Camping Trip - High Temp 36 Degrees

Gavin's keeper.  The last one of the day.  He wasn't letting this one go.

I called Dad last week to see what they were doing for the weekend.  The boys have been amped to fish since we got back from Grand Lake, so I thought I would drive up to my parents and hit some ponds and small lakes with them and Dad.  Dad had other plans.  He was wanting to camp. 

We watched the weather and the forecast became more bleak as the week went on.  On Friday it was snowing up there.  It's not winter and there isn't ice on the lakes yet so we went camping.

It was cold.  Two layers of coats cold.  I bundled up in my coveralls, coat and multiple shirts and was ok.  I couldn't move my limbs due to such bundling but I wasn't frozen cold.

It was after dark on Friday by the time I reached the lake.  Mom and Dad had a fire going so we sat around that and talked for a while before we were all too cold to stand outside any longer.  We went into the heated 5th wheel and got some sleep.

The next morning we were not in too big of a rush to get out onto the lake.  It didn't look like anybody was.  There were about 4 boats on the water through the whole day.  We started out over a fish attractor and tried to catch some crappie.  We saw 1 caught in a boat next to us and that got us all jacked.  I slowly lifted my rod tip to raise the jig off the bottom then let it sink back down, repeating the motion over and over.  I had a few light taps but never had one take it.  Then I get a tap.  I lift the rod tip and the battle is on.  I feel the fishes head jerk from side to side.  I realize it's not a crappie.  That feeling is all to familiar.  Then I see the shiny sides and the ugly mouth and my thoughts are confirmed.  It's a drum.

We trolled some after that and Dad caught a white bass.  Nothing was biting in the deep water.  Everybody was starting to get chilled and hungry so we went in for lunch.  With no vehicles at the launch ramp we just tied up to the boat dock and walked to the camper. 

Again, nobody was in a hurry to go back out.  Dad snuck down to try fishing off the rocks for a shallow crappie.  I saw him catching fish after fish so I went down.  He was catching a white bass on every cast.  We both started catching them.  Then just like that they were done.  We decided to go out in the boat and try slabbing them in the cove.  No luck.  Dad's trolling motor broke earlier this year so we couldn't work the shorelines.  We tried drifting down a shoreline but the wind wasn't letting us.

We were getting ready to try another cove when we noticed a rain cloud approaching.  Dad didn't want to get wet so we jetted back to the ramp and loaded the boat. 

Leo had been keeping a fire going all afternoon so we stoked it up a little to get ready to roast hot dogs and brats.  We sat around the fire most of the evening and the night until we couldn't take the one sided heat any longer.  Back to the camper to shed the layers.

Sunday was nicer.  We realized the best fishing was going to be from the shore so we walked to the back of the cove.  We were catching a lot of fish but they were small.  The wind was blowing to the other corner of the cove so Dad walked over there.  He caught several keepers so I walked over there.  We were catching keepers on about every cast so the boys decided they were coming over too.  They got into the action.  We only fished for about an hour before heading back to pack up camp and clean fish.  In that time we had kept 19 fish and had thrown back close to 100.  That's fun fishing.

I had scheduled an appointment to look at a pop up camper that afternoon so we left the lake to go look at it.  It was reasonably priced and came with everything you needed to start camping as well as tons of extras.  The camper was in great shape so I made an offer.  He counter offered and I counter offered again until we came to an agreement of $3450.00 for the 2003 Starcraft pop up along with a 32" flat screen t.v., a fold down grill, all of the new bedding, pots, pans, silverware, microwave, coffee pot, DVD player, video game system, and everything else that was in there.  The great thing will be the air conditioner and the heater.  Now I can camp anytime.  It has 2 queen size pop outs.  The sofa and the table also turns into 2 more twin size beds.  It will sleep 6 pretty comfortably.  It will be nice next year at my tournaments to not have to get hotels all the time.  Maybe I can find a boater that will want to camp and would be willing to take me out prefishing in exchange for a place to stay.

On my way home I averaged 14 mpg with the explorer.  That's only 5 mpg less than not hauling anything.

Next week I leave for Louisiana for the BFL Regional on the Red River.  My wife isn't going with me.  She has been on too many trips the last few weeks to take any more time off from work.  Even though it has been trips for work.  She went out to Colorado Springs for a week and now she is out at Seattle Washington for the week. 

