Well, the snow is back and the forecast is for more this weekend. We really didn't have much on the ground up until today. It's blowing pretty good right now, but the temperature is right at freezing. We're suppose to get several more inches of snow. We'll see though. We have been missing most of the storms that they have predicted.
My sister has a birthday this weekend and her whole crew went up north to have some fun. I should get a good report as to conditions, both snow and ice, when they return. I also get pretty good updates from the Cementman. He's been out getting some gills to eat on a couple of occasions of late.
Speaking of getting some bluegills, one of my former students sent me an email of a nice gill he got first ice on Hamlin. He said they were getting good messes right off the landing at Wilson Hill Park. He went on to say that all you have to do is look for the group of locals in order to see which weedbed is producing the best.
Nick Vawter sent me a picture of his son Bryan, who last weekend was on a backwater area of the Kalamazoo River and jigged up a nice mess of gills.
Bryan with a nice mess of gills in a backwater area of the Kalamazoo River.
Nick also sent me a bunch of pictures from a hunting trip that he and his boys went on just after Christmas down in Texas. Nick and Bryan both got a nice buck, and Brent and Brad got a nice pig each. Nick said that toward the end of deer season, the pigs get very wary and usually become nocturnal, making them a lot harder to get a poke at. As things settle down once deer season ends, it will again get much easier to put a little sausage in the freezer.
This little piggy didn't quite make it to the market.
Half a pig, some venison, and some wild pig sausage on the barby! Yum!
Brad with a good size hog!
Brent with the other hog that will stock the Vawter's freezer shelves
Nick with a dandy Texas buck!
Bryan with the last deer for the 2011 Vawter season.
Nick's winter handy work. He's getting to be quite a craftsman!
Nick told me in a recent email that he has been getting pretty good at mounting the racks that he and the boys get through their many hunting trips. He's also been quite happy with what he has been doing with antler repair and reconstruction. He says many of the Texas bucks seem to have broken tines. I'd like to see how his repairs look. I might have to start sending my, once in a blue moon, rack to him. My bucks always seem to have a brokent tine as well. I still have my "Hector Buck" in at Bugs to Bones. I hope to get it back by Spring.
Yesterday in the mail, I got my free Trokar stuff. It wasn't a big haul, but free is free. TroKar sent me a "backpack," some stickers, which I like to stick on my planos, and a package of six 3/0 finesse worm hooks.
I'll have to admit, that I haven't used Trokar hooks before, because I'm living on a fixed income, some may say more accurately that I'm just too cheap. TroKar hooks are a might pricey. I will definitely be giving these that I got a try this spring. They look really good, and I like the molded bait holder that is just under the eye of the hook. If you haven't been to the Trokar site to take their little quiz, and get your free stuff, you can use this link. If you scroll down a few entries you can also read about how to short cut the quiz which involves reading the : TroKar FAQ's .
My freebies arrived yesterday from TroKar.
While cruising the net today I read an interesting article that was posted on Bass Zone. They are going to be taking a little different approach to their coverage after the major tournaments, and feature a couple of anglers that didn't do well. Instead of the "winning technique," they will be approaching it from the "Where did it go wrong?" perspective. The first such article involves two Elite pros, Ish Monroe and Casey Ashley, two very good anglers, I might add. Take a few and read the article, it's really well done: What went wrong on the Harris Chain .
I have been getting inquiries almost daily concerning when the Tear Drop schedule will be published. I emailed Dennis recently, and he responded and said it is done, but he's waiting to see what a couple of other trail schedules look like before he officially publishes his Tear Drop schedule. As soon as he sends it to me, I will definitely post it.
The final cast of the day is a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson. I don't know if he was talking about shallow or deep water anglers, but you may look at it that way... then again probably not, but I think it definitely can apply to your fishing. "Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect." Take care and have a good weekend!
January 25, 2012
Good Morning! I got up early today, not Cementman early, but city early, 6:00 a.m. Don't know why just couldn't sleep any longer, and I knew I had had good intentions of getting a blog done yesterday and just didn't get it done, so today I thought I would "Git R Done."
If you'd been reading the blog over the weekend, you know that they were kicking off the new year fishing wise down in Florida on the Harris Chain and Lake Okeechobee. The first B.A.S.S. Southern Open was on the Harris Chain of Lakes. The winner by a wide margin was Chris Lane, who is originally from Florida, but now resides in Guntersville, AL.
The Harris Chain is located about 40 minutes northwest of Orlando, making it a Central Florida fishery. It is a series of lakes, with many being connected through a series of canals. It's easier to get an idea of what the anglers were fishing, if you take a look at this map of the Harris Chain .
In 2007, Don Fowler and I, spent two days on the Harris Chain fishing. We spent the first day on Lake Harris, which is a huge body of water. We didn't do very well. It was November and we were up against one of the famous Florida cold fronts. The one thing that I remember most from Lake Harris was how many alligators there were and how big they grow to be. We saw one gator way out in the middle of the lake, which surprised me. It looked to be about as long as the boat! I took gator pictures, but when I got back to the motel and checked them out, I had some how smeared sun screen on the lens of the camera and the pictures were trash. Here are some of the other pictures from the 07 trip that did make it to the computer.
One of the Lake Harris canals we explored.
A main canal off Harris. Lots of water to look at. It was hard to decide just where to fish.
The canals often looked like Disney theme park adventure sites.
The second day we put in on Lake Griffin
Our first stop was a main point, which if you look at the map, is the first main point you come to if you head north from the ramp at the south end of the lake.
While fishing this point we caught probably 25 bass throwing chrome rattle traps. We left it to explore the lake, and when we returned to it at the end of the day, the fish were still there and biting.
We never caught the hogs like the ones that Lane boated, but we had a great time. Lane must have enjoyed his time on the water as well slapping 20 plus pounds on the the scale every day of the Open. He saved his best day for last weighing in the heavy weight bag of the tournament which stretched the scales to 28-05 lbs. He won the event by over 14 lbs. A very nice cushion to say the least!
Lane targeted bass that were in a prespawn stage, and credited the wind in helping the fish stay off the bank. With the breeze that blew every day it kept the cooler mid-lake water blowing in. Chris said that if it hadn't kept that cooler water in play, those fish probably would have moved up on beds. Chris caught the majority of his fish on soft plastics. One of the lures that was most effective for him was a black Gambler Sweebo Worm . You can read about Lane's winning pattern, by clicking on this link: Harris Chain Open Winning Pattern .
