A good day of fishing on Chequamegon Bay.

Sunny day, deep snow and great moments of fish biting everywhere. If you had the touch or were lucky to have a fishing buddy who did you went home with fish.

One of the many plowed roads that lead somewhere on the bay. In this case due east toward the break wall.

Cohos for dinner?

Winter visited a few days ago.

8 to 10 inches of snow on the deck.

31 years of snow blowing with this John Deere 826.

Same route with each and every storm. Backyard, south on the alley, sidewalks, front walks,  mailmen's path.

I like to snow blow.

Mailmen's path between the houses.

2013 Early Ice. Chequamegon Bay.

New ice fishing shelter. 

Early ice fishing. Some are driving vehicles. I prefer a little more ice. For now this is my way on and off ice. If the cold weather holds out we should be driving by next week. It is shaping up to be a great season. For now the bay has 9 to 12" of ice with little or no snow cover.

Setup and fishing.

This was a great early ice fishing day.  It has been a couple of years since the "brothers-in-laws" have been ice fishing together. Hopefully we will get to do this more often. 

Ice fishing isn't only about catching fish. It's about enjoying the day and the company. Having fun is always in the cards.

A view to the Northwest. Looking toward Washburn Wisconsin.

Captured air bubbles in this early season black ice.

It doesn't get much better than this. A great way to end a day out on Chequamegon Bay. And yes we did catch some fish.

What a difference 12 hours makes. 62℉ @ 10:00 am. Snow @ 10:00 pm.

10:00 am - 62℉

10:00 pm (22:00) - SNOW!

The demolition of Ashland's Ore Dock continues.

We went for a walk today. We've been walking a lot. Today's walk brought our 60 day total to 105 miles.

West end beach looking NE over Chequamegon Bay. This was the west end of our 5 mile walk.

Ashland's new entrance sign. 

Crossing the bridge into Prentice Park.

A new building on the lakeshore. On what the old timers call "Reiss Coal Dock"

C. Reiss Coal Co., 7th Avenue West Dock

This new building was built (assembled) several weeks ago. The word on the street is that it is being use to assemble large fiberglass tank parts (to large to truck as one piece). Once assembled the tanks are then load on barges and barged out through the Great Lakes to the Saint Lawrence Seaway to the U.S. East Coast 

Here are some of the pieces & tanks waiting for assembly and / or shipping.

A little more fall crops color.

Colorful .... and yet somewhat ugly. I heard the term "wart" something to describe one of these. You decide. Although once between two layers of pie crust I would use the term "yummy".

Went for a walk this morning. Visited Ed on the way home.

Fall is quickly approaching. Went for a morning walk today. Stop and visited Ed at the tunnel.

The lakeside tunnel entrance.

August 31, 2012 Blue Moon over Chequamegon Bay

This original photo was taken earlier this evening. It was taken with a Canon 7D with a Canon 100-400mm 5.6 IS lens. To see this and other Blue Moon photos visit this website.
To identify some of the landmarks in the photo above please visit this website.

Our small "bragging" and memory wall.

When you live in an area of the country with some of the best fishing and hunting opportunities you better take advantage. I'm not much of a hunter but I have always loved to fish. Starting in 2001 my wife Donna started to fish with me. So to commemorate the ten years 2001-2010 we decided to leave a little something to prove we did spend time fishing.

The mounted fish were all caught over one complete fishing season in 2010. Two Walleyes one caught in summer season and one caught through the ice. The Northern Pike was caught through the ice by Donna her first fish while ice fishing. The Bluegills / Pumpkin Seeds / Brim were caught on several of the small inland lake we like to fish.

None of the fish would ever even come close to making a record book but they each have there own "record" in our memories.

The fish mount was made by:  Bayside Taxidermy Ashland, Wisconsin.

The hat in the photo according to some is  my "lucky fishing hat".  But those who are close know that it's more than that. 

The hat has a fishing rod and a four leaf clover on it. The fishing rod is in memory of my dad who taught me to fish when I was five. The four leaf clover is in memory of my mom who could walk along nearly anywhere grass grew and simply bend over while saying "here's one" and pluck a four leaf clover out of the mass of green. 

So is it my lucky fishing hat? Yes! it is but it's much much more. The one hanging on the fish mount is the original one I had made. Since then I have had four or five backup hats made to wear.

The wall plaque on the left contains 10 years of Wisconsin Inland Lake Trout Stamps and 10 Years of Great Lakes Trout Stamps (2001-2010).  In the center is a picture of Donna and myself each with a fish on the line.  Hint: Donna's fish a Largemouth Bass and is, shall we say much bigger than the specimen I'm holding in my picture. Some days your luckier than others.

Above and below our photos are our 2001 (red) and 2010 (green) Wisconsin State Husband and Wife fishing licenses.

We had the plaque professionally mounted and all the stamps, photo and licenses are in archival envelopes.

The plaque was done by: Karlyn's Gallery Washburn, Wisconsin

Now and Zen. A book by friends.

Now and Zen, a ‘cozy mystery’ by co-authors Deb Lewis and Pat Ondarko , third in the series of Best Friends Mysteries set in northern Wisconsin.

U.S.C.G. Cutter setting navigation buoys in Chequamegon Bay.

This is a yearly spring event. The arrival of the USCG Cutter. Setting and performing maintenance on the Chequamegon Bay navigation buoys. Today the weather in the bay is foggy. The photo on the left is looking toward Barksdale WI with low hanging fog.

Snowy Owl visiting our neighborhood.

This Snowy Owl was seen at midday sitting on a neighbor's roof.

It's official. Ice OUT March 26-27th 2012.

Today was "ice out" on Chequamegon Bay. It take three things for "ice out"  warmer weather, rain and finally wind. Today March 27, 2012 we had the strong winds from the south gusting to the mid thirties.

Searching for left overs on Chequamegon Bay.

This Coyote was searching the remaining ice at West End Beach on the west of Ashland Wisconsin. At the time of the photo the Coyote was about 150 yards offshore. It eventually turned and headed northwest toward Barksdale WI.

This Eagle was luckier than the Coyote it scored the remains of a fish just 50 feet from the edge of the Hot Pond. Less than a week ago this area was covered with snow and was occupied by several ice fishermen.

Wait a day..... the weather will change.

Sunny and warm 65 degrees . First day of 2012 (03/11/12) outside at the Black Cat.

Cooler, raining with fog around the Chequamegon Bay 03/11/12. View looking NE.

Cooler, raining with fog around the Chequamegon Bay 03/11/12. View looking NW.

Second Ice Rescue this weekend. Submerged snowmobile, 2 rescued individuals.

Snowmobile with two self rescued passengers on the ice.

Ashland Fire Department personnel approaching snowmobile passengers.

Safely ashore with others.

Chequamegon Bay ice rescue. Snowmobile crash with injuries.

Crash site about 3/4 mile offshore.

Crash site about 3/4 mile offshore.

Crash site. Ashland Fire Department Wind Sled "Dan B." on scene.

Fire department EMTs with patient splinted and secured.

Loading patient aboard for trip ashore.

Off loading patient from "The Dan B" wind sled.

Last move... to the ambulance.

Last move... to the ambulance.