You have to make your wife happy so that she doesn't resent you being gone fishing. Last night I did the dishes, wiped cabinets down, swept floors and picked up several rooms. There was a double motive to some of that. I needed to clear counter space in the utility room so that I can hook up my microwave and start making worms. The rest was mainly for her.
Cleaning took a majority of the evening. It was also cold and very windy outside so I didn't want to be digging around the boat for all of my fishing tackle.
I did get online to try to find a boater link for the season. So far I have had 2 boaters that I was linked with that are not able to fish this season. I really want to be able to fish every tournament so I can have a shot at making it to the regionals.
I talked to a couple people that have been to Broken Bow. They said the lake is really scenic and is very rocky.
The last thing I did was look at a 10 day weather forecast for the area. It looks like it will be highs in the 50's with lows in the high 30's with a few 60 -70 degree days thrown in. That was just an initial check to see if camping would be feasible this time of year. I don't think I want to chance it. I will check back on the weather periodically to see what it is doing up to the tournament.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
Twelve Days of Tournament Preperations
What can I think of to help my chances with this tournament in 12 days? So far this year I am yet to catch a bass, or a fish in that matter. There is very little hope of getting out to fish any more by the time I leave for Broken Bow in Oklahoma.
Due to this early in the year tournament, I will attempt to prepare my fishing equipment as well as prepare mentally. Over the next 11 days I will keep track of what I do to prepare and post it on here.
Tonight I will be starting by organizing my tackle. Over the course of the last year it has been added and taken out of my tournament bag and thrown into my boat. Once it is organized, I will try to find some information on the lake and information on fishing this time of year in the region. That will help me to add the tackle I will want to use into my tournament bag.
Studying the lake, tournament, area, weather, etc can take several days so I will not finish with that tonight. Right now I have no information and have never fished Broken Bow. The more preparations I make now can only help me out when it comes time for the tournament.
Due to this early in the year tournament, I will attempt to prepare my fishing equipment as well as prepare mentally. Over the next 11 days I will keep track of what I do to prepare and post it on here.
Tonight I will be starting by organizing my tackle. Over the course of the last year it has been added and taken out of my tournament bag and thrown into my boat. Once it is organized, I will try to find some information on the lake and information on fishing this time of year in the region. That will help me to add the tackle I will want to use into my tournament bag.
Studying the lake, tournament, area, weather, etc can take several days so I will not finish with that tonight. Right now I have no information and have never fished Broken Bow. The more preparations I make now can only help me out when it comes time for the tournament.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Weekly Catch Up 2.15.12
A lot has happened the last few weeks. My job has gotten crazy busy. We had 2 snows. Not much out of either but enough to build a snowman with the boys.
I got to do a little more fishing in Oklahoma City. This time I went down to look at a boat to buy and keep in Mizike's garage. The boat was sold already when I got down there so we hung out and fished for a bit. We tried several areas around one of the lakes and didn't get a bite. Mizike even used real worms.
On my way home I stopped by to check out Great Salt Plains Lake again. It was not up any more than last time but they were dumping water out of the lake. I'm not sure if they will let it fill up enough to be a usable lake. Such a shame. I would love to have a lake less than an hour and a half away.
I tried fishing below the spillway and did not have any luck. Afterwards I drove around and found some pretty awesome looking hiking trails. We will be using them this spring.
In the last couple weeks I have considered fishing a FLW Tour tournament at Beaver's Lake Arkansas. I had permission from the wife and work but decided to hold off for now. For that kind of money I want some more experience in this area. Maybe next year.
For the BFL's I have now signed with two boater links. Both have had issues that they cannot fish this season. Now I'm worried that I may not get to fish all of the tournaments if I cannot get a boater link. I am driving way to far for these to not have a shot at regionals. We will see if I can get a boater link at the first tournament.
Last night at the high school basketball game Leo's Kindergarten teacher came up to us to let us know we needed to talk to her about what we will do with Leo next year. I know he is not motivated to learn. We try to work with him all of the time and he doesn't want to learn. It feels like I have failed him. I know he can learn if I worked with him more. Maybe I have worked too much the last few years. I devote a lot of time and energy to my job. If some of that were devoted to teaching my son he might be more interested to learn. Maybe he just isn't ready yet. He learns what he wants to learn at a lightning fast pace, but he doesn't do well with the same things I have always had a problem with.
