Let the season begin. The Man Yacht being pressed into another year of service in search of the mighty bluegill

June 13, 2013 – Thursday

54 degrees/cloudy/breezy

Pentoga Road

The scent of pine trees is in the air this morning. A cold front must have passed during the night, scrubbing the air, and making everything seem clean and fresh. This reminds me of my much-younger days when we traveled to northern Minnesota for a week of fishing. My most poignant memory is of how good everything smelled; like pine trees and water.  Mother Nature is wearing that exact same cologne this morning.

Wednesday started in the garden. I planted a couple of hills of zucchini squash and with that, am officially out of room to plant anything else. I’m beginning to wonder about the cantaloupe. It’s time to see them emerge, but so far, nothing. I’m also beginning to have suspicions that the topsoil I got might have contained a pre-emergence herbicide. So far, the pumpkins, gourds, beans, peas, and melons, have had a very poor rate of germination. It can’t be all bad seed and it can’t be all me. I’ll just wait and see. So far, it’s been pretty frustrating.

I heard a huge commotion in the barn. Brutus was barking and it sounded as though the roof was going to fly off. I hobbled from the garden as quickly as possible and found that he'd chased a partridge into the barn that had sought refuge in the rafters. Who needs a gun when one has a partridge chasing bulldog and a barn, both essential items needed for partridge hunting.

Most of the day was dedicated to extricating the Man Yacht from the woods, washing, fixing, and making it ready for another season of wild and wooly bluegill angling. Having done all the above, I drove to Alpha, bought a fishing license, then plopped the boat in our local lake in search of the mighty bluegill.

Brutus failed to understand why he couldn't go fishing with me. That's all I needed... a 120 pound bulldog jumping around in a teeny fishing boat trying to grab a fish. For being a fairly intelligent pup, my constant buddy can be downright dumb at times. I wasn't willing to take the chance. 

My first cast of the year produced a small rock bass. Though it was sorely undersized, I was happy to have caught something on my first attempt.

Mostly, I cruised along the shoreline of the lake looking for evidence of bluegill spawning nests… and found them in three feet of water. Try as I might, the male bluegills that were proudly strutting in the area, wouldn’t hit anything. The next few days should see them begin to strike a lure or worm in an attempt to keep the nests clean. I’m a few days early.

The circular nests can barely be seen if you look at the dark reflection from the trees.

Mark had called earlier saying the truck was filled with wood and ready to be picked up at the plant. Sargie took me to town when she arrived home and we’re presently that much closer to being ready for next winter.

I talked with the owner of the paving company and they are to begin grading today. He said the blacktop plant is beginning to operate again and they might get the barn finished before today’s end. I hope so. It’s difficult to repair, fix, or make anything with all my tools in boxes in the garage.

With Sargie home early on Wednesday, I put shrimp on the barby and later, we  enjoyed those and baked potatoes. Sargie works early today then is off tomorrow.

I’m heading to Iron Mountain after while for an MRI of my knee. After hobbling around for the past month, I’m more than ready (and eager) to get the thing fixed. My belly is beginning to get a bit pudgy due to lack of activity. This limping around is for the birds.

Time to get this uploaded and get ready for the day. A man’s work is never done, you know.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…

And you wonder why I didn't take him fishing with me...