Another great summer day of fishing- and catching fish!

Jim and I headed out to Willard Bay this morning, expecting to be driven off the lake early by the hordes of loudspeaker encrusted, tube towing speedboats but instead we got to spend almost all day fishing with very little distraction from the wakeboarder types.

We were in search of the elusive Wiper, or catfish or walleye, whatever might be biting. After launching from the south Marina we headed across the lake tot he west side where I had read reports of guys catching wiper recently. We trolled a good long while with no success. I even used my homemade sideplaner and tower, both of which worked perfectly except for putting fish in the boat. After a bit we changed locations and headed off to freeway bay on the east side of the lake. It didn't take us very long and we were scoring fish!

Jim caught more than me but I caught a walleye and the fish cooler just kept getting fuller and fuller. It was terrific! On two occasions we both had fish on our lines at the same time which makes for some excitement on the boat. Once we even managed to tangle 3 fishing lines by 1 fish which required an lengthy period of untangling of lines.

We quit with 9 wiper in the boat and the one walleye. I caught a 2nd walleye but he was a dink so went back into the water to keep growing. I finally got to use my electric knife that Kenny bought me as a Christmas present to fillet fish and it filleted, removed ribs and skinned so slick you had to wonder why everybody doesn't own one.

So- I'm sunburnt, exhausted and full of fresh caught fried fish tonight. I'm a happy guy. And tomorrow is the job interview! Maybe today's good luck was a forecast of tomorrow's interview result. I dammsure hope so!

What a day!

So my buddy Kenny & I hit East Canyon today, getting the boat wet about 8:15. We set out trolling almost from the boat launch with pop gear as we headed out. We didn't catch anything for the first hour and finally set out across the lake for the west side and broke out the downriggers.

At the end of the day we each had a limit of rainbows with a couple lost before getting netted. I caught 3 on a green metalflake e-chip dodger leading a green mylar squid at about 30-35 feet down. Last fish on my limit came from pop gear with a jointed lake trout Rapala. Kenny caught a couple just flat dragging a crawler on a sinker and hook with a silver spinner on the line or a dodger with a perch colored mylar squid.

Now- the fun stuff. One my fish the one caught on the pop gear and crankbait, after Kenny netted the fish and handed it to me, the pop gear fell off the line swivel! The snap had opened and I could have lost the entire rig but luckily it happened inside the boat! Kenny caught a fish on the flat trolling rod he was using and the fish ran and cut his line on the rod on the downrigger. He netted the fish then started moaning about getting his line cut off. But I suggested maybe the gear was still attached to the downrigger weight and sure enough- it was all down there!

The best part of the day? My cell phone rang just as I was busy catching a fish so I let it ring and joked that since I was busy, it would surely be a call offering me a job since that hasn't been happening much. Twenty minutes later when I finally checked my phone, it was an invitation to a job interview! Cool!

Anyway, we had a great day and I had a grilled trout for dinner tonight!

A week without posting?

Wow. Time flies when you're unemployed! Kenny says that I'm retired but just don't know it yet! I hope that's not true but I'm still not seemingly any closer to being employed, which is frustrating and liberating all at the same time. I've been digging and pulling weeds at church, digging out an abused and ignored garden in my own backyard, I'm considering overhauling my backyard sprinkler system and I've been out fishing on a Friday- all things I probably wouldn't be doing if I were working in a cubicle somewhere.

But I do keep job hunting and I applied for a couple jobs this week that would be right up my alley so I'll keep looking and applying and sooner or later somebody will decide I'm the right guy.

My cousin Joe got married today back in Alpena and I would have loved to attend. Joe's a really neat guy and I'm certain his new bride is as charming as he is diligent. I actually taught Joe to water ski many years ago and he never fails to remind me on the rare occasions I get back there. I'm happy for him and I'm betting my mom will have some pictures of the ceremony pretty soon.