During the same time the B.A.S.S. Southern Open was going on the FLW Everstart anglers were also squaring off on Lake Okeechobee . The Big O is about 175 miles south of the Harris Chain. If you go to the Chain you would stay in the Leesburg, Florida area, and if you head to the Big O, you're more than likely going to be staying in the Clewiston area.
I have only been to Lake Okeechobee once, and that was many years ago when my kids were small and when we went down to see the Disney attractions. We made a side trip down to Okeechobee, and I got to look at the lake from Roland Martin's Marina.
By all accounts, Okeechobee is back to its former glory giving up sacks in the mid 30 lb. range. The lake has gone through a cycle, which includes the effects of a hurricane, which seems to have had a positive long term affect on it.
Brin Medlock won the event for the second year in a row with a three day total of 68-02 lbs. He won by over six pounds. What really sealed the deal for Medlock was a Day 2 stringer that went an unbelievable 35-7 lbs.!!
Medlock punch mats with a jig that his father makes for him. Being a local boy, he knew where the fish were going to be, and did what it took each day to catch them. Here's a link to the winning pattern he used to bring home the trophy: Giant Day-2 Sack Key To Medlock's Successful Defense .
With the tournament scene kicking off in Florida, it really focusses your attention on the upcoming Classic. Just about everything you read online segue in to some sort of Classic connection. This weeks, Livewell on the B.A.S.S. site has KVD talking about the new Alabama Rig ruling, and it ends with him catching the kicker fish he needed to win last year's Classic. It's well worth the ten minutes it takes to watch. Here is the link to this week's, The Livewell with Tommy Sanders .
One of the newcomers that will be a rookie in this year's Elite events, and who also will be fishing the Classic this year, is Ohio angler Fletcher Shryock. He, you could say, burst on to the scene of bass fishing just recently. He credits his success with being as prepared as he possible can be before he even launches his boat. He scours the internet, and any other information, on the body of water he's about to fish. He says having that knowledge has been crucial to his success. He feels like he's done his homework for the Classic and may be one of those sleeper cell anglers. Keep an eye on him. Here's an article that I read recently about Shryock. The link within this article is also a good read: SHRYOCK HEADED TO THE ELITE SERIES .
While I was at Bass Zone yesterday reading about Shryock, I got caught up into listening to Bass Talk Live, (BTL). Mark Jefferies et. al. does a show every day. It usually lasts about an hour. I listened to a older show which featured Kelly Jordan. I rode with Jordan on the final day of last years Lake Wheeler Elite Series event. Today at 1:00 p.m. they are featuring Edwin Evers. To stave off a little cabin fever you may want to tune in to a few of these broadcasts or listen to some old ones. Here's the link to BTL: Bass Zone's Bass Talk Live .
If you're looking for something to do in Michigan's Great Northwest Corner there is a Pike Tournament January 28th. Contact Pere Marquette Expeditions at 231-843-3188. On the February 3 and 4th, there is a Michigan Ice Open Ice Fishing Tournament. Check out his link for more information: Michigan Ice Open on Hamlin Lake . The tournament guarantees $6,000 in cash and prizes. It cost $120 for a two man team. Registration is limited to the first 100 anglers that register by mail.
Well that's it from me today. Yesterday we were in the Hallmark Shop looking for some birthday cards, and I saw a quote that I thought would be a good one for the final cast of the day. Here it is, "Laugh when you can, apologize when you should, and let go of what you can't change. Kiss slowly, play hard, forgive quickly, take chances, give everything and have no regrets. Life's too short to be anything but happy." There is a lot to be said for a day to day philosophy like that! Take care, and have a great day!
January 20, 2012
Don't fall off your chair when you see two days in a row of blogs! It's cold and there isn't much else to do. Also, guys are tournament fishing in the south again, and it's kind of cathartic to be typing about fishing when hold up on a cold snowy day.
I might as well get right to it in terms of who did what yesterday down in Florida. In the B.A.S.S. event, a young pro from Leesburg Florida, Tim Frederick, plopped a big sack on the scales to take the lead by 8 lbs.! Frederick said his fish were prespawn, and that he found an area where fish were staging to move up. He's confident in his area and feels it should reload for today. However, the Harris Chain of lakes has a history of fishing great one day and then the next, the fish get lock jaw. We'll have to wait for the weigh-in, which again is at 3:00 p.m. ET today to see how the lake fishes. Be prepared to camp out by you computer though if you plan on watching online. The tournament had a huge turn out with almost 200 pros, and the same amount of coanglers. The weigh-in goes on forever. Here's the link for the weigh-in: Watch the Southern Open No. 1 weigh-in here .
One of my picks to win the Open, Chris Lane, is in second after Day 1 with a tad over 20 lbs. Jonathan VanDam is fishing the event as well. He was one of the first anglers coming across the stage yesterday. JVD is in 40th place with 11-15 lbs. That's out of a large field of 197 pros. A good first turn out for the Open. Jon's weight keeps in range, with a chance still at fishing the third day.
Another young Michigan angler, fishing on the pro side, is Kalamazoo's Luke Gritter. Luke who is sponsored by local lure manufacturer, Garneau Baits , starts the second day in 12th place with 16-7 lbs. It would be great to see the two young guns find some big fish today and cash a nice check. Here is a link to the leaderboard for Day One of the Southern Open: 2012 Bass Pro Shops Southern Open # Day One Leaderboard .
There are a number of Elite Series and FLW anglers fishing the Southern Open, but one who is conspicuously missing is King Kong himself, Mr. KVD. Kevin opted out of this event to ensure that he heals up completely from recent hernia surgery. Not fishing the event leaves him home in Kalamazoo dealing like the rest of us with cabin fever. Kevin did write up an article that's up on Bassmaster about how he would have fished the event. Here's the link to that article: Harris Chain is on My Mind .
Yesterday, I failed to see that the FLW Everstart Series started as well down on Lake Okeechobee in Florida. I've been reading about how Okeechobee seems to be in peak condition, giving up limits around that 30 lb. mark.