We scheduled an appointment tomorrow with his teacher. Hopefully we can make the right decision for Leo's sake. Whether we need to hold him back or push him hard to get him to catch up with the other kids. This decision will affect him for the rest of his life. I'm not qualified to make this decision. I will not take his teacher's advise lightly. She is great. Leo has came so far this year. I wish they would have told us sooner that he was having issues or needed extra work and what he needed to work on. From all we've seen he has been doing great. His report card last month showed all Satisfactory to Excellent marks.
Maybe things are different these days but to me satisfactory is good. Fail is bad. Unsatisfactory is bad. Poor is bad. D's and F's will get you whoopin's and grounded they are so bad. If he was not to the level he should be don't tell me he's doing good. If it isn't good enough to get to the next grade that's unsatisfactory bad.
There are a lot of mixed emotions flying around in my head today about the whole deal. I try to calm them so I can figure out what is best for my son. Anger and disappointment will not help him. His birthday is tomorrow. It feels like that is making things worse. On a day that should be celebrated we are feeling gloomy and depressed. We have to kick our funk to the side for that day.
Valentine's Day was a bust, we're not going to let Leo's birthday become a bust.
I got to do a little more fishing in Oklahoma City. This time I went down to look at a boat to buy and keep in Mizike's garage. The boat was sold already when I got down there so we hung out and fished for a bit. We tried several areas around one of the lakes and didn't get a bite. Mizike even used real worms.
On my way home I stopped by to check out Great Salt Plains Lake again. It was not up any more than last time but they were dumping water out of the lake. I'm not sure if they will let it fill up enough to be a usable lake. Such a shame. I would love to have a lake less than an hour and a half away.
I tried fishing below the spillway and did not have any luck. Afterwards I drove around and found some pretty awesome looking hiking trails. We will be using them this spring.
In the last couple weeks I have considered fishing a FLW Tour tournament at Beaver's Lake Arkansas. I had permission from the wife and work but decided to hold off for now. For that kind of money I want some more experience in this area. Maybe next year.
For the BFL's I have now signed with two boater links. Both have had issues that they cannot fish this season. Now I'm worried that I may not get to fish all of the tournaments if I cannot get a boater link. I am driving way to far for these to not have a shot at regionals. We will see if I can get a boater link at the first tournament.
Last night at the high school basketball game Leo's Kindergarten teacher came up to us to let us know we needed to talk to her about what we will do with Leo next year. I know he is not motivated to learn. We try to work with him all of the time and he doesn't want to learn. It feels like I have failed him. I know he can learn if I worked with him more. Maybe I have worked too much the last few years. I devote a lot of time and energy to my job. If some of that were devoted to teaching my son he might be more interested to learn. Maybe he just isn't ready yet. He learns what he wants to learn at a lightning fast pace, but he doesn't do well with the same things I have always had a problem with.
We scheduled an appointment tomorrow with his teacher. Hopefully we can make the right decision for Leo's sake. Whether we need to hold him back or push him hard to get him to catch up with the other kids. This decision will affect him for the rest of his life. I'm not qualified to make this decision. I will not take his teacher's advise lightly. She is great. Leo has came so far this year. I wish they would have told us sooner that he was having issues or needed extra work and what he needed to work on. From all we've seen he has been doing great. His report card last month showed all Satisfactory to Excellent marks.
Maybe things are different these days but to me satisfactory is good. Fail is bad. Unsatisfactory is bad. Poor is bad. D's and F's will get you whoopin's and grounded they are so bad. If he was not to the level he should be don't tell me he's doing good. If it isn't good enough to get to the next grade that's unsatisfactory bad.
There are a lot of mixed emotions flying around in my head today about the whole deal. I try to calm them so I can figure out what is best for my son. Anger and disappointment will not help him. His birthday is tomorrow. It feels like that is making things worse. On a day that should be celebrated we are feeling gloomy and depressed. We have to kick our funk to the side for that day.
Valentine's Day was a bust, we're not going to let Leo's birthday become a bust.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Weekly Catch Up 1.25.12
This month is flying by. I'm sure it has something to do with the weather we have been having. Usually at this time of year I am miserable waiting for the snow to melt or the temperatures to get warm enough to step outside without getting a face full of cold wind.
