MadGator

Rock County Bass Anglers End of Season

2007-08-28T07:56:00.000-06:00

So I thought I would sum up our tournament season in a little post here. We fished 6 tournaments. If I get the final standings from Aaron I will post. My results are at the end of this post. I'm not sure what my total weight for season was, I gotta get Aaron to send me that. I had a lot of fun, and am already looking forward to next season. I think I might try and talk Charlie into participating as well. The best part is being able to fish other lakes, while adding a bit of competition to the mix. The competition gets the the heart pumping and adrenaline flowing, I know it's just fishing, but competition in general does that. I also think it makes me fish faster, a little to fast in some situations.

In other news we had some more flooding in our basement, it's been raining for more than a week. I think it's almost done now though. Over the weekend we installed new gutters on the house, I'm hoping they take care of our flooding problem, and they look much nicer than our old ones. FEMA may declare Dane County a disaster area in which case we could get some compensation for the flooding. I should probably report our damages today.

I have fished a lot this season it's been pretty fun, I've gotten a couple over 18" but I don't think I've broken the 20" threshold. I think I've picked up more Northern Pike this season than I ever have which is kinda weird. There are still a couple of months left before I have to put the boat away so hopefully we can put some quality fish in the boat. Celly is home this summer so he has spent some time fishing with me, which I've greatly enjoyed. I've also gotten Boo out a couple times, I think she really likes it when we are catching fish anyway. I thought about trying to get her on the boat, but I'm not sure how that would go especially the potty part lol.

Last but defiantly not least, Foxy and I are expecting our second child in March. We found out a few weeks ago and have informed the family and friends. We are very excited. We've had our first appointment and everything looks great. Boo is very excited to be a big sister. First, I'm hoping for a healthy baby, second a boy would be nice :) , we have a lot of work to do around the house in preparation.

Cory's RCBA Tournament Results...

Tue., May 15 Delavan Lake - 0 fish weighed (My first tournament was a bust)

Tue. May 22 Lake Kegonsa - 4 fish weighed (Took first place and big fish)

Sun. June 24 Browns Lake - 0 Fish weighed (Spent most the time taking Northerns off the hook, had one short bass at the end that didn't measure)

Thur. July 12 Rock Lake - 1 Fish weighed (I think it was a 14 or 14.5, I lost a real nice fish that probably would have moved me into 2nd or 3rd place)

Thur. July 26 Lake Monona - 2 Fish weighed (Took 3rd place)

Sat. August 18 Lake Mendota - 2 Fish Weighed (Took 3rd place)

A little less choking, and a little more Winning!!!!

2007-06-08T13:45:00.001-06:00

Lots to talk about today, so fishing first. Title says it all, May 22 was RCBA Tournament #2, it was supposed to be held on Waubessa, but due to conflicts with another local tournament we moved it to Kegonsa. I was little worried about that because I had never fished there. So the Sunday prior I headed down to the Keg for some prefishing. I Fished a bunch of docs, probably covering 1/4 - 1/2 of the shoreline. I caught a number of fish, but only two or three that measured. The Yahara river connects right where the launch is, so I swung up there and had a number of strikes. I decided that on Tournament day that's where I would focus on. My idea paid off big time. I weighed four fish 15, 15, 16 3/4, and 18 inches, for a total of 160 oz. (not for sure on that total). I ended up winning the tournament and recording big fish, total winnings of $125. OH YEAH!!!!! I was pretty excited, my move paid off for my boating partner as well, as he came in second place. All but one fish was caught on Watermelon YUM dingers (including the big girl) and the other on a white Zoom Horny Toad. I have a pic of the 18 that I will post when I get some time. Next Tourney is on Browns, it's an early morning one, so be fun.

I took a half day last Friday and headed to Monona for a couple hours. I thew a Yum Dinger under a dock, first cast a nice legal fish. Then zero'd for the next hour or so. I moved over into Turville Bay and started chucking a Zoom toad, and picked up another 5 or 6 fish. Nothing too exciting but it was fun. The weather turned south pretty quick so I had to cut the trip a bit short. However, I made it home just as the rain was starting.

Lastly, summertime is in full swing and so are the projects. Over the past month we've painted the living room and hallway, rota tilled a section of lawn with bad grass and replanted, added an addition to our vast deck which is now close to 850 sq ft, and had a ginormous Silver Maple removed from the front yard, also removed the two remaining pine trees in the back. Talk about busy. This weekend we have parties up the yin yang. Although it will be nice to take a break from house projects. I'm pretty excited about going to Devil's lake on Sunday. Planning on wetting a line anyway, and I think we'll try and get Boo some fish as well.

Pictures...One thing I lack are pictures we have lots of them, but they are stored in digital heaven generally on the camera or buried on my hard drive at home. I'd really like to purchase a USB hard drive and start storing our media on it. I think it would make organization easier as well as back up easier. I also think it would be easier to get them onto a Flickr account. I'm going to watch some tech sites and when I find a good deal go ahead and purchase one. I'm running out of space on my PC so I feel like this might be a good option. Not only to free up some HD space, but create a fairly portable way of storing my pictures and possibly music. I do need to replace the hard drives in my computer as they are about 6 years old.

I choked! :(

2007-05-17T12:55:00.000-06:00

First, lets talk about the opener. I went fishing both days on opening weekend. Saturday I headed out to Monona, and ended up with 3 LM bass. All males and avg size around 14 inches. Sunday, I went to waubessa and boy was it windy. I tooled around waubessa along with, oh I don't know, 50,000 other boats, and really couldn't find anywhere good to fish. So headed to Upper Mud to give it a try before calling it a day. I got on a weedline and in 30 minutes had boated 3 bass and a decent northern. The bass on Saturday came on a Boggie Bait and the bass on Sunday came on a Shakeyhead Worm. Not bad for the first weekend of fishing, especially considering the millions of people out.

The next week, Foxy decided it was time to paint the living room, and had taken a few days off of work. I had a conference Tuesday and Wednesday, and decided to join the painting fun Thursday and Friday. It was pretty nice since I had about week off of work anyway. Well, I had an opportunity to head out on Friday afternoon. I headed to Monona, the weeds are really up and the bass spawn was really on. I boated 7 bass caught on Boggie baits and Shakeyheads. I also pretty much slimed my boat at the launch. Which kinda sucked, in fact I still need to wash it off.

So then we come to the choke fest. My first RCBA (Rock County Bass Anglers) club tourny was on Tuesday at Delavan lake. I was a nonboater fishing with another guy, who actually has a really nice alumicraft. We headed to some docks off of a steep drop. Saw lots of bass, but couldn't get anything to commit. We fished there for about an hour. Oh yeah, it rained then stopped, then rained, then stopped, then SUPER rained, then stopped. I was aware of the fact it would be raining and ended stopping at Farm and Fleet and purchased a fairly nice rain suite. Good call. Anyway, we moved over to this Marina in hopes of getting out of the weather. Turns out, pretty much the other 3 boats in the tourny had the same idea, only from the get go. So it was pretty well fished out. My boating partner landed a 21" beast. Which turned out not only to be big fish, but also the biggest fish anyone had ever gotten during a tournament. In the end, I caught a northern, and missed probably 3 bass. So basically, I choked. Oh well, I'm boating in the next tournament, which was supposed to be on Waubessa but we had to move do to another tourny going on there. So we will be fishing the Keg, which I've never fished. If I find some time this weekend I might prefish it, but we'll have to see how it goes.

Two Days and Counting...

2007-05-02T09:18:00.000-06:00

Two more days until the May 5th game fish opener here in the land of cheese. I'm pretty pumped, we've had stable weather for the last week. With temps in the mid 60's to mid 70's. In the meantime I took the 'ole bass tracker out on Mendota and landed 3 nice gills the largest of which measured 9" and two crappies one of which I kept. I actually KEPT fish, not only that I cleaned them when I got home for Foxy. I pretty much butchered them however, it was my first attempt at cleaning fish. My grandpa gave me an electric knife which worked pretty good and being the geek I am, I had the laptop setup next to me with fish cleaning instructions. GG Internet. Anyway, temps on Mendota were in the 59-63 degree range so the opener is looking spectacular. Downside to this is the lakes are going to be busy and fishing pressure could lead to a tough bite. Only time will tell.

On another note, I would first like to apologize to my beer mates for the verbal flogging I gave them about my distaste for the band Radiohead and the music production software ProTools. New rules, don't argue with Cory about music, politics, or religion after he's had a few...lol. Anyway, I still stand by my statement that Radiohead is probably the worst band in history and that Thome Yorke is pansie, pretentious, faux musical genius, that has been shoved down consumers throats (or into their ears) for far too long. Whoever paid off of some record exec to promote Radiohead as gods gift to music should be publicly ostracized and hung out to dry. Seriously, they are terrible and we as consumers of music have been lead to believe that poor, pathetic Thom Yorke is some sort of phenomenal, musically superior, gift from on high. BS. This is guy is a fake and all you radiohead faithful just ate it up. Face it the band is bad, Thom Yorke is a chump, and a roving band of rabid chimpanzees could make better music with their eyes closed. I sorry, that's my opinion. Take it or leave I won't change. In the end the worst part about radiohead is how people are so devout to them as if their music cures disease and ends poverty, I'm sorry Thom Yorke but the world already has one Bono and that's plenty. Believe me this isn't my first argument over the sorry bunch whiny brits, and it probably won't be my last. Believe it or not radiohead junkies, I'm not the only one who doesn't like this band, do yourself a favor and google radiohead sucks and you might learn a thing or to.

Until next time...Tight Lines and RadioHead still sucks.

Well over do....

2007-04-13T08:07:00.000-06:00

So I decided I was well over do for an update here. So here is the latest and greatest from the MadGator household. First off, Foxy and I purchased a new car a couple weeks ago. It's an '05 Malibu Maxx, which is a hatchback. It's all pimped out, in fact it has just about every option you can put on it. Including a DVD player in the rear console. It's a pretty fun car to drive and gets almost 30mpg. I've taken over control of the Equinox and Foxy gets to enjoy the heated leather seats in the Malibu. Boo likes the new car and we haven't even showed her the DVD player yet. I have yet to sell the Bonneville, but it's only been in the paper since last week, and sounds like I may have some good prospects over the weekend. Either way, we all seem to enjoy the new vehicle, heck it's almost worth it to be able to listen to Boo say Malibu cause she says it funny.

