Posted by: Dan in Vermont, trout, perch, fishing on
Jun 23, 2008
I spent most of last week in Vermont, photgraphing the wedding of one of my best friend’s daughters — between trips to small streams outside of Stowe in search of native brook trout. A ‘keeper’ brookie measures 8 inches, if that puts the fishing into perspective, and my son and I caught about 30 over three days, including a handful that were keepers…We also stayed with a good friend and fellow captain and his family in the tiny village of Charlotte, VT, overlooking Lake Champlain. We fished for yellow perch using leaf worms we picked from under the pines in the yard surrounding the 122-year-old mansion and caught a bunch of perch with ten-year-old Katie and 13-year-old Allen Serrell. They were our hosts, with their parents Capt Ted and Karen, who live on Pine Island , Florida in the winter. Ted pilots the Tropic Star ferry service to and from Cayo Costa State Park and Cabbage Key, among other sites in that fascinating (and fish-filled) corner of SW Florida.
I fished Hoover Reservoir Sunday before the storms moved in and didn’t have a bump drifting crawlers over the points for saugeyes. Appears we’re moving into tougher summer fishing patterns now that the days are getting shorter! Look for programs on catfishing, Lake Erie perch and other summer subjects on upcoming Buckeye Sportsman shows. And if you have any requests: bring ‘em on!
Posted by: Dan in fishing, boating on
Jun 6, 2008
Ever tried to net a cat from a moving boat? I mean a real cat, not a whiskered fish. I got a front row view of just such a spectacle to kick off National Fishing & Boating Week earlier this month.
My wife coerced me into allowing the family cat to join us aboard our pontoon boat for a Sunday afternoon fishing trip. I was against the idea, but was out-voted in the family primary that decided this issue. My only concession was that there had to be a carrier aboard to contain the cat if it got to be a nuisance. Once we were underway and beyond jumping distance from shore, my wife released the kitty from the portable pet crate.
Within moments of being let out of the bag, the cat decided to abandon ship. With a valiant leap and a righteous shriek (the latter from my wife) the cat bailed out. The boat was going at about 6 knots (the boat’s anemic top-end speed), and kitty hit the hit the water with all four paws already pedaling.
Amid comments from eight-year-old Ethan like “Hey Dad, cats CAN swim!” and “kitty looks kinda’ like an otter…” my wife ran in little circles and considered going over the side herself before gaining her composure long enough to grab the long-handled landing net as I brought the pontoon boat alongside the frantically paddling kitty, which was making a beeline for the shoreline 200 yards to the West.
It took a couple of scoops to get all seven pounds (dry weight) of cat into a hoop designed for sunfish-sized catches, and the mesh presented some interesting problems once the wet ball of claws and fur was plopped onto the deck, but all in all it has served as the highlight of the boating season so far.
And I don’t have to worry about sharing the deck with a feline again anytime in the foreseeable future.
