Fishing at Silverbell

We went fishing at the Aaron Lodge #49 Masonic Family Picnic that was held at Christopher Columbus Park. A fine time was had by all and there was a nice turnout. Don't laugh at my little fish as I believe that it was the only one of the day!

There may a trend developing here in that I must take a picture of every teeny fish I catch when going out. I am sure that I will do the same if anything notable (in a larger sense) is caught.
I am having fun with the teeny fish pictures.

UPDATE: I needed to update this post with a picture from the 2019 picnic. I am becoming more proficient at catching very little fish!

Back to Chicago - Part II

Once again I found myself outside the windy city in the hamlet known as Kingery on the 15th to visit with daughter #1 (D#1) and fiance (F). The F and I went to Bass Pro on Friday to talk to the guys in the fishing department about where to go and to buy 3 rods/reels along with the appropriate tackle box and terminal tackle. Yes, there were a few lures thrown in there along with a book on fishing in Illinois. F spent the usual amount of time, for a first time visitor, admiring the myriad of mounts and displays. I remember the first time I went into a Cabelas/Bass Pro and how impressive it is. We had lunch at the Islamorada Fish Company and headed back to the homestead to prepare for Saturday.

Saturday found F and me at Heinecke Lake for our first stop. This is a man-made elevated lake that serves as cooling water for a power plant. There is a lot of rip-rap posing as a shoreline. The guys there were mainly fishing for catfish although there are bass, sunfish, and some walleye. We were a bit late in the day for Walleye fishing but did not care as this was an exploratory trip. We wet a line and proceeded to hook up on the rocks with a few hooks being lost. A few nibbles were encountered without any serious strikes.

After Heinecke, we went to check out Whalen Lake which is closer to the homestead. This is pleasant little lake in one of the many preserve areas of Illinois. Again we wet a line and proceeded to start playing with bluegills. I had a great time roaming around with F.

Sunday was a stand-down day. We got a paper in the AM, ate breakfast, looked at the paper and then returned to Bass Pro to get D#1 a fishing license. We picked up a few things that I thought would be handy for the next day fishing. Later, we went for a walk to the little waterfall in Waterfall Glen Preserve. No, it not named that because of the waterfall. It is actually named after Seymour Waterfall who was an early president of the Districts Board of Commissioners. The waterfall is man made. Zoey, the guard dog, went with us to keep us safe. She was hilarious as when D#1 was going to set her down in the water, the feet were going like she was swimming before touching the water.

We were off to Whalen Lake on Monday morning for all of us to play around. No one caught any large fish but due to my extreme expertise  and endless patience, I was able to catch the smallest bluegill and this very small gobie pictured below.

There really is a fish in this picture! Note the amazement on D#1's face that I was able to accomplish this almost impossible task. I am proud to have my picture taken with this elusive hermit of the lake.

The 18th was D#1's birthday and the 20th was mine. We split the date difference and went to Cooper's Hawk that evening. Cooper's is a winery and restaurant. It was excellent. Good wine, food and company. There is not much more for one to ask for!

On Tuesday D#1 and I returned to Whalen to play around with some more fish. My last day there went too quickly as always.

I was off to the airport Wednesday morning to wait out a thunderstorm to catch my flight. I thank D#1 and F for the hospitality and putting up with the "old man". I believe that I will switch modes and start fishing for the largest fish on the next trip!

I Hear My Name Being Called

I like to fish. I am sure that you asking yourself if that is supposed to be some grand revelation on a biblical scale! Well, it is probably not a revelation of any sort to those who know me. While working on the furniture for the shotgun and smokepole, this swam into view.

Note the boat in the background.

 These strange objects became visible through the murky depths while hanging things up to dry on the porch. This a fish cleaning board, stainless steel fillet glove, and an old scrub pad that seem to be reaching obscurity and overgrown by the Queen's Lace.

The view of these objects and implements brought a twinge of nostalgia as the fish have been without me for a couple of years. Life gets in the way sometimes.

In the evenings when the wind has dropped and it is almost dark, I hear faint voices from the darkness that was upon the face of the deep. I have I heard, "Don, where have you been? We are lonely. Come fish the tranquil waters."

Regardless of whether the voices come from the deep or from deep inside my head, we have lively conversations! Got to go fishing soon!!!!!

Back Pain is a Pain in the …….Leg?