Next, I got the boat out and after a $300.00 trip to Pharo marine she's ready to go for the season. In fact, I took my brother Celly up to the Dells this week on Monday. We fished a section of the river between here http://www.dellsriversedge.com/ and the Dell's dam. The nice part was the boat traffic was light, the bad part was the fishing was horrible. We have had about two weeks worth of awful weather and it's really shut the fishing down. It was only about 38-42 degrees up there and the water temp didn't go above 38 degrees, which is just not warm enough. That said neither of us got skunked, Celly got a short Sauger and I caught a sturgeon of all things. The sturgeon was about 20" and it's the first one I've ever caught, not saying it was worth the trip, but definitely helps. The area there is really cool, in fact this is where you go if you take a Duck tour or jet boat ride. Hence, during the summer it's an awful place to fish. We did see a couple boat tours, including a Duck that nearly ran us over. It's an interesting place, I'd like to take a trip there again, hopefully we can catch some fish next time.

Lastly, FGAW asked me if I'd like to join his bass club. I accepted his offer and we had our first meeting this week. We will be fishing 6 tournaments through out the summer, the cost is $170, and the payout goes as follows... 1st Place $100, 2nd place $50, 3rd place $25, big fish $25. If we have ten guys fish the 2nd, 3rd, and big fish go up $25. The lakes include, Delavan, Waubessa, Browns, Monona, Rock, and Mendota. I'm really looking forward to this, it's low pressure and a chance to try my hand at tournament fishing. My goal is win one tournament, which I think I have a pretty good chance of considering we are hitting 3 of the Madison lakes and rock lake which I fish on occasion. Other than that, May 5th can't get here fast enough. Till then, tight lines.

Barcamp Madison 2007

2007-03-09T15:17:00.000-06:00

So last weekend I attened Barcamp Madison with Christian and his cousin Cade. It was a pretty good time. I presented two topics, one on Freely available windows security tools and the other on Fishing Technology (of course). I also particiapted in the Wii Fight tournament and came in second, sniff sniff I guess wanting it more than anything wasn't enough. Below are a couple pictures from the event and a link to the Wii fight video. I know it's dorky, but it was fun.

Wii Fight Video:
http://tinkernet.org/2007/03/03/wii-fight-midwest/

Here are some links to some other pics I couldn't upload...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/atomicfork/409031499/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/atomicfork/412822210/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/atomicfork/412822220/in/photostream/

Christian and I Geek'n out!!!

Me giving my talk about Windows Security tools.
The Final Round!!!!
Proof I am the second best Wii Fighter at Barcamp!

YAY NEW CAR...almost!!!

2007-02-21T11:15:00.000-06:00

Foxy, Boo, and I took our annual trip to the accountant on Monday. This works out pretty well, because grandma and grandpa watch Boo while we do our business, plus the accountants office is about 5 minutes for their house. So we have dinner and learn that my Uncle is trading his '04 Malibu in on a new Impala. We have been looking at Malibu MAXXs and figured we could get a good deal. The car in question was thought to be a MAXX with leather, sun roof, power everything, remote start, the works. So we were pretty excited, the catch was that we would have to complete the deal by the end of the week. So the following day I ring my Uncle, he was a bit concerned that he had pretty much committed the car to the dealer (in writing). So he called the dealer, and that was in fact true, however we were promised first crack at the vehicle by the salesman. So I mention we had been looking at the MAXX for a little while and this would be a great deal. WAIT HOLD THE PHONE...A MAXX...No No No, we have the sedan. AHHHHHHH BOOOOOOO!!!! While still a good deal, we are really interested in the MAXX which is a hatchback. So alas the search continues.

In other news, the fishing show is this weekend, I am going with Charlie. There is really only one seminar presented by Pro Bass Angler Larry Nixon that I am interested in. I would like to pick up a "Crappie" rod, I have an ultra light but it's short and would like a 6'6" - 7' Ultra light rod. So we'll see if I can find anything. Other than that there isn't much I want or need from the show. Heck, maybe we'll bust out early and go fishing.

Lastly, I am signed up to do two presentations in the next few weeks. One is for the Madison Barcamp which is an Open Source conference. It's free as long as you present or help in some way. Basically, a social networking type of thing. I am presenting Five Windows Based Security/Forensics tools. Should be pretty cool, if interested check it out at http://www.barcampmadison.com. Christian is also presenting on Screen Scraping. I'm pretty excited about it. Secondly, I am presenting for the WiscNet Security Workgroup. My presentation will is Getting Started with a Security Assessment. We are performing a Security Assessment at work and I am heavily involved. So I hope that this is helpful so some of the other organization within WiscNet. I have a feeling that this will lead to another presentation at the WiscNet ITMC conference next fall.

Tight Lines!!!!

Ice, Ice and More Ice

2007-01-22T09:26:00.000-06:00

Well, so the lakes finally froze and Charlie and I decided to hit Monona Bay for the first time this winter. Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell the fish. We ended up actually going twice this weekend, but only landed a handful of keeper fish, I'm thinking around 12 total. Lots of small fish. Either way it's the first fishing I've done in some time and it was really nice to get out again. Hopefully, we can hit it a couple more times and have a nice fish fry in the near future.

Xmas follow up.

Xmas was pretty fun. Foxy got me lots of nice stuff that I really needed. My favs include my super sweet watch and a pair of pretty awesome shoes. Makes me look a little more distinguished or something. Either way I really like them both. Oh and really nice wallet that I enjoy, mostly because it shows off my fishing license. Foxy's parents embarked on the great Nintendo Wii search (along with millions of other Americans). Unfortunately, they were unable to find said Wii. So I received a gift card to EB games for the exact price of a Wii. Still very cool. I actually had some time off of work between the holidays so the day after xmas I started my search. I picked a GameStop store on State st. that I felt I would have a good chance of scoring the elusive electrical holy grail of xmas presents. I arrived roughly 15 minutes early with no one standing in line, I went for a coffee next door. Came out to see a dad and some kids hangin in front of the store so I figured I better take my place in line. A third person joined us just before the store was opened. Obviously the first question, do you have any Wii's and the dreaded No answer coming from the clerk. However, the clerk says, we are expecting a UPS shipment today at 10:30 if you want to wait and see if any arrive. So seeing how 10:30 isn't too far off all of us opt to stay. Slightly before 10:30 the man in brown opens the door, exclaiming take downs for the Wii. There you have it 3 peeps in line, three Wii's delivered, 3 Wii's sold. Very cool.

So Yes I acquired my Wii and have been very impressed with it thus far. Wii Sports is a blast, it's taken me several weeks to piece together a second Wiimote/nunchuk, but by george I've done it. Zelda is pretty kick ass, even Boo likes to watch me play which is pretty funny. Even Foxy has had some fun with Wii Sports Bowling and Tennis. I have some pics of my Mii character that I need to post shortly. I'm looking forward to what the Wii will be able to do in the future. Some upcoming games of note include Metroid: Prime, Super Mario Bros Galaxy, Super Smash Brothers Brawl, and of course Bust a Move: Bash (for Foxy). After playing the Zelda mini fishing game, I might have to get Rapala Fishing as well. For now though Zelda is really taking most of my spare time. Lastly, No I haven't broken my TV, or caused any bodily harm thus far (/me knocks on wood).

All in all I think we enjoyed our holidays, Foxy seems to like her new necklace since she hasn't taken it off yet. Boo likes her new table, dinosaur, kitchen, Elmo, toy box, man she gets a lot, and dress up cloths.

Here's to good Ice and Tight Lines. Next up the fishing show in a Month, where famed bass fisherman Larry Nixon will be giving a couple talks. Very Wiitastic.

Wii would like to Play!

2006-12-07T13:38:00.000-06:00

Since the release of the new Nintendo Wii gaming console I have decided it's something I would love to get for xmas. It's really the only thing I want. I know they are in short supply so I'm not holding my breathe or anything, but it would be awesome. Nintendo has taken a bold step to redesign the overall concept of what a gaming console should be. I have to be honest, I have my share of gaming paraphernalia Xbox, PS2, and PC. I have probably 40 games between them. The only games I ever play is DOD, DOD:S, and Madden 2005 (the Pack was actually good that year). So I was not super excited about the release of the newest players into the video game market which include the Xbox 360, PS3, and Nintendo Wii. I would also like to state that I am in no way a Nintendo Fanboy. So while the Xbox 360 and PS3 have horse power, the Nintendo has done something revolutionary, and that is the Wiimote (Nintendo prefers you call it the Wii Remote, but man Wiimote just sounds cool). The Wiimote is a completely new take on the same old two handed controller. It operates using a combination of IR, Bluetooth wireless, and motion sensing technology, to let the user get more involved in the game. For instance, playing a baseball game you swing the Wiimote like a bat to hit and you throw it (not literally) like a ball to pitch. In Zelda, you swing the Wiimote like a sword and pull it back and aim it like a bow and arrow. I am envisioning getting together with a group of people young or old playing something like WiiSports or Super Smash Brothers having a blast same as you would with a game like Catch Phrase or Trivial Pursuit. The concept of the Wii is to get everyone involved and just have fun, vs. the other consoles which seem to primarily be meant for showing off your new $4000.00 HDTV. Everyone obviously has a right to choose whatever they want, but to me the social aspects of the Wii totally outweigh the eye candy offered up by the competitors. The best part about this is seeing Sony just getting it handed to them, and having to submit to I'm sure what they view as a lesser enterprise in Nintendo and MS for that matter. Here are some links to fun Wiisites and Wiivids, check it out for yourself....

http://wii.com/

http://www.wiihaveaproblem.com/

http://us.wii.com/viewer_sports.jsp?vid=11

http://us.wii.com/viewer_zelda.jsp?vid=1

http://us.wii.com/viewer_zelda.jsp?vid=29

http://us.wii.com/viewer_tvcm_usa.jsp?vid=5

http://wii.ign.com/

October No Fish :(

2006-11-01T14:13:00.000-06:00

Well, generally fall is a great time for fishing. Many anglers are also hunters, the ski boats have packed up for the season, the weather is nice, and the colors make for gorgeous afternoon fishing trips. Someone forgot to tell the gods this because this fall has been terrible. The weather has been absolutely horrendous rain, wind, cold, and even some snow have made for a very unpleasent season. However, I attended an IT conference this week in Green Lake, which happened to be right on Green lake. So I brought my rods, the wind was blowing into shore all day, other than a pretty stiff wind the day was beutifull. So I decided to hang on until about 10:00pm and wander down to the pier and take a couple shots at some night time walleyes. I was throwing a Rapala X-Rap on my Fenwick spinning rod. I ended up with two beautifull walleye. The first was pushing the 25" mark and probably weighed 4-5lbs, abosulutely gorgeous fish. The second was a bit smaller coming in around 17-19" but still a nice healthy fat fish. It's situations like these that make me think I must be pretty decent at this fishing thing. I was pretty happy with the results. I am hoping to go Muskie fishing with FGAW hopefully this coming Sunday. Hopefully, I'll have some pics of nice Muskie next week. I like my chances so much I may even go during the Packer game, one they should win in fact. Although I told FGAW we would have to bring a radio.

