Good News, Bad News (again)

Got a phone call last week from Adam K. Seems he didn't forget about the conversation we had back last November.December about pressure washing and staining the Aerie this year. (I did ask his brother, sister-in-law and several nieces to remind him when they were cat sitting early in the summer.) He's been busier than a one armed paper hanger but finally had an open week where the weather looked perfect.

So Adam came out Monday with his ladders and pressure washer. While he cleaned the logs and deck, I drove over to Beaver Mountain in Deposit, NY to pick up two five gallon containers of stain. That took me the better part of the afternoon as it's about 120 miles one way. When I got back, Adam was just wrapping up the gable end of the garage.

******

Tuesday Adam started in on the staining while I went south to Cabela's in Hamburg, PA with Joe. This was a long ago planned outing to pick up some fishing equipment to replace broken/lost stuff. I picked Joe up at his home outside of Jersey Shore, PA and we eventually got to Cabela's around 11 AM. (It's a l-o-n-g ride--about 180 miles one way when I stop at Joe's.) We shopped for about two hours and got nearly everything we wanted although I was disappointed in not finding the handgun I was looking for (Springfield XD Mod.2). Not too surprising as it's a new release and hasn't hit all the stores yet.

When I got back to the Aerie around 5 PM, Adam had finsished staining the south side of the house and the bedroom dormer.

******

Wednesday I had a doctor's appointment over at Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, PA. I was to have a CT scan of my lumbar spine and then meet with a new neurologist. (The doctor who did my surgery in January has moved on to greener(?) pastures. Dr. Reichert and her PA Tim Rogers were very thorough, friendly and informative. I'm almost sorry this may be the last time I see them as the CT scan showed the screws inserted in my lumbar spine were stable and holding their own. There's new bone growth that's typical of a fusion surgery and everything is progressing well. THe small amount of tingling I still have in my right leg is normal and all I need to do is get more exercise to strengthen the thigh muscles. I was given a clean bill of health (from them and as regards the spine) and told I wouldn't have to return.

Terry had I then went over to Horseheads, NY to visit the Verizon store. I am experiencing swift battery power loss in my iPhone 5 (from 100% to 30% overnight) and wanted some answers. (In contrast, Terry may lose 5-10% of her power in the same time despite getting many more emails.) Instead of answers, we walked out having ordered new iPhone 6ses. Mine will get here around the 25th while Terry, who opted for the new rose color scheme, will get her's on the 30th. We also got new plans that are better suited to our usage.

We then Stopped at the Field & Stream store to pick up a couple things Joe and I couldn't find at Cabela's. I had a $25 F&S cash coupon burning a hole in my pocket that I got from purchasing a Henry Golden Boy (in .22LR) last week. We burned through that $25 coupon like a gas soaked rag as I picked up two boxes of .22 ammo, two boxes of Lightfield slugs, a couple of little stuffed toys, and several packs of the rubber skirts I was looking for...although they weren't the red and white that I really wanted. Those rubber skirts go on the Johnson weedless spoons Joe and I got at Cabela's who also did not have the red and white skirts. We're looking for something that's about 50-50 red and white but all I could find was about 10-90 red and white. Maybe they discovered that just a little red worked better than more? Whatever.

When we got home after putting another 180 miles on the Tundra, Adam had finished the north side and the west side of the house. All he has left is the gable end of the garage and the north side of the garage.

******

Got the checks from the closing on the Bolt Hole yesterday and were sorely disappointed on several levels:

1. They forgot to collect the $700 for the furniture we left behind despite our having reminded the attorney's office several times and being assured that there would be a note made.
2. They spelled our last name incorrectly on the check. (They used a "V" instead of a "B" in our last name. Lots of people make that mistake but considering they had our name spelled correctly on a dozen or more pieces of paper...well, that's inexcusable.)

We've made phone calls (too late to catch them in the office on Wednesday) and sent emails, but will be making more today. *sigh* Might have to make a drive up there on Friday to get the correct name on a check.
[UPDATE: Our bank accepted the check with the misspelled name, all we had to do was sign it the way it was made out and then with our "real" names. I guess it's now up to the attorney's bank to accept it.]

Adam should finish staining the house today. Then it will be time for the deck. He's leaving Friday night for a week in Peru so, should he not complete the deck, I'll probably be charged with doing that this weekend or so if the weather holds. There's no guarantee that it will be good when he returns and I've got the doctor's word that I'm healing well and in need of exercises that will strengthen my thigh muscles. Going up and down a ladder (necessary to do the rim joists and rails on the outside of the deck) should do the trick.

******

Today's my birthday!

Last week I bought the Henry rifle, then it was fishing lures and line, and today I bought a new gas grill. Of course, Terry will be the one using it most as she does 99% of the cooking when she's home. She said it was like "buying me [Terry] a vacuum cleaner for my birthday."

Back from our fishing expedition to Gouin Reservoir in northern Quebec.

Joe and I had a good (not great) week at one of Caesar's North Camps fishing for walleye and northern pike. This was a new cabin/area on the reservoir for us and we had some difficulty finding the pockets that held large numbers of walleye but succeeded in locating at least one area that held enough to keep us interested.

Being one of the southernmost cabins, there were also more boats from other camps/outposts than we were used to. What was strange/different was being asked (in French) by some of these other fishing parties where they might find the walleye. A clear indication that we were not alone in our quest. I blame the relatively poor fishing on:
1) the lunar phase (A waxing moon culminated in a full moon on our final day.),
2) the wind (Strong winds out of the south and west passed over a vast expanse of open water creating whitecaps and 2-3' swells--so strong one day (we called it "Windsday") that we were not able to get out 20' boat with its 20hp motor out of our protected cove. We were forced to fish in more protected areas or risk water sloshing over the transom.)
3) the rain (Lots and lots of rain--we had only one day without any rain and several periods where it was a veritable monsoon with walls of rain cutting visibility to 10-15 yards--if that. Luckily, we did not get caught out in those!

It was also clear that some of these folks--if not the vast majority--did not fly in to the area but used a boat launch somewhere reasonably close. One does not show up in a 25' fiberglass boat with a 175 horsepower engine if one has flown into a "wilderness" cabin!

