I wasn't quite sure how this day was going to go after I got to the restaurant today. I dropped my wife off at the front door of the greasy spoon and headed into the rain soaked parking lot. The wind was blowing quite hard and the rain was falling diagonally. I exited the car and felt a cool breeze hit the back of my leg. At first, I thought I may have gotten my jeans wet while getting into the car at home. I reached around to feel my pants, but instead felt skin. Yepper, my blue jeans were torn from the back left pocket all the way to my hamstring. Folks, this wasn't a little rip, but more like a full blow out!
So, I jumped back into the car and tried to call my wife on her cell phone. And of course, I got absolutely no response. I left a message and headed back home to change my jeans. It took me about ten minutes to get home and back on the road. As I was returning to the restaurant, my "caring" wife finally realized that her loving husband was not in the restaurant yet... LOL!
After listening to my frantic cell phone message, she called me and I assured her I was on my way.
After breakfast, I headed next door to get a quick haircut. My wife headed to the Weis Grocery Store in the same shopping mall to pick up a few items. Within minutes, she was calling telling me that the grocery store's roof was damaged by the wind and the police and fire company had the entire parking area cordoned off to keep people away and safe.
Okay... torn jeans and a damaged roof in only our first hour out of the house. Maybe this was one of those days that we should just turn around, go home, put our PJs back on, and hit the bed!
But "No!"... After my haircut, we were off to Wellsville, Pa. to the Wellsville Fire Company's Annual Fishing Flea Market. My good buddy, Mike Burton and the Lancaster County Hawg Hunters were sponsoring a trout pond for kids. I had never been to the flea market and was determined to get there "Hell or High Water" This year. Well, we had the high water, but I wasn't too keen on the "Hell" part.
We arrived around 9:15 a.m. and found the trout pond out in the engine room. We hung out with Mike and a few of the Hawg Hunters watching, talking, and helping the kids. It was a lot of fun watching them eagerly awaiting a "tap" on their line by a "slime rocket."
Mike Burton assisting a little tyke with her fishing rod.
I got to see an old friend, Gordon Brady from B&B Tackle. I met Gordon years ago when we were in the Pa. BASS District 3. Gordon and I often communicated on AOL's Fishing Forum. This was prior to any of what we have today. In fact, AOL no longer runs that forum and hasn't for years.
We also came across Ken Keener, another District 3 acquaintance. Ken was selling custom made buzzbaits, swimming jigs, and regular jigs. He is very talented. I love homemade fishing tackle and couldn't resist buying about five Keener jigs and one buzzbait. Ken took the time to make me a customized 3/8th oz. buzzbait with a chart/white skirt and gold blade. Thanks, Ken, I appreciate the time you took for me!
Our next stop on this day trip was to HawgHead Marine and Tackle Center to see what Todd and Rick had going on. I found some of my favorite 2.5" tubes in a 100 pack and some of Jeff Little's Riverbottom Tubes (Dark Green/Brown/Chocolate w/ blk flake). These new tubes look too good to pass up. All these tubes were 25% off!! $20.99 for a 100 pack - I just couldn't pass that deal up.
In fact, when we arrived at the store, Jeff Little was in the middle of a seminar about smallmouth river fishing. Jeff always does a fantastic job.
What a spread Todd and Rick put out for their customers each year. Once again, they out did themselves! Let's see - Beer and Punch, Pulled Pork, Sausage with Peppers, Barbecue Chicken, Steamed Shrimp, Macaroni Salad, and Baked Beans with the sweetest onions! All this was offered to anyone who made a purchase at the store that day.
Thanks Todd and Rick for all the great food and the many sales!
Off to Bass Pro Shop!
My good buddy and fly angler, Bob Clouser, was demonstrating fly casting in the Harrisburg Mall when we arrived. He was just finishing up and we all [Bob, Bob Jr, Brian Shumaker (Susquehanna River Guides), my wife and me] headed out to take a short break. They all got some quick Chinese food and drinks while my wife and I grabbed a diet soda. We got to sit down and shoot the breeze for a few minutes before they had to return to BPS.
Bob Clouser and Julie
Once we got back to the store, Julie and I headed over to the BPS fishing rain gear department. My old rain jacket just about bit the dust last summer. *sniff* No matter how much I sprayed her with water repellent, my trusty and, up to that year, reliable rain jacket, was allowing water to make it's way eventually through the material and get me wet during a good soaking rainstorm. She was still good under shorter downpours or quick summer showers. We did some comparison shopping among brands and decided on the Bass Pro Shops' Pro Qualifier Rain Jacket. It was retailed at $189 and was on sale for $139 XXL/T. These rain jackets seem to run a bit small. So, I went with a bit larger jacket to accommodate wearing a fleece under it. A $50 dollar savings is a pretty good bargain.
I also picked up some Suffix 20 lb and P-Line Fluorocarbon line for leader material. I want to rig up at least one baitcaster with this combo and carry it with me at all times.
It was going on 3:30 p.m. by the time we decided to head back to Willow Street, Pa. What a great day to be indoors with the driving wind and rain outside. We certainly turned an ugly day outside into a great fishing sales day indoors. Not only did we find some great deals, but we were able to reconnect with some very good friends on our day trip. Julie and I agreed that we would both do this day over again in heartbeat... fer shure!
Dad
p.s. Thank God for the invention of the GPS. My Alpine GPS got me everywhere today without a hitch. I've had my GPS for several years now and I just love it. What I find funny is that I had a GPS on my boats years before I bought one for my car or they were even available for vehicles... Priorities! :)