I also got out on Mendota last week for a bit but didn't even get a bite. Apparently the day was maybe too nice. I don't know. Fishing for bass in the fall here is very difficult, maybe I should concentrate on toothy critters like Muskie and Walleye during the fall period.

We had our first trick or treat halloween with Boo. It was pretty fun, her little chicken costume pretty much made me laugh the whole time we were out. Foxy or I should really post some pics for all to see and laugh. Boo was also very excited about her pumpkin and how we put a face on it. I suppose thats it for now or at least I can post some Muskie pics next week (/me crosses fingers).

Fishing Week Comes to an End

2006-10-09T13:33:00.000-06:00

First off, I need to apologize because I do not have any photos at the moment, and probably won't for a long time. I got a couple pics on my disposable that I keep in the boat, but it's ways from needing development so it will probably be awhile before I have any pics. Regardless here is the report for the week.

Monday: Lake Mendota
6 LM Bass and 1 Northern. The Northern was about 23Â, Bass were 18.5Â, 17, 16.5, 16, and a couple dinks. Mostly off docks pitching a weightless dinger or Chatterbait, one on a DT-10. Monday was probably the nicest day weather wise, and really my best day fishing, the 18.5" bass was my first confirmelegalal bass on Mendota. I say confirmed because it's the first big one I've been able to measure.

Tuesday: Had a Daddy/Daughter day. We went to the Social Science building to visit some old friends. Then we headed over to Foxy's work for lunch. I topped the day off by mowing the lawn while Boo was sleeping.
Wednesdayay: Lake Monona
4 Bass 18, 16, 16, 14 and one Muskie 25Â All came on a chatterbait pitched around docks. The weather was pretty shotty, I mostly hung in/around Squaw Bay. I got the Muskie under a willow tree. This was the first Muskie of any size that I have ever caught. The 18" bass was pretty sweet, it took the chatterbait off of a rock out of the water.

Thursday: Lake Mendota
4 LM Bass 17" 17" 16" 14" , One 12" Smallie, and 2 Northern 35" & 20". Fish came on Chatterbaits and Weightless t-rigged Yum dingers. The weather was really nice on Thursday, low winds made Mendota a good choice. The 35" Northern was my first fish of the day, my biggest Northern to date, I got it on a chatterbait in the inlet by Mendota County park, it was cool because some little kids got to see all the action. I had one of their dads get a picture for me with the disposable.

Friday: Lake Monona
SKUNKED. My brother Chris came down for the day, he picked up a 14" LM bass on a spinnerbait. That was the only fish we caught all day. The wind was out of the south and pretty stiff, the temp was pretty cool. I had a hit on a spinnerbait, but the fish grabbed it sideways and when I set the hook he came off, saw the whole thing.

I had a pretty nice week, even the skunking wasn't terrible, hey a bad day fishing is still better than a good day at work. The weather was awesome and it was nice to get some rest and relaxation. I am hoping to be able to get out a couple more times before I have to put the boat away for the season, but if I end up having to end the season on last week I'll take it. Daddy/Daughter day was a nice break from fishin and we had a good time, I'm glad Foxy suggested it. I am almost half tempted to just devlope my disposable, maybe I can find something to take some pictures of.

Friday Night Mendota Lights

2006-09-26T08:23:00.000-06:00

I took a trip to Lake Mendota last Friday evening. I had to be to work early so I was done around 2:30, Boo was spending the night at her grandparents, so everything worked out well. By lunch time I was overly excited to get out, and the time was crawling by. I launched about 4:00ish, head out for some weedlines and threw Rapala DT-10's in Perch for about an hour. I found some docks and threw YUM dingers for about 45 minutes. I then decided to head towards Maple Bluff and switched back to the DT-10. After about 30 more minutes, and still no bites, I changed the Perch to a Parrot. Within 10 minutes I had a 14" smallie. I moved by the UW life saving station, and continued with the Parrot. I got another really nice smallie that went 17+ and was around 3lbs, kinda wished I'd had a partner with me so I could get a decent Pic. I did get a pick of her on the ruler, but it's on my disposable. One day, I will use all film on that disposable and I will have a plethora of pictures to post, including my ginormous catfish. Turned into a really nice evening by dusk. I have all of next week off and plan to fish until I can't cast anymore. Wish me Luck. Until then Tight lines!!!!!

Fishin' With Celly

2006-08-28T10:44:00.000-06:00

Made a trip to Monona last Friday with my brother. Foxy was kind enough to warn us of impending doom as we narrowly missed a heck of storm. After waiting the first round out we headed to the lake. We were throwing plastic buzz frogs and YUM dingers. I landed a fatty under a dock by Olin, on a Yum dinger. We noticed thunder in the distance followed by a couple bolts of lightening. Well, that got our attention and we made for the launch. We decided to drive back around the lake and stopped at Olin launch, with two hours of fishing time left the rain had stopped and put the boat back in. Headed to Turville, where we each landed two largies on Zoom horney Toads. My last one came at 3:59, our dead line was 4:00. I WIN!!!! Ran into an issue with my power tilt/trim. The engine will trim down, but not up. I think I've traced it back to a relay.

It's been awhile for some pics, after all this is a fishing website. Last week, FGAW dropped off the pics from our outting earlier this summer. Included are two Largies and my biggest walleye eva, a nice 23" fish. Enjoy!!!!

Boats are fun =|

2006-08-21T08:35:00.000-06:00

Well, I decided to see if Foxy wanted to go out fishing with me because FGAW said the gills were biting on Monona. We stopped and got some subs to bring with us and headed out. I found some fish so I stopped the boat as we were diggin into the subs I dropped the line over and low and behold caught a nice gill. Then the fun started, I notice my feet were getting wet, look down to see about 6" of water on my side of the boat. OMG I FORGOT THE PLUG!!!! I quick check the back compartment only to see about 2 feet of water and a floating gas tank. I start the engine and make for shore. This will often times clear some of the water out, at least stop more from coming in. I have a bilge pump, so I fired that up as well. After a nice 10 minute ride, I was able to put the plug in and calm down a bit. We headed back to the gil spot, but ended up not having much luck. We searched around a bit and I got another one. Foxy was getting tired so we decided to drop her off at launch and she made for home. I stayed out for awhile and bagged 3 bass, all small. I missed a nice one, had him on, but the line broke.

I also made a trip to Lake Ripely two weekends ago. It was the first trip I had made there. It was fairly quiet, I could see where it could get a little crazy there. I spent the majority of my time fishing lilly pads and slop, without much luck. Then I started throwing a weighless YUM dinger t-rigged at docks, and landed 5 bass, two keepers. Ripely currently holds the WI state large mouth bass record. However, I don't think a record breaking fish is going to come out of there again. It is a nice clean lake though, and I would like to fish there again.

Monona Weekend Fishing Report

2006-08-08T12:49:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday Foxy had to work so she arranged for her parents to come by and watch Boo for the day. However, to my dismay I awoke to thunder, lightening, and a fairly steady downpour of rain. I anxiously watched the radar and by noon the rain had mostly stopped so I talked to the inlaws and they agreed to come over for the afternoon. Around 1:30 I headed to Lake Monona and launched at Olbrich park. I headed to the mouth of the Yaraha river (from Mendota) and worked the shore line back towards Olbrich. No takers. The wind was blowing in that way pretty hard, I ran a spinnerbait, a Zoom Toad, and a Yum dinger T-rigged weightless. I worked that shoreline for a little over an hour and decided to move to the John Nolan shore line off Olin Park. I had a couple hits on the Zoom toad, then switched to a T-rigged Yum dinger in red Watermelon. AHA. I was throwing the Dinger close to shore in shaded spots, under docks, and the edge of weed patches, and started catching fish. I ended up with 3 keeper bass and 2 nonkeepers. I missed a couple more on the Zoom Toad in Turville Bay. One plus was the WJJO bandcamp outdoor concert was in full swing when I got that shoreline. The concert was in Willow Park on the coliseum grounds. I listened to the full Dope and Nonpoint sets, it was pretty fun. I also discovered running across Monona isn't too bad of a haul which is nice, because the Olbrich launch isn't quite as steep as some of the others on Monona.

A day at Lake Camelot

2006-07-31T12:42:00.000-06:00

Well, last year Foxy and I decided to invest in some property up north. The property is located close to Nekoosa, Wisconsin about an hour and a half north of our home. It's basically a glorified campsite. It has electric, water, and a driveway, along with deeded lake access via what they call a beach club. There is space for boat parking and a very nice sandy beach for swimming. We have actually only been there twice, once when we picked it out and once when we drove my brother home to Steven's Point. So we decided this weekend to run up there with Foxy's P's and pick up Celly in Point and spend the day swimming, boating, and fishing. Well, I don't think we were too impressed. The beach is very nice, but the lake is pretty nasty. Not just that, but I actually compared the lake to rush hour in chicago. Which is probably pretty close since most of the popluation is likely from IL. The boat traffic is insane, dangerous in fact. Needless to say this made fishing extremely hard. Celly and I decided to give it a try non the less. We found a little bay that was pretty quiet. Celly hooked into a LM on it wiggle wog, but lost it at the boat. I missed a small one that hit my buzz frog. We headed back after about an hour and a half of fishing for some super. After super we cleaned up and headed out again with Foxy. We slipped under a bridge into a nice little marshy area. A decent sized northern stole one of my buzz frogs, Celly had him on for minute, then lost him. I ended up with a keeper bass close to the bridge. We threw for awhile longer, but could get any hits, and decided to head home. Another downfall, is that in order to get to our beach you either have to pay $3 and use the public launch or use the camelot private launch and have to drive through this super long channel, which pretty much takes an hour to get through. I think after our trip we have decided to put the lot up for sale, I really don't see us either using it or moving there. Well, such is life I suppose.

Late Weekend Fishing Report

2006-07-13T10:49:00.000-06:00

Last weekend I took Foxy and her sister Sally fishing at Rock Lake after a afternoon at the beach with Boo. Well, unfortunately WI has changed their out of state license rules, it used to be that out of staters could purchase a 24-hour license for around $7. Now you have to minimally buy a 4-day for $24. Sally decided not to fish. We were going to try and find some pannies, but ended up with mostly bass. A stout wind was blowing east across the lake which made for some quick drifting. The best part was Foxy got her first fish with me. She has gotten some gills with her grandpa in the past, but has never caught anything with me. She ended up with two fish a short bass and a short perch. I had a number of bass, including a nice smallie. Sally has a couple pictures of our fish. We had a good time and I am hoping to get Foxy out for some perch fishing on Mendota before they all get caught. With near 100 degree temps predicted this weekend not sure that's going to happen soon. I also managed to get out on Monona for a couple hours on Monday, unfortunately I had my first skunk of the season. Oh well, can't catch them every time. Not sure if I will get out this weekend with the heat, I'll also be working with my dad to try and fix our back yard faucet. Of course, we end up with another ridiculously hot weekend for outdoor work. Go figure. Regardless, next time I hit the water I would like to make it to Mendota for either Bass or Perch. I've been jones'n for some small mouth action. Until then, Tight Lines!!!!