I fished today with Kenny & Jim out to Willard Bay. Jim caught a walley and a catfish while we trolled, Kenny & I were blanked all day. That's the way Willard is though, unpredictable and sometimes difficult to buy a bite. But we did have a great day fishing together, enjoying the company and the sunshine. We had a close-up flyby by 2 pelicans that was a breath-stopping minute and a real highlight. I just wish I would have known they were on approach so the camera could have been ready! Fish Slayer worked perfectly and so did my homemade sideplaners which I finally got the chance to take out and try. They pull line out at a decent angle and ride steady in the water and carried the lures we pulled just fine. I didn't catch any fish off of them yet- but they work!

So that's it- yard work and weed pulling, renovation projects, job hunting and a little fishing. Heck, maybe I AM retired!

Skunked, we were-

That's right, Kenny and I got skunked this afternoon at Willard Bay. Bummer. It was after lunch before we ever got out there and by the time Fish Slayer hit the water, the wind was blowing strong and there were white caps on the waves. We tried leaving the marina but we didn't go a couple hundred yards before deciding to get back inside the marina bay and the protection it provided.

We still had to fight the wind and it made the fishing (and boating) very tricky. I tried out my sideplaner and tower but that was a bust. The planer wouldn't pull straight, the tower rotates in its base and the pulleys on the top of the tower kept fouling the line of the whheels and getting stuck in the pulley frames. So I've got some work to do to get that entire system working.

And it looks like I'm going to have some time to sort it all out because there is a cold front coming in tonight that is bring rain and high winds for the next several days... Bummer.

From my cold, dead hands-

Seems that Barry is sucking up even more of the "save the planet's helpless creatures" Kool-Aid and listening to some agencies determined to make certain no animal need feel threatened by the 2-legged animal at the top of the food chain. This time he is listening to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration about restricting or prohibiting fishing- perhaps even recreational fishing, to save the planet. You can read all about it here. Some of the highlights:

Led by NOAA's Jane Lubchenco, the task force has shown no overt dislike of recreational angling, but its indifference to the economic, social and biological value of the sport has been deafening.

Additionally, Lubchenco and others in the administration have close ties to environmental groups who would like nothing better than to ban recreational angling. And evidence suggests that these organizations have been the engine behind the task force since before Obama issued a memo creating it last June.

As ESPN previously reported, WWF, Greenpeace, Defenders of Wildlife, Pew Environment Group and others produced a document entitled "Transition Green" shortly after Obama was elected in 2008. What has happened since suggests that the task force has been in lockstep with that position paper.

Then in late summer, just after he created the task force, these groups produced "Recommendations for the Adoption and Implementation of an Oceans, Coasts, and Great Lakes National Policy." This document makes repeated references to "overfishing," but doesn't once reference recreational angling, its importance, and its benefits, both to participants and the resource.

Additionally, some of these same organizations have revealed their anti-fishing bias by playing fast and loose with "facts," in attempts to ban tackle containing lead in the United States and Canada.

That same tunnel vision, in which recreational angling and commercial fishing are indiscriminately lumped together as harmful to the resource, has persisted with the task force, despite protests by the angling industry.

As always- read the whole thing.

And Barry- you can have my fishing poles when you pry them from my cold, dead fingers!

Proof that Burbot really exist!

Jim and I had a terrific weekend fishing at Flaming Gorge. The weather was perfect, the water calm and the company friendly. We even caught some fish! Not a lot of fish, just 1 Burbot each during our night fishing expedition and some rainbow trout on Sunday before we came home.

The burbot fishing was kind of disappointing since we only caught 1 fish each when the reports were of fishermen catching coolers full of the ugly creatures. Jim and I followed the instructions we had received from Rob, found the right depth of water and the right structure and had the preferred lures. And we both hooked up with just a few minutes of getting our lines wet, so we thought we had solved the equasion. But the fish weren't cooperating and the huge schools of fish- even though they appeared to be there according to the fishfinder, weren't biting on our jigs. I guess that's why they call it fishing and not catching!

This is my buddy Jim-

This is me at the controls of Fish Slayer

I told you they were ugly! This is Jim's burbot. His was much bigger than mine.

The end of my first season of fishing on Fish Slayer.