The cabin in which we stayed was snug and warm. It had bunks for four people, a hot shower and indoor toilet, propane stove (with an oven) and propane refrigerator. (A veritable antique of a fridge but it served its purpose even if the freezer was very, very slow to actually freeze anything.) We only had one leak from all the rain and that was, thankfully, in the kitchen area and not the bedroom.

The few from the dock looking west. The Cabin Cove was a long skinny cove protected from the strongest wind/wave action by a pair of sand bars on the south end. It stretched about a half mile from those sand bars to the back end to the north and provided some pike fishing.

The 20' fiberglass boat with its V-hull and 20hp engine was a workhorse as we ranged far and wide in search of the (mostly) elusive walleye. We went about 4 kilometers to the west, 5 kilometers to the east and 3 kilometers to the south shore of our area of Gouin Reservoir. Caught some fish in all areas but, as I said earlier, never found the huge concentration we were hoping for. Perhaps they were around some of the exposed islands a kilometer or so out in the Big Water where we just never felt comfortable anchoring.

We would fish a couple of hours in the morning before heading back to the cabin for lunch and a break--and, hopefully, to clean the morning's catch. After lunch we would head out again, usually in a different direction, for another four or five hours of fishing then back to the cabin for dinner. If we didn't stay out too long in the afternoon, we would go out for another two hours or so in the evening. We usually caught something on each of our forays.

A stringer of walleyes and one pike. That's me in this photo.

Joe with the same fish.

Any walleye we took had to be between 14 and 20 inches to be a keeper. We caught a few shorts and several that were too long. The largest was 22" and weighed 5 lbs. The walleye were our primary target and supplied us with two of our dinners. They also filled some freezer bags so we could bring home our limits of eight walleye each. We caught a total of 60 during our stay.

Pike were also on the list and we would go trolling or cast to weed beds in the many coves along the shores. For us to keep a pike it had to fit the 25-30 inch slot we established. (I don't think there's an actual legal size, but those were our standards.) We caught lots that were smaller (12-20 inch fish) and three which were over 30 inches. The largest was a 34" that probably weighed in the 7-7-1/2 lb range. We did have to harvest a 31" that weighed in at 6-1/2 lbs. It was severely injured in the landing/unhooking process and would not have survived if released.

Our licenses allowed us to take up to 10 northern pike each but we ended up bringing home just three of the 40 fish we caught.

We established a clear division of labor. Joe did all the cleaning of fish, food purchasing and cooking. Joe also did most of the fish catching. I did all the packaging of fish, cleaning (dishes, etc.), and driving--whether it be on the road or water. The 620 mile drive up took about 13 hours including a brief nap along the way. Heading home was just about 12 hours (no nap). And we got through Ottawa with no trouble at all. That's a first for us in some 18-20 trips we've made to Caesar's.

There was a nice fish cleaning station set up in the shade of a fir tree that included running water to clean the table and fish as you worked. Skins and carcasses would go back into the lake or out onto the sand bars. The gulls (herring gulls and ring-billed gulls) and a bald eagle would clean up those. We primarily used the lake as our disposal but our neighbors were feeding the gulls so when they left....

Putting the remains as far from our cabin as possible assured us that no bear would come nosing around. Even so, the one night we put the skins and carcasses on the sand bar to watch the gulls squabble and the eagle swoop in for his share, there was a bear on the beach a half mile or so from the sand bar.

Being an avid surf fisherman, Joe has lots of experience in fileting and skinning fish. His tools of the trade include two sharp knives and a steel to keep them that way. A can of Deep Woods Off can be a necessity if the mosquitoes and/or black flies are bad. The other thing that's a "must" is that can of beer. Sometimes that one can can become two if it's been a productive day on the water.

Saturday evening, we got things prepped for our departure on Sunday. Everything in the cabin got squared away, our paper/plastic garbage got burned as per instructions, the floor got swept, and all our gear--fishing and otherwise--got packed up. We had bee told to expect Ollie between 7 and 8 AM Sunday morning.

When we woke at 5:30 AM everything looked good. The cove was glass. It was overcast but not raining.

By 6:00 AM there was a slight breeze out of the south--the direction from which our flight would come.

By 6:30 AM it was raining steadily and by 7:00 AM it was raining hard.

Our flight did not arrive between 7 and 8 AM. We sat out on the porch and read while we waited--and waited. Joe ran out of reading material. I had found a tome by Tom Clancy and FredrickM. Franks called Into The Storm. It's about the actions of General Franks and the Army's VII Corps leading up to and during Desert Storm. It's very interesting and very long. I started it Windsday morning and was up to page 500 before the plane finally arrived to pick us up.

Joe made another pot of coffee and we sat some more as it continued to rain. We ate some left over kielbasa for lunch. And sat watching it rain.

Finally around 1 PM the rain stopped. Not long afterwards there was the sound of a plane flying from the south--the first we had heard all morning. During the week there were a dozen or more planes flying within earshot--except for Windsday.

At 1:30 PM Ollie's Cessna set down on the Cabin Cove and taxied over to the dock.

Ollie hopped out and apologized for being late as it had started raining at Clova at 6 AM and never stopped until around 1 PM. Two new fishermen got out and they unloaded their gear from the plane. They had packed the plane the night before in anticipation of an early departure!

While Ollie did a quick post/pre inspection and orientation for the new comers, Joe and I moved our gear to the dock so it could be loaded. When Ollie got everyone squared away, he and Joe loaded the gear as I went over the map with the new guys showing them where we had had some success during the week. We were in the air heading back to Clova by 2:00 PM.

At Clova, we quickly deplaned and got our gear into the truck. Ollie was loading the Cessna AND the Beaver with another crew that would be heading out. (He told us he had at least five crews that were supposed to be going in/coming out. He and his third string pilot--number two was in the bush refurbishing a cabin--would be in for a busy afternoon!)

The Cessna back at the Clova dock.

Ollie's Beaver at the Clova dock.

We had flown out to the cabin a week earlier in the Beaver, known as the Workhorse of the North. What a beautiful plane! It amazes me that they actually stopped production of the de Havilland Beaver back in 1967 after just 1600 had been manufactured. Now, almost 50 years later they are THE plane of the back country and deservedly so!

By 2:30 PM we had the Tundra gassed up and were on the road south with plenty of memories and a cooler filled with fish filets.

Home again!

I'm back!