It is still a month away from tournament season but the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.
Last Sunday was an awesome day with over 60 degree weather. Instead of fishing I spent time at home with the family. We had traveled to Pratt the previous 2 nights to watch the high school basketball team play in a tournament there. I was feeling lazy Sunday. Since it was a nice day and basketball was in the air we put up the boys basketball goat they had gotten for Christmas. At the same time I smoked a turkey.
Once the basketball goal was up I started working with my oldest boy, showing him the basics. He had played basketball last year in Ohio and had retained a lot of what he had learned. He had also improved on his dribbling. We were just about done and ready to head inside when he brought his Mom out to play a game. We were playing around and Christina and I were getting pushy blocking out after shots and keeping each other away from the goal. I went up for a shot and she turned to block me out. It pushed me out into the grassy area where my foot caught the grass and my ankle rolled under all of my weight. I felt a pop and went down in pain.
My ankle took its time swelling and did not swell much at all. It did turn black and blue. Monday it was hurting to walk on it and I was slow. Tuesday was a lot better. I could walk without a limp and almost at full speed.
I have had ankle sprains before and this was not nearly as bad. They have never healed this quick. It must have been a pretty minor sprain.
Leo has played each day so far since the goal has been put up. He will get a lot of use out of it. It is still a few years before he will start playing team basketball around here. By that time he should be pretty decent.
It is still a month away from tournament season but the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.
Last Sunday was an awesome day with over 60 degree weather. Instead of fishing I spent time at home with the family. We had traveled to Pratt the previous 2 nights to watch the high school basketball team play in a tournament there. I was feeling lazy Sunday. Since it was a nice day and basketball was in the air we put up the boys basketball goat they had gotten for Christmas. At the same time I smoked a turkey.
Once the basketball goal was up I started working with my oldest boy, showing him the basics. He had played basketball last year in Ohio and had retained a lot of what he had learned. He had also improved on his dribbling. We were just about done and ready to head inside when he brought his Mom out to play a game. We were playing around and Christina and I were getting pushy blocking out after shots and keeping each other away from the goal. I went up for a shot and she turned to block me out. It pushed me out into the grassy area where my foot caught the grass and my ankle rolled under all of my weight. I felt a pop and went down in pain.
My ankle took its time swelling and did not swell much at all. It did turn black and blue. Monday it was hurting to walk on it and I was slow. Tuesday was a lot better. I could walk without a limp and almost at full speed.
I have had ankle sprains before and this was not nearly as bad. They have never healed this quick. It must have been a pretty minor sprain.
Leo has played each day so far since the goal has been put up. He will get a lot of use out of it. It is still a few years before he will start playing team basketball around here. By that time he should be pretty decent.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Clark County Lake Fishing Trip 1.14.12
Saturday was our first trip fishing for the year. To make it fair, I called Dad to see if he wanted to meet me at Clark County Lake. The lake is about halfway for us. It takes me 2 hours to get there and Dad 1 1/2 hours.
We got a late start, leaving the house at 11:00. Neither Dad or I knew if the lake was going to be frozen or not. As I was driving I passed streams and ponds and all of them were frozen over. The temperature in the truck was reading 47 degrees though and we have only had a few cold days so far this year. The nights have been below freezing. We figured the coves may be frozen but the main lake should still be accessible.
As we pulled into the lake area I saw instantly that there were boats out on the lake. That was a great sign. I drove around to the back side of the lake on a rough trail road to meet up with Dad.
He was parked on the side of a big hill leading down to the water. The water was shallow there but there was a trail to get down to the shore. We hiked around the lake to an area we knew had deep water. I tossed out some wax worms under a bobber on one pole and had a robo worm on the other pole and eventually switched to try several other lures. Leo and Gavin had on crappie tubes under bobbers. Dad was casting and reeling several different lures trying to catch a white bass.
After trying on the main lake for a little bit, I followed the shoreline back into a cove and fished it with no luck. When I got back to Dad and the boys he suggested we try the corner of the dam.
We some some fish swimming around there but couldn't get anything to bite. There was a layer of ice about an inch thick on the first three feet of rocks out of the water. The boys had fun taking large sticks and busting the ice from the rocks.