Holiday Weekend Fishing Report

2006-07-05T14:32:00.000-06:00

Well had an eventful 4th of July holiday weekend. I would call it relaxing, but very few things around our house are "relaxing" during the summer. We did have a nice long weekend though, I was off from Saturday - Tuesday and Foxy was off the same except she had to work on Sunday. I went fishing on Friday after work with FGAW. We decided to head to Waubessa for some whatever-would-bites (that's a fishing term). We picked up some meat (crawlers and leeches) and rigged up some slip bobbers and jigs. I decided to tie a Northland Tackle Slurpie on in Perch on one rod and a grandpa jig on the other. Well, we ended up with probably 20+ fish, my count 10 Walleyes, 8 LM Bass, 2 bluegills, and a perch. I caught the big fish a nice 23" waldo, on my ultra light no less (4lb test line). Around dusk we could see bass chasing baitfish in the weed bed we were fishing on. We just couldn't stand it any longer and I tossed a Mann's Hardnose in there after 'em. I landed two on the Mann's, good times. FGAW got some pics, when he gets them developed I'll post the Waldo. I do believe this was my biggest yet, I think I had one on Mendota a couple years ago that probably went bigger, but I lost him just before I could land him. So the 23" is the biggest I've had in the boat. Good times on the Ultra light. After a 12-pack of beer and dinner (for the second time that day) at Christy's I headed home to a sleepless child, poor Boo.

Saturday wasn't too eventful, Foxy's P's came over and we went to breakfast. When Boo went down for a nap so did we. It was nice. The night wasn't all to eventful either. I decided to take Boo down to my parents, and help grandpa paint. After all, I nearly killed him with our little roofing project. Foxy had to work so it seemed like a good plan. I would also like to thank Boo for the summer cold, all three of us have been battling away for almost a week. Although I think foxy and I got the worse end of the stick. Monday we went and visited Celly, he is on house arrest and just finished his Huber Law Jail term. He is in good spirits and I think was very happy to see Boo. They played quite a bit. Foxy also brought Celly a neat little Penguin to keep him company, see http://fortheloveoknit.blogspot.com/ for a Pic. Upon returning home we promptly got ready to head to the DeForest Beer Tent. Oh yes, we have beer tents in WI. It was ok, we met with some friends and we both drank enough beers to relieve our cold symptoms for a couple hours.

On the fourth we decided not to do a whole lot. We got some much needed cleaning done, and watched Boo play in her pool for a bit. Foxy decided to do some gardening and I decided to hit Monona for some fishing. Monona was busy, but not terrible. The wind was pretty bad and I was having trouble staying on the spot I really wanted to hit. I moved to the back of Squaw Bay and was pretty much on the verge of heading out when Foxy called to see when I would be home. The first cast after our conversation I landed a bass, gg Foxy. I picked up another about 10 minutes later. I packed up and headed out, over course not without incident. I think I got some weeds in my water intake and my engine started to overheat on the way back. Smoke was pouring out and I was scared. Then water started flowing and all was better. All in all I think we had a nice weekend. It was a little busy, especially with us in pretty tough shape, with the colds and all. Until next time, Tight Lines!!!!

Weekend Fishing Report

2006-07-05T14:10:00.000-06:00

Well had an eventful 4th of July holiday weekend. I would call it relaxing, but very few things around our house are "relaxing" during the summer. We did have a nice long weekend though, I was off from Saturday - Tuesday and Foxy was off the same except she had to work on Sunday. I went fishing on Friday after work with FGAW. We decided to head to Waubessa for some whatever-would-bites (that's a fishing term). We picked up some meat (crawlers and leeches) and rigged up some slip bobbers and jigs. I decided to tie a Northland Tackle Slurpie on in Perch on one rod and a grandpa jig on the other. Well, we ended up with probably 20+ fish, my count 10 Walleyes, 8 LM Bass, 2 bluegills, and a perch. I caught the big fish a nice 23" waldo, on my ultra light no less (4lb test line). Around dusk we could see bass chasing baitfish in the weed bed we were fishing on. We just couldn't stand it any longer and I tossed a Mann's Hardnose in there after 'em. I landed two on the Mann's, good times. FGAW got some pics, when he gets them developed I'll post the Waldo. I do believe this was my biggest yet, I think I had one on Mendota a couple years ago that probably went bigger, but I lost him just before I could land him. So the 23" is the biggest I've had in the boat. Good times on the Ultra light. After a 12-pack of beer and dinner (for the second time that day) at Christy's I headed home to a sleepless child, poor Boo.

Saturday wasn't too eventful, Foxy's P's came over and we went to breakfast. When Boo went down for a nap so did we. It was nice. The night wasn't all to eventful either. I decided to take Boo down to my parents, and help grandpa paint. After all, I nearly killed him with our little roofing project. Foxy had to work so it seemed like a good plan. I would also like to thank Boo for the summer cold, all three of us have been battling away for almost a week. Although I think foxy and I got the worse end of the stick. Monday we went and visited Celly, he is on house arrest and just finished his Huber Law Jail term. He is in good spirits and I think was very happy to see Boo. They played quite a bit. Foxy also brought Celly a neat little Penguin to keep him company, see For the love 'O knit for a pic. Upon returning home we headed to the DeForest Beer tent, oh yes, in WI we have beer tents. It was ok, I drank enough to temporarily relieve some of my cold symptoms.

Ahhh....the fourth of July. We decided to mostly stay home. We let Boo play in her pool for a bit and did some much needed house cleaning. Foxy did some gardening and I decided to head Monona for some fishing. I ended up with two bass, one keeper on the Mann's hardnose. I didn't expect a whole lot after a crazy weekend such as this. Monona was busy, but not terrible. I almost overheated my engine on the way home, when weeds got caught in the water intake. Stupid Weeds. Anyway, it was a nice break from work and I think we had a fairly good weekend aside from the colds we are still fighting. Tight Lines!!!!

Weekend Fishing Report

2006-06-27T12:40:00.000-06:00

Well, I have been fishing since the big trip down south. I went last Friday to Lake Monona, after throwing a few at lunch, I decided it was just to nice to pass up the opportunity. Foxy and her friend IKTI had a night out planned, so I called the in-laws to come watch Boo. They agreed to and I made my way to lake Monona. It was a beautiful evening to be on the water, pleasant, calm, and quiet. I drove over to Squaw Bay and decided to dive right into the slop. I proceed to cast a soft plastic frog. I ended up with 3 Bass on the evening. I probably missed another 6. I went through about 10-15 frogs, which kinda sucks. The weeds are unreal this year, I think they get worse every year. I actually feel sorry for anyone who lives on the lake, aside from the wonderful smell, it looks pretty tough just getting a boat in and out. You obviously can't swim or enjoy the water either. Well, anyway I tried a couple other things, T-rigged plastic worms, my new $8 SPro Bronze Eye frog (stupid $8), etc... Seemed the only action was coming on the soft plastic frogs, which I was peeved at mostly because I was tearing them up so fast. There has to be a better way. I am not impressed with the 6 packs of Mann's Hardnose frogs I bought either, my hope was they would last longer, they don't. I think I'll stick with the Zoom Horney Toads. These soft plastic frogs are just the ticket for this mossy nasty weeds we have in these lakes, they work like a buzzbait, and generally don't get too hung up. I found if I could throw them into a pocket they would get less weeds. So that was my trip to Monona.

On Saturday we headed for Rock Lake in Lake Mills. There are bass everywhere in this lake, I always seem to do pretty well here. I tried throwing my SPro and T-Rigged 10" worm. I also tried a Carolina Rigged lizard, worm, and brush hog. I tried the inlet next to the launch we usually use with no takers. I ran over to the railroad trussel, which is where I was running the c-rig. No takers. I knew I should have retied my c-rig and suddenly I threw it on a cast. I decided to tie on a 3/0 Gamy and Wacky Rig a Yum Dinger. First cast, FISH ON!!!!! I boated about 9 fish, 5 LM and 4 Rock bass. Only one of the LM was really a keeper, but I had fun either way. I've had more luck with the wacky rig there than anywhere. Not sure if people don't use it or if it just looks good in the clear water there. We have been having fun taking Boo to the beach there so hopefully there will be more fishing trips to Rock lake in the future. I'll be sure to pack the dingers.

I'm headed to Lake Mendota for some perch fishing on Friday with FGAW. I'll probalby have at least one other day on the lake during our long holiday weekend as well. Until then Tight Lines!!!!

Kentucky Lake Bass Pictures

2006-06-16T08:53:00.000-06:00

Sweet Home...Kentucky?

2006-06-13T09:18:00.000-06:00

Well the Kentucky Lake fishing trip has come and gone. I must first apologize for the lack of pictures, they will be coming shortly. After 9 hours of driving (7 of which were in IL), I arrived tired and hungry to the Land between the lakes at Kentucky Lake. Steve had arrived before me and we decided after his poor impressions of Kenlake State park to try Hillmen Ferry Campground in the LBL. We both arrived at roughly the same time at Hillmen. We registered and took up camp close to the beach, and boat launch. We then decided to go get some food and supplies. After 9 hours in the car, my first thought was a beer would be fine. Unfortunately we were in a dry county, and beer was 30 miles away. Steve saved the day, and had brought most of a 12-pack. GG Steve!!!! So after driving around for another 30-60 minutes we find a super Walmart. Ok, not a huge fan of Walmart, but you take what you can get in foreign territory. We got our groceries, and fishing licenses, and maps headed back to camp, drank a couple beers and went to bed. Monday = the big ZERO, that's right skunked the first day BOOO. We decided we were in need of a trip to Gander Mountain, to pick up some fishing supplies and beer (stupid dry county). After Monday's misfortune I was a bit worried we may not catch anything. However, Tuesday evening proved much different, after almost two days of fishing we finally started just slamming them in a shallow weedy bay. I'd say we came in with at least a dozen bass. Steve landed a really nice 18 3/4 " hog on his very dear Texas rigged 10" ribbon tail worm.

