Well, I finally did it! I took my 1860 G3 out for the very first time since my total knee replacement. What a great feeling that was to be sitting behind the console once again, feeling the breeze in my face, and running up river to our favorite fishing haunts.
Dell met Zach and me at our home around 6:00 am this morning. I had already hooked up the boat and had 'er all ready to tow.
I did run across a slight problem when I went to attach my safety chains to my truck. One of my very large carabiners was missing...gone... nowhere to be found... Uh Oh! I have a sneaking suspicion that my little neighbor boy came over and may have been playing around the boat when the garage door was open. How do I know that? Well, I noticed this past week that my console seat was opened up and that is exactly what he does when he climbs into my boat and sits there while talking with me.
I love having my three neighbor boys come over and visit with me. They especially like to come over after I've been fishing to see what pictures I've taken and to "shot the breeze" with the old man... LOL! I certainly enjoy these boys and it definitely brings back fond memories of when I was raising my own three sons.
But... I have a feeling that maybe he or one of his brothers was fumbling around with the carabiner and either placed it somewhere in the garage and out of sight or carried it away with them like little boys sometimes do. :)
I quickly found another lesser carabiner to attach my safety chain. No problem at all... Just a bit of an annoyance to start my day.
We got to use the new ramps and docks at the PPL Pequea Boat Launch (Lake Aldred), What a fine and safe set up they have made for us boaters.
The air temperature this morning was registering 53 degrees when we arrived at the launch. It rose to a balmy 83 degrees by the time we "trailered" the boat at 1:30 pm. A 30+ degree jump in air temp is pretty dramatic. This large temp change caused the wind to kick up. We also had "Bluebird" skies and high winds (15-25 mph with greater gusts). As you are aware, the river acts a wind tunnel between the hill sides. One minute the wind is blowing from the NW and the next moment, it is blowing from the NE... all morning long! It definitely wore me out and that doesn't take much these days... LOL!
The weatherman is now calling for 90+ degree weather over the next four days. That would constitute as an official "Heat Wave" (Three 90+ degree days in a row)... locally, it will be our first of the summer months.
Zach got on the board first this morning by tossing a KVD crankbait and landing a nice healthy catfish. "Way to go, Zach!"
It didn't take long to stick that crankbait into the rocky a bottom and lose it. In fact, we lost two KVD short-billed cranks today... Ouch! The second one was stuck solid in a huge piece of water-soaked log. We certainly did try to retrieve it. In fact, Zach was able to lift that ole' log up with the push pole, but it was virtually impossible for us to dislodge the treble hooks. It was definitely our "Biggest Catch Of The Day". :)
Dell caught a couple of smaller bass with a jerkbait with a feathered rear treble. His next catch was the biggest bass of the day with a Rebel Crayfish crankbait.
Those Rebel Crays come through on the river. It was the very first crankbait that I ever threw and I remember that I had a ton of success with them and still do.
Dell Enjoying The 17" Smallie
Notice Dell's Duke t-shirt... His brother is the "Assistant Athletic Director" of Duke University... Pretty Cool, huh! He enjoys Duke basketball and travels to several home games throughout the season. No wonder he's such a great high school basketball coach... He has seen Coach K do his thing many, many times over the years.
We didn't catch big fish today and certainly not many to grab pics of. Despite the lack of big fish success, we had a great outing. We caught site of a couple of bald eagles and even witnessed an osprey diving into the river looking for a fish meal.
At lunch, we beached ourselves just off an island rookery for Great Blue Heron. They certainly make a noisy racket on that island. When we pulled up on the shallow rock, it was covered with about 6 inches of water. I turned my back to the shoreline and was enjoying the company of my son and Dell and when we made the move to leave and head back to the ramp, the front end of the boat was on sitting high and dry... Oh no!
After a couple of failed attempts by Dell and Zach to free us with the push poles, Dell jumped out of the boat and gave the front end a good push. That frees us up and we were floating once again... Dell to the rescue!
It's amazing how quickly the river level can change in this lake. One must be on the ball by taking notice that the river is either dropping, like today, or rising. It can and will change your fishing plans rather quickly. I know that Jeff and I talk about these fluctuations often and how dangerous it can be. A few years ago, he and Penny got stranded on a rock when the river dropped quickly. River Rescue assisted them on their way. They are a great service to the general public!
I had a great day on the water with a good friend and my son. It did, however, totally wear me out. Those high winds and bright bluebird skies tired me out. I came home and got the boat settled into the garage. Then I went upstairs, took a nice refreshing shower to get the sweat off of me, and completely zonked out on my bed for a nice long nap... It felt so good!
I'm hoping to be fishing more often now that I had the boat out and running. I'm not sure with these upcoming extremely hot and humid days whether or not I'll be out during that heat. But please keep your eyes peeled for my next river adventure. I definitely enjoy your visits!
Until then...
Take Care and Be Safe!
Dad
