Day 21, January 6, 2009

I earned my money today. After opening up a trail to California and Minnesota I was back home to meet Bruce and his two friends and get them checked into Montana then off to get California. When I pulled it into that spot last Thursday I had a heck of a time and paid for it today as she was froze in pretty good. It took quite the doing but as the sun went down I was on the road heading to a new area.
I still have not had time to retrieve my sled and it sounds like Kelly P may have ploughed out to it. With so much going on all I can do is hope its safe until I can get out there. It’s not abandoned just broken and stranded at the time. I think it was much safer before a road was ploughed to it but how was he supposed to know.
Tomorrow is another super busy day as Pat and his crew will be rolling in Thursday for 4 houses and my goal was to have them all on new spots. Then Friday Idaho and California have customers. Plus we have New York rented Saturday and again Sunday. Then let’s not forget Mother Nature lurking to do her damage.

Day 18, January 05, 2009

Man oh man – 23 this morning. Is it just me or is Mother Nature giving me the smack down? The morning will be spent getting all the equipment up and running. I will have to wait for the weather to warm before we do any serious work today.
Jake had a few buddies show up yesterday so it was like hey guys if you want you can fish in Idaho. Being a new house it needs to be seasoned and catch some fish. After taking a peek inside they were all over that and kicked back, caught some fish and for a little bonus enjoyed the or “how you look at it” not enjoyed the Vikings game. It would have been nice if the Vikings could have won while they were fishing.
I have a few things Jake will be taking care of today that I never seem to have time to do. We have a big crew coming Thursday and again I would like all the houses on fresh ice.
The rocket needs to be rescued to get that off my mind. California will take some doing to dig out as we vacate that area. There was just enough crappie out in that area to keep me interested but its time to go to better fishing grounds.
The area we have Montana, Utah, and Idaho has been pretty good but in the back of my mind I wonder if it’s going to burn out. I think there’s plenty of room to make my way west from there as east has only produced bigger fish.
While Wayne was here we were able to play the game Wii, what a hoot. Kellie was undefeated in bowling going 5 and 0
I was able to spank Wayne in one round of golf but the fun game was tennis man did I ever laugh. I stubbed my toe twice in Old Minnesota on a chair before I had the common sense to throw the chair out of the fish house. It would be real fun to play the Greek as he loves tennis. Well I have paper work to do so better get busy.

Day 17, January 04, 2009

Day 17 started as a quick trip to Bemidji fro supplies. Jake arrived and went and met the Greek out in Florida to have breakfast and talk fishing. Coming back fron town the roads turned horrible and it was 45 all the way home.
The Greek checked in on all the customers and I decided I still wanted to move Idaho. While I was gassing up blue thunder and getting things organized the Greek started prepping the new spot we would be parking Idaho.
Rather then move California I would upgrade Pete and his crew into our new house. Things went well considering we were working in extreme conditions. Good practice incase of an emergency I guess. After getting Idaho all ready we were off to check on Wayne and see if the boys in California wanted to move to the new house. Again everything went rather well as we made our way out 3.5 miles. After the guys were ready we headed back and that’s when it got ugly. Most of the day I had said to myself we may not be beating mother nature but we were going toe to toe. Just like that the road was gone. With no gps or compass” Opps “we struggled to find the birm that would lead us back to shore. What the day before was so awesome turned into Just get me off this lake for the Greek.
Back on shore Jake called to give me the bad news my sled had broken and he was out 10 miles in the area we fished last year. After the great fishing he had there with us last year he just had to go there even though I suggested going out on a sled in those conditions was not a great idea. Oh well we all learn form our mistakes. The Greek was kind enough to let me use his sled to go rescue Jake. As the daylight faded I arrived to pick up Jake. My sled “The rocket” will have to sit there until late today or tomorrow before we can cut a trail and go retrieve her. The boys in California landed a 41 inch pike and 5 keeper walleyes. Wayne only landed a couple of fish and Andy and his crew had the best fishing and were well over 20 or more walleyes.