BACK FROM BASIC

Gator, my black Labrador retriever who just turned a year old, has been at basic training for the last couple months.    My boys and I went to Kansas City yesterday to get him.  They asked, "Do you think he'll remember us?"  I assured them he wouldn't have any problem.

We arrived and Gator's teacher for the last two months, Gordy Weigel, had him in the dog trailer.  He opened the door and the boys were soon assured Gator had not forgot them.  He rubbed against their legs and couldn't get enough loving and attention from either of them.  He was definitely excited to see us.

Gordy put him through his paces showing us some of the things he'd learned while at retriever school.  He was now well versed in long marks and had the basic understanding of lining drills and hand signals.  His retrieving desire has always been impressive and he absolutely loves it.

It will be interesting to watch his progression over the summer.  We've still got a ton of work to do and I plan to work him at least three or four days a week up until duck season starts and beyond.  The rewards of time spent will come this fall when I don't have to get off my bucket or slosh through miserable marsh muck to retrieve a duck!

I'll keep you posted.
 

THREE'S NOT A CROWD

Sunday was a nice day and after wrapping up some loose ends from my daughter's graduation I decided to run to Marion Reservoir for a quick fishing trip.  Ashley had more graduation parties to go to that afternoon so it would just be my twin boys and I.  They asked if their friend, Riley, could go along.  Riley is a soon-to-be 7th grader as well so I figured I'd get a taste of what it was like had we had triplets.
  
Three 12-year-olds flinging lures at the same time in a boat might seem a bit dangerous.  But when I ordered my new boat last summer I'd anticipated crowded conditions and bought a bigger one.  I often have several members of my immediate family, plus a young niece, nephew, sister, brother-in-law and mom onboard.  Six people in my boat has been the norm over the past few summers on family camping/fishing trips.  Don't get me wrong, the boys were still youthfully-dangerous but they managed not to hook each other and more importantly I went home without any holes in me.

We launched and Cody caught a crappie on his first cast.  Riley lost a crappie on his first cast.  Riley had never caught a crappie before, although he'd caught plenty of bass with his Dad.  It wasn't long and he boated his first.  Brandon missed several as every time he took his eyes off his bobber it went down.  We boated 10 crappie and I told the boys we needed to go try some walleye.  If nothing else, I figured some wipers only twice the size of the crappie we were catching would give them 10-times the battle.

I wasn't wrong.  Brandon had his jig-and-nightcrawler down for less than a minute when he was holding on for dear life.  Unfortunately, I hadn't checked his drag and it stuck for just a second and broke him off.  He wasn't happy.

Things got better.  Although we didn't boat an 'eye, we caught about 10 wipers.  It was like a fire drill when a fish would get hooked trying to avoid tangling lines.  Riley caught his first wiper, too.  The boys were having a great time fishing, singing and jammin' to some tunes on the radio.  I wish I could have secretly videotaped the three of them singing to Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl" and then played it back at their high school graduation.

The boys wanted to end the evening with some more bobber action as I think they enjoyed casting a jig more than fishing vertical.  We caught about 15 more crappie and it was getting dark.  But none of them wanted to leave as we were still catching fish and they were having a blast.  Riley assured me his parents wouldn't mind our tardiness even on a school night.  I had him call his mom as we loaded the boat and made sandwiches on the tailgate for the ride home.

The boys jabbered nonstop on the way home.  They talked about their friends at school they'd tell the next day about their fishing trip.  They recounted the ones that got away and Riley's crappie with only one eye.  They wondered why a sandwich tasted so good, despite being made on a dirty tailgate.

It was all good. 

IT CAN'T GET ANY BETTER

My trip to Glen Elder Reservoir last weekend with a couple buddies, Jim Reid and Kent Dodds, will go down in fishing history as one of my best ever.  It started out with a great day weather and walleye-wise on Thursday.  We caught 40-some 'eyes and had five keepers (little did we know the 'eye fishing would get exponentially better).  And we followed that with some huge crappie fishing action on Friday in less than ideal conditions. 

