Tuesday, February 21
“Did that voice inside you say
I’ve seen this all before
It’s like Déjà Vu all over again” – “Déjà Vu (All Over Again) “– John Fogerty
My wife, Julie, and I got rid of the kids for just over 30 hours this weekend for an enjoyable, albeit brief, out of town getaway. Nothing too major but no doubt a treat featuring drives with classic rock on the radio, one night without interruption from a hungry, restless or scared kid (s), one morning without an alarm clock, two meals with no one scrounging our food and someone waiting on us for a change. Along with recharging our batteries, I also had the opportunity to restock on some fishing gear courtesy of some Christmas cash and gift cards. Wrapping things up was a President’s Day fishing trip to Snakeden Hollow to kick off my 2012 season. Believe it or not, we almost pulled the whole thing off.
Geared Up – Julie and I had a good time scouring the fishing aisles in search of some items, several of which are for an upcoming blog project (a few are included in the above photo of our haul). She tested her skills when given a target lure to find and was right on the money in tracking it down. I wasn’t quite as helpful (or maybe I was) as I sat out the clothing store and fabric store portion of the program preferring to wait in the van with my trusty clipboard and the local classic rock station. During the course of our trip, I also crossed paths with “Stream Stalker” Jonn Graham and was able to introduce myself and have a brief conversation. It was great to meet him in person after virtually tagging along on numerous fishing trips via his blog.
Fired Up – I’m always excited to go fishing but there’s just something about those first few outings of the New Year that are special. This time around it had been nearly 100 days since my last bass way back on October 15, 2011. In addition, armed with new knowledge and usually a few new weapons gleaned over the “winter layoff” I’m also typically able to convince myself that I’m a better fisherman than I really am. As such, the bass are in big trouble.
Spooled Up – Part of my purchases was new line for 2012, which was really the same old thing, Berkeley Trilene XL (12 pound test for casting combos, 8 pound for spinning rigs). I’m just a mono guy, the price is always right and a $5 mail in rebate with purchase of two spools sealed the deal. After returning home I was able to get all of my bass reels spooled up and ready to go with an assist from my Berkeley line spooling station (pictured above). My parents got this thing for me many years ago and it’s a slick and simple setup to strip and spool.
Fouled Up – While picking up the kids we were welcomed back to parenthood as our youngest daughter, Carly, proceeded to say she felt sick before shortly thereafter providing proof. All the kids were home and asleep by 9:00pm before Julie was up twice with the baby and twice with Carly while I was more fortunate and only got to care for Carly twice during the short night. President’s Day featured a Brownie/Daisies bowling outing for Julie and the girls and I had babysitting lined up for the boys in order to chase some bass. But a sick girl meant no bowling for her and no need for a babysitter as guess who was no longer going fishing after all.
Fed Up? – So am I ticked off about a rough start to another year on the water? Not really, as Carly is feeling better and I got a blog entry out of the whole affair anyway, minus the numb fingers and runny nose. Besides, this is an infinitely less embarrassing way to report that I didn’t catch any fish than if I would have actually went fishing. Talk to you later. Troy
HeartlandOutdoors.com is owned by Lampe Publications LLC. Heartland Outdoors is a registered trademark.
Heartland Outdoors, P.O. Box 745, Elmwood, IL 61529
Copyright © 2010 Heartland Outdoors. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.