This weekend was so much fun we may have to make this an annual trip!

Burbot fishing trip plans-

Six jigs, 3 types of glow-in-the-dark tubes and 2 packages of frozen sucker fish meat purchased on the way home tonight. Tomorrow the truck gets an oil change, supper groceries, cigars and beer get purchased and a spare tire and wheel for the boat trailer needs to be bought. Then I can get packed up for a Saturday morning departure.

It's gonna be a good time!

Looks like Fish Slayer is coming out 1 more time this season!

And going to Flaming Gorge reservoir for burbot fishing! My buddy Rob called me today to say that another friend caught 70 of these homely beasts last night and the biggest one weighed 9 pounds.

So Jim and I are going to the Gorge on Saturday for some trout fishing in the afternoon and a late night's worth of trying to fill up the boat with these fish. The weather is promising to be pleasant and I'm pretty excited.

Breakfast and fishing with my friend Ben

I've been making a point to get back up to see my buddy Ben after a few weeks of not getting by to visit. This weekend we planned a fishing trip on Saturday morning only to be rained out by showers and 50 degree temperatures. So we went to breakfast at Cracker Barrel instead and even managed to get another friend, Jack to join us.

But today's weather forecast was better- drier and warmer so we got back together this afternoon for a trip to Williard Bay. We trolled a couple hours for Wipers but returned home without any fish in the boat. In spite of the lack of catching, the fishing was great and we had a nice afternoon together. Ben doesn't get out much from the residential care home where he lives so an afternoon out on the water enjoying the fresh air, sunshine and views really cheers him up.

Maybe we'll catch fish next time...

Dang- I forgot to check the discount reels at Wal-Mart

In preparation for a weekend camping trip with the BSU, she and I did some grocery shopping tonight. While she filled a cart, I got my hairs cut at the salon but I forgot to sneak over to the Sporting Goods department to see what other reels might be hiding behind the counter that I could use and that I could wrangle a half price discount on. The reel I bought last week is terrific and works perfectly so I thought a re-run past the shelf might be in order.

But I forgot.

We're headed off into the jaws of a huge cold front with high winds and dropping temperatures to go camping. Which really works out perfect since the boat motor is still broke and the boat repair guy can't get here until Monday and the weather would make for lousy boating. So I'll camp this weekend and fish next weekend!

Score! I love bargains!

Tonight the BSU and I had to go to Wal-Mart for some groceries and I needed to purchase a new fishing license because today was the last day on the old license. While I was paying my fees to the state at the sporting goods counter, I noticed some fishing reels behind the counter. The boxes were kind of dusty and dilapidated so I asked the clerk to let me have a look at them.

There was an Abu Garcia Ambassador reel, marked $60. I asked the clerk if he could do a little better since it was obviously old in the box. The clerk called a manager and he cut the price in half! Thirty bucks! I love deals!

I put 10 pound test Vanish florocarbon line on it already and it is ready for fishing.

A Sunday evening update post

How long has it been since I last did that? A few weeks now, I'm certain. Tonight's the first night I've actually sat down and ran through my bloglist in a caouple weeks! But I did sit down tonight bout an hour ago and it's been a pleasure to relax and read through my list to see what my friends on the internet have been doing while I've been busy.

Getting Fish Slayer ready for fishing really was a slog and I'm not done yet. But the boat's working very well and the trailer is safe to haul the boat to the lake. I replaced the entire axle under the trailer and added a new winch and safety chains. I've moved part of the windshield and removed the other portion until I can get some new windshield braces to finish the job.

In the future I'll be replacing the lounge seats with fishing seats and building a fishing deck in the front portion of the boat. I want a livewell up there and an electric trolling motor so I can do some bass fishing and control the boat from the front. I also want a gas trolling motor for the back of the boat- there's already a kicker motor mount back there and a couple downriggers for trolling for kokanee salmon and trout when I go to the deeper lakes.

