Happy Birthday, Sargie!!

December 13, 2014 - Saturday

 22 degrees/cloudy/foggy/calm

Pentoga Road

Well, look who's birthday it is... Sargie's! I'm not exactly sure how old she is, but I'm fairly certain it's 23 or 26 or something like that. At any rate, Happy Birthday, honey! I love you.

Friday was a busy one on Pentoga Road. After Sargie left for work, I chugged into town to purchase a German chocolate cake mix with all the fixings. I stopped briefly at the plant to see Yooper Brother Mark, then made a pass by Gloria's to buy another dozen minnows before making my way home. 

I made Sargie's cake and while it was in the oven, readied myself to spend the rest of the day ice fishing. The two 9 inch pans were soon put on the counter to cool and I scrambled out the door shortly after.

Initally, I walked almost a mile to the other end of the lake in search of a new secret place where the fish would, literally, be jumping out of the holes. I didn't find it.

Geesh, the day was perfect. Sunny, warm, little wind... where were the fish? I was secretly fearful that my inability to put meat on the table might tempt Sargie to put me out on the ice for the polar bears. 

I finally gave up on my newest secret spot and began trudging back to the area that has produced in years past.

I don't know what it was, maybe one of those God-things, but I suddenly stopped and decided I'd fish exactly where I was. There was no logic, no secret knowing; I simply wanted to fish, not spend the day wearily walking through the snow with fifty pounds of ice fishing gear in tow.

Two holes were drilled nearby for flags, two more, side by side, for the sonar so I might jig for crappie and bluegills. 

A flag popped up, then another, then I caught one of the biggest bluegills that's been on my line in years. I'd found my newest secret fishing place, the honey hole that only I know about.

I spent several hours running after flags, mostly pulling undersized bass through the holes in the ice, but I caught a few large bluegill and a nice crappie. Somewhere along the way, my fishing mojo returned. The Alaska Professor was back. Polar bears be gone! It was good to to see what I was doing, even if it was done electronically.

The sun was low in the sky by the time I reluctantly folded the Clam and set the equipment into the sled. I still had a long ways to walk and didn't want to get off the trail walking back to where the Blazer was parked. 

Once home, I grabbed a quick shower, straightened up a few things, and waited for Mark and Sheri to arrive. We'd arranged to meet Sargie at the restaurant in the old school in Alpha on her way home. 

We had a wonderful "all you can eat" Friday night fish fry. The four of us ate and gabbed and laughed. Fun. Later, the folks stopped by the house where we sang Happy Birthday to Sargie and enjoyed ice cream and cake.

We're up early this morning and will be on the road to Green Bay shortly. This is one of those shop-until-you-drop days... it's what Sargie wanted to do on her birthday, so by golly, shopping is what it will be.

Actually, I think I'll sit in the mall with the other husbands and attempt to keep awake. Generally, we talk about the Packers and our Super Bowl chances and a few even nod off to sleep. It's a task not taken lightly when one lives with an all-day shopper, but then is that a surprise?

As everyone knows, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Every ice fisherman's dream come true... double flags!