Thanks Mike for covering my back. From the back forty of Ft. Hood. See you all @ the lake bright and early in the morning. Be safe/be careful during your journey. I am stopping by the booth @ the Fox Park entrance today to see if they can open the gate around 0530 so we can start launching. I will post up the results upon my return. I will also PM some coordinates to our boaters who have not fished Granger or have fished it very little. Of course I'll have to check them today to make sure there are fish on them. Headed to the "LAKE".

How many boats are showing up to take the soldiers fishing? Yall have done a great job on this.

Here is an update. Fox Park entrance will be open @ 0530 to get into the park to launch. Keep your fingers crossed on that one. Duchess' will open their doors @ 0530 also for bait. I plan to start loading soldiers around 0615. Went out to the lake this morning and caught 25-30 crappie on BP's in anywheres from 8-20 feet. The fish are hanging tight to the cover. Got to be right in the BP's to catch them. We will have coffee, donuts (alias crime fighter food for you Michael)and orange juice available @ the Fox ramp in the morning for the boaters, soldiers and volunteers. I think everything is set. Sure wish I had the energy that Zach and Shawnee have. They've been out and about running all over Centex picking up supplies and donations. Make sure you give them a big ole thank you. I couldn't have done any of this without them, (My personal aides)or the other volunteers.
BHunt, could sure use a catfisherman on the lake with us. Hope to see you out there in the morning. Dave

DONUTS..oh man...next to catching crappie there's nothing better, or a new boat, or winning the lottery...or...oh well donuts are pretty cool anyway!!
The ICE will be there. Stumpy has stepped up to help me. I'm picking it up at 4am here and then heading to Granger.

Whoohoooo. We got ice. Thats a biggun. Thanks Mike. Remember all bring a cooler along in your boat for ice, water and Gatorade to keep youselves and your soldiers hydrated. Might want to add a few snacks to hold you over till we get some of the awesome BBQ from sloppysecondsonline.com. This is gonna be great. Sent out a few emails/PM's to provide a few coordinates to the boaters. Missed a # on a couple. I'm not going out to retieve them off my GPS. If you see someone with a US flag on their boat and are catching fish then feel free to potlick on them. That was agreed to @ the meeting last Sunday. Remember this whole event is to put the soldiers on fish not to fill your freezers. All the regulars on Granger will be more than happy to assist you all. See you all in the morning. Dave

One more wakeup then it is time except for the fact that I AM TO EXCITED TO SLEEP. See you all in the morning. Signing off until then. Be safe and Be careful on your journey to the lake. Thanks again to all of the boaters, soldiers and volunteers. Dave

God's speed to all involved tomorrow. It's a great thing you are doing and I hope you fill those coolers full of fish! Yall be carefull and have a great time!

Looking forward to meeting all of you! I will have the US Flags for your boats and Skeeter caps waiting for you at the ramp!

HUGE SUCCESS! It was an incredible day. Fishing was tough but there were still alot of fish caught and cleaned. BBQ was exquisite. Most importantly there were big smiles on the faces of our guests. Our soldiers who made the trip down to fish with the Granger Gang. The soldiers, boaters and volunteers had a great time. It was an amazing experience for me to assist in making this happen. I have to give out one more thank you to Mr. and Mrs. SaltyDawg. These two are incredible people and I am honored to have them as my friends. Thanks Shawnee and Zach. Also need to thank my lovely wife, Dee. I definitely couldn't have done this without her love and support. Thanks baby! Love ya! To the boaters, couldn't have been pulled off without you. You made this happen without any glitches. I am lucky to be surrounded with friends like you. Also need to thank Mike and the TASF. Keep on with what you are doing. It was a pleasure working with you. We are planning for next year. Hope to see you all there. It will be bigger and better. If you boaters did not receive your boater awards I will get them in the mail to you tomorrow morning. Thanks again and God bless each and everyone of you. DB

Glad to hear all went well...
Dave I'm sure you deserve some KUDOS as well... i've seen this man at work and believe you me he will put every ounce of himself into what ever he does... Glad to know all went well...
Jigum

Thanks for the kind words Matthew. Gave out some of your jigs to some of the boaters yesterday. Man they loved that.
Here are just a few pics from yesterday. To many to upload. I have got to set the time and date on my camera. The last pic tells the story of what a great nation we have.