The last couple of months have been very busy so I have been remiss in my blogging duties. August brought about some lower back pain along with a disturbed nerve. During that time period, I could draw you a very nice map of the sciatic nerve down my leg. There was another nerve but I do not the name of that one. There was no comfortable position except for sitting at the dining room table with elbows on the table. Bed was out as there was no position that worked. The first night had no sleep and I slept for an hour the second night with my head in my hand at the table. THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING, IT IS ALMOST DOVE SEASON! My regular doctor was out so I saw the practitioner. She prescribed some muscle relaxers and anti-inflammatories. I was told to go over to X-Ray right after the appointment. The radiology people wanted me to lay flat. Hahahahahaha. That was not happening as this position would fully light up the sciatic. I commented that it would probably be wiser to try to do this after I had some time with the scripts. Radiology agreed and off I went to return in a couple of days. L2 to L5 damage is moderate or severe depending on which one. Ah, the follies of my youth and the arthritis of age.

The muscle relaxant did not do much as the dosage was weak for my size. If I doubled up on the muscle relaxant then I could actually sleep for a few hours. I found that sitting in the bed all propped was about the best I could do.  It was slowly letting up.

This was really crappy as it was interfering with important things like DOVE HUNTING. Naturally, I still went out. I would hobble a few yards from the vehicle and plop down in a camping chair. I don’t shoot for crap from a chair as I was making sure that I did not twist around. Miss 6 doves, stand up and shoot a couple, sit and miss more, stand up and shoot a couple more……..I did not shoot a limit but had some fun.

I got ready for work as was walking across the floor and everything lit up like a tilting pin ball machine.  Damn, no dove hunting or work today. I took the last two muscle relaxants that afternoon and thought that perhaps I could lay down on my left side as that didn’t seem too bad during x-rays. That wasn’t working either. When attempting to get up, I felt (heard) a grind/pop that also did not feel good. There I was, sitting at the dining room table again. A few hours passed and started to feel better. By evening I could tell that the last pop must have been a re-alignment as I was feeling much better. My leg and back ached at bed time but it was all left over trauma. Don’t get me wrong. This was no miracle cure as I still felt like someone had beat me with a bat from all the swelling and muscle cramps. There was a doctor’s appointment for the next day.

I actually felt almost human the next morning as I had gotten a straight 4 hours of sleep. Off I went to see my regular doctor (dang missed another morning of dove hunting). He reviewed the x-rays with me and checked me out. Now I am off to PT and diet to drop the excess weight.

The following weekend, I drove to San Angelo to see daughter #1 and watch SBDA boat drags. Woo hoo! I love the smell of nito-methane wafting across the water! I was still sore and slightly nervy but the drive was fine as the car seat is comfortable. My wife does question my sanity on certain topics. “Do you really think you should be going dove hunting?” "Probably not but I have my cell phone",  did not seem like a satisfactory answer. “Do you really thing you should be going on an 11 hour drive?” Sure, why not, the seat in car is good. I would get that look that every woman gives a wayward male when she disapproves of your actions. I took doves with me so that we could have dove stew while visiting. Mmmmm. The trip was fun and I am back for my PT and diet.

Fishing at Parker and Crescent

My darlin' wife and I went fishing on July 1st at Parker Canyon Lake. The fishing was average, meaning that we caught a bunch of sunfish and kept a few of the larger ones. I always get a two pole stamp so that I can throw some bait in deeper water while playing with the sunfish. I ended up with one Rainbow Trout about 14" long fishing that way.

It was overcast and a bit cooler than normal making for a very enjoyable day. It had started to sprinkle about 1 PM and then commenced to rain a bit harder. We took the boat closer to the landing in case it got bad and proceeded to fish some more. There had been no thunder or lightning so we put on rain gear and continued fishing until............there was one large thunderclap directly overhead. We didn't hear any sizzle so figured it was atmospheric.

I must say that I have never seen my wife pull up the front anchor with such enthusiasm while very firmly and loudly proclaiming it was time to go! We motored over to the launch only to have it quit raining and clear up. That was fine as we had spent more time than originally planned so decided we would call it a day.

Daughter #2 was camping with her Marine (not aquatic - armed services) boyfriend and his family over the weekend in the mountains. She said it was camping but I never really considered an RV as camping. They went to Crescent Lake to fish and there was nary a nibble. I never bother fishing Crescent as it is very shallow and sometimes there is a full fish kill during the winter due to lack of oxygen. I checked and there had not been a fish kill this last winter. They probably were not holding their mouths correctly while fishing. They should have gone the extra three miles to Big Lake.

