Fishing Floating Feathered Father's Day Frenzy

For Father’s Day Weekend, NF invited me and the kids, B&P, up to her family’s place at Lake Wawasee. The weather looked somewhat promising.  I’ve said before, I love to fish.  Even though I was able to throw a line in the water quite a bit this weekend, we had no idea what we would encounter.




The lake is a little over two hours away, so when we got there Friday evening, it was time to grab some grub.  P decided to snack beforehand.



While we were waiting for dinner to be ready, the kids were exploring the sea wall, NF was doing her usual set-up routine, and I was wandering the pier in search of the big beast that had gotten away a week earlier, with thoughts of reeling that behemoth in, and these fine folks came to visit.



NF gave the kids some bread to toss their way, so they became our friends and stopped by a few more times during the weekend.

NF and P were water ready and decided to get in for one reason or another.  They had been talking about turtle hunting, which is an expedition that NF has taken the kids on previously.  Then there was a sign:



While she was standing in the water, a tiny turtle swam right up to the surface next to NF!  All she had to do was pick it out of the water.  Crazy, until…

Just on the other side of the pier, P was in the water, checking out the paddle boat when:



Amazing!  Just minutes later, P was able to pick a turtle right out of the water too!  A swan family and a couple of turtles had visited, and we had only been there for an hour or so.  Since animals were just coming up to greet people, this had to be my weekend to snag the big beast.



After dinner, because I hadn’t picked up any nightcrawlers to use as bait, we were all out looking in the water with flashlights.  Given her turtle-hunting background, NF had a couple of nets that the kids decided to use to catch tiny perch and minnows that were hanging around the sea wall.  With a little bit of practice, B & P got pretty good at sneaking up on the little guys.  Then it was like shooting fish in a barrel (or bucket).



I was working the big fishing flashlight that I’ve had for a couple of decades now, spotting minnows and perch, with the kids working the nets and NF manning a smaller light, when I spotted something that looked like a twig or blade of grass, but seemed to be swimming.  I had to know what it was, so NF helped with the smaller net, and we came up with this guy:



His name is Garth.  He appears to be a baby gar.  Now he’s living in a fishbowl at my place.  I’ll keep everyone updated on his progress as he grows into a big ol’ nasty gar.



We were finished playing outside for the evening, so we decided to sit down and enjoy a game.  NF and I had just learned to play Bananagrams recently, and she had picked up a set, so that’s what we were going to play.  The kids hadn’t played before, so there was a need for instruction.  NF was happy (I think) to go over the rules.



B should have been paying attention to how to play, but instead was distracted by dear-old-dad.







The next day, I still hadn’t picked up any bait, but I was trying to catch the behemoth on a line near the bottom of the lake using the perch and minnows that the kids had netted the night before.  While I was waiting for the big beast to visit, I tried out my casting skill with some lures that a guy from work makes.  Testing out different colors, styles, and spinner patterns was interesting.  Especially when I found the one that was working in the sunlight about three feet down.  I pulled out a few smaller bass, a crappie, and this guy:



While I was standing on the sea wall, fishing the mouth of the channel, I was looking at the rocks and such along the edge when I spotted something moving.  It wasn’t a fish because it was wiggling in and out from under a rock.  I knew what it was, so I called for someone to fetch the net.  B grabbed the net, and the next thing we knew, we were looking at yet another creature.





NF took the kids on a turtle hunting expedition.  It proved to be a success. Between the two they had grabbed the night before and what they caught in the hour or so that they were paddling around the channel, the turtle total had risen to eight.

There was a game of cornhole going on shortly after, and I was still looking to catch the behemoth.  While I was casting, NF’s dad had come over to see how the fishing was going.  Just then I looked down and something caught my eye in the water.  Within a second, her dad was in the water and picked up this little guy.





It was getting warmer out, and I was way tired from battling all of those fish. P asked if I wanted to go float.  I couldn’t think of a better way to relax, nor could I have chosen better company.