I was planning on making a longer trip out of this and spending some time in Louisiana, but now it's all about fishing and getting back.  I'm not fun enough to spend that much time with myself.

Last night I cleaned out the garage so I can park the camper in there.  They are calling for tornadoes, high winds and hail tomorrow.  Is it spring already?  No need to risk it, I'll have my boat and camper in the garage. 

Gavin Hooked one and was struggling getting it in so Leo came to help.

Getting the fish lined up ready for the big picture.

The big picture

The Good Old Days Might Be Back

At the beginning of spring I had plans to have everything done in order to be ready to fish fish fish this year. As soon as that tax check came in around March it was looking really good. Then it began to change. I bought a new boat. I entered in a couple of bass tournaments. I booked camping. I was spending money here and there. I had always been good at saving my tax money for upcoming adventures before but this year I just needed that boat. I bought it without thinking about tags, taxes, and all of the little items like ski vests I would need for it. I guess I did think about it but didn't think it would tax our savings so fast.

My wife and I's income covers the cost of our bills. We don't have much left over. I had plans to fish and camp every weekend. Now I don't know how that is going to happen, in what I consider the prime fishing time, early spring. I was counting on our extra money in savings to cover the cost. Summer will be easier if I can sell the pontoon. I have been talking to a guy at work about it and he seems pretty interested.

I do know I will make it out quite a bit this year. I have never let money keep me away from fishing. Even when I was eating Ramen Noodles and drinking Old Milwauki in college I scraped enough change together to make it to the lake all the time. They were some of the best trips too.

One time a friend and I went to a lake in Kansas just after walleye spawn. We saw a guy casting out to the waves that were crashing into shore. The wind was blowing hard that day and had a huge mud line built on the north side of the lake. I tied on a jig head with a 3 inch green and brown grub tail and cast it out. It took a little bit to figure out how to catch the fish. I was joking around and pulled as hard and fast on my line as I could and WHAM! my pole dips and the line starts singing out of the reel. When I got the fish in I saw that it was a 3 pound wiper.

We caught a fish almost every cast like that. A few of them went up to 8 pounds. The more we fished the more we realized the fish were at the edge of the mud line and the mudline was getting further and further out. I took off my shoes and waded out to my knees. The water was really cold and the waves would sometimes splash up to my waistline. My friend did the same thing when he saw I was catching more fish. Before long we were wading out to where we could barely keep our heads above water. It was freezing cold but catching fish like that was worth it.

Later in the evening as the sun was about to set the bite turned off. We kept casting. All of a sudden the walleye moved in and we had our limit of walleye in about 30 minutes.

I burned the drag out of my Eagle Claw spinning real that day. It took the whole 45 minute drive back to campus with the heater on high to get the feeling back in our hands and legs but man was it worth it. Especially when we were able to eat fresh fish instead of Ramen!

I look for a really exciting year this year. My oldest son is 3 now and he is really into the thought of fishing. He has his own scooby doo pole and his own tackle box with some lures that I have given him. Every night he brings me a bass pro or a cabela's magazine and wants to look through it with me. My best friend lives with me and we finally have some weekends off together this year. I have a new boat for funnin' and fishin'. I'll just have to go out when I can and with what money I can and make sure I make the most out of every trip.

Indian Lake Tournament No Go

I got home from work on Friday and the parts had not came in. I e-mailed the person I bought them from and he said that he had shipped them ups instead of priority mail which was what was listed in his description. He said that the tracking shows that it would arrive on Monday.

I got on the computer and looked at a couple different sites to try to try to find some used parts to get me by until the hubs arrived. I found the same year blazer on craigslist that somebody was parting out. I called and he still had those parts but I wouldn't be able to get them until Sunday. That would be too late. I looked into rental cars but they do not allow towing. U-haul only allows you to pull U-haul trailers. I had a hitch lined up that u-haul would install on the mini-van and thought everything was going to work out but I found out that I needed to look at the specs for the van. Insurance will not cover an accident if you are pulling more than what the specs say you can haul. The van can pull 1500 pounds but the boat is close to 3000 pounds. I did find out that I might be able to rent a truck from a dealership but by the time I found that out it was Saturday night and I had to be at the lake by 6 am to register for the tournament and they were not open.