We eventually called it a day with about an hour of sunlight left. No first fish of the year yet! The boys were really good at the lake and tried hard to catch a fish. Gavin collected shells to take to his Mom and Leo tried climbing the canyon walls. Gavin outlasted Leo on the fishing but eventually tangled his line up so bad I don't even know if scissors can get it undone.
It was fantastic fishing in January, not wearing a coat, and fishing open water. It sounds like the weather is supposed to be nice most of this week as well. I might have to slip out again this weekend.
We got a late start, leaving the house at 11:00. Neither Dad or I knew if the lake was going to be frozen or not. As I was driving I passed streams and ponds and all of them were frozen over. The temperature in the truck was reading 47 degrees though and we have only had a few cold days so far this year. The nights have been below freezing. We figured the coves may be frozen but the main lake should still be accessible.
As we pulled into the lake area I saw instantly that there were boats out on the lake. That was a great sign. I drove around to the back side of the lake on a rough trail road to meet up with Dad.
He was parked on the side of a big hill leading down to the water. The water was shallow there but there was a trail to get down to the shore. We hiked around the lake to an area we knew had deep water. I tossed out some wax worms under a bobber on one pole and had a robo worm on the other pole and eventually switched to try several other lures. Leo and Gavin had on crappie tubes under bobbers. Dad was casting and reeling several different lures trying to catch a white bass.
After trying on the main lake for a little bit, I followed the shoreline back into a cove and fished it with no luck. When I got back to Dad and the boys he suggested we try the corner of the dam.
We some some fish swimming around there but couldn't get anything to bite. There was a layer of ice about an inch thick on the first three feet of rocks out of the water. The boys had fun taking large sticks and busting the ice from the rocks.
We eventually called it a day with about an hour of sunlight left. No first fish of the year yet! The boys were really good at the lake and tried hard to catch a fish. Gavin collected shells to take to his Mom and Leo tried climbing the canyon walls. Gavin outlasted Leo on the fishing but eventually tangled his line up so bad I don't even know if scissors can get it undone.
It was fantastic fishing in January, not wearing a coat, and fishing open water. It sounds like the weather is supposed to be nice most of this week as well. I might have to slip out again this weekend.
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| A view of the lake from the cove. The water was down quite a bit making it hard to find a place on the west side of the lake deep enough to fish. |
Friday, January 13, 2012
Registered for the FLW BFL Okie Division for 2012
I am finally registered for all of the Okie Division BFL tournaments as a co-angler. All of the tournaments are over 200 miles away with all but 1 being over 300 miles away. Not bad? Right@! Each tournament will be like a little mini vacation to some great fishing lakes.
Here is a list of tournaments and dates:
Broken Bow - 3/3
Lake Eufaula - 3/31
Fort Gibson Lake - 5/5
Arkansas River - 7/21
Grand Lake 9/15 & 9/16
The first two tournaments and possibly the third could be cold. I am excited about getting into the action so early in the year. It would be nice to throw some other tournaments into the mix but I can't find any close except for a couple walleye tournaments. Maybe Dad and I will look into a couple of those.
I would like to try a stren series tournament, but it looks like there is only 1 within 300 miles this year and it happens the same time as the Broken Bow tournament.
The cost of the tournaments is 585.00 with my membership. The travel expenses even with camping at 150.00 for the first four trips and 200.00 for the last will be around 800.00. It may be a little less than that for travel but I like to have it if I need it. In all, this season will cost 1385.00 and I will be lucky if I can win back just my entry fees. There is hope to go far beyond that though.
My first goal this year is to make it to the Regionals. To do that I will need to try to catch a fish in every tournament and do well in a couple of them.
My second goal is to make it in the money in at least 2 tournaments.
I need to fish more this year between the tournaments. It seems like if I don't have a tournament scheduled I don't make it out nearly as often to fish. Leo will be 6 and Gavin will be 4 this summer so I need to get them out as much as I can. Maybe I should start booking camping sites at different lakes every other weekend, then we will have to go so we don't waste our money. Then we will be booked before something else comes up. Something always comes up when your close to family. They will understand though.
Last summer was just too hot. We also didn't have our house yet so it was hard to make it out when we didn't have easy access to the boat and my fishing and camping gear. This year we are settled in and ready to enjoy an outdoor summer.