Joe and I just returned from our fishing trip with Caesar's North Camps on Gouin Reservoir in northern Quebec. We had a great time despite the rain (five of the seven days) and somewhat slow fishing. We've caught more and larger fish on other trips but had a good time and made lots of memories just the same.

Before we left to head north, Joe had gotten a call from Am, the office assistant. She warned that the lake water was down and that the level had been falling quickly (almost a foot a week!) for the last month. Just the word that we were coming, however brought two days of rain and our arrival guaranteed the end to all this "dry spell" talk. Joe and I are going to start a company called Drought Eradicators. We'll work for the cost of a fishing trip/hunting trip in any area you name. You want rain in the desert? Either let us shoot what ever wild game might be resent or stock the oasis pool with fish. A week after we arrive, there will be a bloom on the desert like none you've ever seen.

The highlights included Joe catching a 4-1/2 to 5 pound walleye that measured between 22 and 24 inches and (nearly) landing a 32" pike that broke off just as it touched the net. Those two fish plus our first ever sighting of a lynx made the trip worthwhile. We only caught 40 walleye and 25 pike in about 5 days of hard fishing. (Okay, semi-hard fishing. We basically fished from 8 AM until 5 or 6 PM each day the rain allowed.) 

We got rained off the lake one day when over two inches of rain forced us to retreat to the cabin and fire up the wood stove to dry everything--including ourselves--out. As in previous trips, however, we managed to work around most of the rain that fell.

The lake was loaded with loons that showed no fear of us or our boat and allowed us to to get so close we were concerned they might try for our jigs.

I did all the driving up and back (12-13 hours one way just to get to our float plane in Clova), all the driving of the boat, and the dish washing. Joe purchased our food, fileted the fish we kept to eat and bring home, and did the cooking.

A couple of things northern Quebec has plenty of is water and sky. Often they combine. 

You could watch the clouds for hours and hours.

Don't like the set you've got at the moment? Just wait fifteen minutes. There will be some new ones along shortly.

This one looks like the Roadrunner. 

View from the porch as the sun sets behind us. 

One morning we drifted with the wind casting to some weedbeds along the shoreline trying for some pike. As we got near the end of our drift (too shallow water), this tawny cat popped up from the grass where it may have been waiting for some careless ducks to come within range...or it could have been napping in the sun. (Using a point and shoot I'm not that familiar with, these are the best I got. NOW, of course, I know how I could have gotten better by adjusting some settings. Know your tools before you have to use them.)

Uh? What the heck is that? 

 

Curiosity could have gotten this cat killed. But not today.

He's seen enough and heads slowly for the woods. 

Joe with the large walleye. It was released soon after the photo was take.

Some of its smaller relatives were not so lucky. 

They, and a couple of pike got fileted for dinner or the freezer. (Note the essential tools of the trade: sharp, flexible knife; firm cutting surface; late for filets; and, most importantly, an adult beverage in the blue can.)

In addition to the lynx we say a young beaver addling around a bank lodge, a black bear along the shoreline, Bald Eagles, terns, gulls, Cedar Waxwings (eating fish?!?), very friendly Red Squirrels we could have hand fed if we had peanuts, a couple of snowshoe hares--one of which looked like a small kangaroo, a little brown bat (awfully far north!), and, of course, deer mice. (We tried to eradicate the latter with little success.)

Things we learned on this trip:

1) Call the credit card company when you leave the US. Our first stop for gas saw our cards rejected. We ended up paying cash (which we hadn't converted to Canadian). A short call to VISA got that problem corrected but too late.

2) Bisquick can be made into reasonably good pancakes using canola oil if you leave the eggs back home in your refrigerator. Taylor ham and egg sandwiches are a bit thinner without the eggs, however.

3) Patience pays off. We did a great deal of trolling to located walleye, but when we did, we were able to catch quite a few in the same spot using jigs or trolling back and forth over the same area.

4) Give 'em something they haven't seen before. When the standard yellow or black jigs stopped producing, I switched to a chartreuse and immediately connected. Then, when that slowed, a watermelon and connected again.

5) When you wish to see how a lure looks in the water, i.e. what sort of action it may have, before tossing it overboard it is wise to first connect it to your line.

6) Caught in a rainstorm while fishing 2 or more miles from the cabin, you might as well keep on fishing. you'll only get wetter--and in different laces--if you open the throttle on that little 9.9 horse power motor to try and get back to the cabin. (I think Myth Busters did something about walking or running to your car in the rain and proved you get wetter running.)

7) If it is raining cats and dogs, NEVER say: "Well, it can't get any worse!"  It can--and it probably will. (This is an old lesson that needs relearning. At least this time it didn't start hailing.)

Good Morning!

This morning's wake up call came courtesy of a couple of snorting deer in the brush to the south of the Bolt Hole.

The increasing volume and cadence put me in mind of the "Dueling Banjos" tune of "Deliverance" fame. The clamour finally caused me to get the hell out of bed and get dressed. By the time I got down stairs, they had STFU and departed. Bastards! (Or bitches, as the case may be.)

Yesterday it was a single doe with her twin fawns out back. The kids must have been romping about int he apple trees while Mom checked the ripeness of the fruit (still very, very green) and nibbled alternately on apple twigs and tall grass. The twins got Mom to stand still for a few minutes and nursed enthusiastically before the trio wandered off and out of sight.

For a secluded area with only distant neighbors, this is one noisy place. Bears and deer crashing about in the brush and--in the case of the bears--climbing trees in the night, an unknown something (not a deer or canine as far as I could tell--fox? possum?) bleating in the area between Mark's cabin and the Bolt Hole during the night, White-throated sparrows singing their high-pitched, sweetly whistled "Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody" song also in the middle of the night, and, of course, the early morning/late afternoon chattering of the red squirrels.

There are considerably fewer red squirrels thanks to a little 3x scope on a .22 caliber Marlin bolt action rifle, but there are still red squirrels. Don't know if Nature's Law of Vacuum or just a very, very prolific sex life of both squirrel and pine tree that makes the small area immediately behind the Bolt Hole loaded with red squirrels, but DANG! I've disposed of at least 10 within 50 yards of the house so far in June and July, yet they just keep on appearing. Peeled and striped pine cones are everywhere inside and out.