We were aware of their skunked status so we paused prior to cleaning our fish. We took a picture of trout and sent it along with a text message that said, "This is a trout." We wouldn't dream of rubbing it in....much! Hahahaha!

The baked trout and a few fried sunfish made a perfect dinner for two.

BTW, I need some Marine jokes that don't involve a monkey at the bar (already heard that one) or foul language.

Fishing in the Monsoon Season

My wife, daughter and I went down to Parker Canyon Lake again last Saturday morning. It was perfect with a nice overcast sky so that we were not frying in the heat. Fishing was a little slow. We would get a couple of bites and then end up moving to another spot. We would get a few bites there and then it would go dead also.

About 10:30 AM it started to drizzle but there was no lightning or high winds. I informed the girls that this was perfect fishing weather but they did seem reluctant to accept this advice. That might have something to do with not bringing rain gear. We tend to forget it as it is almost always sunny. They started to complain when the rain started to come down harder. There must be correlation here between bigger rain drops and the female of the species' desire to remain outside. Bigger rain drops came along but still no lightning. Still perfect fishing weather in my mind.

I was persuaded to return to the dock. A weed cutter was at the dock at the time dumping a load of weeds so it would be busy there for a little while. I decided to troll on the way back and did pick up a few bites and a nice sized sunfish. My wife was looking around as asked if we were even moving. She then noticed that I was trolling and urged greater speed toward the dock.

About the time we docked and brought the trailer down for the boat the sky opened up and it poured. I was soaked through and through by the time the boat was buttoned up for the road. I actually did enjoy myself as it wasn't that cold. I learned to fish in the rain in Michigan growing up. If you weren't willing to fish in the rain, you cut your available time in half or worse.

I let the girls know that I had a good time and thanked them for coming. I am not sure what they said aside from the few words that I did catch.......cold, wet, ponchos, umbrella. I did go to Caveman Warehouse and get some ponchos to keep in the boat along with an old rain jacket of mine. I am now positive that there will be no reason to quit fishing because of a little rain.

Oh yes, I wanted to post a picture of the sunfish.

I think it was a sunfish anyways. Sure didn't look like a Bluegill, Bass or Trout.

Fishing Some More

We went to Parker Canyon Lake again this Saturday. The fishing wasn't quite as good if you talk to the ladies. I kind of liked my four trout and the one bluegill that I actually kept. We left the lake early so as to not fry in the sun. This gets the boat a new record for 5 times in the water this year. We are still planning on improving on that but will have to start watching the weather soon. Monsoon season is coming shortly and really don't like being out on the lake during lightning events. I would say that we will have to limit our time to morning only and get off the lakes by 11 AM or so.

We have caught a few sunfish that were decent sized but had a lot bigger mouth than a bluegill and little more greenish. I new that all the sunfish in the lake were legal with no size or number limit so we kept a two. I looked them up and they are the Green Sunfish.

Native to the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay and the Mississippi River basin. Introduced into Arizona in 1926. Large mouth with blue-green striations on the cheeks. Opercle flap is black with reddish or orange border. Bodies olive-green in color, dark vertical bars are faintly seen on sides. Pectoral fin short and rounded. Caudal fin and lower fin margins are white or yellowish with dusky spots at rear of dorsal and anal fins. Length: 3 to 12 inches. Weight: 3 ounces to 1 pound 8 ounces. May live to nine years.

I would love to find one of these that is 12" long. That would be a fun fight. Most sunfish put up more fight than a trout ever thought of. You even get to the point that you think that you have a medium sized bluegill on when it turns out to be a 13" trout.

More Fishing

We have gone two more Saturdays since the last post. These times we left the dog behind as it is getting too hot for him. I do believe that we will set a new record this year for the number of times the Lion Paw (boat) gets wet this year. The previous Saturday we had 1 trout, 1 bass and a ton of bluegill. This time we had 3 trout and even more bluegill.

The Forest Service required that we move from our secrete fishing spot as choppers were coming in to pick up water to fight a fire. We could see the smoke about ten miles off. It was interesting to see the choppers hover to snorkel up water and watch them drop it on the fire. They kind of looked like this one.

We watched them from about 200 yards away. I would have been willing to be closer if the authorities would have complied. Heck - you just get blasted from the air and water spray. Refreshing!

