Happy 1st Birthday, Lincoln!

January 5, 2019 - Saturday morning

31 degrees/sunny/breezy

Pentoga Road

It seems like it was just a year ago that Lincoln was born. Man, time flies by.

Oh wait. Never mind. It was just a year ago.

We're leaving for Iron Mountain later this morning to help celebrate Courtney and Garth's son's first birthday. The Milligans have a tradition that the first is an entire family affair, filled with gifts, and goodies. After year one, celebrations become more of an immediate family affair.

Let's see, what's new?

The weather has been crazy warm. Say what you want about these warm cycles, but I'm not complaining. Yesterday's high was in the upper 40's. It was time to go ice fishing!

Despite the warmer than normal temperatures, there is still sixteen inches of solid, clear, ice covering the lake.

With sled in tow, I zoomed down Pentoga Road on the mighty Tundra and was fishing within minutes.

I tried the usual crappie spots, poking a dozen or more holes through the ice in search of anything that swam.

My fish finder is homemade and isn't nearly as effective as the newer units, but it tells me the water depth and if there are fish in the area. None were to be found.

The day began by fishing in the Clam, protected from the colder temperatures. As the sun rose, I didn't bother with the portable shelter and opted to fish Alaska style, sitting on the seat of the snowmobile in the open.

Forsaking all the areas that treated us so good last summer, I moved to much deeper water, to a place where Neighbor Mike and I slayed the bluegills and crappies six years ago. The place hasn't been worth a darn since, but it showed some promise yesterday.

I didn't catch a lot of fish, but they were down there. It was frustrating. They'd swim up to my jig, nose it around a bit, then swim away. I tried everything known to modern man save for a lobster tail and ribeye steak.

Back home before noon, Sargie and I took our usual drive. It was a gorgeous day, too nice to stay inside.

Hmm, there was still an hour left before the sun set. What to do... what to do.

With Sargie's blessing, I hopped on the snowmobile and returned to the lake. Last night's expedition wasn't much better than those earlier in the day. I caught a few bass, but saw plenty of fish on the sonar. I missed two. I'm fairly certain one was a crappie, no doubt a world record holder. Most fish that get away are. 

Oops, Mel just called saying that Lincoln's party has been cancelled. Seems Lincoln's mommy, Courtney, woke up this morning with the flu. It's going around and appears as though no one is impervious to the nasty bug. I hope the flu shot I had earlier this year works.

January's calendar is quickly filling up. I teach two days this coming week, Tuesday and Thursday. The following week I'm at the elementary school for three days as the first grade teacher. Oh boy, that ought to be fun. Couple those with a dentist appointment and who-knows-what and the month will be over before we know it.

So what's on the agenda for today? I don't know. I could go fishing or scrape the drive bare by hand. There's the shop and several ongoing projects, and no doubt, Sargie will be up for a drive around the area.

Oh decisions, decisions. If only you had my life, you'd understand.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...