fishing and eating

Finally a day of solo fishing with the energy to make it grand.

I rowed across the windless lake.

Nothing was biting.

To escape the sun I decided to tuck myself into the shade along the South bank of the Second Lake. 

In that area is a place where for many years I caught wonderful batches of bluegill, sometimes some of the largest ever seen in the lake.  Of course, they were more plentiful during the spawning in spring, but I thought I'd give it a try.

The house there now is completely different, the deck modern, the dock new.  Missing were old pipes that used to be there in the water, remnants of some old dock.

Now there is a rope swing for swimming.

However, I see that there is still some road drainage of a small trickle of a stream and still a good shade tree.

And sure enough if I cast into the small area I once fished long ago, there were large bluegills and some perch.  Here was action when the rest of the lake seemed slow at best.

There was not wind.

I did not anchor.

I just drifted and kept myself away from the boats moored at the docks.

I did best with no jig, just a small bit of worm on a light line.

At one point I woke the dog and he woke his owners who silenced him.

It felt almost intrusive to be so close in on someone's property.  I remembered how I used to be there almost every night. An older woman  (of the age I am now)  lived there with a little yapping dog.  She never said a word to me, but I wondered what she thought of seeing the same fisherman in the same spot night after night.

 

I did  catch on exceptionally large perch and one very large bluegill and then many that would do and one that would make for a great joke with Elizabeth.

 

 

When I tired, I rowed home and dealt with some of the Peter issues that needed attention.  Then I cleaned them, talked a bit to Chicago son Keith about Vegas, and then did the sink cleaning with a very fine toothbrush with a tip of bristles that stuck out and were great for grabbing bits behind the small rib cage bone.

We had one meal for supper.  Another was frozen.  The largest of the bluegills I cleaned whole with heads and then  put in the barbecue sauce to marinate.  I'll make them tomorrow or the next day on the grill.

 

 

Here are the fish frying in the pan.  Note the little one.

 

 

 

 

 Here is the boat docked again, the scene from the deck we would see when we dined, a fine wild scene as I like it.

 Here was where we dined.  The table is set for Elizabeth to come home.

 

 So I asked Elizabeth how many she thought she would eat.
Well, three perch and a bluegill would be good, she answered.

Three perch and a bluegill?  I asked.

"Yes." 
And so I showed her what I had fried up for her.  Three perch and one bluegill, the tiniest fish I've cleaned this year.




Then after dark I sat by a fire and drank scotch.
Neighbor Jeff came down for a just five minutes to say hello.