We got a late start on Saturday and I got credit for it.  I had cooked some Angus steak burgers the night prior and apparently didn't let all the lighter fluid cook out of the charcoal before putting the burgers on the grill.  And jokingly I had put an "X" in the cheese of one burger and told Kent to make sure he ate that one because I'd doctored it up with a little rat poison. 

That morning Jim and Kent were both likely wondering if that was indeed the truth.  Severe intestinal problems were the norm and neither wanted to get too far from the bathroom, nor did I want either of them in my nearly-new boat.  To make matters worse my case of the "crud" wasn't nearly as problematic. 

Things finally calmed down enough we got on the water at noon.  The wind was howling out of the north from 20-30 mph and it was about 45 degrees.  We were bundled up in winter clothes plus our rain gear and didn't get out of it for two days.  I motored to the area where we caught walleye on Thursday and dropped anchor.  My plan was to fish a break in 7-feet of water and swing to about 16 feet of water.  It quickly became apparent 7-feet was the ticket as we all had fish on within seconds after dropping our jig-and-nightcrawler combinations to the bottom. 

Over the next 4 hours, we wouldn't go more than 2 or 3 minutes without someone catching a walleye.  We kept a verbal count and ended the day with 145 fish.  Most were 16-18 inches long.  However, we did catch 21 fish over 18 inches and kept our legally allowed 15.  Most keepers were 18 1/2 to 20 inches with three or four, 3-4 pound fish.  The biggest was 4 1/2 pounds.  It was truly a wonderful day despite the blustery weather.

Never thinking we could improve on a day like that we hit the water Sunday at 10 a.m.  Again, within minutes we were setting the hook using the same pattern and location.  Unlike Saturday, I did take up and let out anchor rope and switch cleats occasionally when the action "slowed."  We fished until 3 p.m. and landed 160 walleye.  We kept 11 and released several others that were legal but didn't exceed the 18-inch mark by much.  

It was a dream trip and one we'll remember for a long time.  We went through a flat of nightcrawlers in three days of walleye fishing and we halved most of those.  That's incredible action.  We're planning on doing it again next year.  And I've already been told I can take my boat and truck but they don't want me bringing any hamburgers, or at least cooking them! 


         

FRIDAY THE 13th NOT ALWAYS UNLUCKY

A couple buddies and I went to Glen Elder last Thursday to spend a few vacation days fishing.  We caught about 40 walleye that afternoon before we had to leave our spot due to a storm.  It was a great trip to that point and the fillets from five keepers would look good later on the grill.  Smeared with a little olive oil and liberally sprinkled with Cavender's Greek seasoning it just doesn't get much better than grilled walleye.

But fast forward and oh what a difference a day makes.  Friday was drastically different and the wind howled 25-30 mph out of the north and it was cold.  We launched and tried walleye fishing close to the ramp with no luck.  I'd been wanting to try crappie fishing so we headed to the "calm" side of the lake and pulled into a cove near the marina.  There's a ton of brush piles in the lake and we located one and started fishing.  It wasn't long and I felt the first "thump" and set the hook.  As I fought the fish I wondered if I'd hooked a smallmouth bass.  But when it surfaced I discovered otherwise.

The first crappie of the day was a giant and even drew a few accolades from a nearby boat.  The big slab looked deeper than it was long and I had to grab the line to land it as my drag was slipping when I tried to lift it in the boat with my rod.  The spawned-out female was likely much heavier a couple weeks ago, but now tipped the scale at about 2.25 pounds.

We didnt' stop with that one.  Trying to hold the boat in 14 feet of water we caught more crappie in less than ideal conditions.  A 2-inch Carolina pumpkin and chartreuse plastic on a 1/8-ounce jig fished two cranks off the bottom was the hot ticket.  We caught plenty more and soon the livewell was stacking up with tasty slabs.  Friday the 13th wasn't so unlucky after all!

It would have been easy enough to pass on fishing on a day like that but we were there to fish.  I hate bad weather, but I've always heard that the weather affects fishermen moreso than the fish and we found that to be true, particularly the next couple days walleye fishing (check my next Blog entry to hear the details of that adventure).  It's almost unbelievable! 

