Kesslers from a Groggy, Svepa or Gorsk

Welcome to visitors looking for IKEA brand products. The new store opens in Canton Michigan tomorrow. People have been lining up for DAYS to be first in this store. That’s just crazy…crazy like going to Duke Fest and getting a picture with Lance and Coy Duke, huh Chris?

Anywho…

The two newbies on our Spring Men’s Fishing Trip both caught Fish. Alex landed his first fish ever, a nice fat bluegill and later brought in a small perch, which he proceeded to pet and caress it in a soft, gentle way, whispering soon to be broken promises and uttering failed dreams. After the love-making, Alex tossed the perch overboard. Such is life and love.

Avery, (4 ½) not planning on being outdone by Alex, also landed a nice perch. Here’s a good picture.

Avery's Dad, Hal, did the obligatory shot of Kesslers. We finished off a bit more than a pint of Kessler this year. Not bad, but it could have been better. I have a feeling that we will need a lot more this fall for the trip, which I am hoping that a lot of you can make. I'm looking into a cottage on Houghton Lake...but more on that later in another blog entry.

By the way, Avery has now officially caught more fish than Chris and Gary combined on our fishing trips. He also did a mighty fine job of getting Uncle Scott a beer and being able to pee over the side of the boat, a requirement that Ben has yet to fulfill.

Stopped off in Pinconning on the way up to Gladwin at the famous Pinconning Cheese Factory. You can’t miss it; it has a large mouse in the front. Not to be confused with the Cheese Factory that has a large Cow in the Front. Apparently in Pinconning, Large Mammals and Food products make great Signs. Just don’t forget to avert your eyes as you pass the Pinconning Mountain Oyster Factory.

Picked up some Squeeky Cheese. They’ve taken the best of Cheese Curd, processed it, and made it into something they can charge $5 a pound for. Why is it squeaky? When you find out, make sure everyone is not downwind at the time.

Tomorrow: The Tackle that Time Forgot

Giant Spider Attacks Detroit

Welcome to all visitors suffering from Arachnophobia.

A Giant Spider is loose and Attacking the Renaissance Center in Detroit. What can YOU do to prevent injury or death? Tune into Channel 4 News at 11 for more details...



Meanwhile, have a safe weekend. I'll add more stories and photos from the fishing trip on Monday (if we are all still here by then....)

Of Justin, Bait and Men

Welcome to visitors of this blog looking for info on the star of the Award winning and Funniest Show on TV, Arrested Development. As of this writing, Arrested Development is still Cancelled.

There is an old quote that goes:

"If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles."

Well, Justin must really be concentrating, because he's short one rod and reel.
Here is a Picture of Justin expertly handling a nice Bass he caught up at Lake Lancer.

Unfortunately, as Lord Grey said, "It is our lost fish that I believe stay longest in memory, and seize upon our thoughts whenever we look back on fishing."

Later that morning, as we were preparing to move to another location, a fish took Justin's pole and yanked it over the side of the boat in about 12 feet of water. Not to worry. Joe threw a powder sugar donut hole on the water to mark the spot where the rod and reel is.

Dave hopes to put his deep sea diving skills to the test this summer and look for the rod and reel.

Good news though. Justin got his bait back Here is a sample of what the Killer Lure looked like...except that it was green.

He had earlier caught a fish (or was that later?) on the tried and true for Lake Lancer: the Red Worm (Zoom or Berkely Brand) with a gold bullet head sinker.

Joe takes credit for discovering this one some years ago. It still works well today. Joe caught his monster 20 inch bass on the worm. Here's a picture of it:

Justin caught his Bass on the red worm also. It's a must-have for our tackle boxes now. It even works on Clear Lake. My young nephew Mitch caught the largest fish of his life on a red worm last year. I have pretty good luck with it myself, except when I change things up a bit. More on that tomorrow.

Finally today, I leave you with a group shot from the trip. The very hairy one there is Justin.

NEXT TIME: See the Little Man catch a fish (no...I'm not talking about me)

The Other Cheek

LOST wrapped up its second season last week. I finally saw the first 20 minutes I missed because I was in Iowa. No..I don't think the bird said Hurley's name, unless his name is "Hurrrraaareee!"

Speaking of LOST, I guess the ending to last week's show proves that they are not in Purgatory. Sorry Justin, you lost the "Lost: Guys...Where ARE We" contest. Now, we never mention Purgatory ever again, because you know what happens...

Delphi Strike-Force Leads Weekend

Welcome to all the Auto Supply Workers that are worried about the future of their company. This is from today's Free Press:

Delphi asked federal bankruptcy court to void the Union contracts, allowing the company to cut wages unilaterally. The UAW has threatened to strike if that happens.

There is one good thing. Whoever came up with the marketing idea to put your logo on the Rapala Rattling Lure is a genius. Hopefully his or her job doesn't belong to a resident of India right now.

Joe finished first on the Spring Mens' Fishing Trip by landing 7 fish over the 1 and a half days. Joe took an early morning lead of three fish, two of which were using the Delphi Strike-Force Lure. Here is photo pf Joe with one of his smaller Bass:

Speaking of Bass, we planned on clearing Lake Lancer of its over over-abundant Pike. The Michigan DNR opened Pike Fishing on the lake this year to a No-Size Limit / 5 limit haul.

We scauffed at Justin who wanted to bring up Lasagne. Who wants to eat Lasagne when there will be a large fish fry?!?!?

Try as we might, we didn't land one pike. Joe almost had a Pike (not nearly McCall Rules, but close) but it got away. By the end of Saturday, the left behind lasagne was starting to sound pretty good.

Joe, after a quick leap into first place, then headed toward the largest fish. We didn't put any money on Largest Fish this year, just the most fish.

That's when Joe landed, with the help of the Delphi Strike-Force, a 20 inch, 3.5 lb Bass; beating the old record by about an inch. Joe and Scott had dueling Bass two summers ago: Joe landed a 19 inch Bass on Lake Lancer and Scott landed a 19 inch Bass on Clear Lake. SAME WEEK.

Now Joe was all alone in the Monster Bass category.

"Maybe we should change the betting pool to largest fish," commented Joe, "it give everyone a chance at the money."

Yeah Right. Nice Try. No...we were sticking with most fish.

Here is another vicim of the Strike-Force Lure. I don't think it's Joe's 20-incher though. This one looks a bit smaller. Justin, looking on, is probably wondering why Dow Paint doesn't design a killer lure. Ah well, at least he has a nice new reel for his rod.

By the end of the Morning run on the lake, it was Joe 3 Bass, Scott 2 Bass, Dave 1 Bass, Alex 1 Bluegill and Justin coming up with a surprising 2 Bass. Yes...Justin had two. All by himself. By Breakfast he was in the running.

NEXT: The Ones That Got Away

Also...Please send me your pictures. And help me out with the ten-year timeline. I'm also working on a surprise for the Fall Trip. If it works out, it will be awesome. If not, forget I wrote this.

Your Comments are welcome...