But all that will have to wait- send money! and in the mean time, I'm going fishing! Kenny and I went to East Canyon reservoir yesterday for a day's fishing. Kenny caught 2 rainbows while we still fished for a bit and later I caught 4 trolling about 30 feet deep. The boat worked better than a 30 year old deserves to and we had a great time. Sunday and I even had 2 of my fish for dinner tonight!

No fishing today but chores instead. I spent most of the afternoon digging up and repairing a busted sprinkler line in the front yard. With the temmperatures reaching into the 90s, the grass needs watered diligently and the sprinkler I was trying to use just couldn't deliver enough to keep the grass green. So the built in sprinklers are fixed and working and I just have to turn them on and off every night.

My new router seems to be working fine but the signal strength isn't very good in my shop so I intend to relocate the router upsstairs from its current location underneath the stairs. Maybe that will get done one night this week...

Vacation starts next Monday with our annual trip to the Oregon coast, camping with the BSU's family. Son Noah is due home from Colorado and is going with us on the trip. He's planning to ride his motorcycle to the coast and back and I suppose he will unless his mom can talk him out of it. We'll see. But he hasn't been home since October so it will be good to see him.

So that's it. Summer is here and I'm keeping busy. I'm loving my new, old boat and look forward to lots of fishinig trips with my buddies. I'm looking forward to getting fixed up just the way I want it over the winter and as funds allow.

Hurray! It's working!

My new D-Link DIR-655 Xtreme N wireless router is connected and working! Now, now I can go have a shower so I can get the fish smell off of me from a successful day of fishing!

Excitement on Flaming Gorge Reservoir!

This video was actually taken the first afternoon as we raced back to the boat launch when a storm blew in. The storms come in quickly out there and it is a big lake so storms really require attention. We were doing ok even though the wind kicked up quick but crossing the last big bay did get us splashed around quite a bit. We all got wet but we arrived at the dock safe and sound.

Finally, a fish video!

It's taken a while for me to get an actual video posted of one of us actually catching a fish but here's one so enjoy it. We didn't catch a huge bunch of fish this trip- the fish were scattered out and hard to find. But we did find some and when Jim grabbed his bouncing fishing pole, I grabbed the camera! Lots of excitement with this one!

Relaxing at The Vacation Inn

We ahve found a really nice place to stay when we go to Flaming Gorge- the Vacation Inn. Kenny found the place and we have stayed there twice now and I promise we will be staying there again when we go back. The management and staff are all really friendly and the cabin style rooms work perfectly for the 3 of us.

This video shows us relaxing out back getting our dinner started and enjoying the fresh weather that came in behind the storm that soaked us and sent us back to the boat dock.

How I spent my weekend- Fishing at Flaming Gorge Reservoir

I'm trying to get many of these videos from our fishing trip posted tonight. Needless to say, the three of us, Kenny, Jim and I had a terrific weekend of fishing and male bonding. When were weren't fishing, mostly due to the thunderstorms that rolled in each afternoon. When we weren't fishing we were eating and watching our favorite videos- The Quick and the Dead, Lethal Weapon, 2 Jack Ryan movies, Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger and Madagascar. So it was a terrific trip.


Anyway, enjoy the videos!

Fishing Videos from Flaming Gorge!

I'll be trying to get some of the videos of my just finished fishing trip to Flaming Gorge with Kenny and Jim. Check out this first video for introductions.

I bought something I've never bought before-

and I'm excited as all heck for my new Flip Video Camera to arrive tomorrow! When I purchased this on Thursday it was actually even less expensive and I decided it might be fun to make some videos occasionally.

Pammy over at Lollygaggin bought one of these camcorders for her hubby a few weeks ago and she seems to have had a grand time recording her cats and the wildlife in her backyard. So when I saw that Amazon had these on sale, I decided I wanted into the fun too!

And it will be here in time for me to get familiar with it before next weekend's fishing trip! I'm excited!

What did I do this weekend?

Beats the hell out of wrenching on a busted Tempo, I can assure you of that!

See all the pictures here from a fabulous weekend of friends, perfect weather and exciting fishing. Details tomorrow, after I have rested up!

UPDATE: Details still remain to be written. But I did upload a grundle more pictures from Kenny at the link above.