******

Got a call from my buddy Joe yesterday. He's heard from Caesar's and we are good to go on our August fishing expedition to Quebec. He reminded me of the balance due, reservoir fees, and fishing license costs so I will be able to bring enough cash with me. We talked about what gear to bring, who's truck we would take (mine) and how his menu/food planning was going.

We'll drive out of the Aerie on August 8th and head north on I-81 crossing the border at the terminus. Through Ottawa, and up towards the small town of Clova and we fly to the northern end of Gouin Reservoir from there.

Looking forward to it!

******

Terry called yesterday to complain about the blankety-blank ground hog she spotted in the garden eating green tomatoes. Either she's go to learn to shoot or I'll have to make the fence more critter proof. Maybe a few Claymore mines would help.

Later she called to tell me there was a standoff at the screen door between Julie and some stray beige cat that just wanted to get out of the rain. They sat on either side of the barrier sort of rumbling at one another while Chester and Shadow sat silently a couple of feet behind Julie as observers/supporters. Terry closed the class door just so no one got the idea to go barreling through the screen or claw it any further. Stray kitteh was NOT to be allowed in the house!

Well, that's about all for now.

Patience, Grasshopper

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Four freekin' months before Joe and I go fishin' in northern Quebec. Soooooo long!

Opening Day (Fishing Season)

Opening day of trout season in New York State is April 1. There is some reasoning that goes into that. For one, it's easy to remember from year to year. Then there's the whole April First, a.k.a. Fools Day, thing.

It seems that seven out of ten years there's 1) tons of snow on the ground on 1 April, 2) ice on the streams and rivers (or at least ice dams causing horrendous flooding), 3) frigid temperatures throughout the northeast but especially in Upstate New York. If none of these conditions exist you can usually depend upon there being falling snow.

This year we've had a bit of an early spring (although there's been some back sliding lately) and snow on the ground is virtually non-existent and ice in creeks, rivers and (most) lakes is long gone. The daytime temperatures have reached the 70s for several consecutive days during the month of March and the nighttime lows have been, generally, no worse than the upper 20s.

Tonight (Friday night), however, the forecast is for up to 3 inches of snow in New York's Southern Tier. It's arriving a day early. I blame this on the fact that it's Leap Year and that extra day in February through Mother Nature off her game. Like a fastball hitter swinging at a major league change-up, she's just a wee bit early.

PS. I have yet to purchase my fishing license for either NY or PA. I usually get the NYS all-round sportsman's license which includes hunting and fishing but, when I wracked up my knee last fall, I passed on purchasing a tag for NY. PA's hunting and fishing licenses are separate and I just haven't stopped into Cooper's to pick one up. I've got time, PA's trout season doesn't start for two weeks.

Goin' Fishing

Joe and I booked a northern Quebec fly-in fishing trip for the week of August 9 through August 16.

We were able to get the outpost cabin we wanted. It's the same one we took our sons to when they were 8 and 9 years old...20 years ago.

We also walked around the show's floor for 2-1/2 hours and we didn't go to all the display halls but held ourselves to the hunting and fishing halls.

Going shoppin'

My buddy Joe and I are heading to the Eastern Sports and Outdoors Expo down in Harrisburg Monday morning. We want to book a fishing trip in northern Quebec with Caesar's North Camps for sometime in August.

We've gone with Olivier's for many trips and enjoyed each one. Walleye and Northern Pike are our quarry. The former for their taste and the latter for their fight. If we get to go to the cabin we would like (the first one we ever went to nearly 20 years ago, Hanotaux), we'll be able to bring some of those Walleye home with us to the delight of the wives.

Besides booking a trip, we'll spend a couple hours walking about and checking out all the booths.

Aerie Report, March 23, 2010My Turn

I'll be heading up to the Bolt Hole tomorrow morning. I need to see if any snow remains in the yard and if I can get the trailer out of the barn. If the answers are "none" and "yes" then I'll drive over to Alpin Camping World (I think that's it's name) in Amsterdam to see if I can bring the trailer in for a checkup and a lube job. I know the water system needs to be flushed, the heating and AC units checked out, and a few other things done before our Big Trip. Hopefully the tires are in good enough shape--they've only been to Colorado Spring (twice) and Atlanta (once) since I bought the trailer. I'll need to price a spare tire and rim for the trailer anyway.

If the answer turns out to be "too much" and "no" then I'll just have to clean the inside of the trailer as best I can and get it ready for its run to the shop. From the latest pictures that Mark sent, however, I do not think that will be a problem.

******

It was a foggy, foggy day today at the Aerie. Cloud ceiling was somewhere below 2000 feet and the winds were nonexistent, so we were in the clouds almost all day. Occasionally we would get rain but it was mostly drizzle and mist, mist and drizzle all day long right up to 5:30 PM when the northern wind kicked it up a notch or two and blew the clouds up the hillside and high into the air. It's still not clear, but the clouds are now above us where they belong.

It IS supposed to be getting clear and sunny for the next three or four days both here and up at the Bolt Hole. While it will be comfortable during the day (40s and 50s) it might get down right chilly at night up north with a low on Thursday night in the mid to low teens predicted.

******

Fishing season is right around the corner. In NYS it starts on April 1 regardless of what the weatherman says. Often it's during a snow storm. Might be this year too. Snow is predicted for the 30th and 31st of March. Only an inch or two but still...

In PA the trout season starts on April 17th in the Northern Tier. (There's a split starting date that lets some southern counties open on April 3rd. Must read the regs.) Hopefully it won't be snowing then. Last year it wasn't snowing but there was some still on the ground.

I mention this because, although my tackle boxes are here at the Aerie, the poles are in the back room of the Bolt Hole. Neither is very good without the other. I do have one light backpacking pole and small pocket tackle box up north for use on the local streams and a similar set up could be cobbled together from what I have in the Aerie...but there's a lot of gear up there that should be here or visa-versa. (Must remember to bring pieces together!)

Tales of the Sea (sorta)

Dudley posted a story today about his son Frank's harrowing experience on a river camping trip that barely lasted one night because of high winds and rising waters. I recommend that any who wish to venture out in iffy weather go and read the whole thing.

It was this line: "Franks said for every three feet they moved forward, the wind and current would push them back two and one half feet." that reminded me of an outing of my own back in New Jersey that provided its own scary moments.