Team MiRketti was not able to make it to the tournament and were out 85.00. We did still want to fish though so we went down to Deer Creek lake and fished the dam for Crappie. I caught the first 10 incher on a 1/16 oz. jig head and black and green skirt and a couple more on a white skirt. Mizike caught quite a few more fish on bobber and minnow. My oldest boy had a few bites on jig and minnow but did not catch any. Mizike added 4 more to the stringer before my son started crying to go home. It was raining and a little chilly.

Friday night we stayed up until 5 AM going to the bar and having some after hours poker. I made up 15.00 that I lost on Sunday so I guess it was not too bad. Saturday I was up around 10 and was feeling pretty good so I watched some more dvr'd tv. When Mizike got up we headed out to do a little garage sale shopping. We only found 2 but got some pretty neat toys for the kids. It was a really nice day on Saturday.

The next 2 weekends Mizike is working so we will not have any tournaments. This weekend is supposed to be a very nice close to 80 degree weekend. I am weighing going camping at Alum Creek and fishing all weekend or loading up the wife and kids and heading to Tennessee, Kentucky, or West Virginia to see some more country.

I moved to Ohio from Kansas about 5 years ago and like to go on little trips each year to see some more of the country. We always find really cool places when we load the car and go. Two years ago we went to West Virginia and found a stream in the middle of nowhere that had lots of free camping all along it. There was hiking and bike trails close. There was also a cave close that had a resteraunt that had a killer breakfast for real reasonable prices. Last year we went to Kentucky on a whim to the cave area. We went down to see Dinosaur land but there was all kinds of things to see and do there.

I kind of like the idea of camping and fishing though. I would like to take my 3 year old and just the 2 of us spend the weekend camping and fishing.

Nitro problems

Yesterday I called the marine to check on the pontoon. I had it in the shop to replace the water pump and the fuel cylanoid. I am prepping it to sell but now with the new boat having problems I need to get it to the shop to get it worked on. I will have to use the pontoon this weekend and put the Nitro in the shop for our second tournament.

The only time I will have to do that is on Saturday. I was hoping to camp Friday and Saturday night at Indian Lake so I could get a full day of fishing in before the tournament on Sunday. I guess I will drop off and pick up the new boat early Saturday and head straight to the lake.

I also have to replace both hub assemblies on the Blazer this week. They are grinding really bad. Hopefully with all the repairs done I will be able to set my mind on fishing. It has been raining the last few days and has been about 50 degrees outside. It is supposed to dry out and warm up tomorrow Friday and Saturday then cool off and rain on Sunday.

I am a little concerned about taking the pontoon to the bass tournament. I will look kinda funny amongst all the bass boats. Oh well I want to fish it and I don't want to burn up the motor on the Nitro. I would like the speed from the 150 HP but the 70 HP will get me to where I need to go, and I am used to fishing out of the pontoon.

I am thinking that the game plan be to try an assortment of styles of lures. I don't want to get stuck on one pattern like we were at Deer Creek. I have been on the lake once and it is shallow with lots of rocks on the shoreline, boat docks and channels all over. I am looking forward to trying out some tubes. I have had luck with them before. I looked at this previous tournaments weights for the last several years and it will take the the 10 fish limit to make it in the top 10. I got a tip from somebody that fishes the lake a lot to use a spinner bait on the East end of the lake. He showed me some of his key spots so we will be starting out there.

There's only a few days left and a lot to do. I hope the wife and kids will give me a break to get some of it completed. I think Mizike is planning on helping me with the hub assemblies.

After this tournament Mizike works the following 2 weekends. I might see if I can get in a small tournament myself. More than likely I will wait for later in the year. They have a bunch of Wednesday and Thursday night tournaments I might try to get into. We are just doing opens now, I would like to get into a small series.

I have lots of plans of fishing this spring and summer. I worked on the house this winter so I would have this time to fish and spend at the lake. Some of the things I want to do this year.

Enter tournaments - win one
Spend a weekend at Lake Erie - fish one day on a head boat for Walleye and go out to Put in Bay.
Take a trip to Kentucky Barkley Lakes for a weekend of bass fishing.
Week trip in July to Chesapeake Bay, Niagara Falls, and the East Coast.
Enter Wednsday Griggs tournament or Thursday O'shaunessey/Alum Creek tournament series.
Camp at least 10 weekends.
Rent a Cabin and hike at Hocking Hills for a weekend with wife kids Mizike and his girlfriend.
Fish Alum Creek early June for Musky on the points.
Camp and fish 3 new lakes in ohio that I have not fished.