Locals seem to thing that the hurricane that blew through there 5 years ago washed a lot of the silt and old dead organic material out of the shallow lake. The years following the hurricane saw low water which also allowed some of the bottom to get exposed to the elements. This has set the lake up to have a clean bottom, so that the water doesn't muddy up like it use to. The lake is also back up to normal pool level, which makes it fish much larger. In a recent BFL on the Big 0 there were several limits in the 30 lb. range, and to be in the top 10 your had to have at least 25 lbs.
Reading yesterday's report from the Everstart, the pros were talking about how surprised they were at not whacking them. The big sack of the day was caught by Florida native, George Kapiton. He weighed 21 lbs. 6 oz. to lead after Day 1. Just a week earlier in that BFL event, he weighed 28 lbs.
Tied for second in this event is Randall Tharp and Brandon McMillan. You may have read where Brandon's father was killed recently in a robbery at their family owned store. Brandon's father, a local stick himself, had made the baits that Brandon used to win last year's Everstart event. He's certainly the sentimental favorite to win this year. Here is the link to the FLW Everstart event: Kapiton captures early lead at Okeechobee .
As I said yesterday, the Classic hype is in full swing. Today on the Bass Fan site, a Louisiana legend, 62 year old Homer Humphreys, talks at length on what he feels the fishing will be like on the Red River come Classic time. It's a good read, and it will be interesting to see if Homer's predictions come to pass. Here's the link to the article: Classic Look-Ahead - Humphreys Gives Insights On How Red Might Fish . Well that's about it for today. The parting cast is an old quote that has to do with me cleaning the basement. "If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it." Take care, and welcome to the weekend!
January 19, 2012
I was welcomed back to Michigan with some nasty weather. Our trip home from Denver was smooth, but landing in Grand Rapids was very bumpy. We arrived to find it had rained earlier in the day and then turned to snow. The road home was very glare ice!
Before we left Denver we were able to go out for breakfast to carbo load for the flight home. I know, it's not what we needed to do, especially after sampling as many of Denver's good food stops that we did.
I had never been to this particular place called Snooze , which is advertised as an "A.M. Eatery." They are open for breakfast and lunch, and have two locations in Denver.
Again, like a couple of the Denver restaurants we tried, they are a little pricey, but oh man, have they got a bunch of good stuff on the menu.
We were there, as I said for breakfast. It's a popular spot like Steuben's, and again we had about a 20 minute wait. Once seated we started with a big mug of their coffee. It's organic, and they have it flown in from Guatemala every week. Sipping from my big yellow mug, I started to peruse the menu. I was tempted to try their Huevos Rancheros. They are corn tortillas layered with black beans, jack cheese, ranchero sauce, three eggs any style, and salsa fresca. I have had them at a couple of different places, and they are one of my favorites. I was also tempted by the breakfast burrito, because walking in I spied several on peoples plates. It was huge. However, my eye finally rested on the pancake section.
I like to cook breakfast, and I'm always looking for something out of the ordinary to try. Snooze's pancakes are definitely not the run of the mill kind. From the batter, to the toppings, to the syrup, they are unique. Here's a screen shot of what I'm talking about.
The pancake menu choices at Snooze.
I went with the "Pancake Flight." I thought it would give me a smattering of their cakes. I went with the pineapple upside down cake, the sweet potato, and the red velvet. Upon ordering, I was pretty sure that my favorite would be the pineapple. As it turned out, the red velvet would be what I would rank as numeral uno. They were all good, but the red velvet with that cream cheese frosting, and expresso infused maple syrup was excellent. Here are some of my Snooze pictures from Denver.
My daughter-in-law took this of the three of us in front of Snooze.
My son and his wife, were great hosts while we were in Denver. Beyond them you can see the outdoor seating at Snooze which is shielded by a tent like structure. Despite the cold, it was full of people eating.
Inside they have this retro look going on.
My son had "Chilaquiles Benedict." The entree consisted of carne asada steak served on a cheesy, saucy, tortilla stack topped with poached Niman Ranch eggs, smoked cheddar hollandaise, fresh salsa and cotija cheese. Magnifico!
My flight of pancakes: sweet potato, red velvet, and pineapple.
The pancake of the day was a buttermilk with white chocolate chips topped with a peanut butter sauce and chocolate. I tried a bite, and didn't care for it.
My wife went plain Jane and had eggs, hash browns, toast, and of course, homemade jelly.
After this Denver trip, I'm really going to have to get dedicated, watch what I eat, and get on the treadmill every day. We'll see how that goes.
Yesterday the big news of the day, on the fishing scene, was that B.A.S.S. made a decision to ban the Alabama Rig . This announcement comes on the heels of their decision to not allow Elite Series anglers to use smaller aluminum boats when events are held say on rivers that have shallow backwater areas.
B.A.S.S. evidently has a Rules Committee that is comprised of anglers that fish the Elite Series. They don't publicize who is on this committee, top secret. According to B.A.S.S. it was a committee decision to ban the A-Rig.
I am of the opinion that I would have liked to see how this new innovation would have performed over an entire season on a variety of waters. I wonder if it is really "The" bait. The decision by B.A.S.S. makes it sound like the A-rig will put the other lures and lure manufacturers out of business. Kind of makes you think it was a sponsor driven decision.
The FLW has not made any ruling on whether or not they will allow it in their tournaments. I am thinking that they will allow it. I hope so any way. I'd really like to see how the rig would pan out after a full year on the tournament scene. Here is a link to a Bass Zone article where Elite pros comment on the ruling: B.A.S.S. RULES ON MULTI-LURE RIGS .
The Bassmaster Classic buzz continues. KVD has to be a favorite despite his wins the past two years. Brandon Paliniuk is also a angler to watch, however. He won the Fed Nation event on the Red River, which is this year's site for the Classic. There are a number of river rats and cajuns alike who just may have an edge at the Red. Time will tell, and I for one, am looking forward to the event.
Kicking things off, tournament wise, this year is the B.A.S.S. Southern Open Number One. It started this morning on the Harris Chain in Tavares, Florida. Last season the Harris Chain stop was the inaugural event in the Bassmaster's season. This year it will certainly be a prespawn event. Remember Grigsby whacking them in that canal off the beds last season? The anglers will be weighing in today at 3:00 p.m. ET. You can watch the weigh-in using this link: Watch the Southern Open No. 1 weigh-in here . Watch out for those Lane Brothers and the G-Man's traveling mate, Terry "Big Show" Scroggins.