We continued our fishing in another spot that turned out good, also. I must go again this Saturday. The bass should be lighting up any time now.

Fishing Time!

Daughter #2 and I went to Big Lake the weekend after Memorial Day. Can you say gale force winds? Normally it would be nice and calm at daybreak. Not this time! It was gusting to 10-15 MPH already. I would estimate that when we got off the lake we were have gusts to 40 MPH. Too much. The wind could take you off your feet when on land.

We went out in the morning but could not troll as you had to put too much into the speed to control direction. The wind could turn you right around at low speeds. Anchored off in a couple of more protected areas and had some bites. We got off the lake about 10:30. I was glad that I had the gas motor as you weren't going anywhere against the wind with an electric. There were more boats on trailers than on the water. I only saw two other souls braving the whitecaps.

My daughter had experienced enough adventure for the day so we called it good. The boat did well and we enjoyed ourselves so it was a successful trip. She is now talking about the next fishing event. Maybe a day run to Parker or Roosevelt.

So......
the 5th found us (wife, daughter, dog and me) on Parker Canyon Lake. Weather was hot but with just a little wind. They had a blast! We went out looking for panfish. The bluegills did not disappoint us. I have no idea how many we threw back in. We kept 8 of them along with 2 trout and a nice bass. It was calm enough out that I was even able to smoke a nice cigar in between releasing fish and baiting hooks.

I had fun too, so we will head out again this next weekend.

Boat Got Wet #2

My goal is to see how many time this boat can be used through the first year. Last weekend we went to Big Lake. This was a camping/fishing trip open to all ages. It is referred to as the family fun run. The wiser family members (my wife) usually do not go to the high elevation lakes (over 9,000' ) at this time of year. She has in the past and seems to be a fast learner. The weather prediction was for the possibility of a little rain on Friday and clearing that night.

We stayed at an established campground this time where our norm is to go primitive. I did not have to dig a slit trench and set up my folding toilet seat. Don't laugh, it's a place to sit. I am getting to old and beat up to be perching over some rock and hoping I don't fall down.

My daughter and I had the tent and camp set up well before it starting SNOWING. Most of the it was melting as it hit as the ground had been dry with sun the last few days. This continued on until about 1 AM by which time we had about 2" accumulated. I was awaken several times to talk to my daughter who was concerned about little things like being cold, will the tent collapse, are there bears, will the lightening hit the tent, can we leave the heater running in the tent, and trudging over to the toilet. She was a real trooper. During our midnight trip to the toilet her only comment was that, "I wish I were home right about now". There are adults who would have already bailed out by now.

I arose about 5 AM. We had 2" or better of snow and the sky was clear. The weather prediction was partially correct! My daughter got up about 6 AM. It seemed colder than it actually was. Being the hardy outdoors family that we are, I started the Bronco and told her to get in. She warmed up in the truck while I brushed snow off the vehicle and boat cover. We decided that going on the water would be rather cold right now and that we would wait till later in the day. We sat in the nice warm truck and had hot oatmeal, coffee/hot chocolate.

The other in camp arose as it suited them. A friend with his two kids had brought their pop-up camper and seemed fairly comfortable. Another fellow and his dog had come up with a travel trailer. We were the only hardy souls in a tent although I must admit that it isn't that bad with the heater. That is just my opinion as my daughter was sure that it should be at least 40 or 50 degrees warmer in the tent.

The day continued to warm with clear sky's so we put the boat in before noon and went off for the rest of the day on the water. Fishing was poor, weather was good, company was good, and it was a great day! Time to plan the next trip.

The Boat Got Wet!

The day before we were to make a family fun run to the White Mountains to try out the new boat was the usual orderly event. Everyone knew exactly where everything was that they needed for trip. This location must be in my wife's mind as the normal question heard throughout the day was, "Mom, do you know where the (fill in the blank) is?". Thankfully, I know where nothing is. This lack of clairvoyance left me free to finish up some wiring on the boat for the battery, electric motor, gas motor, stern light, and bow lights. I hooked up the gas line to the fuel tank only to have gas running out. I discovered that the tank had the wrong fitting on it after saying a few choice words and praising the people who prepped this boat. Now I must stop trip preparation and go the boat store. The correct fitting was installed by the parts manager.

