It was the last long weekend before Christmas, .....I guess the nostalgia got to me, ....and I returned to my "roots", ....branches, ....limbs, ....trunk, .....etc, ......for a visit
Sat. Oct. 7th
I'm not sure wether to post this in the fishing section, .....or home & garden.....
After some hummin' & hawin' I decided to head down to the Grand, ....to play with the motor, ....and maybe drown some minnows....
I launched the boat and pulled her around to the side of the dock cause I wanted to change a couple of rollers on the trailer....
I was just finishing up when this other group pulled in....
They had the boat wet just as I was ready to shove off, ....they seemed to be having some trouble starting it so I asked if I could help.......
Long story short, ....spent about 3/4 of an hour playing CAA....
It was obvious, ....besides the fact it was a "force", ....that it weren't gonna start, ....so eventually I had to beg off before night time fell, ....I'll say this, ....they didn't know any more about motors than me, ...but they were determined.......
So I headed out, ....to my first spot........
I was pleasantly suprised with what I saw......
I don't know what they were, ...but they didn't want minnows, ....worms, ....tubes, ....twister tails, ....or even kalbossa.....
I got frustrated and moved on.....
My second spot was basically shore trash, ....from the flip side, ....
I hadn't noticed how much crap was floating around till I stopped here.....
Man this stuff was building up everywhere.....
Even if I lifted the motor it didn't help......
No, ....that's not a bite.....
I was getting frustrated again and was getting ready to leave......I heard this wierd noise that kept getting louder and when I turned around.......
This guy was motoring down the river and took off just in front of me, ....it took me this long to get the camera out.....
Talk about your steroid mosquitoes......
After making sure he hadn't forgotten something and was about to land on top of me, ....I got the hell outta there....
My next spot was up river a fair bit and it gave me a chance to play with the trim, .....I broke forty, ....just after I stopped the bow from vigorously nodding it's approval, ......it was borderline though ......40.2 gps and any more down trimming brought her quickly back to around 39 mph.....
This spot was relatively "weed" free as it was on an inside corner in the river.....
Unfortunately, ....it was pretty fish free too.....I usually catch the cat's around here on the other side, but the weeds were fast & furious there too.....
I tucked the old tail between the legs around 4:00 and headed home, .....quickly
It's hard to tell from the pic, ....but those are two of those "long" boats, ....they hold about 16 people, .....and boy did they have them moving pretty good when they came in.....
Well, .....I guess the Grand is pee pee at me cause I've neglected her the last couple of years, ....she's a hard girl to figure at the best of times, ....
It was still a beautiful day to be out, ......and I managed to play coy most of the time when a question was asked.......
Monday Oct. 9th
I did something today that I've always wanted to do, ....please don't ask why, .....I'd have to delve into all that Freudian stuff....
This plan was hatched thursday nite, ....when my computer geek/future son in law, ....finally delivered my new/old/free monitor, ....that I've been waiting for, .....since last Christmas, ....I think....
And it grew wings yesterday, ....during Thanksgiving festivities....
We were going to do the Grand, ....in a canoe, .....travel to places no skooter has gone before....(I know, ....you're thinkin' I'm a glutton for punishment, ....you're right, ....I have this "weed" fixation I guess, ....wasn't disappointed either, .....again)
We had everything loaded up at first light, ....or as much light as there was peeking through the fog....
After dropping the daughters car at the exit point, ....we headed upstream to the drop off point, ....wilkes dam
It's a 16ft. canoe and the first thing I noticed was how light it was, ....it's made out of some new stuff and I can't remember the name, ....it's half the weight of fibreglass and twice as tuff,
....the second thing I noticed was how stable it was, ....no problems in the "leak" dept. today, ....the boat was watertight too....
We played at the dam for a bit, ....till we got caught in the current and found ourselves way down stream, ...there was no way we were going to get back up there again, .....
(up $hit's creek without a paddle comes to mind, ....but in this case, ....I guess it was "down", ...as opposed to "up")
This is our next stop, .....and we're finally starting to be reassured, ....there is a sun afterall....
I guess this is the best place for a few scenery shots, ....before we get into the "meat" of the story....
These were all spots we tried for a bit, ....it was the same as the other day though, ....any artificials ya threw out, ....usually lost their action before you got 'em half way back to the boat, .....I was finding that the best way to go, was drifting with the current, ....and the weeds, and using a floating jighead with a minnow or worm....
Of course ya know I can't just go out and have a normal day of fishing, .....
So, .....here goes...
We were doing the drifting thing, ....I got a decent tug on the line, ....grabbed the pole and gave it a reef, .....
"Hey Clint, .....I think I've got something here"
"you sure it's not bottom....?"
"Nope, .....it's coming in, ....pretty steady weight though, ....guess it's just weeds again...."
I didn't feel any jerks at the time, ...so I was pretty sure it wasn't a fish, ...however, ....once I got it up to the surface.....
"What the hell!!!!, ....it's a fishing pole, ....damn, ....it looks almost new"
I get the pole in the canoe, ....and then heard this noise, ....we turn to find a guy on shore, ....frantically waving his arms, ....and yelling at us, ....."thank you, ....thank you"
The line is still out on the retreived pole, ...so I start reeling it in...
"Hey Clint, ....I think there's something on here..."
"Get out...."
"Well, ...if there ain't, ....why is the end of this rod going spastic?"
Damn thing had the handle on the wrong side too, ....
Fun times, ....
Sitting in a drifting canoe, ...reeling an assbackwards fishing pole I had never seen before, ....with a fish on the end, ....and Clint paddling his butt off, .....trying to get back up stream.....
Never one to let a moment pass though, ....a fish, ....is a fish, ...is a fish....
After netting it, ...we both started paddling and managed to make our way back up to this guy, ....from his english, ....I think Russia, ....or somewhere over there, ....was in his not to distant past, .....
We took some pics, .....and "he" was pleased as punch at "catching" a fish....
He wanted us to deliver a pic to him, ....so his friends would believe him, ....
Yeah!!!!....right, ....he's lucky he got his damn fishing pole back....
Here we leave him, ...to go do his "thing" again
I never noticed, ....and didn't find out till Clint told me later, ....but he had a couple of other poles out, ....upstream a bit, ....
if I'd have known, ....I would have just waved as I pulled his pole in, ....and continued on down stream....(but it was a pretty cheap unit anyways, ....wallymart special I'd guess)
Anyways, ....that's my story, .....and Clint is seeking therapy, ..even as we speak....
The rest of the day was sorta downhill, ....down"stream" actually, ...after that...
A couple more spots we tried.........
We seen a few other canoe'ers too....
The main problem with the Grand, ...without a fish finder, ...ya don't know wether the the depth is in feet, ....or inches, ....it just sorta pops up at ya sometimes....
The end of the "road" in sight....after 6 hrs, .....it may be 16ft, ....but it is definitely lacking from the "mobility" aspect...
Loading up and getting ready to hit the dusty trail...
I still can't believe the weather we lucked into this weekend, ...when that sun came out today, ....it was gorgeous, ....
The fishing, ....not so much, ....
I will say this though, ....you'll go a long way to find a more picturesque journey than the one I was on today, .....at times it's hard to believe you're actually anywhere near civilization, ...
I'm not a canoe'er by any means, .....but this, ....I could to learn to like, ....in no time, ....
So that was my long weekend, ....with a little turkey, ...."stuffed" in the middle....
skooter