Here's a picture of Big Show, The Cementman, and KVD yucking it up down on Pickwick this past Spring.
I'm anxiously awaiting the airing of the Major League Fishing Challenge Cup. It's a new tournament format spear headed by Boyd Duckett. It is an invitation only group, and the format is rather unique. The tournament rules allow for catching and recording as many fish as possible in a day. There will use a catch, measure and weigh, and immediate release format. They won't be able to use any stored way points.
I don't know if they allow them to bring in one big fish to the stage or not. Sometimes they do just to make a better show for the crowd. In this case, though, I suspect the made for TV format wouldn't put as much emphasis on the weigh-in stage, if they have one.
They have already held their first event down on Lake Amistad which is on the Texas/Mexico border. It was held Nov. 6, of last year.
Their website says that starting February 13 you will be able to watch it on a series of internet-based pay-per-view broadcasts. It will also be aired on the Outdoor Channel in April. I know I'm going to pay my money to see it early.
It's snowin' and blowin' outside right now. I'm going to make a phone call to see what the Cementman is up to. He should have had a couple of messes of bluegill by now. With the cold weather we've been having, I'd kind of like an ice report.
The final cast of the day is going to be a link to B.A.S.S.'s new video program, "The Livewell." Tommy Sanders spends some time with B.A.S.S. MC Dave Mercer. Enjoy and have a good day. The Livewell - Living the Dream .
January 17, 2012
Good morning from the Mile High City. I'm going to try and stay focussed and get a quick blog out this morning.
Yesterday I was on Dan Kimmel's, greatlakesbass.com forum site and read that DK got snowed out last Friday and missed his flight, and consequently his whole peacock bass trip to South America. That's a real bummer. I know, from reading posts on his site, that he was really looking forward to going back down for another go round with the big hard fighting peacock bass.
While perusing his the greatlakesbass.com forum, I also saw a post that mentioned you could go to the Trokar hooks website and take a little quiz they had, after which, they would send you a free package of hooks. I went to the site, and found that the quiz that you had to take was meant to familiarize you with the product, and unless you scored an 80% you couldn't get the freebie. You could, however, take the quiz as many times as you wanted to. I also read that the quiz answers were all contained in the "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQ's) section of the site.
Of course, I had to try to take the test without reading the FAQ's, and of course I didn't get an 80%. So, I went back to the main page. I found the TroKar FAQ's under the button called "The Trokar Story." After I read through them I retook the test and passed. So, I should be getting a package of free hooks from them.
I noticed while reading the FAQ's, that Trokar hooks are made in the USA. Curious, I looked up where, and lo and behold, they are made in Denver. I looked up the address, and it was only 7.5 miles from my son's house. I began working on my son to drive us by there. We decided we'd go right after lunch.
We had plans to go out for the noon day meal with a buddy of my son's at a Diners, Drive Ins and Dives place called Steuben's . My son and I both are Food Network junkies, and if you read the blog at all, you know that if I'm not fishing, I'm usually eating.
When we travel, we look up whether or not they have a restaurant that Guy Fieri has visited. You can go to this link, and type in a city, to find a Diners Drive Ins and Dive experience Where are all the Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives near you.
My wife, and my son, have been to Steuben's before, and wanted to take me there. Despite the fact that it was a Monday and lunch time, we had to wait twenty minutes for a table.
Once we were seated it was hard deciding what to order. A must, according to my fellow lunchies, was their gravy fries. They are crispy fries that they pour a salty french onion type gravy over. They don't over do it though so the fries get soggy. They then top the fries with cheese. My son says that this type of side is one you often see in Canada.
For our entree, my son and I decided to get sandwiches and split them so we each had a half of each others. My son got the sandwich of the day which was pickled egg salad with sprouts and bacon. I took Steve, my son's friend's, advice and tried the cubano. The cubano was a pressed ham and pulled pork sandwich with pickles and swiss cheese. One other side menu item that caught my eye was there hush puppies. They menu described them as being rolled in sugar. Having been down south often, I have had my share of hush puppies, but never have I had them rolled in sugar. So, I order some. The gravy fries were really good, the sandwiches, especially the pickled egg salad were excellent. The hush puppies though were not at all like the ones you find in the south. They were more like doughnut holes. Can't say that any of us cared for them. Here are some pics from Steuben's.
Steuben's is on E. 17th in pretty much downtown Denver.
If you check the menu you'll find you are going to drop some cash, but the food is good, and most Denver eateries aren't cheap.
Steuben's gravy fries and hush puppies.
The fries were definitely the high light!
The pickled egg salad was the best sandwich, in my opinion.
This was on the wall by the cash register. A "Triple D" diner
After we ate, we made our way north to drive by the address I had for Trokar Hooks. We GPSed the address and when we got there the only thing on the building was a big "Eagle Claw" sign and then above the entry doors was a "Wright McGill" sign. There wasn't any mention of Trokar outside on the building. We did see signage for a "Company Store." We followed the signs around the building and went in. Inside we found a ton of Eagle Claw items as well as Trokar hooks. We asked and were told that Wright McGill owns both brands. The pricing in the store didn't seem to be what I would consider to be "Factory Outlet" prices. I know Trokar hooks are expensive, but the hooks at the store were pricey enough to dissuade me from spending my vacation money. I did buy a Trokar hat. Besides the clothing, Eagle Claw items, and Trokar hooks they also had Skeet Reese and Rick Clunn rods and Skeet's line of reels. Wright McGill also makes a bunch of different fly rods etc. and the rod that I won in the Bassmaster magazine give away was a Wright McGill/Gary Loomis baitcaster. It's a very nice rod. Here are some pictures from our Trokar stop.
Wright McGill, Denver, CO which owns the Eagle Claw and Trokar brands.
I didn't go in to see if they would have given a quick factory tour, next time.
Trokar Hooks
The shirts were $25, even for a t-shirt, so cheap as I am, I bought a $10 hat.
They had a bunch of Skeet Reese rods and reels.
After checking out Wright McGill, we headed downtown to the 16th St. Mall. Downtown Denver has a street mall on 16th. There are no cars in the street, just a lane for busses, and stops for the Light Rail, which is a train you can use to ride around most of Denver. We decided to see one more movie before we left. We went and saw the Mark Wahlberg movie, "Contraband." It isn't quite what I thought the plot would be, but it was action packed. Of the four movies we saw in Denver, I'd say I'd rate it fourth. Our last day in Denver is tomorrow. We fly out at 3:10 p.m. Hopefully, I'll be home in time for the MSU vs. Michigan game. Take care and have a good day!