Ok so now we have some fish. We were not able to pattern anything during the day. Once in awhile one of us would land something, but the daytime fishing for us was tough. However, the evenings were a much different story. I spent the dusk throwing Zoom and Sizmic Toads mostly, sometimes using either a T-rigged tube or worm. Steve really held fast to his Junebug and Tequilla Sunrise colored t-rigged 10" worms, he threw a brush hog around as well. During the day we threw Carolina Rigged worms and lizards from 4-10" in a variety of colors. We threw tubes, cranks, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, jigs, everything we could think of. We were on fish, the 502c was going so nuts we actually had to turn off the sound. Nothing doing though. Usually after 4-5 hours of fishing in the morning we would find a wood pile or shady cover spot and toss the fly rods for pannies.

I am really glad we brough the fly rods. It was a really great experience for both of us. I have never really learned how to use mine, I basically get lucky when I cast. Steve however, is a superb caster, but has never landed a fish. I noticed my casting improving throughout the week and Steve ended up landing the biggest fly rod fish, a nice 1-1.5 lb rockbass. The gills we were catching were just basically potato chips, but at least it was something.

Friday evening, we had some issues with boat gas and the fire so our dinner was running a bit late. We headed out with about 1.5 hours of daylight left. Steve landed a very nice 18+" LM fairly quickly. I was on the verge of getting skunked when I switch from my Sizmic toad to a scum frog. Not much of difference really, but the toad was getting hung up in the mossy weeds. I tossed the scum frog around some tree, darkness was coming fast and I still hadn't landed anything. Then I notice a Stump with some downed branches, I make a perfect cast, twitch the frog and SLAM! I new it was something special, my rod doubled over. Finally, I hoisted a 19" LM into the boat. Sorry Steve!!! Unfortunately, the Bass just inhaled the scum frog and it went upside down in it's mouth, I hope it was a clean release.

All in all I had a great time, I estimate our total bag at probably 30-40 Bass and bunch of tiny gills. It was great to spend a week with Steve, something we haven't been able to do in a few years. Some of our downfalls I think were one a Mayfly hatch on Tuesday, which usually puts a damper on things, a FLW pro bass tournament that started on Wednesday. All the good spots were being fished really hard. A lack of knowledge of ledge/hump fishing in general, no deep diving crank baits, I don't use them and don't really want to purchase them. I would really like to go to KenLake during the bass spawn and fish the way I like to, in the shallows fast with plastics and topwater. I think I would also like a guide for a day, that would really help. At some point I would like to get into the crappie on that lake as well. They had moved to deep water and we were just not prepared for them. The weather was just perfect, the fishing was great in the evenings, and you really can't ask for much more than a week fishing with a good friend. I'll get some pics up soon.

Weekend Fishing Report

2006-05-22T08:17:00.000-06:00

So I decided if I was going to go fishing this weekend, it was going to have to be early. I woke up at 5:00 Saturday morning. This was extremely difficult to do. I always tell myself I am going to wake up early and go fishing, but then usually by the time I get up and get moving it's 8, 9, or 10:00 and I miss the good period in the early morning. I wake up, get dressed, and give Foxy a good bye kiss, she rolls over and says "have fun Crazy," and promptly fell back asleep. As I am making my drive to Lake Monona, I see the sun suddenly beam brightly over the tree line and I think to myself, this should be fun and I am crazy. Much to my surprise there is quite a pack of boats already on the lake and at the boat launch. It's still relatively cold and by this time is probably about 5:45. The quiet is suddenly broken as a large ski boat PULLING A SKIER drives by. Another guy looks at me and says, "now that's crazy," I agreed. I launched the boat and made a short run to the Squaw Bay south shoreline. I hit a new record on the GPS miles per hour at 28.8mph. The lake was calm, almost no wind. The water was very clear and hovering around 57 degrees. Bass were hitting the surface all around me, so I decided to put the chatterbait down and throw a buzzbait. No luck. I put tied the chatterbait back on, and landed a small one. After about a 45 minutes, I tied a white/chartreuse spinnerbait on. No Luck. I tied a white/red 1/4oz chatterbait on, landed one dink. I switched back to the blue/black after about an hour. Shad were busting the surface all around, the whole time I am slowly working my way towards Turville bay. I am probably a long cast from the shoreline, and as far as I could tell I had opportunities to cast either towards shore or away. Over the next couple hours I landed another dink and one keeper on the blue/black cb. I had probably 2-3 bass just slap it, but miss the hook or I missed the hookset. I saw three muskies in the 30-35" range. I saw a lot of bass, some good sized, sitting on beds. I don't think spawn has really started by any stretch of the word on Monona yet. This week of warmer weather should really get things in motion. I did enjoy fishing early, the lake is quiet, only fishermen for the most part on the water, and the fishing was decent. The downfall is a I pretty much fell asleep at 9:00 only to have boo, slap me on the stomach and yell "TICKLE TICKLE" in my face. It was probably funny to foxy, but to me it was terrifying...lol. On a side note, I got a couple bass in Monona bay during the week last week, all on a blue/black chatterbait, all in the keeper range. Will be out this week as well. Tight Lines to all!!!!!

CD Review

2006-05-16T09:21:00.000-06:00

I've picked up a couple albums in the past few weeks. So here are my impressions of some newly acquired sonic pleasure.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium
If you drop the crap songs and take the good ones and just make one best of Stadium Arcadium disc it's a little easier to listen too. Many of the songs sound the same, which I suppose after 20 albums is bound to happen. There are some tracks that take some influence from the Mother's Milk days, but mostly it's soft melodic radio crap. Dani California is definitely one of the heavier more up beat tracks on the whole album. In the end I will probably keep some and toss some. It's a Chili's disc nothing more nothing less, with an emphasize on slow melodic ballads with some upbeat funkidelics added in here and there.

Tool - 10,000 Days
If you remove the 4 tracks without words and the two 11 minute tracks you actually have yourself a pretty good Tool album. One thing I find interesting is that every past Tool album has a different sound, an evolved sound maybe, whatever it's usually has some difference. This album sounds like disc two of Lateralus, being a single disc album you get the idea. Either way you get what you get with Tool and that is a fairly decent EP with some "interesting" tracks thrown in between to qualify as an LP.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
A pretty good album especially if you are any kind of fan of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I saw them on some late show one time and acquired they're first album. It's definitely worth the listen, I do think they would be a great live band. I also really like this album much more then the last. It's much more structured musically, versus just distorted distortion and feedback. Gold Lion, the first single is currently in the top 5 list on the Charter Cable Alternative Music channel.

The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers
Probably what I would have liked the last Stripes album to sound like. It's basically a blues based garage rock band headed by Jack White of the White Stripes. It's pretty good stuff. It's noise created by talented indie musicians in a constructive manner. Isn't that what all good albums are, or maybe what they should be. If you like blues, rock, or both together you will like Broken Boy Soldiers.

Elefant - The Black Magic Show
To be honest I haven't given this a just listen, but from what I can tell it's not bad. Elefant really takes a lot of influence from Interpol or Death Cab. The are a straight up indie outfit with relatable songs, catchy riffs, and love story lyrics. Fans of the lighter side of indie pop will like this album.

Wolfmother - Wolfmother
Since the demise of 96.3 the only Alternative station in Madison, I have gone back to listening to basically 94.1 (metal) and 101.5 (classic rock), when I listen to the radio. So interestingly enough I heard Wolfmother's Woman on 94.1, however by all rights it should probably be on 101.5 as it takes influence from the greats like Sabbath, Zepplin, Deep Purple. You name a late 60's early 70's hard rock outfit and you can hear it in Wolfmother. I'm not sure what they are putting in the water right now in Austrailia, but this young outfit are growing up in the wrong decade, and I love it. It's rock at it's finest. Nothing new or over the top, but straight up rock, complete with windmill guitar strums, bell bottom pants, and mid song feedback. You can hear teenage Ozzy's wail from Iron man or paranoid, the time changing facemelting squeels of Jimmy Page's guitar riffs, the hard pounding heart stopping bass lines of Deep Purple, the gut wrenching sophisticated drumming of Kieth Moon, lastly add a touch of Iron Butterfly Organ, and thats just the first three songs. By far my favorite score in the past couple weeks, Wolfmother is one of those bands that only sound better the louder you can turn it up. So crank it up and enjoy!!!

05/08/2006 Fishing Report

2006-05-09T12:48:00.000-06:00

Went fishing with Charlie on Waubesa, we launched at 10:30ish and fished the north shoreline same as 05/07. Between the two of us we boated 10-12 bass. I threw a blue/black Chatterbait and Charlie threw a red/white twin blade spinnerbait. My largest was a 4+ pounder, Charlie's largest was a 3+. We tried fishing Mud lake, but the weeds and wind got the best of us. We decided to move back to Waubesa, but the boat wouldn't start. Apparently my batteries are dead and I need new ones. Seeing how this happened the day before I decided it was a good idea to throw my jump starter kit in the boat. We made it back ok, and took off around 2:30. I decided I had taken the day off to go fishing so I headed over the Pheasent Branch creek (my secret spot), I caught two right away on a Green YUM dinger. I walked back to the marsh where I got anther nice 3+ on a buzzbait. After fishing that out, it wasn't raining so I headed to Mendota county park where I threw the fly rod around for some pannies. I got a couple nice blue gills, and a crappie. All in all I would say it was a really fun day, other than the boat thing. I am very tired today and very soar. Guess I have to get my fishing muscles toned some more.

Fishing Rules!!!

2006-05-07T23:48:00.000-06:00

After we got Foxy to the airport and Boo to her grandparents I took the boat out for a little C&R (catch and release). I hit Waubesa at around 2:30, the wind was a bit stronger than I had thought it would be, but thats cool. I did pretty well boated 7 LM bass between 1-3 pounds. My investment in the much hyped Chatterbait paid off as 5 of the fish came on a blue/black cb, one came on spinnerbait on my third cast of the day, and the other on a buzzbait just for fun. I absolutely love this chatterbait, it does a pretty good job of cutting through the thick weeds, it vibrates like crazy, and you can fish it hard and fast. Two hit the cb immediately after it hit the water. I've decided to throw the cb on my St.Croix rod, I figure it's pretty much a jig anyway so what the heck. The vibration is insane, you can definately feel it and the crazy thing is it shakes the line like so it almost looks like electrical waves, it's nuts. I'm going again tomorrow with Charlie and the Chatterbait will probably be the first and last thing I throw.

Opening Day Fishing Report

2006-05-06T18:16:00.000-06:00

Foxy was wonderfull and let me go fishing for a couple hours today. I decided my best chance to get a fish was to go to my secret spot. My decision paid off, I got two LM bass. My first bass of the season came on a blue/black chatterbait. My second bass and the bigger of the two came on a reverse t-rigged Fat Ika. I figured there was probably some sort of superstition about not fishing on opening day, but whatever, I scored so I am happy. THANK YOU FOXY!!!!

Chatterbaits, Chatterbaits whose got the Chatterbaits!!!

