Lost Eyes and Lost Poles

Welcome to our visitors looking for one eyed missing people from Poland.

The Spring Men's Fishing Trip is History. I hope everyone had a good time and we missed those of you who were unable to attend. I think it is a testament to our friendship that these trips have been going on for as long as they have.

I will be working on updating the blog this week with anecdotes and photos from the trip. If you have pictures, please email them to me and I will do my best to put them on the site...along with pictures of the Killer Lures and a Dear Abby letter that I know you will enjoy.

Chris, Mark, Joe M, Colin, Brian, Mike, Ben and Gary (and those of you who made it this Spring)...I hope you will be able to make the Fall Trip this year because...Its the 10th Anniversary of our Mens Fishing Trip.

As of right now, I am looking at Houghton Lake probably the first or second weekend of October. The first weekend of Duck Season opens around that time, so there may be some competition on the water...we'll see. Mark your calendars NOW. It WILL be one of those two weekends. Talk to the Wife. Take the Boss out to Lunch. Ditch the mistress.

I am attempting to do a large recap of all ten years of trips, but I am having a hard time remembering where we went and when. Since we did a few side excursions to fish for Walleye in Lake Erie, Salmon in Lake Michigan or summer trips to Sugar Springs, some of the trips are starting to run together. Before it completely gets lost to memory, I’d like to get them written down for posterity. Any photos you have from those trips, if you can email them, send them to me.

I only started keeping a personal journal of my fishing and hunting trips in the spring of 2002. When we first started our annual get-togethers, we only went fishing in the fall. It was on the second trip to the Pere Marquette that we started going twice a year. If I recall correctly, we went to the PM in the fall, caught nothing (this part I recall vividly), then decided that the Spring Run is much better, only to go there the next year and still not catch anything. The trouble I’m having is, I don’t remember when that was.

Not included on this list is the trip some of us made for Salmon in Lake Michigan, the Walleye trip to Lake Erie or any of the summer Sugar Springs weekends.

Working backwards, these I know for certain because they are written in my journal. So far I have:

2006 Spring Lake Lancer
2005 Fall No Trip (Roberts Bachelor Party)
2005 Spring Houghton Lake
2004 Fall Pere Marquette (4th trip)
2004 Spring Clear Lake
2003 Fall Lake Lancer
2003 Spring Clear Lake
2002 Fall Pere Marquette (3rd Trip)
2002 Spring Au Sable

Here is where it becomes sketchy…

2001 Fall No Trip this Year (I’m fairly certain of this one)
2001 Spring Pere Marquette (2nd Trip?)
2000 Fall Pere Marquette? (1st trip?)
1999 Fall ??????
1998 Fall Clear Lake
1997 Fall Sage Lake? (Or was this in 1998?)
1996 Fall Clear Lake (This I know for certain)

Help me fill in the blanks (along with who went that year).

GONE FISHING

God's Doppler

Silly Me.

I’ve been checking the WeatherChannel.com and our local forecasts all week to see what kind of weather we are going to have for our Spring Fishing Trip.

Seems like I’ve been looking in the wrong places. I guess I should have been talking to the Rev. Pat “Doppler2000”Robertson. The Reverend and part-time meteorologist says God has told him that storms and possibly a tsunami will hit America's coastline this year.

The founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network has told viewers of "The 700 Club" that the revelations came to him during his annual personal prayer retreat in January.

"If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms," Robertson said May 8.

Robertson also said to expect Snow this winter and there will a chance of rain today for the Tigers game, so don’t forget your raincoats.

Now, my final predictions for this weekend’s fishing trip. God didn’t tell me these. He’s got more important things to worry about right now, so I didn’t bother Him.

#3 With the Live-well now working on the pontoon boat, it can’t be used because Joe catches a large Walleye that proceeds to eat any fish dropped in the well.

#2 Hal claims to have a large albino Pike on his line, only to discover it's actually a pair of Roberts' underwear.

….And the #1 reason why you should not miss this weekend’s fishing trip: Alex will learn to LOVE Kesslers by the end of the trip.

Mushroom Hunting and Dog Poo

Wonder how many "hits" I will get on this blog from THAT headline?

Welcome to the newest member of the "men's" fishing trip. (It's still males-only, unless Alex has something he'd like to tell us?)

Meet Jake.



Too bad Chris won't be making the trip this year. I'd like to see this dog catch more fish than him.