Not long after, but before it started to get dark, the kids talked NF into a boat ride around the lake.  That’s always a fun time, except for the nut-busters.  She’s got this thing about slamming into wakes from other boats that is only disliked by me.  I’ll get over it, though.  If I don’t, there’s a photo of her driving the boat from last year that I’ll threaten to share sometime.



Later that evening, it was time to break out the nets again and pull out some more perch and minnows.  The kids were making dad happy by providing bait.  This time they really were fish in a barrel (a red plastic barrel).





Finally, it was Father’s Day.  I was gonna fish all day (and maybe float a little.)  It didn’t turn out to be a very fruitful day for fishing.  NF offered to take P and I around the channel so they could turtle hunt and I could fish from the back of the paddle boat.  It certainly couldn’t hurt to get back near some trees and give those lures a try.  NF spotted what could have been humongasaur, or a really big carp.  I tried to cast in its vicinity.  It wanted nothing to do with my lure.  I lost a lure to a wily tree branch. Good thing I brought a few with me.  The turtle hunt had wound down, so we dropped P off at the house and NF took me into another channel.  When we got to the back of it, I spotted the place I plan to visit repeatedly.  There’s a fallen tree, around which we could see all kinds of fish.  With some live bait, I’ll be having a wicked time reeling those suckers in.  I threw the lure in a few times and managed to pull out a decent sized perch.  Then, another crafty tree limb came from nowhere to steal the lure from my line.  Oh well, the day was done anyway.  At least I thought so…



NF wanted to check out the corner of the channel around a weeded area for a last peek at turtles that may have sunning themselves.  As we reached the corner, there wasn’t much to look at turtle-wise.  Then she spotted it.  NF says “Holy, s#!t!” As she began to coordinate my peddling and her net-work to get us in a position that would allow her to snag what is clearly brethren to the behemoth I’ve been searching for, I said “Yo, move yer net a little.”  In this same shallow spot, there were two of the biggest gar I have ever seen.  In an instant, NF had her net on the closer beast.  I’ve seen smaller gar in spillways and not thought much of them.  This guy will make you think twice about messing with him.





It was at that point that I began to suspect that my “one-that-got-away” story may actually be about a gar, though I didn’t get an opportunity to do a dental inspection, so pike is still a possibility.  After seeing this beastie close-up-and-personal, I’m not sure I want to remove a hook from that kind of jaw!



Either way, I will be catching something monstrous this summer.  It’s only a matter of time.

My Office View (Call it a Test)

I take it for granted most days, but it really is a good view from the 5th floor...


I took this as an opportunity to try mobile blogging.  If I really wanted to type several paragraphs using just my thumbs, just so I could get a blog post out to the masses, or if I run into something that can't wait, I suppose I have a fairly decent method for doing so.


I'll leave the brief little I-thought-it-was-funny stuff for Twitter.

Ray and Friends

I went to the Lawn at White River State Park last night with my girl NF and some friends to see Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs.  If you don't think you are familiar with Ray's music, you may realize otherwise if you've seen this:


It's a catchy tune, but not necessarily a favorite of mine.  There was an opening act, Brandi Carlile, who was alright for background noise, but really didn't grab my attention.  Maybe some other day.  At one point though, we did have to clarify for JG that this was not Belinda Carlisle of the '80's band The Go-Go's, and that it was The Go-Go's, not The Bangles.

As an outdoor venue, The Lawn is actually much nicer than I had originally expected.  I've seen two shows there, but the first one was free, so choosing a place to sit wasn't really an option.  This time, we sat at the top of the hill, just to the right of VIP land.  They give you little folding chairs (for free!) so spreading out on a blanket or standing the entire show wasn't necessary.  The weather was fabulous.  It was a beautiful evening to sit back and listen to some Ray, whose often Blues-y sound occasionally brings more than one tear to my eye.