January 14, 2012
I'm out humming John Denver songs for a week. We left Tuesday, and flew out to see my son and daughter-in-law in Denver, CO. We left Grand Rapids at around 10:00 a.m. and got out to Denver at about 10:00 a.m. That makes it nice time wise, but we'll make up by losing the two hour flight time on the way back, plus the two hour time difference.
Once we landed, my son was there to pick us up and we headed into Denver stopping at Sam's No. 3 for some breakfast.
My son and I both like to watch "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" and Sam's No. 3 is one of the Denver eateries that has been on the show. We had a great breakfast. I had chorizo and eggs and with that you can choose between several sides and I chose the biscuits and gravy. We also got a side order of their brown chili which was fantastic. After our Sam's pit stop, we headed to my son's house.
We unpacked and after settling in a bit headed over to see my nephews who live in downtown Denver. We made arrangements to go to a movie. We went and saw "War Horse" with them. It was a very good movie with some great photography. It's a coming of age movie that centers around a young boy as he grows into manhood. The boy enlists in WW1 after his horse, that he raised from a colt, gets conscripted.
It's a Spielberg film, and I'm sure we will probably see it getting some awards come Oscar time. I'm a sucker for historical fiction, so this was one of the movies I've been wanting to see. It gets a little tear jerky toward the end, but I would give it a thumbs up if you haven't seen it yet.
On Wednesday, we made a trip to one of my favorite places, Whole Foods . We had to pick up some groceries, and also planned on eating lunch there. There is only three Whole Foods in Michigan, and they are all over on the East side of the state near Ann Arbor.
I would definitely call Whole Foods an upscale "grocery." It has a lot of natural food offerings, and their fruit, vegetable, bakery, meat counter, etc. options are exceptional. They also have a "food court" area with all kinds of mouth watering fare. In fact, if you buy a steak, etc. there they will cook it for you and offer you sides. They also have a seafood section with fresh options and lunch items. They have a brick oven for pizza and sandwiches, all kinds of salad and sides, a sandwich area, sushi, Japanese bowls, etc. We opted for a Fred Flintstone dinosaur barbecue rib. They smoke their own meat, and this barbecued short rib was a nice size offering with a great smoke ring. It was lean and mighty tasty. It's probably good, from a waistline perspective, that there isn't one of these grocery/lunch stores near us. There is a Facebook page that you can go to that has a petition to try and coax Whole Foods in to building a store in the Grand Rapids area. Here are a bunch of Whole Food pictures.
There are at least 3 Whole Foods stores in Denver
The protein bar, i.e. the meat counter.
The blueberry breakfast sausage was something we had to try.
It's hard not to put one of everything in the cart.
So many choices, and they all look great!
For lunch we found our way to the barbecue section.
We had the beef short rib and between the three of us we tried a myriad of sides and fresh bread.
It was a great meal, but with so many choices, it was hard not to over do.
Did I mention the fresh bread looks, smells, and taste delicious!
We did try some desserts, and a couple of scoops from the gelato bar.
Again, so many choices!
They have just about everything to temp your taste buds.
I didn't see the chowder until I was too full for anything more
Next visit, I think I'm starting here.
Talking with my son on the way back to fix dinner at his house, homemade pizza, he told me that not all Whole Foods have the same food court offerings. This particular Whole Foods, for instance, smoked their own meats, whereas the other two stores in Denver do not. If you are out and about and spot a Whole Foods durning your travels, I would encourage you to stop by and just cruise around the store. It's easy to spend an hour or more doing so.
We have been on the go since arriving, and I really didn't want to be on the computer too much, so this entry is a compilation of several days, some of which kind of blur together and so the timeline may be off a bit.
On Wednesday, we did make a side trip to visit the headquarters of the American Water Works Association (AWWA). My dad was the Director of Utilities for the city of Wyoming, and was a member of AWWA. He also became president of that group and was inducted posthumously into their Hall of Fame. He often flew out to Denver to the headquarters and so we wanted to make sure we payed some homage to him by touring the building. We wanted a picture of the plaque they have their of all of the Hall of Fame inductees to give to my mother.
The American Water Works Assoc. headquarters in Denver, CO.
The picture for mom, of the Hall of Fame plaque.
Paula , the AWWA director who gave us the tour was very gracious and we were glad we decided to visit. Back in 2002, the AWWA flew our family out to Anaheim, CA to their National Convention where we were present for my dad's induction ceremony. It was a family trip that my mother and my siblings will never forget. It was a great time, and we were very appreciative of the honor.
Wednesday night we ended up going to see the movie Sherlock Holmes. It was another movie that has been on my list. It was an action packed mystery that had many twists and turns right up to the closing credits. Jude Law and Robert Downing Jr. were well cast and I'm sure set themselves up for many more sequels. I enjoyed the movie, and although I don't think it will get the critical acclaim of War Horse, I would still recommend it as a fun movie to see.
We played cards with my nephews, and a friend of my son Thursday night until 2:30 in the morning. We hadn't intended to stay up quite that late and weren't very conscientious of my daughter-in-law who had to get up at 6:00 Friday morning.
The city of Denver, in many ways reminds me of Grand Rapids, except when you look west.
Friday, albeit a little blurry eyed, we headed up to my daughter-in-law's parent's cabin up in the mountains. They have had a family cabin there for many years that their grampa had built. They ended up tearing it down a year ago May. They then began the new cabin.
The new place is almost done. Just a few finishing touches left inside. It's beautiful inside and out! It's a timber style with massive beams inside. It has a beautiful wood stove and field stone wall, and it has been beautifully decorated by my daughter-in-law's mother. Her mother and father have done much of the work on the cabin themselves. It sits beside a small trout lake at around 10,000 ft. elevation.
We first saw their cabin on a trip out in 2010. At that time, they had just had the basement walls poured. Visiting their mountain retreat was my first experience with the higher altitudes. I was really surprised how it affected me. I had one of those nauseating dizzy headaches, and with any type of exertion I was quickly out of breath. This time out, despite several days acclimatizing to Denver's 5,280 feet of elevation, I experienced the same symptoms.