I went solo canoe fishing at Round Valley Reservoir on what appeared to be a nice enough day but turned out to be anything but. Now, Round Valley is a pump/storage reservoir built on the top of a hill in otherwise pretty flat farm country in western New Jersey just south of I-78. It is nearly circular and about 1 mile in diameter. There's a nice public beach and a fine boat launch facility on the northwest side of the water.

It was there that I launched borrowed 17-foot fiberglass canoe to do a little bass and bluegill fishing along the shoreline. Being a careful boater I donned my life vest and lashed a spare paddle to the thwarts of the canoe...just in case. I made my way slowly along the northern shore of the lake catching a few fish in the weed beds as I drifted. Then I came to the dam and cut across the 100-150 yard expanse of open water trolling in hopes of catching one of the large trout in the deeper waters. No luck. Back in the shallows, I continued to drift along with the aid of a very slight breeze until I was on the side of the lake opposite the boat launch where there's a state run campground.

Suddenly, as it often does at Round Valley*, the wind really picked up and I was being blown into shore. I stowed my gear and, deciding to attempt to get back to my car at the boat launch, started paddling for all I was worth--right into the wind.

Have you ever sat in the stern of a 17-foot canoe when there's no one in the bow? First, the bow rises out of the water and the keel (if your canoe has one) may not even rest in the water. Second, that bow acts as an uncontrollable sail to pick up any wind and thrust the front of the canoe to the left and right. Third, if you're heavy enough, you can not see where the hell you are going.

With the wind blowing in my face, I got down on my knees closer to the center of the canoe so as to cut the amount my body was exposed to the wind and to bring the bow down. And then I paddled and paddled and paddled some more. As hard as I could, I shoved that paddle into the water and pulled for all I was worth. Like Frank and his buddy, every time I lifted the paddle to reach forward the wind drove me back. Still, I attempted to move against the wind, staying close to the shore--just in case--until I got to the dam where I had no choice but to hit the open water. The yards...twenty yards...I was almost half way--fifty yards--across that stretch of open water when the canoe paddle snapped just above the blade leaving me with nothing but the useless handle.

In the time it took me to unlash the spare, the wind had blown me back across the open water and up on the shore. if I had been on the west side of the dam, I could have easily walked the one-half to three-quarters of a mile to the car and carried the damn canoe, but, alas, the wind had put me on the east side of the dam.

What to do? Should I attempt to battle the wind and perhaps break the second paddle? Or was there any other option?

There was another option. I would let the wind blow me to the campground and hope that there was someone there who could help me out. So, I turned the canoe around and made my way back to the point furthest from my car using the spare canoe paddle to keep the wind driven canoe going in the right direction.

Luck finally worked in my favor as, upon pulling up to the campground I found a Samaritan willing to give me a lift back to my car at the launch site. It was a three mile drive to get there. I was able to retrieve my car and then the canoe.

I never again went out on Round Valley Reservoir in a canoe alone. But I always 1) had a spare paddle and 2) if on my own, either a big rock or a 5-gallon bucket of water sitting in the bow of my canoe.

*Round Valley Reservoir is known for its sudden changes in weather and conditions. Being isolated as it is with no hills to its west or north for many miles, the winds can kick up boiling thunderstorms a squalls that have sunk boats and drowned fishermen. In at least one instance divers have spent days searching the depths to retrieve the bodies of two men who's boat was found overturned and blown up on the shore. The Wiki entry has more on Round Valley Reservoir.

Evening report

A quiet day here at the Aerie.

We spoke to our son (Eugene, OR) and daughter (Linden, NJ) wishing them both a Happy Easter. You might say it was a coast-to-coast moment as Rick was on the phone while I was IMing with Jessica.

Terry made a nice ham with scalloped potatoes and asparagus for dinner. Side dishes included deviled eggs, farmer's cheese and home made apple sauce. The left over ham and asparagus ended up in a dinner omelet.

The temperature got above 41 for about 30 seconds at 2 PM before retreating again. It'll drop down to the very low 20s overnight which is why I spend a little time moving more firewood into the garage and why I'm currently sitting before a fire in the fireplace. The cats are enjoying the warmth as well.

Oh, our night visitor is back---and I'm not talking about Ahmal. I did mount a game camera outside that is aimed at the bird feeder area. It started flashing before it got full dark. When a few flashes went off in quick succession, I assumed we had more than just a mouse triggering the camera and, sure enough, the flashlight revealed the bruin had returned. By the number of flashes I've seen, I should have quite a few pictures of him in the morning.

It would be nice to know where he holds up during the day. It can't be too far away if he's here so promptly after sunset. Then again, black bears can travel 10 miles in a day just searching for food. I know I can protect the garden (once I get around to planting things) from rabbits and perhaps deer, but to protect it from raccoons and especially bears would be a monumental task.

A story in the paper today about the start of trout season next Saturday which reminded me that I have to purchase my license. I also want to look for some ammo as well so I'll probably go to Cooper's Sporting Goods down in Mansfield tomorrow to look around. (Turkey season starts on the 25th and I'm hearing them in the back field most mornings. Of course, they won't be there after the 24th. Damn flock of literate turkeys!)

Here and there..Random thoughts

Terry was down at the New Jersey Shore from Friday until late last night. (Have to be careful when I say Jersey Shore around these parts of north central PA. There's a town of that name just a short hop down Route 15 and a jog to the southwest from Williamsport. It can get confusing at times.) She drove east to meet with some friends from the SAGA group at one of the women's home just north of Seaside. There were something like 8 or 9 women there for the three days and two nights, all with just one bathroom. The two dogs one woman brought had it easy. The backyard is fenced.

I don't know how much stitching they got done, but Terry says there was a lot of eating and gabbing going on. Even the rain wasn't much of a deterrant to having a good time.

Me? I stayed home with the cats and watched the weather go from lovely spring time warm and sunny (Friday) to chilly and raw wintery with a threat of ice and/or snow flurries (Sunday into Monday). I also watched the bird feeders get raided by a couple of raccoons (Friday and Sunday nights); an oppossum (Saturday night when Julie led me on a wild goose chase outside when she slipped between my legs. She ran after a rabbit, hid under the car and then ran back to the door to demand to be let in while I chased her. The oppossum cowered against the retaining wall and watched.); and a small black bear (Sunday night and again tonight). Other than that, the weekend was a bust. The long day out on Thursday to go up to Montezuma caught up with me and I felt like doing nothing but sleep on Sunday. Sort of like the RU women did against Purdue in the first half as they lost in the sweet sixteen round of the NCAA tournament.