2006-05-04T10:15:00.000-06:00

Every year (especially in bass fishing) there are new trends, new "hot" baits, and new fishing techniques. Are these just ploys by bait companies to con you into spending your child's educational funds on new fishing tackle? Probably. Am I guilty of falling into this trap? Aside from spending Boo's nonexistent educational fund, yes. Last year it was the Rapala X-rap that got me and the Zoom Horney Toads (which seem to be REALLY popular this year). Actually I haven't been too bad, as I am still really learning the tried and true fishing techniques. Well this year seems to be extraordinary, there seem to be a lot of "hot" baits. So called hot bass baits tend to develop at the pro level and work they're way down to the amateur. This years top bait is the Chatterbait. It's a cross between a spinnerbait and a swim jig (which I'll get to), has lots of action, and just happened to perform very well at this year's Bassmaster Classic. Due to the large audience, between BASS and FLW, demand for the chatterbait has exploded. The company has not been able to keep up with the orders, not too mention the big box stores have gotten involved, which are chewing up individuals orders. I ordered two and it took about 5 weeks for them to get here. Well, I just found out that Dick's Sporting Goods was carrying them. So this morning I called the two locations here in Madison, sure enough they are in stock. Well, FGAW was totally geeked about it and we nearly ran out the door for an emergency lure run. I got another two FGAW bought 8! Personally I think these baits are just something the fish haven't seen, fish get used to the same 'ole lures. Thus creating this years new "HOT" bait. The other bait that has sucked me into the trap are swim jigs. The concept has been around for a long time, but has recently been revisited by fishermen and perfected by bait companies. So, of course, I have picked up a couple swim jigs. Although, it occurred to me that the Chatterbait is really just a glorified swim jig. So this year in 3 days I will have my Chatterbait tied on, probably going to be the first thing I throw. Hopefully Saturday Night I will get a call or email from FGAW raving about how he absolutely slammed them on his brand new hot bait, the CHATTERBAIT!!!! Oh well if they don't work, they are going for $20 a piece on Ebay.

GREAT NEWS!!!!!

2006-04-26T09:31:00.000-06:00

ESPN as well as many Wisconsin News outlets are reporting our captain Brett Favre will be returning for his 16th season as the Quarter Back of the Green Bay Packers. I feel this will benefit the Packers by allowing them the potential of having a competitive season and the advantage of letting backup QB Rogers learn from one of the greatest QB's of all time. Welcome Back Brett, and thank you for everything!!!!!!

Quick Notes...

2006-04-17T14:20:00.000-06:00

Fishing -- Well I have had a couple chances to check out the new fish finder. In two trips I've managed one small smallie at Lake Wisconsin. The other trip was to Lake Mendota, I spent most of the time fooling with my new toy. I am very pleased with it's performance. My plan is to enter some cooridantes to fish cribs that I have accuired. Then navigate to those cooridinates and try and find the crib on my graph. We'll see how that works out. I have to say the GPS was nice at Lake Wisconsin, a lake I have only been on once last spring. I am hoping to spend an evening fishing crappies with FGAW maybe next week.

Happy Easter -- We had our usual holiday cirrcus, only this holiday was different because we split the days instead of the DAY. It was somewhat refreshing not having to go to both families in one day. Boo got some outdoor toys which we were in need of because currently her only toys are rocks and sticks. Which is ok, because I think it's cool that she is so interested in nature, but I am sure the allure of rocks and sticks won't last forever. Chris and Becky got her a 10,000 bubble blowing machine, it's pretty crazy, and I think it might actually blow about 10,000 bubbles a minute. Boo is very excited about it and already figured out how to turn it on and off.

Music -- So I am super excited about two albums coming next month. The new Red Hot Chili Peppers album sounds like it is going to be a cool mix of old and new Chili's music. You can check out the song/video for Dani Cailfornia at http://www.redhotchilipeppers.com. The album is called Stadium Arcadium, it's a two disk set and will be released on May 9, 2006.
The other album that sounds like it might be cool is The Raconteurs, you can check out a video and a couple songs here http://www.theraconteurs.com/. The webiste is pretty unique, you have to use your keyboard to navigate it. This is actually a Jack White (The Whitestripes) venture along with a couple guys from The Greenhornes. The two songs they have on the site sound pretty cool. The album is called Broken Boy Soldiers and will be released on May 16, 2006.

Lake Wingra Musky Pics

2006-04-05T13:39:00.000-06:00

UPDATE: Gander Mountain doesn't Suck!!!!

2006-04-04T13:27:00.000-06:00

So yesterday at lunch, which I am going to talk about in a minute as well, I received a call from the East Side Gander Mountain Store manager. He apologized several times for what had happened. He also said he ordered several new Eagle 502c Fish Finders from the warehouse and that they would be in by the weekend. Now, today he left me another message that he had received the unit and was holding it for me on his desk. Chalk one up for the little guy. I explained to him what had happened and he voiced his concern over some of the current employees, and also agreed with me about my points. My explanation was almost verbatim from my previous post, mostly because I had just written it. My only hope is that my complaint will leave a lasting impression on the Gander Mountain East employees and managers. Maybe they just need a little reminder about what customer service is. The manager was very apologetic and very nice. So thank you Gander Mountain for taking the time to listen to a very loyal customer, unfortunately for Foxy, it looks like the Gander Mountain Boycott was cut a little short. Now for the West side store...MUHAHAHA!!!!!

Ok, back to lunch...Yesterday (and today) I spent about 20 minutes during my lunch break over at the Lake Wingra dam. Early in the spring the Wingra muskies make their annual run up Wingra creek from their winter time home Lake Monona to Lake Wingra. This trip would be much easier had the City of Madison not added a dam. Well, the muskies don't care they just JUMP IT!!!!! Yesterday, I didn't see any jump the dam, but saw a bunch of huge Muskies just chillin right below the spillway. Today, however, I did see two make the jump. One made it, the other will have to try again. Not only did I get to see two jump, but I got to see one musky that was on the dam make it's run to the lake. This was also very cool. The damn is probably 10 - 15 yards long, the water on the dam is probably 2-12 inches, so the musky once they make the jump onto the dam have to scury another 15 yards in rushing water to make it to the lake. The whole process is very cool and takes a couple weeks to complete. It's pretty sweet seeing these beautiful fish accomplish something very unique. I'm going again tomorrow, and I am going to bring the camera. It's supposed to rain Thursday and Friday, otherwise I would probably go those two days as well.

Gander Mountain Sucks!!!!

2006-04-03T09:22:00.000-06:00

Three words I hoped I would never have to mutter, Gander Mountain SUCKS!!!!! Myself and other outdoors men that I know have commented on the declining customer service at the Madison Gander Mountain stores specifically. I have been waiting for them to get my Fish Finder in stock, now I know it's a new model and they have to clear out the winter stuff, and they have really just got done stocking for summer fishing. Whatever, I went there on Friday and to my surprize they have my FishFinder on the display, an Eagle FishElite 502c. This is a new model from Eagle, sort of, basically the only difference is an internal GPS antenna, which I really like because I don't have to find a place to mount the external antenna that the 500c has. Ok, so like a kid in a candy store I practically run to the fishing department with Foxy and boo. There is a guy who is half-assed helping a customer, really he's playing with a couple reels on the display case. Literally playing with them, he's not stocking them, just playing not really paying attention to anyone. So this other customer is trying to get some money off of a floor model reel, which is fine, he seems kind of crabby to begin with. The clerk, still playing with reels, is just standing there, looking at me. So I can barely ask about this fish finder, I've been wanting it so long I feel like there is going to be a huge void in my life if I actually purchase it. This is a $450 device, I don't usually spend this kind of money on anything, I've been saving Gander Mountain gift cards from xmas and all my b-day and xmas money for this very moment. So this guy goes to find my Fishfinder, meanwhile the other customer is becoming almost furious with the help he isn't receiving. When the guy comes back, he's like well we are out of stock. The other customer at this point says nevermind and leaves. I'm like WTF you seriously just put this display out in the last two weeks and it's out of stock already. By this time there are two GM employees playing with reels. Neither has said anything about the fact that this thing is out. So I'm like, well do they have it at the other store, they look it up, no! They have it in Janesville and Baraboo, both 40 minutes away. OK, so now there are three guys, pretty much ignoring me just talking amongst themselvs playing with the computer. WTF, HAVE YOU TOTALLY FORGOTTEN WHAT CUSTOMERS ARE!!!!!! Wouldn't you think they would have asked if I would like them order one and hold it, or even offered to put one on hold at another store, or have one shipped from another store. This isn't a $5 bait, it's a $450 purchase. I also notice one of the asshats ignoring me was the guy who rang up my license on Friday. The guy takes over 30 minutes to ring up my license. Every button, every question, every step, he had to turn to the other clerk and ask what he should do. Meanwhile the line is at the cash register is ever growing, I feel like an idiot for holding people up. Other customers are trying to help this too jerk offs, get this done. I just want to yell at the two of them to SWITCH, someone should teach this guy on his own time. WTF, if I walk into DS Baits Gene (yes I know his name), is always up for at least a 5 minute conversation about whats biting where, where you are headed, etc... At one time my friend and I walked into Gander and the guy spent an hour with us helping us pick out rods, reels, and lures. What happened to customer service? Outdoors guys like to talk, like to brag, love to get new infomation, Gander needs to remember this. If you hate the job that you do you need to quit doing it and stop making other peoples lives miserable, this goes for anyone that works at a restraunt, retail outlet, who has to interact with other people. People at least used to fake it, now they just don't care and it is very frustrating to the customers. Just because your life sucks, I don't need to know about it. I have half a mind to start voicing that to these "high and mighty" clerks. YOU ARE A CASH REGISTER MONKEY, NOTHING ELSE, EITHER LIKE IT, FAKE IT, OR GET THE HELL OUT OF MY FACE!!!!!!!! Needless to say I've written Gander Mountain customer service, I may call as well.

On a side note, Charlie and I went fishing on Saturday. Nothing doing, the big skunk, aka 0. Maybe if I had my new fish finder, we could have put some crappies in the boat. Ok, probably not, but couldn't hurt. Was nice to be out, even though I had to plow through some sand in <1 of water. The good news is that the boat seems to be in fine working condition after it's hibernation. Can't argue with that.

Spring Is Here!!!

2006-03-27T13:42:00.000-06:00

Well I got the boat out from behind the house this weekend. Of course, there are some issues, looks like I need to replace the tires and I think I am going to have to replace a seal for the gear case. Foxy's dad seems to think that replacing the seal shouldn't be too big of a deal, just need to take the prop off to see. It's pretty nice to walk into the garage and see the 'ole boat sittin there, just gives me a warm feeling inside. I might even take her out on Sunday for some walleye or crappie action.
I also went to La Crosse to pick up our new dressers this past weekend. Saturday was much crappier then we thought it was going to be and the fishing was slooooooooooow. I got one short crappie and that was it out of three of us. Hardly worth the $3 in minnows and 4 hours. Oh well, maybe next time. I'll post my results if I go this weekend.