This weekend I am going to try to make it out since the water is not frozen yet and we are supposed to reach 50 degrees. The boys can go if they want. We might not catch anything but we have to try for the first fish of the year. I'm thinking about heading Northeast to Anthony lake. We will try it for a bit and if we need to keep working Northwest and try Afton Lake and Cheney. It's a good time of the year to get out and scout the waters. This way when spring comes I will know where the good camping is as well as the boat ramps.
Here is a list of tournaments and dates:
Broken Bow - 3/3
Lake Eufaula - 3/31
Fort Gibson Lake - 5/5
Arkansas River - 7/21
Grand Lake 9/15 & 9/16
The first two tournaments and possibly the third could be cold. I am excited about getting into the action so early in the year. It would be nice to throw some other tournaments into the mix but I can't find any close except for a couple walleye tournaments. Maybe Dad and I will look into a couple of those.
I would like to try a stren series tournament, but it looks like there is only 1 within 300 miles this year and it happens the same time as the Broken Bow tournament.
The cost of the tournaments is 585.00 with my membership. The travel expenses even with camping at 150.00 for the first four trips and 200.00 for the last will be around 800.00. It may be a little less than that for travel but I like to have it if I need it. In all, this season will cost 1385.00 and I will be lucky if I can win back just my entry fees. There is hope to go far beyond that though.
My first goal this year is to make it to the Regionals. To do that I will need to try to catch a fish in every tournament and do well in a couple of them.
My second goal is to make it in the money in at least 2 tournaments.
I need to fish more this year between the tournaments. It seems like if I don't have a tournament scheduled I don't make it out nearly as often to fish. Leo will be 6 and Gavin will be 4 this summer so I need to get them out as much as I can. Maybe I should start booking camping sites at different lakes every other weekend, then we will have to go so we don't waste our money. Then we will be booked before something else comes up. Something always comes up when your close to family. They will understand though.
Last summer was just too hot. We also didn't have our house yet so it was hard to make it out when we didn't have easy access to the boat and my fishing and camping gear. This year we are settled in and ready to enjoy an outdoor summer.
This weekend I am going to try to make it out since the water is not frozen yet and we are supposed to reach 50 degrees. The boys can go if they want. We might not catch anything but we have to try for the first fish of the year. I'm thinking about heading Northeast to Anthony lake. We will try it for a bit and if we need to keep working Northwest and try Afton Lake and Cheney. It's a good time of the year to get out and scout the waters. This way when spring comes I will know where the good camping is as well as the boat ramps.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Great Salt Plains Lake Review
Driving around the Great Salt Plains lake in Northern Oklahoma took me back to an earlier time in history. I could envision bait shops, cabins, boats, people camping and playing on the beaches. It was easy to visualize because not a lot has changed around the lake in the last 30 years, except the lack of people and water. You could tell the lake used to be very popular. It made me want to go back in time to see the lake in it's prime.
It could be too little - too late, the Great Salt Plains lake has filled up a little with the rainfall we had this fall.
The lake still has a few more feet to raise to reach normal pool. Even at normal pool I would be concerned about getting my boat in and out at the boat ramp. A few feet will not leave a lot of ramp under the water level.
Another concern is the salt content of the water. Even if you can get your boat on the water, locals are saying that the salt can ruin your motor. I'm guessing that if fresh water fish can live in the water it is not horribly bad for your boat.
I am hoping that some fish survived this last summer with the extremely low water levels and high heat. It will be worth a few quick trips down there to check it out. I have been wanting to try the spillway out since last summer when I saw several large snapping turtles and large catfish swimming around.
It could be too little - too late, the Great Salt Plains lake has filled up a little with the rainfall we had this fall.
The lake still has a few more feet to raise to reach normal pool. Even at normal pool I would be concerned about getting my boat in and out at the boat ramp. A few feet will not leave a lot of ramp under the water level.
Another concern is the salt content of the water. Even if you can get your boat on the water, locals are saying that the salt can ruin your motor. I'm guessing that if fresh water fish can live in the water it is not horribly bad for your boat.
I am hoping that some fish survived this last summer with the extremely low water levels and high heat. It will be worth a few quick trips down there to check it out. I have been wanting to try the spillway out since last summer when I saw several large snapping turtles and large catfish swimming around.
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| Summer 2011 |
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| Winter 2012 |
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| Boat ramp still slightly out of water. |
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