Major League Baseball is still a week away but the Mets will be heading north soon to play two games at their new ballpark. They did open Citi Park yesterday for a college game and the reports of the new facility are very positive. (Although the price factor may still keep me away. Binghamton (AA) and Buffalo (AAA) are just as far away (or a lot closer in the case of Binghamton and a heck of a lot cheaper.)

And trout season starts in New York State on Wednesday, April 1. An appropriate day as it so often finds anglers standing in frigid water as snow flurries fall around them and they try to coax hatchery raised fish (which taste like cardboard, in my opinion) to take a worm of fly when they've been raised on pellets of liver and such. I've got my NY license but I think I'll wait until I get back up to the Bolt Hole. The streams around there hold native trout and although they are small, their pink flesh is as sweet as cherries. It will be a week or two before trout season opens here in PA and I've yet to get my license--maybe tomorrow. I never used last years license, but this year I WILL wet a line.

I started another quilted wooden square in the workshop today. Using the techniques I learned on the last one, I got all the strips cut today and four out of five groups glued up. (Short a couple of clamps or I would have had them all glued up this afternoon. I may even go down and pull the clamps from the first to glue up this last batch before I go to bed.) This square uses not only the walnut and oak of the last one but also cherry. There's not a lot of difference in the color of the oak and cherry, but the wood grain is very different. The color difference may be more pronounced once a finish is applied. I did swipe the two with a damp cloth and saw that the cherry was slightly darker when wet in comparison to the oak.

The rain we had yesterday was from a front that swept through from the west. The breeze that was ahead of it blew from the south and brough some nice warm temperatures on Friday and Saturday. Once the front moved past, however, the winds switched around to blow out of the north. The temperature last night dropped from 37 degrees at 1 AM to 28 degrees at 8 AM. It stayed in the mid to low 30s all day with a leaden overcast sky. The wind was quite brisk with gusts up to 35-40 mph. The bird feeders were swinging back and forth all day. Things should be better tomorrow. The winds are supposed to deminish and the sun is supposed to shine. I've started to take all the forecasts with a grain of salt. At times I want to shout, "I'm from Missouri! Show me!"

Could be worse, of course. The folks in Fargo are battling floods AND blizzards simultaniously. Alaska is shoveling snow and volcanic ash.


Polotics...Bah, humbug on 'em all!

If GM hadn't packaged Onstar! into their vehicles, I would have bought a Silverado instead of a Tundra. Sure, Onstar! is free...for the first year. After that it costs between $150 and $300 a year depending upon the level of service you want. I didn't want any--I can read a map and have a cell phone--but would have been stuck with the dinky antenna or a hole in the roof of the cab. I wonder how many others walk out of the dealership after doing the math. Still, I feel the government had no business bailing GM and Chrysler out using my tax money. They should have been allowed/forced to declare bankruptcy. It would have hurt like hell for around six months while things got sorted out, but the companies could have come back stronger with a new set of work rules for their union partners. Right now, I've only heard of the company being restructured, nothing about the union.

The Secretary of State visits the shrine of the Lady of Guadalupe and doesn't know/learn about the history before the visit. She then proceeds to make some really, really stupid comments ("Who painted it?" "You have a nice Virgin there.") The Vice President thanks the President of Spain for the help they gave in Iraq when the curretn President of Spain pulled his troops from the field immediately after being sworn in this rendering zero assistance. Great foreign policy team we've got. Hope they can handle the G20 summit in London. Then again there will be 500 folks going to assist President Obama in hammering out deals. Heck of a committee. I believe President Clinton deployed smaller invasion forces. What can go wrong? Stay tuned to FoxNews to find out, 'cause those other channels won't tell you.

New Fishing Gear

This Solar powered fisherman’s tackle box looks like the kind of thing that could be really useful at the fly-in lakes we go to in northern Quebec except for one tiny little problem: Every time we go fishing, it rains every day of our trip.

Every. Single. Time.

We’ve gotten off the plane at our outpost cabin and had the pilot warn us about the dangers of forest fire so be careful with our butts and campfires, etc. He kicks the ground and we witness a cloud of dust rising into the air. We nod our heads in agreement but stifle a smirk and a smile as he boards his plane to return to the main lodge. We know what’s about to happen. No sooner does the sound of the prop engine Beaver fade over the hills than the rain clouds emerge from hiding. The drought is over. (This has not occurred just once but multiple times. But do we get any thanks from our Canadian friends? Nooo.)

For the next six days we will have rain for at least four of them. Sometimes it will rain everywhere, sometimes only over our (my) boat. I’ve hunkered down against a typhoon with wind, torrential rain and even hail, only to look across the lake and see my buddy and his kids sitting in the sunshine less than a kilometer away.

I’m thinking of starting a second career as a rainmaker. For enough cash to cover the purchase of a boat, I’d pack up my gear and go to any area suffering from a bad case of dryness. As soon as I launch and get on the water—POOF—instant rain. I figure if Georgia had called me last summer, they wouldn’t e in such bad shape right now. And I know they have some pretty good bass lakes down there I could have helped refill.

Oops!

Japan launch 'prince fish' catch-and-eat drive

Fifty years ago Mayor Daly of Chicago presented the Japanese Crown Prince a gift of the Illinois state fish…the bluegill. The Crown Prince brought them home and began a breeding program in the hope folks would have a new food source. What could go wrong? How about the prolific little buggers are eating up many native species. That’s really quite a common occurrence in such situations.

Emperor Akihito, a fish expert, brought the bluegill from the United States a half-century ago when he was crown prince, hoping to offer a new source of food to Japan.

But the bluegill, once celebrated as "prince fish," has turned into a nuisance in Japanese rivers and lakes by feeding on native species, leading the emperor to offer unusually personal comments of regret earlier this month.

