Thank You, Veterans!

Floated, Pumpkin Stew, Bruised Banana...What is fall fishing!

About two weeks ago, my buddy's and I floated the Duck River. You may ask, what is floated? Well around here the technical definition is...to float down the river, in a boat while fishing from one destination to another, float. The crew included Buttermilk (Jeff Loudermilk) and Duck Master (Tim Oldfield). Duck Master knows this river like bananas know yellow. The weather was a typical fall day with the wind blowing lightly and about 60 degrees. Lucky for us, the leaves were just starting to fall from the trees, which was good because we didn't have to worry about leaves getting tangled in our lines. We actually paddled up stream and floated back down.

 

Here we have Buttermilk giving Duck Master, in his banana boat, a shove off to start the adventure. The water was amazingly clear for this river. Our plan was to fish for about four hours and catch a few bass or anything that would bite and paddle back to camp for a hot bowl of Buttermilk's Pumpkin Stew. More about Pumpkin Stew later! 

Right off the bat, Duck Master catches a small largemouth bass on a silver artificial minnow crank bait. Notice that smile, even catching small fish makes people gitty.   

 

Duck Master relaxing in his kayak. What a great day to be on the water with friends! As I always say..."Life is short, Get away from the big screen and get on a big stream." If more folks would do this, then there would be a lot more happiness!  

 

While paddling over to a nice spot to cast, I heard a loud sound. It actually sounded like my neighbor raking leaves at 6:00 am in the morning, next to my bedroom window. I looked up the steep bank and spotted a very chubby animal. It even looks like my neighbor. It was a woodchuck, also known as a groundhog or land-beaver. Luckily he was only foraging in the leaves and not chucking wood. 

Fishing was a little slow, but we did manage to catch a few more small bass. Here comes "Fancy Paddle" also known as Buttermilk. The reason I call him fancy paddle is because his paddles cost more than my Kayak. No kidding, they're a piece of art.   

Well, there is always an adventure on the Duck River and Duck Master found it. While paddling up fairly swift water he turned sideways and the banana boat leaned into the water and capsized. Not only did Duck Master get wet, he has a bruised banana (boat). We did find his fishing pole, bait box, etc... I'm sure glad it wasn't 30 degrees!

Do you feel the warmth? After the Duck Master incident we hurried back to base camp. Checkout our fire! There is nothing like a warm fire on a cool fall day, especially if someone is wet. Notice that large back log. Perfect for radiating the heat, in fact it was so hot I had to rotisserate to keep from getting burned. Stay tuned because we are fixing to eat. I know, you may ask what is fixing? Fixing, a southern term which means "ready to do something."

The perfect end of a fishing trip, Halloween Stew. Before we left, Buttermilk had prepared a pot of Halloween stew, dutch oven style. I asked Buttermilk what is Halloween stew and he said that he carved the carrots like little pumpkins. Hmmm....I'm not sure about that. Anyway, why does food taste better near the water after a full day's adventure?

Amazing, check-out those little carved pumpkin carrots! Hope you enjoyed the post.

 

Have a Happy Halloween!

It Was a Wild Halloween Party at the Old Field Studio. The characters from my other blogs stopped by for some fun. Boy, did things get out of hand. The folks from the "River of Oz", "The Worm Hole" and "Bait Dynasty" are a wild bunch. You may be able to figure out who's who from below.

 

 

Mr. Wiggles

Here's a few more of my silly cartoons.

 

 

Water Safety

It's not a winter coat, blazer, tweed jacket, nor leisure suit. It's not bright orange and doesn't feel like two pillows tied to your chest. You don't sweat like a pig in warm weather while wearing it and you can actually move around comfortably. What is it? It's a new Automatic Inflatable Life Jacket that my wonderful wife purchased for me on our anniversary. Oh yeah, it's our twenty-something...

It's made by Onyx and she purchased it at Sports Academy for $79.99. I was able to use it last weekend on a kayak fishing trip.

Interestingly, the left side opens via Velcro to reveal the value, auto water sensor, Co2 air cylinder and manual inflate handle. You must change the air cylinder every 3 years.

I have standards that are important to me in life jacket design. One, they work and save my life, two the comfort level while wearing them.

Now, I have not water tested the vest, so I am taking a leap of faith that it will perform when I fall in the water, but it is U.S. Coast Guard Approval and a lot of folks are using them. So, I think it will work, but I wonder at what point does it inflate, before or after your head goes under? I will let you know about this at a later date.

I have tested the comfort level during a 4 hour kayak trip and I must say that it was the most comfortable vest that I have ever used. In fact, I actually forgot that I had the vest on. Now that is a comfortable vest! If you are around the water a lot, then you may want to purchase an auto inflatable vest, too. Ladies, it would make a great gift for the man that loves the water!

Warm and Cozy???

My fishing buddy, Buttermilk camped out on the Duck River Friday night. Saturday morning at home, I checked my phone and had a text message from Buttermilk. Here's what he said.... "I found this cat down here. I put him in my tent to keep warm. He's kind of ornery though." Here's the picture Buttermilk sent.

Hummmm...Looks like Buttermilk needs to get his eyes checked? Anyway, I traveled down to the Duck and had a great fall fishing trip with Buttermilk and the "Duck Master." Who's the Duck Master? Find out in the next trip report which will follow soon.

Get away from the big screen and get on a big stream!



I Love This Lake!

I Love this lake,

The most amazing scenes appear in its wake,

The sun arises just above the shore,

Giving grace and beauty to this place I adore.

LKO, 2009

Get away from the big screen and get on a big stream or at least put one on the wall!

 

New Host for LeoLakes Website!

Finally, after about three weeks of work the www.LeoLakes.com decor maps website has been moved to a new hosting. That new host is Go Daddy and so far they are great! The new website has been up-dated and many new features have been incorporated. I think the site looks a little more professional. Please check it out, www.LeoLake.com  and if you ever need to frame your favorite lake, river or bay, we have your map! 

Hopefully, I will have more time to post on this blog instead of working on a website! Remember, Life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream or at least put one on the wall!