Jake is going to help us with the Morel hunting for our Pike Fish Fry on Saturday. I suspect that if we leave Jake tied to a popples, maples, or beech tree on Friday evening, after he does his nasty sinful business...Presto! Morels the next morning!

Now...More predicitons for this weekend's Fishing trip...

#6 Scott buys 7 new lures that are "guaranteed" to catch the most, biggest, baddest fish in the lake, but finds the only lure that works all weekend is a red worm with a gold bullet-head sinker.

#5 Planning for a dinner of Pike, the entire boat catches nothing but Catch-N-Release Bass all day. We get a call from Mark who says he heard that chopping up dog chow and frying it tastes very good...

#4 Dave shows everyone where he saw two Bass "getting it on" early in the season, only to discover it was a "Big-ums" magazine that someone dropped in the water during Mike's Bachelor Party.

Final Installment Tomorrow!

Agent Pierce

The TV show 24 has some great lines, but I believe that Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce delivered the BEST lines in last night's episode.

"Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." Pierce to President Logan:

"There is nothing that you have said or done that is acceptable to me in the least. You're a traitor to this country and a disgrace to your office, and it's my duty to see that you're brought to justice for what you've done. Is there anything else, Charles?"

As someone wrote in another Blog : He managed to infuse the name Charles with all the venom of calling someone a dog-fucking cocksucker.

If you were keeping track, the "Dammit" count is up to 23, just a bit more than 1 per hours at this point.

Now, more predictions for this weekend's fishing trip...

#8 Avery and Alex battle it out for "Best Newbie" on the trip. After a full day of competition, it goes down to a tie breaker: The Distance Peeing Over the Side of the Boat Contest.

5 year old Avery wins.

#7 Justin, overdosing on cured, dried venison, passes out on top of the cooler shortly after yelling "Hey Scotty Boy! The Jerky Boys are Calling!"

For-Casting

The weather report for this weekend is starting to look promising. The Weather Channel still calls for Rain everyday from now till August, but as you can see below, the local forecast is looking better:

Also, As the Jerkey continues to cure this week, lets look at reasons why you should NOT miss the fishing trip by counting down the top ten predictions for the weekend:

#10 Dave will have the largest fish on his line, almost assuring him the money from the Largest Fish Pot; unfortunately, he claims the McCall rule when the fish only gets to the side of the boat before swimming away.

#9 The McCall Rule is voted out of Largest Fish contention just moments before #10 happens.

Tune in Tomorrow for more...

Just Seven More Days

For those of you still undecided about going up on our Annual Fishing trip, here is a little photo that might inspire you...

Its not from our trips, but it is from the lake and how can you pass up the opportunity to see the big man land another Pike?

The forecast calls for rain over the next seven days. SIX DAYS!!!

Then by some miracle, the clouds are supposed to part and sunshine returns next Saturday.

Keep tuned for further updates.

I say we have Pike for dinner, but its eat your own. Don't catch any Pike, then you starve. Then we will see who the real fishermen are.

Oh...And we will be running down the top ten reasons to not miss the fishing trip. I'll post the first one later today. The Lost Experience is keeping me busy.

Fishing Fever

Our Annual Spring Fishing trip is coming up shortly. Time to clean out the fishing box, count the sinkers and decide which new lure will be the "Miracle Worker" this year. (Sources say that Yellow is the new Red)

To get things started, I found out that their are actual lyrics to the Andy Griffith Show Song.

Well, now, take down your fishin' pole and meet me at The Fishin' Hole,
We may not get a bite all day, but don't you rush away.

What a great place to rest your bones and mighty fine for skippin' stones,
You'll feel fresh as a lemonade, a-settin' in the shade.

Whether it's hot, whether it's cool, oh what a spot for whistlin' like a fool.

What a fine day to take a stroll and wander by The Fishin' Hole,
I can't think of a better way to pass the time o' day.

We'll have no need to call the roll when we get to The Fishin' Hole,
There'll be you, me, and Old Dog Trey, to doodle time away.

If we don't hook a perch or bass, we'll cool our toes in dewy grass,
Or else pull up a weed to chaw, and maybe set and jaw.

Hangin' around, takin' our ease, watchin' that hound a-scratchin' at his fleas.

Come on, take down your fishin' pole and meet me at The Fishin' Hole,
I can't think of a better way to pass the time o' day.

Yeah, you know the tune is stuck in your head now.