go to Patagonia, with some stud sheep, where there was a thriving Welsh community of sheep farmers. However, life proved too tough for them, and they packed up their sheep and moved on to NZ. So, there was an interesting family connection there. Before leaving England, I went to the Argentine Embassy to collect some info about the country (no internet then) and was given a fairly comprehensive booklet called “Hunting and Fishing in Argentina”. I discovered an amazing fish called the Dorado….
….and it’s friends, the Surubi….
…..and Manguruyu.
The result was that I was back in Fishing mode, and also completely hooked on Argentina.
As time went by, I found myself back in NZ, and went into partnership with an old friend of mine, Paul Wyborn, who had obtained oyster farming leases in Coromandel, and formed Wyborn Marine Farms. One drunken night in 1981 at the Shakespeare Tavern in Auckland, Paul and I, together with my brother-in-law Ken Hicks, decided to take a three week fishing holiday to Argentina, to check out my extravagant (but true) claims about the country. They were blown away with everything, and we made a pact never to tell anyone about our adventures, and to spend a month there every year.
We managed this for twenty five years, but the following year Ken died of lung cancer, and los tres amigos was finished. Fortunately I had a Plan B, and knew the day would come when the old adventure would be over. In the twenty five years, we had never met another gringo in Paso de la Patria, and I knew that it was virgin fishing territory to outsiders. In 2007 I started taking friends and family, and judging by their reaction, I realised that I could make a business from Adventure Fishing. In addition to Argentina, I had been working extensively in Russia on a Sturgeon farming project, that gave me access to places in Russia not accessible to others, and offered travel in Eastern Europe, and Asia, where I was able to network with influential people who could facilitate fishing expeditions to remote, but fruitful, areas; often off-limits to the general public.
In 2009 I wound up my IT consulting business and started Argentina Fishing Adventures. That year I took my first group fishing on the Paraguay River. From this, word of mouth reached ICON Films, who produced “River Monsters” with Jeremy Wade. He had heard from the anglers who fished with me about the Giant Short Tailed River Ray, which can reach at least 260 kgs in weight…
He was keen to do a programme on the Ray for “River Monsters”, and I was happy to oblige. This was my introduction to Adventure Fishing films, and working with Jeremy Wade for two seasons of his programme was a good introduction to Television. However, after the initial adrenalin rush, I realised that Jeremy was not a good angler, didn’t accept good advice, his programmes were a work of fiction and set out to vilify perfectly harmless (though large) fish. That was the end of our relationship; but I had gained a lot of know how and experience. The programme on the Ray (“Silent Assassin”) became the third most viewed programme ever on Animal Planet, and was made into three versions; separate versions also for Discovery and UKITV. I was also gaining a lot of experience working in other countries, and with different species of fish,
During this period I was still taking groups on fishing trips, but my interest was certainly moving in the direction of Adventure Fishing programmes.
After a short break I was approached by Jakub Vagner, who was making a series with National Geographic called “Fish Warrior”. He wanted someone, who could gain access to the Corbett National Park in India, to organise a trip for him to fish for Goonch. I had mentioned to a fishing guide in Texas that my wife at the time came from a family that had lived in India for nearly two hundred years, and she was a personal friend of the Maharaja of Bharatpur; who was a keen fisherman. He told me that he could gain access to Corbett, even though no-one had been allowed to fish inside the park since its foundation in 1936. I mention this to stress the importance of being able to network, which is one of my strengths.
So I gained access for Jakub and Czech TV, and we caught an IGFA world record Goonch (although, to be honest, there are only three types of fish in my eyes; small, medium, and large) and the largest Golden Mahseer recorded out of the Ramganga River this century. We were also able to film spectacular wildlife and had exciting incidents such arriving on the scene minutes after a tiger had mauled a woman, and attending the cremation of a young woman who we had pulled out of the wreckage of an SUV the day before. Tragic, but indicative of life in this part of the world. We incorporated all of this footage in the first programme of a new series for Czech TV and Discovery called “Fishing Legends”
I organised a total of 11 programmes for Jakub, with some pretty spectacular results.
However, after two series I was ready to move on, but not after I had arranged a new series for Jakub with Discovery called “Big Fish Man”, which aired in 2015. The content was not good, and the series ran for only five episodes before it was dropped. In retrospect, I am now glad that I dropped out before production started.
In 2015 I started work with Zeb Hogan of National Geographic and his series “Monster Fish”. I enjoyed working with him in Argentina, and had plans to work on a new series with him at a later date.
At the same time I was planning to move back to NZ for family reasons. While I was here I watched this innovative programme, with two presenters who provided just the right sort of chat, called “Big Angry Fish”, and I guess you can say that the rest is (recent history).
For a person who does not seek the limelight, it is very difficult for me to say what I would bring to a new series, but I will give it a go:- - I have more adventure fishing experience than anyone else I know; more than sixty years. I have been to 134 (proper) countries, and fished in a great number of them. I also have an extensive network of experts in their field, and most importantly, influential people. - I have had close on ten years experience working as a “fixer” and occasional “expert presenter”; somewhere between 30-40 programmes to-date. At no time have I failed to find the fish for the team. - I have a Degree in Marine Zoology (Hons), and am considered an expert in the study of Abalone and Freshwater Stingrays. I am co-author of a recent publication on this subject. So from a scientific point of view I know a bit about fish. - I am easy to get along with, and my excessive age is a benefit when negotiating in countries that show great respect to the elderly (my health, both mental and physical is excellent). I am a good problem solver and mediator. - I have a synopsis for at least 20 programmes for locations and species of fish in remote and exciting locations, that have never been shown on english language TV before. - I like and am enthusiastic about the way “Big Angry Fish” is developed, and of course Milan and Nathan.
This is just a brief presentation; I can expand if you like with some really “Ripping Yarns”... you just need to get me started.
EPILOGUE
I can still catch (really) “Big Angry Fish”.......!
THE END
GUESTS ON THIS EARTH
"Before our white brothers arrived to make us civilized men, we didn't have any kind of prison. Because of this, we had no delinquents. Without a prison, there can be no delinquents. We had no locks nor keys and therefore among us there were no thieves.
When someone was so poor that he couldn't afford a horse, a tent or a blanket, he would, in that case, receive it all as a gift. We were too uncivilized to give great importance to private property. We didn't know any kind of money and consequently, the value of a human being was not determined by his wealth.
We had no written laws laid down, no lawyers, no politicians, therefore we were not able to cheat and swindle one another.
We were really in bad shape before the white men arrived and I don't know how to explain how we were able to manage without these fundamental things that (so they tell us) are so necessary for a civilized society."
— Lame Deer (1903-1976) Sioux Lakota
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