They are trying to encourage people to eat the bluegills they catch. A web site (not linked in the article, possibly because it’s in Japanese) offers tips in filleting and cooking what is called a “pan fish” in the USA for obvious reasons. Simply gut and scale the little buggers and put them in a cast iron skillet with a bit of oil and you’ve got some of the sweetest tasting fish you’ll ever have. Yeah, you can fillet them and make fish cakes out of the meat and maybe a dozen other recipes, but a pan fish was meant for the pan, gol darn it!

The 104 miles of Good Road and A Scenic tour of Ottawa—again.

On past trips, we have been able to get up and have a leisurely breakfast before cleaning up the cabin for the next crew. Then we have had to wait. In poor weather, that wait can be quite long, which explains, in part, why David brought War and Peace.

This year, because of the summer solstice, we were up really early, which was a good thing. We had barely gotten packed and had the floor swept but not mopped, when we heard the Beaver flying up the lake. Holy cow! It was only 7:30 AM! We had visions of getting back to the Bolt Hole before dinner. HA!

While the transfer of the cabin went smoothly, as did our flight back to Coursol Base, things went downhill quickly thereafter. Finishing a cup of coffee at Coursol at 8:30 AM, we learned that the dirt road was closed heading back to Maniwaki. A new culvert was being installed at one of the washouts we had crashed through the week before. It should be open by noon. So we had a second cup of coffee before starting on our way at 9:30 AM.

Sure enough, we reached the road closure at 10:30 AM but there didn’t seem to be anyone at work. We learned that the backhoe/front end loader on our side of the culvert had broken down; something about a leaking hydraulic system that prevented the front end loader from being used. The wait was for a second machine and dump truck from the opposite side. We sat and waited for the alternative was a 4 ½ hour ride (versus a 2 hour one) that would take us even further out of our way than that. About 11:15 AM a dump truck full of sand and then a backhoe pulled up to the opposite side of the ditch. By noon we were again on our way. Lost time: perhaps 2 ½ hours.


But we weren’t finished yet! We did succeed in navigating the dirt road and reaching pavement. We did succeed in making good time southbound on 105 and 5 to Ottawa. We carefully followed the signs off King Edward looking for 417—and found ourselves stranded in downtown Ottawa—again. Every single time we come through this bloody town south bound we get lost. (Although, with four or five guys in the vehicle, maybe we should say "confused" instead.)

It’s a lovely city and I wouldn’t mind visiting it someday as a real tourist but their road signage really, really sucks! And you can’t get a map of the city that’s worth the paper it’s printed on. Those in the various road atlases I have don’t help at all. I swear that they do this on purpose. The city of Ottawa wants you to flounder around on its streets. They want you to look at their beautiful city. Ottawans must have a bit of an inferiority complex from being forever overlooked as the capital of a nation. Montreal, Quebec, Toronto, Vancouver all possess more name recognition. Hell, even Edmonton, Calgary, and Regina probably are more recognized. By dicking you around with poor directions they get you to pass by the capital building (lovely) or through parks where black squirrels abound on the lush lawns. We once accidentally saw the changing of the guard at the capital. At least during the day you have more people to ask directions from and being Ottawa, they are likely to speak English. (At 3 AM in Hull one trip we needed directions but, with three young boys in their mid-teens, we were reluctant to ask of the many young ladies we saw on nearly every corner. At least in Ottawa there are large crowds of people outside the clubs at 2 AM. Although we seldom have to ask directions heading north any more.) Time lost meandering around downtown Ottawa: 30 to 45 minutes.

We did manage to make it back to the Bolt Hole by 10:30 PM after making a stop at a Tim Horton’s on 401 for dinner and the duty free shop at the border. Normally, from Coursol to Bolt Hole would take about 10 hours not 13 or 14 as it did this time. *sigh* Maybe next time.

Fishing on Gouin

Did I mention that we did some fishing? No? Strange, that was the main reason to go so far north. We sought the northern pike and walleye of Gouin Reservoir.

Every time we go we learn a tiny bit more about jigging for walleye. Joe, David and I have made 10 trips to various Caesar’s outpost cabins. Over the years, others have joined us. This was John’s second excursion. The four of us didn’t exactly slay the fish this trip, but we did do better than previously. We split our time looking for the very elusive “trophy” pike. (The best we could do were four or five fish that stretched between 32 and 35 inches. Last time we were at this particular cabin we managed to boat three pike that we taped at 40+ inches. I have a feeling that the lower water levels may have impacted that particular fishery in the bay in which we were located.) Our second goal was to increase our take of keeper sized walleye. We found plenty. In half a dozen holes we jigged up 140 walleye that were all keepers. We didn’t keep them all, of course, just enough for one meal and two limits (8 fish each) to take home.

I paired up with John, while Joe and David manned the second boat. They managed to boat the largest walleye (6-1/2 pounds and 26 inches) as well as the largest pike (around 9-1/2 pounds and 35 inches). They also managed to have a bit of a Nantucket sleigh ride from one pike they never did get to see. Based on the tale Joe told, it probably would have topped 45 inches. You can’t tow one of these big plywood boats without having some real shoulders on you.

John holds up one of the smaller walleye we caught. Most of the fish were slightly larger measuring 18 to 22 inches and perhaps 2 or 3 pounds.

Pike were a target species, too. But we were looking for something much bigger than this.

John caught what has to be one of the smallest pike I've ever seen. It measured just over five inches and was barely larger than the top-water plug John was using.

The tally for our trip was just 315 fish, of which 175 were northern pike and 140 were walleye. We probably could have caught many more but we were there to relax, too, and didn’t really push the issue. Despite having daylight from 4:30 AM until 9:30 PM, we were on the water only about half that time.

When Friday rolled around again, we were satisfied with our experience and looking forward to getting home. But that's another story.

Other Unwanted Guests/Residents

We had other unwanted guests inside the cabin during the week. Every night we would have white-footed deer mice rummaging through the day’s garbage to see if we had thrown anything edible away. The answer was usually no, but he made a racket rustling all the crinkly paper he could find. Perhaps it was his way of saying we should leave him some peanut butter—it’s far quieter. Occasionally during the week we would see this little critter go scurrying across the floor. As it was apparent that this was more his home than ours, and he was really very harmless, we left this little critter alone.