Biggest Trout Eva

2006-03-23T14:06:00.000-06:00

Well, not the biggest trout ever but for me it was. Now I've really only caught a handfull of trout, but I've really only been fishing them for about two years and in those two years have probably only gone fishing for them 10 times. I stopped by Token Creek on the afternoon of March 21st. It was probalby 35-37 degrees outside and sunny. I've read you are supposed to fish the early trout season during the warmest part of the day, I was there around 2:00. I managed a couple small ones in the 5-7" range. Then suddenly from out of nowhere this pig just slams my spinner, I saw him flash and said out loud "It's Huge!!!" I fought him for a good 2-3 minutes, on my 4lb test line and ultralight rod. She was probalby 15-16", I think it was a brown. I am having trouble determining what species I am catching. I took a quick pic with my phone, that turned out pretty poorly and released her. I was shaking and had to take a minute just to compose myself. What a fight!!! I continued on for a bit, but was down to one spinner. I managed another two small ones. I then decided I better head to the bait shop before I lost my finale spinner. White was the hot color, 1/16oz weight, I had already lost one other spinner and two mimic minnows. I went and bought three more white ones, from the bait shop in DeForest, nice old guy runs the shop. Anyway, by the time I got back it was really starting to get cold and I couldn't find any more fish. I did have a swing and a miss in the pond. I was quite happy with the day over all. Even the little guys fight like they have something to prove. Man would have loved to get that baby on the fly rod, but I have no idea how I would have gotten where I was in the trees with my 8ft rod. If I ever find my Bluetooth adapter for my PC -> Phone connection I'll post the pic, but thats not likely to happen any time soon. Not to mention the Pic is pretty poor.

On another note, if you are looking for a tasty listening treat. I picked up the Arctic Monkeys disk which I happened to hear about on some VH1 show Rox was watching about a week ago. It's actually really really good. The show hinted at a Strokes likeness and it's definately there, with a little more British tones to it. Anyway, good disk check it out.

Cold and Lonely

2006-03-20T10:37:00.000-06:00

Welp, Foxy went on her first long trip since Boo was born. She left Saturday and won't be back until Thursday. In the previous weeks I was somewhat excited about the idea of potentially getting the boat out and taking her for a day trip somewhere. Well, Mother Nature in her cruel and unusual punishment ways has decided to delay spring a couple days. Average March Temps are generally in the mid 40's currently it's 34 and tomorrow is supposed to be 35 high. I have to decided to take the day off tomorrow regardless. I was hoping for warmer temps and the forecast looked to be fairly good for today and tomorrow so I scheduled some things for tonight, like playing computer doctor this evening for a former coworker. Foxy's Parents volunteered to take Boo overnight so I can pay this gentleman a visit. Hey, it's probably going to be worth $75 so I'm not complaining too much. The lower than normal temps have delayed the river walleye runs as well. I stopped by Indianford Dam yesterday for a couple hours and 0'd on walleye and snagged a carp....yay. So since I have the day off tomorrow I have decided to pull out the boat and just get her ready to go. I may hike over to Token Creek for a few hours in the afternoon for some trout action. I am also hoping to post my jig pic maybe tonight or tomorrow. Anyway, I have a few more lonely days left without the wife. I have to admit I do miss her quiet a bit, and I think boo is starting to miss her as well.

Make Your Own Jigs

2006-03-13T16:23:00.000-06:00

This past weekend we went down to visit my Grandparents and have dinner at my Parents house for my Birthday. Since we were going to be at my GP's house I thought I would have my Grandpa teach me how to make his jigs. He was very excited. It's not real hard, and the best part is I already have a lot of the stuff I need from a Fly Tieing Kit my parents got me for Xmas a couple years ago. While Grandpa and I were downstairs, Foxy and Boo were upstairs teaching Grandma how to knit, although I think it was more of a refresher course. Foxy was very excited. I am really glad that I got a chance to learn the art of Jig making. I need to set things up in the basement so I can practice and maybe start making jigs next winter. I will have to get some lead, a lead melting pot, some jig molds, deer tails, and some other little supplies, but I have a bunch of that stuff in my kit. I will post a picture of my jig and one of grandpa's jigs for comparison soon.

Early Trout Season

2006-03-07T09:50:00.000-06:00

Got to do a little fishing this past weekend, was supposed to hit the ice, but do to the snow storm on Sunday Charlie and I had to postpone. Seeing how I was all geered up to go fishing, I really wanted to get out, so I decided to head over to Token Creek, and try and find some trout. I needed to blow off a little steam after our plumbing adventures. We had our main sewer line backup into our laundry room, how I love wading in poop water. Turns out we had tree roots in our main that were blocking drainage. Then I was helping Rox and her Mom hang some new curtains in our kitchen and I broke a drill bit off in the wall. It wasn't a very pleasent day. So anyway, I head out to the creek. It was pretty cool walking in the woods while it was snowing pretty hard. At the first major bend I landed an 8" brown on a white Panther Martin spinner. That was my only fish, but considering I suck at catching trout I'll take it. I decided to use my GS Ultra light, to get around the trees.

Seeing how I had to take the day off of work yesterday so the Plumber could come excavate the weeds from our poop drain, I decided to hit the creek again. Had one swing and I miss just past the first bridge. Had a bit of a fiasco, because I didn't have my trusty Leatherman with me. During the early trout season, you have to use barbless hooks. Well, most lures have barbed hooks, so you have to use a pliers to squash the barbs. Of course I broke off and didn't have any lures with squashed barbs, I then had to run back to the house and grab a pliers so I could do some more fishing. I got skunked, but it sure felt good to be out. I also had a real nice chat with a guy who was fly fishing. He told me about a Trout Unlimited seminar coming up at Salmo Pond, it's free so I might have to head over there and get some casting lessons. He also told me about some changes to the new Lake Link website, that include topo maps for members, that also include lake structure and cover. You can actually click on the map and get the exact GPS coordinates to that point. Just in time for my new GPS unit. YESSSSSS!!!

Madfishexpo Update

2006-02-28T11:01:00.000-06:00

Went to the show this past weekend. Unfortunately, it wasn't as cool as previous years, the Madison Lakes Forum which is usually my favorite seminar was pretty plain although the bass guy gave us a few tips, such as using swim jigs and Waubessa as the best Bass lake in the chain. The Musky talk was kinda cool, mostly because he talked extensivily about lake turnover which is good knowledge to have no matter what you are fishing for. The Fly Fishing seminar was probably the most helpfull, mostly because the speaker went over what types of flies to use and when to use them. Charlie was excited about this, he lives within walking distance of one of the states best creeks, Black Earth creek. The trouble with Black Earth is there are a ton of trees and casting a fly rod is brutal. I would like to try my ultra light, at a meer 5'6" I think it would suite the situation quite well. The vendors were pretty much the same, it's irratating that places like Gander Mt. and Cabelas do not come to this show, but maybe that is on purpose to give the little guys a chance. The DNR had some pretty cool Madison lake studies that they were handing out, you can actually find the information here.

I picked up a new SouthBend Phase2 6'6" rod for $30, it's somewhat unique in that it is a Medium Heavy spinning rod. Since that is the case I actually threw my Shimano reel with 10lb braid on the rod vs. my Okuma. The Okuma I put on my Guide Series 6'6" Medium rod and will probably spool it with 8lb Pline, I might pull the 8lb off the fenwick and spool the fenwick with 6lb for an even more finesse presentation. That would give me 3 rods with Pline in 4, 6, and 8lb test, and one spinning rod with 10lb braid (Fireline). The new rig should make a good crankbait/heavy cover rod, being that it's medium heavy, it has a lot of backbone. I'm actually quite excited to try it out I don't think any of my rods are IM8 graphite. Graphite is measured in modules, most graphite rods are between IM6-IM8. IM6 is lowest (however not he lowest quality), usually IM6 are not as sensitive, but are more durable. IM8 rods are lighter, more sensitive, however less durable. Most of my rods are IM6, which is probabaly a good thing seeing how I tend to pretty hard on stuff. There is a good article about choosing rods and rod qulaity here.

Aside from the fishing show, it was also the the BassMasters Classic Pro Tournament, which is sort of like Pro Fishings Super Bowl. So whats the point, other than to annoy Foxy who loves to watch fishing shows? Well turns out that there is a new hot bait on the market by rad lures, it called the chatterbait. It looks like the only bait they make and the company is now back ordered for 2 months. I think I might order one or two at $7 a pop, it won't be too many. The bait has unreal action, kind of a cross between a spinnerbait and a swimjig. Fishing guy at work wants to get a couple also, maybe we can order together. I have a bad habit of loosing lures and at $7 I don't know if I could forgive myself, which is also the reason I can't be a Musky fisherman, those lures range from $10-$30 a piece. The other hot bait were plastic frogs texas rigged. I happened to read about this rig in a magazine on the way to vegas last fall. While in vegas I had the opportunity to stop at bass pro shops, and I picked up a couple packages of these frogs. It's hard to beat for about $4 you get five frogs and I caught 3 or 4 fish and had a couple more hits. They will probably become a much larger part of my arsenal this year. I would actually like to try using them as a trailer on a swim jig, I think the vibration of the legs and the larger profile of the bait could be a leathal combination. Berkley is also making a Gulp version of the frog which I would mind trying. The great thing about this frogs is you can fish them a variety of ways, burn them across the top like a buzz bait, work them over lilly pads, start/stop retrieves let them sink slowly, or add them as trailers to spinner baits and jigs. So many options, so little time.

Madison Fishing Expo

2006-02-22T14:36:00.000-06:00

WOOHOO!!!! It's finally here!!!! The Madison Fishing Expo, is something I have been looking forward since the lakes froze. There are tons of vendors, and several really cool seminars. I usually attend the show with Charlie and my brother Celly has been also been coming. Unfortuantely Celly can't make it this year, and my other brother Chris will be in Mexico (lucky). My favorite part about the Expo, is there are usually one or two vendors that have fishing poles HALF OFF! And I am not talking about cheapy rods. My plan is to pick up one new rod for an Okuma Spinning real that doesn't have a mate, I haven't decided what size, but I might just take best available. I am also going to look at baitcaster reals, to replace my Abu Garcia Torno, depending on what kind of deals I find will determine if I pick one up. I'm planning on attending the Madison Forum, Fly Fishing Spring Creeks, Musky Fishing, and Bass Fishing seminars. Although, the Fly Fishing and Bass Fishing may be up in the air. I would normally be excited about the Bass Fishing one, but the speaker is the same as last year, who actually had two talks last year that were the same. Not to mention they really didn't apply to northern natural lake fishing. So thats it, be there or be square!!!

