It Feels Good to Get Out

Well, last week I got yet another new cast, and this one was going to be my salvation. I was getting a walking cast that I could actually walk on. I have had a walking cast for a while, but it was just because I kept breaking them and they needed something that could stand up to the awesome power the is me. But this one was for real. And when the doctor came in and told me, I couldn't help but grin ear to ear.

The second I got home, I started making the plan to get out. My brother in law was out hunting, so I called him to make sure that we weren't going to be hunting the same land. He told me he was actually heading in and going to grab his son, and that they would swing by and pick me up. Rock on.

So I gathered up all of my gear and waited. I felt like a kid in bed on Christmas Eve. I must have gone through my gear a dozen times while waiting. Then I heard the car pull up in the driveway. The closest thing I can use to describe my actions was they were similar to that of a dog that knows it's master just came home from work. I had completely forgot about my leg. I had not taken any pain medication as I did not want to go into the woods with a firearm while feeling those effects. But, for the moment, the pain could not have any farther from my mind.

As we are getting ready, my brother in law got a phone call. It was his work, and guess who was called in? Well, it looks like it's going to be just my nephew and myself. We can do this. So, my wonderful wife drops us off in the back of 7 Lakes State Park, and we make our way into the woods. I can feel my heart pounding to the point where I can hear it. We cross the wood line into the woods and pick out a nice log to sit on and wait. After about 25 minutes, we move to another spot. After another 25 minutes and nothing, we move again. The rest of our night went about the same. We would wait 25 minutes or so and move to the next spot, seeing the occasional hunter and a few crows. By the end of the hunt, we had made it all the way to the front of the park, and we only saw one chipmunk.

The next day, I was in more pain than I had been in for a long time. And it was more than worth it. Not only did I get a young hunter out, but I myself felt like a new hunter going out for the first time.

First Limit of the Year on the Ice

Last weekend I was really craving some fish so I decided to go find a cure for my hunger. I headed out to Little Seven Lake in Holly to try my early morning luck. The walk out was less than fun because of the foot of snow on the ground. To make it even better, it was very warm out for this time of year, so the snow was thick and heavy. As I made the trek out to the ice, I noticed a lot of wet spots on the ice. I set my gear on the shore and made my way out with my spud. I avoided the wet spots and made a zig-zag pattern across the ice, checking every 10 feet or so. A solid 4 inches in most spots. So I went back and grabbed my gear and went out to my spot and set up. I cleared out an area of snow five foot by five foot and cut my hole. The second I broke through, water poured out, and the rest of the day I was standing in about 3 inches of water. Thank God I bought those new insulated rubber knee boots! When I finally got set up, I pulled out my trusty pan fish ice , tipped the teardrop with a waxxie, and sent it on it's way to work. I found bottom, reeled up about a foot, and let it set. Then, the first strike of the day. A nice gill. Teardrop back down the hole. This time, it didn't even have enough time to reach bottom. Another bite. And another nice gill. I repeated this process for about two hours. After the first 15, I started to get picky about what to keep. "Nothing under seven inches," I told myself. About two hours is all it took to limit out for the first time this ice season. I was home by 10am and ready to feed my addiction for fish. My wife found a new recipe for fish that I have dubbed "Fish Crack" because of it is possibly one of the simplest and best recipes I have ever had. And that recipe will be on here soon, I promise.

My Limit from Little Seven

First Ice!!!

Well, the time is here to start fishing the hard waters of Michigan! I headed out to a local lake to test the ice and see if my season of ice fishing could start. I ventured out on Little Seven Lake in Seven Lakes State Park and was happy to find 4+ inches of good, solid ice! It was only an hour or so until dark, so my time was limited. I popped a hole in the ice, set up and sat down. For the next hour, it was all I could do to keep my hands warm because I never had enough time to get my gloves on! Now when I went out, I didn't think I would find good ice, let alone find a hot-spot on the first hole. I was pulling gills up as fast as I could put the line back down to the bottom. Out of the 30 or so fish that I caught, 15 were definite keepers along with a 15 inch bass, my first taken through the ice. But, I didn't feel like cleaning any fish that night, so everything made it back to the hole.

A couple of days later I went out to Big Seven Lake and found a solid 5+ inches of good ice, but lady luck wasn't with me that day and I went home with an empty bucket.