A good example of the difference in elevation, and its affect was demonstrated to me by a bag of potato chips. We bought this bag in Denver, and it was like any bag of chips you would buy in Michigan. Once up at the cabin it became like a balloon. It felt like it was ready to explode! The difference in air pressure made the vacuum sealed bag expand quite a bit.
I can kind of handle what the altitude does to my body, but when it starts to mess with my snacks, we have a problem!
We stayed overnight at the cabin, and I had problems sleeping because of the altitude. By the next day, I felt somewhat better, but when I got up out of the recliner to do much of anything, I was quickly reminded that my body hadn't adjusted yet. They say it takes at least three full days of taking it easy, and drinking lots of water for your body to adjust. If you're coming out to hunt or vacation, and will be at these higher elevations, you may want to read up on what you can do to prepare. Here is one such article I found: How to Acclimate Yourself for a High Altitude Vacation .
A view of the cabin.
The cabin overlooks a small high mountain trout lake.
Everywhere you look there are "Jeremiah Johnson" type views.
My son is going to look into hunting out here. The drive into their cabin in the mountains goes through a willow bog. On our first trip to the cabin we saw a moose out in a meadow. My son regularly sees moose, elk, and mule deer. In fact, this past spring, a lady in their association at the cabin was attacked by a moose while she was out walking her dog. She inadvertently got between a cow and her calf, and her dog must have prompted the moose to go on the defensive. Fortunately the lady wasn't hurt too badly. The caretaker that lives at the lake has pictures of cougars he's seen up there. That's one critter I'd rather not see on a walk around the area. Moose are one thing, but those big cats will literally hunt you!
My son and daughter-in-law have a Bernese Mountain Dog a.k.a. a "Berner." It's a popular breed out here in Denver. He's a big ole dog that is super friendly. The dog really enjoyed going up to the cabin and running around in the snow.
A pic of the "Devil Dog" out in the back yard.
My wife nicknamed him the "Devil Dog," but he's really a big baby.
This last pic shows the dog ready for a walk we took. He has his gentle leader on. If you have a dog that pulls when they are on the leash, a gentle leader will cure them of the habit. It's amazing at how fast they learn and quit dragging you down the sidewalk.
So as not to bore you too much with our Denver trip, I have been getting on the net each day and checking sites. I have been going to the B.A.S.S. site everyday and registering for the KVD promotion. While I was there today, I read an article that the G-Man, Gerald Swindle, wrote about his last day of the season bow hunting outing in which he shot a 155 class buck. The article, like all reports or presentations that the G-Man gives is a good one, and well worth the few minutes it takes to read it. Here's the link: Swindle Shoots Into A New Year .
I rode with the G-Man on Pickwick this past Spring.
Another go to site each day is Dan Kimmel's greatlakesbass.com . On Dan's site today I read a post from my young CMU friend Ross about some smallmouth pics that B.A.S.S. has on their site. It seems that D. Kimmel has a picture of a dandy northern Michigan smallie that B.A.S.S. used. Click on the link and then go to slide number six: 50 Can't Miss Smallmouth Photos .
A couple of other interesting sites I have visited in the last couple of days dealt with a twin tailed grub and a new 2012 Bassmaster Elite Series Rule.
The twin tailed grub is one that I like to use on my pig'n jigs. I like the action they give, and they resemble the pinchers on a crayfish better than a single tail. Here's the link to the new Berkley Deuce twin tail .
There have been a number of tournaments in the past few years, that found pros using flat bottomed aluminum boats with jet powered engines instead of their heavier fiberglass boats. They use them to get into backwater areas where the water is skinny. This year, however, the Elite Series rules now stipulate that anglers can only fish from one boat, or one of comparable size should they have a break down and need to borrow a boat. This rule, however, will start with the 2012 Elite season, so pros will still have the option of using an aluminum boat when they fish the Classic in February. Here is a link which has an article that covers the new rule: New Elite Series Rule Eliminates Boat-Switching .
Well, I have to wrap up this blog because we have to catch the train to downtown Denver. We're going to see "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." It's one of the last movies that I wanted to see. We need to go early so we can get back in time to watch the Packer's game.
The last cast is going to be a link to Bassmaster's "The Livewell" where Tommy Sanders and Mark Zona discuss the Red River Classic. Take care and enjoy your day!
January 8, 2012
I hope your entry into the New Year has been going well. I don't know about you, but I didn't make any New Year resolutions. I guess, one of mine should have been, however, that I get to the keyboard to type a blog more than once a week. It's hard to refer to this section as a "Daily Blog," when it comes out more on a weekly basis. Part of my problem though is keeping things simple. I don't feel like I have done enough if I just add a couple of items to a short blog entry. It kind of reminds me of my old jogging days. I started out feeling like I really accomplished something by being able to jog a mile. That first mile left me sitting on the top of the toilet seat taking off my shoes before my shower thinking I was totally spent, after all I had run a whole mile. After several weeks of running a mile a day, I entered my first 5K, which converted, is 3.1 miles. During that run, I was passed by old ladies and several 12 year olds, and I'm probably over estimating their age. It really made me think that maybe running a mile a day was no big thing, and that if I wanted to compete, and competitive by nature I am, I had better start upping my mileage. I got a Jim Fix calendar/diary, and I began my jogging anew. After a number of years, and a plethora of 10, 15, and 25Ks, I was signing up for the Chicago Marathon. That's 26.2 miles and as the commercial says, anybody can make it 26 miles, but its that last .2 that kills you.
I still regard that marathon as probably one of my most difficult challenges, even after doing three triathlons. I didn't set any records in Chicago, nor did I place all that high in my age group, but running that whole distance, while fighting the mental demons for the last couple miles or so, is a daunting task. One that I was quite proud to accomplish.
It took me about 3 hours and 20 minutes to cover that distance. The top pros in the race were crossing the finish line when I was at the fifteen mile mark! Unbelievable!
Those professionals that run the long distances are simply machines. It's hard to imagine people running a 5 minute mile, let alone running 5 minute miles for 26 miles!
It's been a while, and a couple of knee surgeries since I considered myself a runner. Now I get winded running to the car from the door of the grocery store when it's raining.
Time to quit reminiscing and forgetting about New Year's Resolution customs. After all, it's been a week since the New Year started and that's long enough to try out any resolution changes.
