Crappies

Went fishing early some morning a week or so ago with my boss and one of his friends. We left Ames at 3am to see if we could put some walleyes in the freezer. We fished low and slow at the Brushy Creek spillway. We were there for about 4 hours will a snout rocket and a smallmouth being our only catch. Slow day indeed. We headed over to Don Williams Lake at about 8am and fished the now unbelievably low lake. The lake was down 20ft as they drained it to implement a fish kill to kill off the shad. Despite this we managed to catch 40 some crappies all between 8 and 10 inches.

We cooked up some that night to feast and the rest went in the freezer. Great outing indeed.

Couple of days ago I went back there again with my boss Aaron and his wife and we ended up with three beautiful stringers of crappies. Again, we caught a ton! 55 in two hours is not too shabby. This time I was able to put some in the freezer. Rachel may not like fish but I love crappie. The only pics we got of that outing were on Aaron's camera, which is MIA. He thinks we left it on the dock where we took the pictures. Bummer.
 


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Christmas/ St. Pat's Day

Been busy so I haven't had much time to update lately.

Christmas in March....hmmm...Regardless of how well we thought it would or would not work we did it anyway. Mike, Lisa, and Gabe flew in from Baltimore, Al and Karin came drove from Canby, and Nick and Lisa made a round trip from Michigan then Orange City, back to Dike. Saturday evening was the big meal mother had prepared. Prime rib, sweet potatoes, spinach casserole, broccoli cheese hot-dish, twice baked potatoes, lefse, krumkake, and possibly more. It was wonderful and prepared to perfection! After thoroughly stuffing ourselves, we got to enjoy homemade pie; the creations of Rachel. Apple pie, and pecan pie to die for. I could not have asked for better. As Rachel put it, "you might like it but Mike and Karin approved, and that's the true compliment". After the meal we sort of dropped like flies. Rachel and I headed back to her parents as the next morning was Christmas morning.

Now, Dad was somehow oblivious to the fact that we were now housing his new puppy. Mother approve and Al and Karin approved and delivered, it was now our part. We cleaned up the pup, wrapped a bow around her neck and made our entrance:

 

 At this point Dad had no clue what was going down and he assumed the dog was for Al and Karin. He didn't know they played a vital part to the plan. I went over and handed Dad his pup to which point we all learned he really didn't have a clue.

It was wonderful to have everyone there for Christmas. We shared gifts that meant something rather than was expensive. Rachel made a collage for Al and Karin of their home and pets that were lost in the fire.

I even managed to sneak in a bottle of Bailey's for my beloved Aunt!
Of the gift that came from the heart the most my father floored me personally with this one. In the fire Al and Karin lost their brown cooler. To most people this seems replaceable but there is more to it than that. It's a symbol of the Livermore clan. The Brown Cooler. They have searched hard to replace it but only the green ones are made these days. Dad boxed up what was our brown cooler, that now belongs to my Aunt and Uncle.

For those non-Livermore's or those, closely associated, you will not understand and we don't expect you to do so, but it meant a lot to me, and I know it meant more to Al and Karin.

After more gifts, including mom's entire collection of photos from Canby over the years, we spent the afternoon lounging and hanging out. We even managed to wear down the now named Ruby.

An enjoyable get together nevertheless, I would say was successful even if short-lived.



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Fishing the Bend

Michael Parker and I took the opportunity to spend an entire day fishing. We as usual collected everything necessary and headed out. We climbed through the brambles before we got to our backwater. I knew the water was low but not like this. We went all the way to the mouth where the river point is to set up camp. Again, wow. Water was so low we walked out to where we usually fish. We set out baits anyway. Micheal ended up catching a nice bass that we never got pictures of; my fault. I kept pitching my five of diamonds spoon and finally pulled out an eater pike.

Dad requested we catch some fish for Aunt Karin when they come for their visit Friday. Win.
Michael and I switched off pitching for gators and eventually he lit into a pig. We got her to the water line and she managed to snap the snap swivel holding my spoon. We got her for pics anyway.

It's about time he caught a pig! We fished for awhile longer before trying a couple other places without even a nibble. Water is still cold but we had to try. Great day on the water and the weather was unreal.


Stay Tuned: St Pat's Christmas

Shed Day Continued: The Firsts'

After finding the two deadfall's including Coleman's Legacy, we headed out to move on the the next place. On our way out I found an old shed most likely from last year. Upon inspection we concluded that this shed was last year's antler from the first 8 point deadfall. Small world indeed. We made our way to Coleman's more just to check it out but in search of a shed. My goal with my management is to get the deer to winter there and find sheds. Then my work would be complete. We walked all the way to the back at the far end of the property. I doubled back to our clearcut when Michael starts whistling insistently. Then my phone rings. I tear over to him to find him standing over Coleman's and his first shed.

I honestly could not tell you who was happier. It was awesome. It was very difficult to tell whether or not this was a this year's drop or last but nevertheless fed the good day vibe. We continued on to two other properties without success. We ended up walking somewhere in the ballpark of 13 miles. Two deadfall's and two sheds. Great day out. We ended our day back at the farm where we shot bow in the barn. Talked about Coleman's Legacy and Michael's first shed. Then we opted for food. Sauted pork chops, hashbrowns, eggs, toast. Tired beyond belief we finally called it a day.


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Bittersweet End

This last Saturday I finally got out to do some serious shed hunting. I asked again for permission to search for a buck that I hit last fall. If you may recall, I never found this buck, and I was not pleased about it. I took Michael Parker with me as usual, and we headed out in the wind and flurries.
We got to the creek crossing and essentially picked up where we did last time looking for sheds along the way. I circled back towards the creek and found this:

Based on the location, condition of the carcass, and the general configuration of his rack it could have been him. Then I looked closer. His hooves were too small and the one I chased had prints like a Gurnsy. The antlers were just not big enough. I knew this wasn't him. Michael and I continued our quest for antler. I circled back again towards the feeder creek just as I had done the first time I searched. Then I saw him. Coleman's Legacy. He was as beautiful as I remembered. The kicker of it all was I remembered this spot. There was a large Black Willow growing out of the creek bank and the was a small rise I stood on whilst talking to my father as we gave up our search last fall.

I looked closer again and realized how close Dad and I really were. In the next photo there is another willow that Dad stood next to when we left. This buck was literally feet between us.

He was not as big as I remembered but did have the characteristics I recalled. Tall, setback rack, and huge hooves. Michael noted how much large his head was than the first one we found. This was on the same line of the original blood trail. I am 100% certain this is him. Yes, it was nice to find him, but it was a bittersweet ending for me. We didn't get to enjoy the venison. No picture with a big goofy grin after countless hours of searching. He may go on one of my slabs, but he doesn't go in the living room with Coleman's Giant or Coleman's Beginning.
This was a reminder and and eye opener. DO NOT GIVE UP. We knew he was dead. We knew where he would be and that he was in there somewhere. I thought I did everything I could. Next time we will do more, but as many have told me, at least I found him.
The right side was very unique and the end of the beam curved up making it look like another tine. Very cool. This ended up with three bucks off of the area this year. Too bad they were deadfall finds.

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