|
My Photographs You like photos? I love taking them. Click here, if you wanna see some of my work
Is a photo missing on an older entry? Click here to find it at Photogra!  The Other Links Favorites and Rings are now here!
The life you save might be mine!
|
Friday, Oct. 25, 2002 - 9:32 p.m. (Long entry ahead- I just wanted to warn you ;) Yeah, I am old. And I have to have my yearly dose of Charlie Brown. Tonight it was �It�s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!� Lease reminded me that it was on, and we sat like 7-year-olds in front of the TV., saying many of the lines before the Peanuts character did. Samples are above, but here are a few more: �I had a little trouble with the scissors.� �I wasted my Halloween sitting here with you, instead of tricks or treating!� �Never jump into a pile of leaves with a wet sucker.� �Ooooooooooooooooooo!� Any more that I forgot? Let me know�.. I could bum you all out with information about the Winter Inspection that happened today, but I don�t want to loose any more readers.(I still have readers, don't I?) Instead, I want to tell you about my afternoon� I blew off the workplace at 11:30. I still had more than a day of personal business left, which I loose if I don�t use by December 31st. Several things were against me having any success fishing today (what, you thought I took of to watch �Dr. Phil� and �The People�s Court?�): It rained all night, and it rained all morning. The wind was out of the North. The high was forecasted to be around 45�, which is about 15 degrees below normal. All in all, crummy fishing weather. It didn�t stop me, of course. I will be plowing snow in a month or so, so I have to make hay while the sun is shining (how�s that for a old country saying?) All the way to the big reservoir south of here, rain fell. Sheets of it. Heavy, wind-driven rain. Before I left work, I noticed something on the radar that gave me a little hope. There was a gap between the rain areas. A gap of about 4 hours, if my calculations were right. When I pulled into the parking lot, the rain had almost stopped. I was dressed in layers, so a little rain wouldn�t bother me. It turned out the rain was done. I was able to fish for the time I had allocated (3 hours) without any interference from precipitation. I walked down to the swimming beach, and I started fishing where Codeman and I caught the White Bass back on our campout 3 weeks ago. I started with the lure that caught me all the fish back then (a Rooster-tail type spinner bait). I didn�t get a strike. Since the weather has turned cooler, I switched to my fall White Bass rig, a pair of 1/16th of an ounce jig heads with chartreuse twister tails (1 �� long) This didn�t work, either. Without any wind, I needed to lighten up my rig. I went to a single 1/32nd of an ounce lead head (pink) , still with a 1 �� long twister tail. That did the trick. I managed to catch two keeper White Bass, and somehow fell into a school of huge (for them , anyway) Yellow Bass. These fish almost never reach a size where they are worth keeping. I don�t want to kill a fish for meat if all I get is a couple of bites per side. That is just wrong. But these Yellows were schooled up, and many of them were as large as I ever catch. By the time an hour had passed, I had the two whites, plus about 10 where they are worth keeping. I don�t want to kill a fish for meat if all I get is a couple of bites per side. That is just wrong. But these Yellows were schooled up, and many of them were as large as I ever catch. By the time an hour had passed, I had the two Whites, plus about 10 Yellows over 8� long in my bucket. That would have been a good day, but it actually got better. I crossed over the back of the small cove (Zackal knows where I am talking about- he was off all week and caught fish there himself) to get to the point to the East. When you are looking for fall White Bass, you want to find an area where the water stays only a few feet deep for a large area of shoreline. That is what I had on the point. I managed to land another 4 large Whites. After I started filling the bucket up, I started throwing back some of the large Yellows for each White I caught. Since the Whites averaged 12-14� long each, I didn�t need any more fish. But I changed my mind after I started catching Crappie. Yeah, Crappie were mixed in (just below) with the Whites and Yellows (this will come up on some racist�s search down the road, I�m sure). Since they have to be 10� long, I usually don�t keep many of these tasty fish. I landed 8 Crappie. I had 5 that were above the 10� limit (the average is 1 keeper per 5-10 Crappie caught!) What a great day on the lake! I was there for about three hours, and I brought home enough fish for tonight�s supper 95 White filets), another meal of White bass for down the road, two Crappie meals for my Dad (5 filets are enough for my step-mom and him), and I still have the Yellow Bass left over. What will I do with them? I am planning on looking for a Ceviche recipe, as soon as I post this entry�.. What is Ceviche? Making fish into Ceviche is a method of cooking the flesh without heat. Whaaaaaa? Click here, if you are curious(no tuna to be caught here in North Dakota, so the Yellow Bass will do). I have wanted to try this recipe for some time. I just needed some very fresh, firm fish to try it on. Tomorrow, I will experiment. I�ll let you know if it turns out �. Two things I didn�t bring today that I should have: 1.My camera (Doh!): Between the amazing fall colors (orange, yellow and red were prolific, with so many oak tree surrounding the shoreline) and the large catch of fish, I would have had some great photos to share. I was just in too much of a hurry to get there, and left it on the kitchen table. 2.My knee boots (double Doh!): The shoreline has dropped recently. That means areas that look firm are actually quite soft. I sunk up to halfway to my right knee one time, while crossing the backwater area. The boots would have kept me dry and warm. Maybe next time I will remember them? So, is this about the longest entry I have ever posted? Anybody still reading? Thanks for taking the time to sift through this morass. I will say this about my fishing trips this year: What I have lost in quantity, I have made up for in quality. I would like to have more time to cast a line into the water, but real (not reel) life intervenes. At least when I have managed to find time to go, (for the most part) the fish have been more than willing to cooperate��.
 powered by SignMyGuestbook.com
Have You Read These?
A hot day for a wedding...9:26 p.m. - Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009 So bad - but so funny, too.10:33 p.m. - Saturday, Jun. 13, 2009 Evil Black Walnut Tree from Hell!- times up!6:41 a.m. - Thursday, Apr. 23, 2009 My next door neighbor was on the Today Show?8:57 p.m. - Tuesday, Mar. 31, 2009 This qualifies as a "oh crap!" moment:9:55 p.m. - Monday, Mar. 30, 2009 Back to top
|