Deer Creek Tournament April 11th

We made it to the ramp at 5 am and walked over to the check in stand. We had pre-registered for 60.00. They asked us our boat number and we told them boat number 14. There was still quite a bit of time until first safe light so we got some coffee and headed back to the car. We were still not sure how things were going to take place so we figured we would do what everybody else was doing. We did walk down to look at the water level and seen that the lake was up about 4 foot from the previous week.

Finally at 6:30 people started hauling their boats to the water. We got in line and right at 7:00 we had the boat in the water and headed to get lined up for starting position. On the way I noticed that the tell tale hole was not shooting out any water. I put the boat in neutral and revved the engine and water came out until I throttled back down to idle. The impeller must be about shot for the water pump.

They had written our number on a paper plate and when they called our number we started weaving in and out of boats trying to get to the front of the pack to take off. They had called 4 or 5 more numbers by the time we got to the front to take off. The spot we had fished had somebody in it already. So we went to drive around to find another spot now that we had a boat on the water. Every good looking spot had been taken by the time we made our way down the lake. We were cold due to the near freezing weather so we pulled up to the north bank to fish it.

We fished some structure we saw coming up out of the water for a while. We had done good on crankbaits the week before when it was warmer so we tried those again. We didn't have any in the pearl white that we had used last week but had some new colors to try. We fished the small structures for about an hour and decided to try a new spot. The wind had blown all night and had the northeast corner by the dam really muddy. That's the spot we had decent luck in the week prior though so we headed that direction. The original boat was still casting to the rocks so we stayed out on the mud flat and fished it. Finally they left and we moved in. We fished for about half an hour with the wind blowing straight at the rocks. I was having a hard time maneuvering the boat with the trolling motor to stay in that spot. Finally I figured out the trolling motor so I could hold it in that spot.

Shortly after that a boat with 2 kids pulled up and about hit us as they started fishing the 30 foot of rocks we were fishing. They were squeezing in between boats all day. I thought there was a 50 foot rule in the rules but I guess they didn't care. I'm glad they didn't win.

We didn't catch anything at that spot se we drove around some more. Mizike got splashed by a big wave coming over the bow. So he was wet and cold. We attempted to find a spot out of the wind but there was no such place on this lake. We finally settled into a high bluff with rocks and some downed trees in the water. Mizike got a snag and as we backed towards his line it came loose and he had a fish on a rattletrap about 8 foot deep. It measured 13 inches so we put it in the livewell. Shortly after in the same spot I caught a non keeper. We fished that spot for a long time trying different baits hoping we founds some schooling fish. If they were we couldn't get no more.

We ended up back over by the dam and Mizike caught one more 13 incher on a crank. We got on a crankbait kick, partly because it was easy to use with the wind and we had done good on them the week before. We should've tried jig'n'pig or a slower bait due to the weather conditions.

We didn't catch any more fish and headed back for weigh in. It took us a while to figure out how to trailer the boat. It was a little embarrasing. I could trailer the pontoon easy. Mizike had put the trailer in too deep and the front of the boat would not go high enough. Finally after I had jumped in the lake I had him pull forward and was able to get the nose of the boat high enough that it aligned with the trailer.

We passed people on the way up the ramp with 2 bags with the 5 fish limit. I had thought it was a tough day of fishing. When we got to the tent to weigh in there were only 2 5 fish limits, a few 4 fish bags, a few 3 fish bags, our 2 fish, and a 1 fish bag and 13 boats that did not weigh in fish. We figured it up and we finished 14th out of 28 boats with 2.27 pounds.

It was a fun day of fishing though. I looked at all the things we did wrong and when I got home Sunday I hooked up all of my poles with different presentations so I don't get caught on 1 pattern again. I took out some of the floorboards on the boat and found the connections to the fish finder and hooked it up. We didn't have that all day. I reorganized the boat so I could use the compartments to free up space.

It would have been nice to have been more prepared. Next time, hopefully.

A couple more fish and we would have been in the money. Our next open tournament is at Indian lake on the 19th of April.