It was a privilege to be one of the boaters that got to take a soldier fishing Saturday at Granger. As Dave said, there were many people that made this happen. Mr and Mrs Saltydawg, especially the Mrs. worked so hard. She got so many sponsorships. Dave said the soldiers were happy and smiling. Well during the BBQ I asked Mrs. SD if she was having fun. The smile on her pretty face was electric!! She WAS having fun! She worked hard for others and then celebrated in THEIR having fun. That my folks spoke volumes about this special person and her husband. But let me point out one fact that Dave didn't, and wouldn't. Nothing succesful happens without leadership. Unselfish leadership that supports and encourages and enables things to happen. Dave that is you man. This event came off because you facilitated it and did it well. I'm sure Mike and all the others that paid a key role will agree. I'm proud to count you among my new friends. Thanks for the opportunity to participate. Mike (fisterfam)could you get me the name and address of your commander? He needs to get behind this movement 100%. He's gonna hear from me. Thanks to you all!

Garrett and I had the honor of fishing with SSG Braccini and SGT Roberts. It was a challenge out on the water with the windy conditions but we did manage a few fish and the guy's really had a good time.

and thanks to all those crappie for making it happen

as they say we contributed but the crappie were committed

much better luck today.....no wind.....we went back this morning and caught 21 keepres before we ran out of minners


thanks to everybody involved. It was mucho fun and the soldiers seemed to have a good time

Alright let me just say that for the first half of the day I have spent uploading pictures to photobucket. 554 to be exact. We had a blast. While some of the soldiers left somewhat early as they have their families to attend to we had one that stayed behind until he had caught himself a fish. Actually his boater told him he couldn't leave until he caught a fish. SOOOO at about 5:55 PM he snagged a catfish and it was time to head back in. They were due back at 6PM. The point is that it doesn't take one organization to put all of this together for these guys. It takes a team. We were a team and the soldiers that I brought had a blast. Dave you had a vision of what you wanted in your head. Dee you changed his mind several times I am sure about what he wanted. Shawnee you busted your butt getting all the stuff you could for this in such short notice. Zach you had to follow Shawnee where ever she went and, as you said, ate out alot. IF it wasn't for you then I would have brought a bunch of soldiers to an empty lake. It s the boaters most of all that make it happen. You guys are the ones taking the time out to take these guys out on the water. Even if you you don't know the lake. It is your patriotism that keeps the site alive and keeps things like this going. I am glad that you like your awards. You deserve them. If I could do more then I would. Omar, You owe me some fish and I owe you your shoes. (long story) another long sotry would be the gentleman that go stuck on a sandbar at 30MPH. Yeah that was fun. Good thing it was hot out and I was having fun. Glad to help the family that got stranded out on the lake. We are here to help as well. Simple courteousies (sp) on the water work wonders. It just so happened that we towed an Iraq veteran back to shore with his family after thier boat went bad.

We had a great time. Only I am concerned about is that Shawnee has about 12 months to get more donations.....sheesh. YOU GO GIRL!! Next time I think we will be doing a 2 day event for Granger! Good job guys and gals and to everyone involved. Now its time to focus on Toledo Bend. Thank you for a wonderful time. Mike Nashif www.takeasoldierfishing.com

[img]http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/fisterfam/Granger08/DSC_0043.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/fisterfam/Granger08/DSC_0045.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i8[IMG]http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k150/fisterfam/Granger08/DSC_0503.jpg[/img]7.photobucket.com/albums/k150/fisterfam/Granger08/DSC_0063.jpg[/IMG]

Got a few pictures
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm129/darthlige_2008/100_5207.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm129/darthlige_2008/100_5208.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm129/darthlige_2008/100_5202.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm129/darthlige_2008/100_5227.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm129/darthlige_2008/100_5217.jpg

You guys/gals got a thank you on the site from one of the soldiers. It is now in the Texas Freshwater section. Go and check it out. Later Mike