April 28th-Wed
Ice out a month ago and Winnie Derby cancelled cause of lack of fish or some other political reasons beyond our knowledge. Lack of fish on this trip was the key phrase. Putt (the small boat) put on the dock until we could borrow a motor from Scotty and arrival of the big boat delayed for lack of parts.
Snow this morning in Melvin Village, and wasn't till 4:30 that John David, Greenfield, and Paul went out in the big boat. No runs, hits, and the only error was in going out in the first place into the teeth of a mounting gale.
The place had been opened that day by Scotty, but the wind blew a tree branch into and disconnected the water pipe into the lake. John David volunteered to do the honors and in sixty degree weather with fifty degree water. Thank God for designer Vodka!
April 29th-Thurs
Abe, Skip, Green, Paul, and JD on the water by 6:45. Silly puppies, no fish, no hits, nada, nothing. Big winds all day steady 50 mph with gust to sixty something. Damn another 10 mph and we could have classified as a hurricane. Bill stayed in the house (smart) and only one other boat on the water. First ever Canada Geese on the lake. Saw an eagle and Mergansers. Putt not running but could not have used it anyway. Cards and BS!
April 30th -Fri
No fish. So much poker being played that Paul said the breasts on the ST. Pauly girl bottle of non-alcoholic beer were beginning to look pretty good. Frey had a good baseball hand that stuffed Green. He declared four threes when he had 3 threes, a nine with a ten kicker. Will he ever learn? Threes and nines are wild Bill!
Some old memories were dredged up.
The old guy with the red coat and cowboy hat that we saw for years on the water the same as we. He seemed to know what he was doing and was just a nice guy.
We were catching fish one year regularly at a place in front of a house full of guys just like us. Up for a week of fishing and drinking adult beverages. I guess they were'nt catching as much and we were. As we went by they shouted in the New England dialect......"Save some for the Naaa-bars"! Just classic.
Then there was the New Hampshire Navy. Some other guys, much like us but without a boat, became creative. They took their swim float, mounted an outboard, coolers for beer, rod holders, and a charcoal grill. Shouting to everyone in their way....."We can't steer...get out of the way"!
Way back when, Paul was playing a fish and snatched the fly from it's mouth rather roughly. That move forever has been called, in catch and release terms, a Smirnoff long distance release.
And finally there was the time we were using side planers...each about fifty feet off the side of the boat and holding up to three fishing lines. Dave was driving the boat and managed to wrap one of the planers around a bouy.
Just good stuff and meaning nothing to anyone other than us.
May Day-Sat
Finally on the water in both boats. No Salmon. Skip one 2.5 lb bass that doesn't count. Tommy allegedly with one lake trout down three hundred feet on metal. Doesn't count. John Greenfield and Abe witnessed the bass catch from the dock, so they were given the idea about how it is all done.
Skip and Bill in Putt. It looked like JD had a large fish hooked and Paul was waving at it with the net. Their boat kept turning so we couldn't see much but the fight took some time and Skip was sure the fish jumped, confirming the presence of a salmon. Finally when it was adroitly netted by Paul....it was a can of beer and not a fish. I think it was a Coors light. Skip and Bill were had again.
Later that night it was Abe's turn in the barrel as the others set up a hand of cards with him getting four wild cards and an ace. Bill and Skip were not aware of the set up and the betting got pretty wild with everybody raising Abe's bets. He could not understand it until the final bets were made and they came clean. His five aces really did not win the twenty some odd dollar pot. Great laughs.
May 1 - Sunday
Clean up and good byes. It's been a great ride.
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