We had a fairly clear view of the stage.  During most of the show, Ray and members of the band were highlighted by spotlights, each of which was a different color.  When Ray sang solo,  a single blue spotlight was on him.  He spend the entire time at the far right of the stage, instead of the center, unlike any other lead man I've ever seen.

If there was one thing I could have asked to make the night better, it would have been that the show end with "Let It Be Me."  Not only did the show not end with it, it wasn't even in the set list.  A bummer, but at least NF played it for me on the way home to make me feel better, or worse. Ray's music can contribute to many a mood.  I highly recommend it, regardless of your favorite genre.

Holy Crap(pie)

Alright, so it wasn't a crappie at the center of this tale, but I did catch one this weekend.

I enjoy fishing.  I mean, I REALLY enjoy fishing.  It doesn't matter whether I'm standing on a lake shore when it's 45 degrees and windy, or turning my skin to a leathery brown sexiness in the heat of the summer sun.  I enjoy fishing.

Two weeks ago, and again this past weekend, I've had opportunities to try landing the "big one."  There have been a few that were worthy of the popular first-biggest-most challenge that I have with @y2kemo anytime we get together near a body of water.  Most of what I snagged and tossed back were baby bass and perch, commonly known to some in my fishing circle as the "PER-anha!"

Without the keen eye of @y2kemo nearby to corroborate my story, I have to rely on the lovely NF to say "it's true" in the event that this tale of the one-that-got-away is challenged.  The biggest fish I've ever personally reeled in is a 7 pound Large Mouth Bass. There is a witness and a slew of photos documenting said event from spring of 2010.  What took place yesterday is my "almost the coolest fishing event" for spring 2011.

I had been reeling in tiny bass and perch for a few hours and even got to show off a sizable channel cat to NF and her folks.  NF was lying on the pier, half asleep and soaking up the sun, while I was fighting a monsterous beast that had grabbed hold of the night-crawler I was using to coax another catfish onto my hook.  No big.  Just a little tug on the line here and there.  Probably just another tiny bass that nature has placed in the lake to keep me busy as I work on my sunburn.

Instantly, my fishing pole went from slightly bowed as I was reeling to bent nearly in half.  I don't typically expect to catch some huge aquatic creature when I'm fishing, so the gear is scaled to snag my usual under a foot long, less than 3 pounds fish, plenty of weeds, and an occasional tree limb.  The sudden bowing of the rod was not uncommon when I'm dragging a hook through weeds on the lake floor, and having some small fish attached made it seem that much more likely.

I get the line reeled in enough to see what has been nibbling on my bait, and sure enough, it was another tiny 6-inch bass.  What took a second for me to realize was that it wasn't a bunch of lake-bottom weeds that were  hung around the cute little guy that should be dangling from my line after a few more turns of the reel.  This thing, attached to the baby bass on my hook, was as long as my arm, spotted on it's sides, a short tail at the end of it's long, skinny body, and a beak-like head that had hundreds of razor-sharp teeth if it had two!  (Yeah, I made up the razor-sharp teeth part.) It had clamped down on the body of this baby bass as I was pulling it along harmlessly in my direction.  Just as I pulled it above the waters surface, the beast let loose of the bass, realizing that meal it had anticipated was not worth flopping around on the pier while I tried to figure out what-the-eff to do with this crazy behemoth that was unlike any I had caught before.

As soon as the shock turned to excitement, I yelled to NF, "Look at this!  Holy crap(pie)!"  She took a couple of seconds to shake off her half-napping state, just in time to see the beast hang out next to the pier for a moment, then dart away, likely toward it's next attempt at a meal.

Yep, gotta claim this one as an "almost" or "one-that-got-away."  I'm not entirely sure what it was, but some quick research leads me to believe it was a Pike.  I'll do some more research, find out what the best bait for pike or muskie (another possibility) is, and try to reel in the new "biggest fish I've ever caught."

I also plan to keep a camera handy any time there's a fishing pole within reach. This was a couple of weeks ago, but worth sharing:



Nobody likes to hear tall tales when it comes to fishing.