I am hoping I get the pontoon back from the shop so I can use it while I put the new boat in the shop to fix the impeller and it has a leaky oil line.

Prepping for Tournament fishing

April 11th 2009 was Team MiRketti's first tournament. It was exciting, painful, and a learning experience.

My partner Mizike and I had been preparing for tournament bass fishing for about 3 months now. We decided we were going to tournament fish this year while we were playing Bass Strike on PS2 and realized how good we were at that game. We have fished together for quite a few years now but mostly for walleye, crappie, catfish, and a few other species. Hardly ever for bass.

I had always considered bass tournaments and even bought my boat with the intentions of getting in some small tournaments. My boat is a 18' fish Spectrum pontoon loaded with livewell, trolling motor, fish finder, four swivel fishing seats, rod holders and many other options.

As the season got closer I started thinking wouldn't it look better if we were going to do the kind of bass fishing we were talking about in a bass boat. I started studying up on boats and figured out a fish and ski model would work out good for family and fishing.

I ended up purchasing a 1998 Nitro f/s with a 150 hp Mercury. It has 2 livewells, a back and front casting deck, 5 seats. Two of them are removable to place on the front and back casting decks. It also has quite a bit of extra storage.

We read everything bass we could get our hands on, talked bass, watched bass fishing on t.v. Broke down spots on the lakes we planned on fishing on contour maps according to what the information we were reading was telling us to fish. When the ice finally melted off the water I caught my first bass of the year. It was about 2 pounds. Pretty good for crappie fishing. We made it out a little later and Mizike caught his first bass casting off some rocks with a small crankbait.

That got us all fired up. We got the pontoon out a couple weekends and bass fished every spot we were supposed to and probably not like we were supposed to and got skunked. I found a good shelf at Delaware lake that was holding quite a few fish on the fish finder. We fished and fished for them. That night I got home and started putting things together. It was pre-spawn for Walleye about a quarter of the lake from the lake from the dam. I had seen this scenario over and over again walleye fishing. With my thoughts only on bass I passed up some excellent walleye fishing. As I have several more times up to this point.

We started getting fishing catalogs in the mail as it started to warm up a little more. We both went crazy at Gander Mountain and Bass Pro stocking up on lures. We were buying up everything we saw on t.v. and read out of books. I was into bass fishing about 10 years ago in high school before I started college. I used to catch a lot of bass so I restocked all of my tackle that I used to use too. Before long I went from 2 tackle boxes to both boxes and 2 regular boxes full of lures, jigs, spinners, worms, etc.

Finally it got down to the week before the tournament. I had just gotten my new boat tagged, registered, and insured. We were taking it to Deer Creek where our first open tournament was. We got there excited to fish, pulled into the boat ramp and the lake was down 14 foot from it's regular summer level. We could not even put in the new boat to test it out. We fished from bank in a promising spot and landed 3 13 inchers and had one decent bass up to bank. He flopped on top of the water right in front of me and spit the lure right by my head. Mizike said it was about 4 pounds. I think more around 2 to 2 1/2. It was definately bigger than the other bass we caught.

The next week was tough. Each day at work all I could think about was the upcoming tournament. We were going to camp as well so I had a lot of things to do before Friday when we took off. Each night of the week my wife worked late until Thursday night. Then she had planned a trip to see Monsters vs Aliens in 3D at the Lennox. Luckily I had Friday off and finished up some things that had to be done to get ready to go. We left the house around 5:00 pm for the lake.

When we got to the lake we set up camp. It had been raining all day so the ground was wet. There was a chill in the air due to the damp air. We set up our tents and got them ready, then built a fire. We roasted hot dogs when the fire burned down to coals. We also had a few adult beverages. My wife and 2 boys went to bed fairly early as it was getting cold out. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep so Mizike his girlfriend and I stayed up and had some more drinks and kept the fire going until about 10:00 pm.

I slept until about midnight. It got cold and windy. I have camped in that before but never with 2 kids trying to squeeze me out of the sleeping bag and off the air mattress. Mizike's girlfriend was cussing us and wanted to go home. Finally at 4 in the morning Mizike and I got up and told the girls to go ahead and go home. We got our things ready and pulled the boat to the boat ramp to check in for the tournament. It was finally time for our first tournament!