On a similar note, I have been pretty down and crabby this week. Sorry Foxy!!! My new job is much more stressfull than what I am used to, not to mention I have been busting my butt getting things ready for our NARK meeting this week. I am traveling to Wausau to meet with the other Net Admins from all of our campuses to discuss IT topics, I have two presentations, that I am not really prepared for. I also think the recent snow has reminded me that the fishing season is much farther away than the January weather had indicated. The weather here has been pretty annoying, too warm to ice fish and to cold to open water fish BOOOO. Usually, I would revert back to my winter time hobby of DOD, but gaming just doesn't seem to be filling the gap this winter. I am however, looking forward to Foxy moving to days possibly in the near future. Boo is becoming more than a handfull, and between work and fatherhood I think it might be stressing me out more than I am used to. Maybe this night away at the NARK will do me some good, along with a date night with my wife which I have been looking forward to since before VD. I am also hoping to get on the hard water one more time before the ice thaws with charlie, hopefully next weekend.

Grandpa Jigs

2006-02-16T19:39:00.000-06:00

Welp, I promised a picture of Grandpa Jigs and here is a picture of Grandpa Jigs. The jigs are made from real deer tail hair and he uses a powder paint that gets baked on. The jig heads are made from lead and come in two different sizes, 1/8oz and 1/4oz (I think :S) . The colors are (head/tail) pink/white, yellow, orange, chartreuse, and green/yellow (aka the packer jig). I know I need to get down to my grandfathers house and learn how to make these, and the sooner the better he is 83. He is pretty much done fishing now, no more spring/fall trips. He may go on a couple day trips, but he's gone as far as to give my dad his boat. I would like to thank my grandpa for all the jigs he has made us and for really introducing myself and both brothers to fishing. It was quite special to me to be a part of his last trip, after so many growing up, the last one will always be the best one.

Equipment List

2006-02-14T08:31:00.000-06:00

Last weekend while driving to the the Garden show, which (as usual) was a little more fun than expected. We happened to drive past a very old driver. I said that if I ever get that old I'm taking the boat out to the middle of the ocean and calling it quits. I then said to foxy that she would have to BURY one of my fishing poles instead. She thought I said MARRY, and agreed to it. So now she's stuck marrying one of my fishing poles if I die before her. She decided that it would be easier to be married to a fishing pole than a man, I suppose I can't argue with that. Anyway, here is my fishing arsenal for her to choose from.

Boat
1987 Bass Tracker w/ Mercury Classic 50 (45HP)
--MinnKota 65lb 24v bow mount Trolling motor
--Coming soon Eagle 502c color GPS/Fishfinder combo

Baitcasters
St. Croix Premier 7ft Medium Heavy w/ Quantum Accurist Reel spooled with 20lb fireline-- Flippin/Pitchin stick

Fenwick HMX 5'6" w/ Pinnacle reel spooled with 10lb Power Pro-- Tube/worm rod for fishing cover

GuideSeries 6'6" Medium w/ Abu Garcia Torno spooled reel spooled with 20lb Fireline -- Spinnerbait/crankbait/buzzbait rod

Star (custom) 6'4" Medium Heavey w/ Abu Garcia C3 reel spooled with 60lb Fireline -- Musky/Northern Rod (This was my flipping stick, but I broke about 6" off the tip, went to Dorn's and had them put a new tip on it. I really don't use it much, but maybe this spring I'll try and land one of those elusive Muskies I've heard so much about.)

Spinning Rods
Fenwick HMG 7ft Light w/ Guideseries 8bb reel spooled with 8lb Pline (flurocarbon) -- Jigging, wacky worm, finnesse rod

Guideseries 6'6" Medium Light w/ Okuma Avenger reel spooled with 8lb Pline -- This is a new rig I just created, I think I might start using it for bass techniques, and using my Fenwick for walleye/pan fish and other finnesse techniques.

Southbend Phaser2 6'6" Medium Heavey w/ Shimano Sidestab reel spooled with 10lb Fireline -- This is going to be my crankbait/spinnerbait/grub rod. Picked up the rod at the fishing show and moved my Shimano to it, it is somewhat unique in that it is a medium heavy spinning rod which are not too common, it's also IM8 graphite quality.

Guideseries 5'6" Ultra Light w/ Guideseries 5bb reel spooled with 4lb Pline -- Pan fish rod, works good for walleyes too

White River Fly rod/reel 8' 5/6 wt -- I don't know much about fly fishing, I've got one trout on this rod and have used it fairly extensively for gills. Someday, maybe I'll learn how to fly fish.

Misc. Equipment
Cabelas Advanced Angler Backpack Tackle system -- I got this before I got my boat, I used to do a lot of shore fishing and figured this would be perfect. It is pretty nice, but space is limited and I am running out of room. I may look for some sort of insert I can put into one of the front compartments to store additional plano boxes.

Plano, Waist belt type tackle system -- Foxy got me this and I really like it for taking to Columbia, ice fishing, or just a quick shore fishing excursion. It holds enough stuff and frees your hands up.

I am not going to list all my lures individually, but here is a general sum of what I use, Scum Frogs, Spinner Baits, Crank Baits, Buzz Baits, Tubes, Worms, Plastic craws, Bass Jigs, Plastic frogs, Gamakotzu Hooks (been starting to use red).

I use a lot of top water because our lakes have lots of thick weeds, I also use a lot of texas rigged worms and tubes. Tubes work great for Small mouth on Mendota.

Something special I use are "Grandpa Jigs," my Grandfather has been making jigs for 30 years or more. They are extremely nice deer tail hand made jigs for walleye fishing. I will post a picture. He has mostly stopped making them now, I REALLY need to go down and learn how to make them. He has about 1700 that he will spread through our family, then no more grandpa jigs left. I think he would be extremely happy if one of us 5 grandchildren picked up the hobby.

I have an Okuma Spinning reel without a mate, I may pick up a new spinning rod at the fishing show. I am also very disappointed in my Abu Torno, so if I find a new reel at the fishing show for a good price, I may replace it. I think I might sell the old one to celly or chris, it's a decent reel, but I just get a lot of backlashes with it and it annoys me. I suppose I could try mono on it and see if that improves the castablity, or power pro for that matter.

So thats the arsenal, look bass here I come!!!!

Links Explained, and Fixed

2006-02-11T20:40:00.000-06:00

On the right side of the page are a few links. First off, I would like to thank cw for pointing out the broken ones (one of which was his website). Anyway, all is good in the world of html and all links function as they should. Also, I have to apologize this is the second time I've written this and I shortened it up a bit. Stupid pop-up blocker wouldn't let me pass and so I shut it down, then the page reloaded and I lost everything and had to start this post over. I hate computers.

Lake Link -- LL is probably the best resource for fishing information about the midwest. It's also probably the best fishing website I have used or seen. I believe the LL owners would love to become the wikipedia of fishing, and hope they do because honestly there isn't a much better site for fishing then LL. They are making some major changes towards the end of the month, can't wait to see the new site.

Frenchys Pit -- Ahh the pit, been hangin around there for going on four years now. We are now running two day of defeat servers and two DOD:Source servers. It brings me great pride to be such a big part of one of the elite communities and servers on the web. If you are into to FPS video games check us out.

4loveOknit -- So Foxy decided with her friends I knit, thats it and stichkommander to start a blog about knitting. Actually, this blog probably exists because of their blog. Anyway, I am proud of her thus far as she has been very patient with it and actually has not asked for help yet. They all three seem to really enjoy the experience, keep up the good work gals!!!!

cw.com -- Good friend, Fellow geek, and fellow gamer. This is my good friend cw's site. It's actually been up for several years and has lots of great things about his life, family, humor, tech everything. Always a good read, be sure to check out his other site www.codefuture.net.

madisonienne -- CW's Wifey's blog. Madisonienne has a great sense of humor and it really shines in her writing. This a very entertaining blog, even though it contains much about knitting it's still quite entertaining.

cm.com -- Good friend, fellow Frenchy's Admin, Fellow Angler. CM's site has lots of funny stuff, video clips, etc.. Also if you ever want to pimp and xbox CM has some great instructions for adding a power button to one of your controllers. I do hope he contributes his angling experiences either here on my site or on his. We shall see.

K, Ima watch a movie. Be Cool, thats the movie.

Who, What, Where, When, Why

2006-02-10T15:01:00.000-06:00

The 5 "W's", remember that from school. With my first post I'll try and answer the 5 "w's" the best I can. I remember something about throwing How in there too, but I figured "with a blog" pretty much answers How.

Who: MadGator - aka Cory - I am just a regular guy, married with a daughter. I work the UW Colleges system (UW Two Year Community Colleges) as a Senior Network Administrator. I spend most of my time there working with Servers, Firewalls, Computers, and various other computer type technologies. When I'm not at work I am spending time with my wife and daughter, every moment of which I greatly cherish. What time I have left I usually spend either Fishing or Playing DOD (both of which I'll get into later). That's pretty much who I am, Cory, Husband, Father, Angler, Gamer. Pretty much sums it up.

What: Well primarily, I am hoping to turn this into a fishing journal. Using our W rules to document my various fishing excursions. I will also be filling in the gaps with various life musings and news. I will at some point be posting this blog on Lake Link, in hopes other Madison area anglers will read/write/comment they're angling experiences.

Where: The obvious is the Madison Chain of lakes -- Mendota, Monona, Waubessa, Wingra. I also on occasion will fish Rock Lake, Lake Wiscsonsin, Lake Columbia, Mississippi River. We recently purchased some property up north in the Lake Camelot Community, this will give me access to a couple more lakes as well. I occasionally go on fishing trips so documentation of those will also be included, possibly with much less detail.

When: I do most of my fishing during the spring/summer/fall seasons. I am not much of an ice fisherman, but will venture out on occasion. I am aslo starting this prior to the 2006 fishing season, I had actually wanted to wait a bit but there will be some things coming shortly that I wanted to document.

Why: I love to fish. I read a ton of articles, website, magazines about fishing and attend a couple seminars a year. One thing I have come across as a common theme is to document your angling results and to use that documentation to better yourself as angler. If you are interested take a look at Lake-Link and you will see what I am talking about. I don't think that this will ever become what Lake Link is, but I do hope that it's my own personal version of LLs mission. This is actually my second attempt at blogging, I tried using bloglines before, but just really didn't like the interface. The whole idea of trying again has really be sparked by my wife and her crazy knitting friends, they have started a knitting blog and it has inspired me to try once again.

First Post Done!