Then this past weekend, I decided to take my two youngest out on the ice with me. I was also accompanied by Mikey from the Up North Journal. We decided to hit Little Seven Lake again and try our luck. I got my kids set up and, at first, the bite was slow. We really didn't have any action for the first hour. But then things picked up and the spring bobbers on the end of our rods were starting to earn their keep. In between bites, the kids were taking turns spinning in circles on the buckets and making snow angels, as well as a quick game of "fishball" (it's just like football, just with a frozen fish).

Every couple of minutes they would come back over to the poles and fish for a second before finding another game to play. One of the times they came back to fish, my daughter, Caitlyn, was holding the rod and the tip bent right down. She fought and fought like it was the last thing she was going to do. After a minute or so of reeling, I saw the flash of silver in the hole. When she finally pulled that fish out of the hole, I couldn't have been more proud. My daughter had pulled her first bass out of the ice. At only 12 inches, we had to let him swim away, but not before a picture and alot of praise. Later that night, I cleaned the fish and tried a new recipe. But that will have to wait until next time...

The kids and their catch from our day on the ice

Caitlyn and her first bass

Another Great Waterfowl Weekend

A couple of weekends ago, both of the Mikes from the Up North Journal and I spent most of the weekend waterfowl hunting and it was great! We started out Friday night on Lake Ponemah on a little island that I have never hunted off of. Every time we have been out, someone has been out there, so we just go somewhere else. As we are first getting set up, I noticed a couple of mallards making their way off of the island, right where we were about to set our blind up at! Well, at least we know that there are ducks here!

After about 30 minutes, our decoys are set up and the blind is finished. We plop down and get ready for the onslaught. Nothing. It wasn't until an hour later that we heard a flight of geese coming in. With the gun mounted camera rolling on Big Mike's gun, Little Mike and I are laying in on the goose calls (well, I'm putting as many clucks out as I could manage while Little Mike throws out his champion calling skills) and they are coming right for us. There were three groups in the incoming flight, and the last group was looking promising. They started to veer towards us but they were not going to commit, so when they started to come overhead, we let loose. The lead goose dropped, but the rest kept flying. And that was pretty much the end of that night of hunting. But, around here, one is better than none. And, after reviewing the video and audio, we came to the conclusion that it was my bird. Add some more to the freezer.

The next morning, we headed out to another local lake that is only a few miles down the road from me. Big Seven Lake is in the middle of Seven Lakes State Park and is definitely our local waterfowl hangout. We were out on the water by 5:30am and set up with about 20 minutes to spare before first light. Right off the bat, the ducks were flying. This was going to be a good morning. After a few fly-bys that snuck past us, we had a pair fly in and circle around. They decoyed a little short and landed on the outside of the spread and swam in. When they got within range, we jump up to get them flying, but they just sat there. So we started yelling. They just sat there. Then we started throwing sticks. They just sat there. What was going on?!? No matter what we did, they just sat there and stared at us. So, we got out of the blind and started splashing towards them. Nothing. It wasn't until I got about 15 yards away did they even start to get up. I took one and Little Mike took the other. A mallard and a hen to start the morning off. The rest of the day was action packed. Birds were flying all over the place. We called a few in, but for the most part we were pass shooting. Or should I say pass missing. We didn't get anymore birds that day, but it was still a good day.

The next morning we headed out to the same place. Set-up was done with 20 minutes to spare again. Right at first light we had a flight of Wigeon come in from the west and they came in fast. They decoyed perfectly. Little Mike took the first one in. When he brought it up, it was perfect. A good sized body, perfect color, and just a few pellet makes in well hidden areas. With in the first five minutes, he decided that this one was going to be mounted. A while later another flight came in and Big Mike drop the middle one like a rock. We are pretty sure that Little Mike got one, but he managed to fly off. After two trips out in the boat and a walk around the island, we couldn't find him. But it wasn't from a lack of trying. We now had a Black duck to add to the count. After that, it was another day of throwing steel. I think in the next year, I'm going to join up with a sportsman's club that has a trap course.

So, all in all it was a good local weekend with some birds put in the freezer.



"Little" Mike and I
This is the Video "Big" Mike made of our waterfowling weekend....enjoy!