I will diverge for a moment here. Even though they use "Marina" in their name and the term "Blue Water", I will only call it a store. There is no harbor and the water, if any, flowing down the Santa Cruz River is definitely not blue water. It is what you would expect from a boat store in Tucson. My experience there has been poor to say the least. They had the boat I wanted but tried to show it to me on a trailer for a shorter boat, I installed the oar sockets when they finally came in, the fuel fitting was wrong, and.....See the previous post "Neighbors & Boats" for further little details on their level of competency. OK, I have that little piece out so that we may continue with the fun.

We were packed up, ready to go, and it wasn't even dark! This is a new record for us but it is most likely because we were staying in a motel instead of camping this time. Sunday morning we hitched up the boat trailer and we were off. The trip to Springerville was uneventful and therefore perfect. We hadn't planned to go to the lake that day so the motel was the first stop to check in and get settled. That night while watching the weather report it was discovered that there would be high wind advisories for all the next day. We had watched weather forecasts prior to leaving so this was a surprise. This area is always breezy but 35-40 mph is a bit much.

I got up Monday morning and was windy but not severe (yet). We all got ready and went to the lake. There was no one at the lake except a Forest Service employee in his truck. I went over to speak with him to inquire about road conditions to other lakes, how the fishing been, and other pleasantries. He was very pleasant and we spoke for about a half hour. During this time period the wind was steadily picking up. He said he wouldn't go out on a boat today and echoed the sentiment. By now you could stand 20 yards from the lake and get rained on by the spray from the white caps. The original wind speed estimates were considerably low. I would estimate gust ranging from 50-60 mph at times. We returned to the motel and parked the trailer. It was time to visit the local gift shops, book stores, and other inside activities. We decided that if it was the same tomorrow that we would leave a day early and take the boat to another little lake by Tucson for the morning. You must realize that I am anxious to try out the new boat.

The next morning was perfect. We launched the boat and trolled around the lake. At times the lake was a mirror. I had my limit of trout in two hours being the master fisherman. Those were the only fish caught that day. The girls took turns rowing the boat and did well. Both motors ran quite well so I got some decent breakin time on the gas. The eldest got to pilot the boat using the electric motor. My wife got to hone here launching and anchoring skills and performed admirally, as usual. It was a nice day.

We noticed that the wind was kicking up again and decided that everyone was satisfied. The boat was much more difficult to get on the trailer as the wind started to shift and pick up velocity. Both my wife and I ended up wading to trailer the boat. She performed with great bravery and forethought when she walked down the ramp into the cold water to make sure that the nasty old van didn't get any scratches on the nice new boat. It was a great time as finally the boat got wet and so did we!

Neighbors & Boats

My neighbor is not like many people. He immediately paid for his portion of the fence previously posted. I actually never doubted his intent but it made fun text. I would say that he is a gentleman and a scholar (he actually is both of these in life).

I have picked out a small 16' utility boat that will suit my need for fishing nicely. It is difficult to determine the exact fees that I will charge for people to get in my boat. I would expect that various rates should be used depending upon their being family or not. Different categories could easily involve the capabilites to row, bait hooks, net fish, designated operator, launching, and other activities as defined by me. I am open to suggestions for line items as we all know that the more items you can list, the more you can charge. I have learned this from some of my doctor/hospital visits.

Boat shopping has been fun and very similar to auto shopping. Hold tightly to your wallet and watch your back. I would start off saying that I wanted a package deal with boat, trailer, motor, etc. I would then receive quotes back that had to be carefully examined as they would typically be missing a trailer, motor, or other significant item.

Salesman: Oh, did you want a gas tank with that motor?
Me:Gee, what do you think? Do I really need one? Will it run on methane?

Salesman: Did you want a spare tire for the trailer?
Me:Gee, I figured that I would just carry the whole thing on my back.

Salesman: Do you want oars?
Me:Yes! Darn it, what do you think "package" means?

Me:Don't you need lights at night?
Salesman: If the boat is under 20', you only need the white transom light.
Me: Are you sure?

He was sure and he is very wrong. The regs say that if the boat is powered it will have the red/green bow and a white transom light. I wanted to be current in boating regulations and brush up on navigation rules so I took an eight hour boating safety class at the AZ Game & Fish Department. I may be the "old guy" to some but I am not always stupid. Rules and regulations do change over the years and sure enough, a couple had involving PFDs and age restrictions.

This was a very good course to take, it was free, and reduces the cost of your insurance. There were only a couple of people that didn't enjoy the course but they had bad attitudes after being ordered to attend by the court.