The screen in the window behind the sink had two steel mesh scrubbing pads stuffed into holes, which was rather curious. Then one day we came back from fishing to find a third hole. And the remains of a hamburger bun that had been inside a plastic bag which was inside a cardboard box was draped over the window sill. The only “hole” in the box was the hand holds on each end. Another bun, still inside the plastic bag, was chewed up quite thoroughly.

I had seen the culprit before. While sitting on the front porch enjoying the cool breezes, if not the bugs, of evening, I had had a red squirrel come running up the posts and across the rails to look at my boots and ankles as if he were trying to decide whether or not to run up my legs. He always chose “not.”

photo by David Messinger

Taken back in 2004, we still had a a red squirrel enter the cabin this year. The difference is that the door was not the preferred method in 2007. Instead, he gnawed his way through the metal screen above the sink. (Why he didn't use the fiberglass/nylon screens in the other windows is a mystery.)

I found the Northern Canadian Air Force to be somewhat different from the Adirondack Air Force. There were fewer black flies for one. There were far more deer flies and, what I will call, moose flies. The latter were about the size of horse flies—about the size of a quarter. There didn’t seem to be as many mosquitoes as in the past and almost no no-see-ums. We had enough enough bug dope to protect us, but there were fewer bugs than we expected.

Into the Great White North

Well, I’m back in PA and it’s time to post something about the fishing trip at Caesar’s Lodge outpost cabin up on the Gouin Reservoir in northern Quebec.

There were four of us on this trip and I think it is safe to say we all had a good time. I met the others at The Bolt Hole in the Adirondacks—a four hour drive from The Aerie for me and a 5+ hour drive from NJ for them—on Thursday, June 14. We then packed up John’s Ford Explorer and headed up to the Thousand Islands crossing of the border (midnight and, yes mister Canadian crossing guard, for the third time we were going fishing and we brought no alcohol with us), northeast to Ottawa (amazing how many people are out on the streets at 1:30 AM in this oh so clean city) and then north through Manawaki (24-hour gas station) to Grand Remous on 117. We parked at the end of the 104-mile dirt road that would take us to Caesar’s Coursol Seaplane Base at 3:30 AM to await daylight (4:30 AM). Then it was three-and-a-half hours of bumps and dips and washouts to dodge as we traveled the dirt road. We arrived at Coursol at 8 AM and waited our turn to be ferried out to the outpost cabin Gouin #1 where we would fish and sleep for a week.

George Brossard, the new owner, was flying the Beaver and rushing around as busily as a one-armed paper hanger. The Beaver, capable of carrying 4 passengers and their gear, and a Cessna, 3 passengers, are the only two planes they have in the air right now. A fire on the docks a few years ago left them short one Beaver and the plane is a workhorse that is no longer manufactured. When George’s cousin, Oliver, sold him the business last year, Oliver’s private little “Canary” was taken out of service. They were hustling two crews out and one crew into outpost cabins while the Coursol Base also handled several bear hunters. Anyway, we got out to Gouin #1 a little after noon which was a huge improvement over last year’s weather induced 6 PM arrival. This year’s weather was clear but almost unbearably hot with the mercury rising to over 85 degrees. The metal roofed cabin was stifling and could have easily been used in some movie like Cool Hand Luke as one of those prison sweat boxes. Luckily, it wouldn’t stay that way.

This photo by David Messinger from 2004 shows the Gouin #1 cabin from the water. There have been improvements including a new water tower, indoor shower and toilet. Unfortunately, because of draw-downs and lack of snow for the past two years, the water level is five (5) feet lower than in this picture. Many flats and weed beds that once held pike are now high and dry.

Been Fishing

If you’ve noticed a lack of posting on this site during the last two weeks it’s because I’ve been way up north at this location: Caesar’s Lodge. More specifically, four of us spent a week at Caesar’s Gouin #1 cabin in northern Quebec.

We had a great time fishing for northern pike and walleye. While we didn’t “slay them” as some of the other fishermen claim to have done, we had sufficient action to satisfy our modest requirements without being on the water more than 8 to 10 hours a day. With the solstice, there was light from 4:30 Am to 9:00 PM and we could have caught even more fish if we had pushed it, but we were there to relax as much as fish. We caught enough walleye to have a great meal and pack 16 fish in the cooler to bring home. (We only bought two licenses that allowed us to keep 8 walleye on each. The other two were for catch and release only.)

In addition, we had to teach some manners to a 300 pound black bear that thought the cabin was as much his as ours. I blame the two groups that were there before us for that \situation. One must have been feeding him and the second just treated him with “respect”. We taught him a lesson using a borrowed shotgun and some #6 birdshot. I think he got the point.

We should have used the second shell on a red squirrel who gnawed his way through a metal screen—why he didn’t come through the fiberglass ones, God only knows—but we were too soft hearted.

I’m still at the Bolt Hole in the Adirondacks using dial-up service. I’ll be posting more on our trip when I get back to PA and a more high-speed hook-up in a day or two.

Da-dum...da-dum...da-dum...

As if plaque carrying rabbits and squirrels aren’t bad enough, there’s this story out of Australia:

Shark fishermen who don't leave the garden

A species of deadly shark has become so numerous in Australia that locals can catch them by dangling a line from apartment balconies and back gardens.

Bull sharks are so prevalent in the creeks and canals of the Gold Coast in Queensland that "high-rise hunters" are snaring three or four a night as they watch television, play pool and drink beer.

Amateur anglers have caught 10ft-long sharks with nothing more sophisticated than a pork chop on a hook.

So, if you live one of the canals along the Gold Coast, you can pretty much be assured of catching a bull shark in your backyard or off your balcony. Just don’t go in the water for a swim.

Saeed Granfar baits his line with chopped-up eel, fixes it to a pontoon at the back of his garden and retreats to his living room to watch DVDs. When he hears the sound of the line playing out, he sprints down to grab the rod.

"My mum doesn't like it much because I keep breaking things as I run through the living room to the jetty,'' said the 24-year-old architecture student.

In 10 years he has caught nearly 100 sharks, some he eats, but most he throws back.

He throws them back! A true sportsman practicing catch and release.

Fisheries officials say they are opposed to a shark cull and people must learn to live with the potential man-eaters.

"They have as much right to be in the water as we do," said Jeff Krause, district manager of the Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol.

Okay. A little PC spin on the rights of bull sharks being infringed.

The bull shark is one of the few sharks that can live in both fresh and salt waters.