There's a nice crappie!

August 10, 2018 - Friday

58 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

I'm sitting here watching a nice buck with a decent rack graze towards the back of the yard. He's looking at me, I'm looking back.

Come hunting season he'll disappear into the woods, probably not to be seen until the season is over.

Thursday morning found me in the garden picking blueberries.

Unfortunately, they are beginning to slow down and the season will soon be over. We've enjoyed eating handful's of fresh berries for the past month. Several bags have also been frozen to be enjoyed this coming winter.

The grapes that are growing along the garden trellis never really recovered from last winter's dormancy. I think our valley is simply too cold as the plants have done poorly. They are alive, but just barely.

In talking with Jambo, he suggested I try to root some starts from his hops plants that are growing up his outbuildings. I brought home two vines and plunked the ends in the garden pond hoping they'll take root.

I'd rather have grape vines growing over the top of the garden entrance, but if they won't, hops will suffice just fine. Plan B is to plant Arctic Kiwis next spring.

It's getting dry again so I tried threading the hose down one aisle of the garden in an attempt to water the pumpkins and squash. I finally gave up and set the nozzle to a steady stream and blasted water twenty feet through the air to reach the furthest plants.

I became curious. What, exactly, was growing under all those vines? I began wading through the jungle and was delighted at what was found.



Sargie and I made our early afternoon foray into town where we found treasures at the Insurance Liquidators. They are going out of business and everything in the store was 70% off. We both walked out with goodies we didn't even know we needed. I purchased two heated germinating mats for under $5 and enough koi (goldfish) food to last for years to come. 

A quick stop was made at the local animal shelter where I spent time with Tonka, a seven month old American/English Bulldog mix. Half the size that Brutus was, he's quite the wiggle worm and snorter, a kisser, and one of the happiest pups I've come across in a long time. He was surrendered by a young lady who adopted him as a puppy because he was "cute," but soon found a bulldog's nature is to be bullheaded. 

I don't know... I just don't know. Adopting Tonka would be like living and working with a very active three year old for the next year. One thing's certain, he'd be a lot of company.

The weather was perfect. Once home, we changed clothes and headed to the lake for a late afternoon and evening of fishing.

It didn't take the Crappie Queen long to spring into action by using her skills to land several nice bluegills.




Why limit the catch to mere panfish? How about landing a dandy bass?



My fishing partner even let me catch a bluegill or two.



With a heavy fish basket and the shadows growing long, we stopped to try our luck at one last place before motoring back to shore. 

The lure had barely hit the water when the surface exploded. It was a big crappie, certainly the largest one seen in a long time, attacking with such ferocity that it flew completely out of the water. The hook was set and the battle began. 

The fish ran while the drag on the reel struggled to keep up and play out line. For a while, it appeared the fish might win.

Several minutes later, an exhausted crappie rolled over on his side and was carefully handled into the boat.



For whatever reason, the God of Crappies decided it was my turn last night. I caught five keeper crappies, including  this fourteen and a half inch beauty.

After measuring the fish, we talked about driving to drive to town and have it officially weighed and measured to qualify for a Master Angler's recognition, certificate, and patch, but in the end, decided it wasn't necessary. I wouldn't wear that silly patch anyway and the certificate would end up somewhere in a drawer and eventually be thrown away. The photos and memory will suffice.

Sargie is back to work today and closes the Vision Center tonight. I'll go for my usual walk this morning. How high the thermometer climbs will decide the rest of the day's activities. There's a tree that fell alongside the road last fall that needs to be worked up, several ongoing projects in the shop, and the Packers first preseason game, played last night, is recorded on the DVR, ready to watch.

It promises to be a busy day ahead.



After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...