 

CRAPPIE MOTHER'S DAY

Lots of people enjoyed Mother's Day in a variety of ways. Family gatherings, lunches and dinners paved the way for celebrations of all things Mom. But since it was a nice day and the mother of my children enjoys the water I talked her into heading to Marion Reservoir for a boat ride. I reasoned she could relax, soak up the sun and read a magazine while our three kids and I, plus my daughter's boyfriend, Adam, did some fishing. She thought that sounded like fun.

My original plan was to head out to the main lake and anchor up and try to catch some walleye. But before we got too far I decided to try a couple casts to shore to see if the crappie were still shallow as we'd been catching good numbers of them the last couple weeks. I caught fish on two of the first five casts so we all put on a bobber and started catching crappie.

We moved around and caught fish several places and they were all shallow. The wind was howling and blowing constantly at 25-30 mph with higher gusts making it difficult to control lightweight bobbers and jigs. But the action was steady and I was glad we hadn't ventured onto the main lake as it was rough with 4-5 foot waves. My kids would have enjoyed the roller coaster-like ride but my wife not so much.

It got hot enough my wife decided to get into the water to cool off. Although I thought 71-degree water still sounded chilly, she thought it sounded just fine since the air temperature was 97 degrees. She floundered around behind the boat while we continued to catch fish. We ended the day with 43 keeper-sized crappie. Most were 10-11 inches and Cody had big fish for the day with a slab weighing nearly 2 pounds.

I guess our day wasn't typical by many Mother's Day standards. But my wife had a good time as did the kids and I. We could make it a tradition as far as I'm concerned. I just hope she doesn't ask me to go to the mall for Father's Day.

LIFE BEGINS

On a recent fishing trip to a pond, my kids and I discovered several Canada goose nests.  This particular pond had at least a half-dozen different nests with evidence of several others that had been destroyed or abandoned.  The eggs will soon hatch and fat little bundles of yellow fuzz will emerge.  But they mature quickly and in a matter of a few short weeks they'll transform into carbon copies of the adults. 

These sights, once rare in Kansas, are now quite common.  Resident (the ones that stay year-round) and winter goose populations are increasing in many locations.  Personally, I love to see and hear Canada geese, even when I'm not hunting them.  To me they symbolize all that's natural about our state.  I can watch them out my window at work and they frequently fly over my house.

But not all Kansans share my adoration of these waterfowl.  Some despise them as they can make a mess of sidewalks and yards and in some cases cause crop damage.  Even within a housing development, where geese often hang around a pond, feelings differ.  One home owner enjoys them and even feeds them while the guy next door would just as soon they all die.  I guess that's human nature and a matter of perspective. 


     

CRAPPIE FEVER

April and May are wonderful times to fish. Last week I took my 12-year-old son, Cody, to Marion Reservoir to catch some crappie. With twins I don't get much one-on-one time with either son but his brother chose to go to a movie with friends. My daughter would have went but said she needed to be back by 7 p.m. and I told her we were staying until dark as the crappie action often gets good later in the evening. Boy was I right.

We started fishing about 3 p.m. and caught a few fish. We had seven or eight crappie the first few hours so it wasn't fast. Cody never really put his rod down, other than to get into the cooler to get something to eat or drink, which was unusual when fishing was slow. Both he and his brother's attention span has always been short thus far, which is nothing unusual for youngsters, if the action was slow. I told Cody we'd try another stretch of bank and if we didn't do any good we'd head home. The first couple casts we caught fish on a jig and bobber. As it got darker, the fish started biting better but it was getting late. I mentioned several times to Cody about leaving and his answer was always the same..."one more cast, Dad." He was in a zone and catching fish regularly and every bit as fast as me so I wasn't about to quit. We fished until we couldn't see our bobbers and I caught the last couple on nothing but feel. At 9:10 p.m. we picked up to head home. We'd caught 35 or so with most fish in the 9 1/2 to 11 1/2-inch range. We didn't have any monster crappie but had a half-dozen between 1 and 1 1/4 pounds which were just over 13 inches long.

But this trip really wasn't about the fish we cleaned, it was about watching Cody take a step as a young angler. I think he realized that we couldn't catch fish all the time but when we did it made those few hours prior seem worthwhile. Both boys have always been good at catching, but never real good at simply fishing. I think Cody figured out fishing is not always good, but when it is it can be great.