A weekend camping and fishing trip.

We had beautiful weather. Nice warm sunny days. Cool no bugs evenings. A lake nearly to ourselves. Everyone caught fish. Everyone! Good food. Hot coffee and cool Rolling Rocks. And of course great friends to make the weekend great. Oh yes and a fish fry on Sunday night.

Everyone caught fish. 

Some caught larger fish.

Some caught a nice stringer of fish.

Some caught bait fish. But looked good doing it.

Some caught nice fish and cooked a great fish fry for the group.

 Some took an un-scheduled swim. 

Some traveled in style.

Some floated the lake with oars in hand. And fished with "Dandelions".

Some cleaned fish with ease.

Some EVENTUALLY took a nap. Under protest.

We all enjoyed beautiful weather and scenery.

And of course we all ended the days sitting around the campfire with sticky marshmallow fingers, chocolate lips and Graham cracker crumbs in our laps. 

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

A beautiful evening on a favorite lake.

Relaxing and enjoying the moment.

Bass fishing from the pontoon boat.

Fun day caught 8 largemouth. Three over 16". One just under 18". The remaining 5 were 12-15".  All eight fish were released.

New "boat". A great fishing platform for small water fishing.

Finally the right "boat" for small water fishing. Comfortable, plenty of storage space, anchor system, stripping basket, light and transportable.  Thanks J.M. for making it happen. Thanks to T.I. for the photo.

 A little camping and a quick fly tying lesson. Whip finishing. Thanks E & T. for some fun camping.

Find the boat here.

A few days away. Fishing some. Quilting some. Tying some. Working some.

Smallmouth bass. Donna. All of the fish were in the 14" to 16" range. All were released.

Smallmouth bass. Donna.

Largemouth bass. Donna.

Smallmouth Bass. Wayne.

Smallmouth Bass. Wayne.

Night scene.

Listen.....

A new fly tying space. If I did not know better I swear it was made just for me.

Father's Day 2010. Fishing in Delta.

 

Sunfish, Bluegill, Bream, Brim, Copper Nose or Pumpkin Seed.  No matter what you call them they are fun to catch on light tackle (2 wt fly rod).

All in all pretty slow fishing. But, sunny warm and family made it a great father's day.
Thanks Scott, Kellie, Ed and Donna for a fun day.

Smallmouth.

A new addition to the camper. It's very own quilt.

Our camper now has it's own theme quilt. A fishing theme should be no surprise to anyone who knows us or reads this blog.  The quilt was handmade by Donna...... mostly on the QT. It was only when she needed help deciding which was a Northern Pike and which was a Muskie that I was told about the "surprise".

And here it is in the camper. I think it adds a little style and class to our traveling quarters.

This is the main theme area at the top and bottom of the quilt.

Each corner has it's own unique panel. This is a "dandelion" which has special meaning to my life long love of fishing.

This is the upper right corner panel. Not a half bad cast.

This is the lower left corner. The reel is made of individual piece of cloth stitched together to make  a great looking fly casting reel.

This is the lower right corner. A fishing creel. By the way it is full with our limit for the day.

Michigan U.P. fishing and camping trip.

Traveling east in the Michigan U.P.

Camping near Paradise MI.

Entrance to Paradise MI. Paradise...? Look here. Read and enjoy. For another take on literary connected locations in the MI U.P. see here.

Suspension Bridge over the mouth of the Two Hearted River.

Crisp Point Light House on the north shore of Michigan U.P. (West of White Fish Bay).

Shore of Lake Superior looking west from the lighthouse.

Shore of Lake Superior looking east from the lighthouse.

Anyone know the name of this moth?

Trout caught under the bridge at the mouth of the "Big" Two Hearted River.

Grand Marais MI

Now known as The Lake Superior Brewing Company.

Great bar. Good drinks. Fun locals.

Thanks Ashleigh and Dan. Ashleigh is by far the hardest working bartender I seen in a longtime. Dan just moved to the region to help run his granddad's business.

"THE BEST" juke box in the U.P.......... I'm told

Rock hunting and swimming.

There are hatches and THERE ARE HATCHES. This was latter.

Dandelions. It isn't Wareham MA and it isn't Tautog.  I'm still fishing 55 years later. I still think of my first fishing partner every time I wet a line. Thanks again Dad for teaching me to fish. Here (#1) is a Google Map image of the spot where I caught my first fish circa 1952-1955. Spot #2 are the "finger piers"

An underwater photo taken with my new underwater camera when it was working which was just before it wasn't working. 

May fishing trip part 2. May 30th was "species day". I caught Smallmouth bass (3), Largemouth bass (1), Northern Pike (4), Bluegills (10), Walleye (1). All catch and release. All but the Largemouth Bass were in season and legal size. Most but not all were caught on a foam fly I tied from a pattern (see here and here) found here on the internet.