It took a whole week for me to finally get back on the water and fishing again. I was definitely glad to be back at it. This past week was filled with doctor appointments (PHC and Endocrinologist), mowing grass, and life, in general.
Back on March 10, 2011, I had a visit with Dr. Tymon (LOG - Lancaster Orthopedic Group) regarding my knees, especially my left knee. Over thirty years ago, I damaged my left knee while competing in Judo.
Yep, folks, that's me as a young man in my twenties "playing" Judo. I eventually earned a Nidan, second degree black belt, in the years I participated. But it wasn't without injury.
The injury I sustained in a tournament tore my left knee to shreds. With the help of my surgeon, Dr. James O'Neil, my left knee was reconstructed. It actually took me a year and a half to run on it again. I was going bonkers since I loved to play basketball so much.
So, back on March 9th, I visited Dr, Tymon because my left knee was once again giving me problems... falling out, hitching, and pain. He took x-rays of both of my knees and treated the left knee with a cortisone shot. He said that my left knee had deteriorated and was riddled with arthritis and bone spurs and that I was very close to having it replaced... Great! :(
Well, after two months, that same knee started to act up again.
I wanted to go fishing yesterday, but I told my wife that with my knee paining me all night long that I doubted I would be going out on the water alone.
Luckily, Dave Warholic gave me a call around 8:00 am. He had hooked up his boat before heading to work in he morning and was looking for a partner to go fishing with him. "Hell yeah, Dave!" He had answered my prayers!
Dave would be getting off work around 2:00 pm. and we would meet at the ramp around 2:30 pm. That way we could fish for the evening bite... Just perfect in my book!
I sent my fishing buddy, Jeff (CHRGD) a text message to let him know that I'll be out fishing. He and his wife, Penny, usually head out on Fridays for a few hours. I told him I'll probably meet them later in the afternoon before they leave the water.
I got to the ramp around 2:00 pm. to see what the water clarity would be. The east shoreline was still dirty to muddy and the west was only dirty. I knew where Jeff was fishing and was able to see him from the ramp. I texted him to let him know that I had arrived.
Jeff and Penny were catching some very nice fish on tubes and spinnerbaits. Since Dave and I failed to take any pics, Jeff and Penny emailed their pics to me this morning so I could share them here with you on "Fishing With Dad".
Jeff's nice 18.75" smallmouth
Here is a 17.5" smallie caught on a tube.
I have dubbed Penny "The Queen Of The Susquehanna"... Here's the proof!
Yet another beautiful (16+") smallie taken by Jeff.
I believe that Penny and Jeff were neck-to-neck in total numbers, but Jeff had the size yesterday. Good job, guys, and a big thanks for sharing the photos with us all.
Dave and I launched his Snyder boat around 2:30 pm and headed over to Jeff and Penny to see how they were doing. They gave us the lowdown on their outing and we headed off to find some bronzebacks.
On the way over to speak with them, Dave's motor warning system was beeping. It was indicating that he had low oil in the reservoir. Dave was sure that he had taken care of that, but apparently not. Thankfully, he carries extra oil on the boat and when we finally stopped at our first fishing hole, he was able to grab it and fill the oil reservoir.... No Mo' Beeping! :)
Our choice of lures were spinnerbaits. Despite the fact that Jeff was catching his fish on tubes, Penny was just starting to hit a few some on her spinnerbait. And I'd rather fish the spinnerbait. So, I tied on a 3/8th oz. War Eagle Green Shad tied on and began tossing that around.
Dave tied on a black skirted spinnerbait and almost immediately nailed a nice 17" smallie. That was quick! We then had a lull of about 30 minutes before I finally got on the board with a 16.5". "No skunks in this boat!"
Throughout the evening, we caught several in the 16" range and the rest were smaller.
The air temp was in the low 70's and I didn't get an accurate water temperature, but I would guesstimate that it was in the low to mid-60's. We had a blue bird sky above us.
What I found most impressive last evening was watching the transformation of a muddy/dirty river to a clear river in 5.5 hrs. We hit the Susquehanna just right to watch the tail end of the dirty water leave us and the clearer water start to take over. It was so neat watching this transformation occur before our eyes.
We hadn't had rain in about five days except for a few t-storms that have passed through two days before. In fact, we commented on how dirty the water still was after such a long period without a rain event.
Well, we were both able to enjoy watching the river as it cleared. And not only that, but one of our favorite fishing spots in that area became "fishable" and gave us a few decent bass... Nice!
I was seriously thinking of getting back out there this morning, but I opted to rest my knee today and see how things are by the earlier part of next week.
On Monday, June 6, 2011, I have an appointment with my Hepatologist at Mercy Hospital in Baltimore, Md. I had an MRI done back in early May that showed I had a mark on my right liver lobe. His radiologists thinks it's just abnormal blood vessels due to my liver disease (N.A.S.H.) Let's hope so. I know I'll be having another MRI in three months to determine if it has grown any... Until then, I'll take that as "Good News"!
Take Care and Be Safe!
Dad
