So, if you're reading that headline and wondering, "I don't remember hearing anything about a group trip this fall?", well, you're absolutely correct!  This one was put together on short notice, we kept the number of members down to 8, and it filled immediately.  The Spring trip will have plenty of advance notice, but I'm sure will still fill up quickly!

For new members, let me give you a little history lesson on the Cody Ranch Group Trip, and why it is my most enjoyable PWF experience each year.  To begin with, Cody Ranch is a 3,000 acre working ranch in central Oklahoma, right at 2.5hrs away from me in Flower Mound.  There are 8 lakes, ranging from about 8 acres to 35 acres that you have complete access to.  There are also two places to lodge on the ranch: The Lodge has 5 bedrooms and sleeps 9; The Cabin has 2 bedrooms and sleeps 3.  Now, this is the important part.  If you were to book a day of fishing and sleep there, you would only have access to two of the 8 lakes, and you would be ~$150.  The Group Trip gives you access to ALL lakes on the property, plus two nights of lodging, for an incredible price of $300!  It is quite easily the best value in the club!  Three full days of fishing and two nights of lodging for $300?  Fuhgeddaboutit!

This trip is a great father/son get away, business opportunity with clients, or just some "get away from the house" time.  I help coordinate and organize meals and fishing partners, and over the past 4-5 years I've done this, we have always had a great time and caught tons of fish!  My top 3 big fish are 7-15, 7-12, and 7-0.  Last Spring my friend Chris Edwards caught an 8+.

Here are some of our catches from October 9th-11th:

Tyler Williams with a nice one!  He outfished most of us this trip!  :-)

Paul Milwood with a nice one!

Yours truly

John Shepard with a nice one!

Upper Hart, one of my favorite ponds there. Two islands, lots of lily pads, a timber line, and lots of fish!

Getting ready to launch!

I had to include this shot because it was just so darn perfect, right as the sun was rising on Peach Creek.

And one of the most enjoyable things about the Group Trip is the Saturday night fish & hush puppy fry!  We harvest 14" and under fish at Cody Ranch to keep the lakes healthy. And those fish DO NOT go to waste!  We fry them up fresh Saturday night, and I make my patented spicy hush puppies.  What a great meal!

Ain't nothing wrong with that!

Relaxing and enjoying some great food after a long day of fishing!

And now for something completely different…

In all the years I have been fileting fish, I have NEVER seen anything quite like this.  Remember that we are only harvesting bass under 14".  When fileting this particular fish, I noticed how distended its stomach was.  Inside a <14" bass, this is what I found:

This snake was 8" long!  Bass are seriously voracious predators!!!

Well, if you've made it this far, congratulations!  We will try to send out notification about 4 weeks prior to the Spring trip, so don't miss out on this great opportunity for fellowship, fishing and food!

Zach Milwood