Last week Wednesday, my wife and I headed up north to spend a couple of days at the cabin with my brother, his friend Carol, and her kids and their friends. There were as many as nine of us there for a few days. It's a lot of fun to have a big get together. We played card games, other games, and just had fun hanging out in Michigan's Great Northwest Corner.
We took a car load in to Manistee for an afternoon. We got hung up at the bridge while this freighter was heading back to the big lake after unloading it's cargo of coal.
While at the cabin I got an email from Jo Jo Walsh. Jo Jo, is a young Kentuckian that I met while Marshaling an Elite Series event at Wheeler this past June. Marshaling affords me the opportunity to meet people from all over the country. It's one of my favorite aspects of the working at these events.
Jo Jo is thinking about coming up this summer to fish for some smallmouth. I told him how much fun we have up here when the smallies start bedding. In our clear northern lakes, chasing smallies through the spawn is probably more like hunting than fishing. You have to cover a lot of ground, be very stealthy, have good optics, be patient, and have good equipment.
Speaking of hunting, Jo Jo did rather well during gun season down in ole Kentuck'. He shot a big ole eight point. Here are a couple of pictures.
Jo Jo Walsh's 2011 white-tail trophy!
A very nice eight point! Congrats Jo Jo!
You may remember this picture from the blog featuring Jo Jo and Russ Lane.
I gave Jo Jo a couple of dates to shoot for, and I hope he and his dad can make it up here this summer. I think we could show them some dandy smallmouth action!
The deer up north are starting to yard up some. There was 5 inches or so of snow on the ground when we got up there last Wednesday. Here's a picture of some of the deer we saw as we drove in to the cabin.
With the snow as a back drop, a beautiful Michigan white-tail.
With the snow as a back drop, a beautiful Michigan white-tail.
Earlier, in December, we had a flock of turkeys walk through the yard. I think they were coming to check out the bird feeder. For some reason though, we don't see the turkeys very often in the cabin yard.
These birds stayed in the yard for quite a while, before the meandered off.
I don't do much rabbit hunting or go out after varmints, so about the only thing left for me to pursue in the outdoors this time of year are thetasty blue gills, perch, some smelt, or a walleye that one can target through the ice. There was some iffy ice on our lake when we were up there. On Friday, we saw one lonely ice angler venturing carefully out onto the ice across the lake from the cabin. We kept tabs on how he was doing with the binoculars, but despite drilling a bunch of holes, we didn't see him pull up any fish.
Saturday, the temperature rose in to the low 40s, and it melted most all of the snow. The warm streak certainly didn't add any ice, and I would think one should wait a while before venturing out. If and when you go out on the lakes ice angling or snowmobiling, you should watch the short video, that I have posted at the beginning of the blog.
As I fired up the computer this morning, and made my pilgrimage to all of the my "Favorite" sites, I ran across an article that I could really relate to. It appears that the mighty King Kong of the bass world took a small hit that laid him low for a while. Just before Christmas KVD had a hernia repaired. As I said, I could relate to that, because I had two hernias repaired December 8th. I still can't say that I feel completely recovered, but I'm doing fairly well. I still have some twinges of pain even after a month My doctor said 75% healed after a week, 85% after a month and it takes up to a year to be completely recovered.
Kevin said he was taking it very easy so that he could be back in the pink of health by the time the Classic roles around in February. Here is a link to the article that Mr. Van Dam wrote about his surgery: KVD is On the Mend .
A few days ago, bass pro Jimmy MacMillan was shot and killed in a robbery attempt at the grocery store that he and his wife own. Jimmy's a well respected bass angler and his son won a major tournament using some baits that Jimmy made for him just last winter on Lake Okeechobee. I believe it was an FLW Open that his son won.
It was certainly sad to hear about someone losing their life the way he did. My sympathy goes out to his family. Here is an article that talks about Jimmy, and the shooting. Since this article was posted on Bass Fan, a 19 year old college student has been arrested and charged with the murder. Here's the link: Friends Recall McMillan's Competitiveness, Generosity .
Another article that crossed my screen this morning was about an incident that occurred during a South American fishing trip that Skeet Reese recently was on. It seems that during a morning out on the water Reese and friends rescued an Amazonian who they found sitting naked on a log. They discovered the man had been out capturing aquarium fish when an anaconda attacked him biting him in the butt. The man was able to escape from the snake, as it mistook the motor on his small boat for him. The snake coiled around the motor and broke it off the back of the boat capsizing the canoe. I have never really liked snakes. I think I'll stick to fishing in the good ole USA where all I have to worry about are a few waves now and again. Here's the link to Skeet's piece: Skeet Reese and Roy Halladay rescue snake bite victim! .
Me and my buddy Skeet. He was a great ride to have for a day!
Well, it's been a bowl of oatmeal, a couple of fishing shows, three loads of laundry, and a plate of left over spaghetti, since I started this blog entry early this morning around 6:30 a.m. I would say it's about time to put it to bed as they say. Before I do though, I wanted to share a piece that one of the best anglers, KVD not withstanding, that fishes the Tennessee River system, Mark Rose has put together. It's a short video on spoon fishing.
When I was down on Wheeler, which is near Decatur, Alabama, I watched Skeet and David Walker battle it out for $100,000. They both used a spoon to catch some very nice bass.
Since then, it has stuck in my mind, and I hope to give the technique a try on a couple of my favorite northern lakes this summer. We don't have they big shad, but we do have alewives and smelt that the spoon should resemble. It should be interesting, and I'm betting it will some bass to bite. Here's the You Tube video, but there is also a spooning video on FLW's site. I was going to use it, but FLW sets up their site so I can't use a link that will take you directly to the video. You can, however, go their on your own and navigate to it: FLW . It's very close to what you would see by watching this video.
"Mark Rose on fishing the spoon."
January 1, 2012
Happy New Year! "In the New Year, May your right hand always be stretched out in friendship, but never in want."
I have been sidetracked a bit of late, because my mother-in-law went in to the hospital Thursday. My wife and I have been up there with her every day and most of the night. Even though they have wifi, I just haven't been able to get a blog out. I'm up on the intensive care floor now, in a family lounge, typing this blog entry.
Gramma is doing much better. She went in because she hadn't been eating and was very weak. They found her potassium levels to be dangerously high. With K levels that high, it can cause your kidneys to shut down, and the possibility of a heart attack is substantially higher than normal.
They immediately began giving her treatments for a number of hours, and they finally were able to bring the level down. She is very weak, and not able to get out of bed or feed herself. They feel though that her vitals are good enough for her to go back to the nursing home on Tuesday. That's the plan any way. Things obviously could change, but for now things are stable.
We are currently under a winter storm warning through tomorrow night. The forecast is calling for 35 to 50 mph winds with snow accumulation of 6-8 inches. So far there is no snow on the ground, but it is snowing pretty hard.
I'm typing while watching the Lions vs the Packers. Detroit just got burned on a bad call in the end zone. They were out of challenges, and with the current rules, they couldn't over rule the call on the field despite a replay that showed the receiver had both feet in. They really need this win to get the No. 5 seed and avoid playing the Saints in New Orleans, where the Saints just don't lose. Hopefully, the Lions can rebound and put some scores together in the second half.
Talk about scoring, you can start the New Year with a chance to win a fishing trip with King Kong, KVD. B.A.S.S. is promoting a sweepstakes that I just signed up for. Here is the link if you think you might get lucky: Fish With A Pro Sweepstakes.
While you're at it you might as well take advantage of another promotion that the FLW folks have organized. If you are a FLW member, (and if you're not they are hoping to entice you with this promo) you can enter to win monthly prizes all this new year. Here's the link: FLW Member Giveaway .
If you have a new 2012 calendar you may want to circle Thursday, January 12th. The Ultimate Fishing Show is returning to Novi, Michigan on that date, and the Expo will run from Thursday through Sunday. KVD will be there for a special Q & A on Friday only. There are a number of other seminar leaders that you can read about if you click on the blue Ultimate Fishing Show link that I listed just above.
During my web search today, I read an article about Elite Series angler Alton Jones. It seems that in a recent fishing competition on Falcon Lake, he found human remains. The skeleton may be that of David Hartley.
You may recall the September 30, 2010 incident in which David and his wife were on waverunners exploring the ruins of a church on the Mexican side of Falcon when they were attacked. David was shot in the head, but his wife had to leave him floating in the water to save herself. You can read an account of Alton's find using this link: Remains Found at U.S. Border Lake .
On a lighter note, there is an article on Bass Zone that talks about the key baits that were used for major wins this past Elite Series season. If you're interested, here is the link to: Elite Series Winning Baits .
It's time to put this piece to bed. The last cast today is going to be a You Tube video that I found posted on greatlakesbass.com . It's an old B.A.S.S. promo video, but it seemed to be a great piece to kick off the new year with. It certainly makes you wish you were out running wide open to get to your favorite fishing spot. Take care and once again happy New Year!
"Dream On"
December 22, 2011
I got up this morning with the intentions of having coffee with the guys at Tiny's. However, when I got there, there wasn't so much as a track in the parking lot. I fired off a text to the Cementman, and it seems that Tiny decided to take a few days off and will be closed for four days. That doesn't happen often.
So, I came back to the cabin and watched the world come alive this morning. I thoroughly enjoy watching the dawn break. If there aren't any whitetail shadows moving through the woods, then the first critters I usually see are the cardinals at the bird feeder. Most years, we'll have a pair of them, but for some reason this year we have seven that make their way to the feeder each morning and then again as the last bit of light leaves the woods. They are low light feeders, and are always the first and last to come for a few black oil sunflower seeds each day.
We try not to start and stop feeding the birds up here. I've heard that once you start feeding you should continue through the winter. We hope to be up often this winter and my feeder holds enough seed for almost two weeks worth of feeding. So, despite the increased cost of seed, we will try and keep food on the table for our feathered friends. We enjoy watching them. It's like having an aquarium or watching the flames of a fire. It's a constantly moving and changing scene.
I'm debating whether I should take the camera out this morning and take a few pictures. It snowed a little last night, and the snow is hanging on the slender branches of the trees and adorns the cattails at the edge of the lake. We didn't get that much, there are still blades of grass showing, and according to the meteorologists, that's about all we are going to get. It is pretty out. The computer table that I'm typing from is facing the lake, so during my frequent breaks from typing I get a view that is hard to beat.
The lake has started to freeze along the shoreline, and yesterday there were just a few open water patches. Any wind or sun though will open it back up. Many years we will have enough ice to fish on by New Year's Day. It's going to have to get cold and stay cold for that to happen this year.
I got a picture from Ricky Skinner Jr. the other day. It is a snapshot of his youngest son Trevor on the podium of a tournament held up in Hart, Michigan. Trevor won his weight class. That's quite an accomplishment! You have to run the table of contestants to win in these big invitational tournaments, and indeed that is what he did. Congrats Trev!
Hart Wrestling Tournament Champion Trevor Skinner!
I spent some time perusing the bookmarked sites on the ole computer this morning. I enjoyed a piece on Bass Zone's site that showed some of their favorite pictures from 2011. With the pics they had a brief discussion of each shot. Here is the link to that story: 2011 In Focus .
Another article that I read was actually a piece from Bass Fan's "Dock Talk." If you're familiar with Bass Fan, they have snippets of news items listed on the right side of their web page. The one this morning that caught my eye was a piece entitled, "KVD For President." It turned out to be a list of Christmas wishes from some of the Elite Series pros. It's worth a few minutes to read: KVD For President .
Something of a more practical nature was up on Bassmaster's site. It was a piece about making sure, during this off season, that your reels get some attention. I've talked about this subject yearly, and you probably have read my comments on how I always send my reels to the "Reel Man." The Reel expert is David Valentine. He is very knowledgeable, and does quality work. I have sent my reels to him numerous times, and have referred him to many. He will tear your reel down and give it a thorough cleaning, and lube it back up so that it is ready for the 2012 season. His fee is around $15 a reel, and it is well worth protecting your investment by having him go through your reels. You can contact him at this email address: devalentine@auburngear.com. By the way, if you're so inclined, you can get how to info on reel cleaning from the article Bassmaster has featured called: How clean is your reel?
Well, that's going to be it from me today. I'm going to make the last cast be a quote from one of my favorite anglers, the GMan, Gerald Swindle. One of his tongue and check wishes for the new year was that his toothpaste stick as well to his toothbrush as it does to his sink. Ain't that the truth. I just wiped some off the bottom of the sing this morning. Take care and have a great day.
