Lake Iwanttobethere

Now keep in mind here I might have had a few beers when Chuck finally hooked up with that monster. I have been telling and retelling the story to any Lodge member who would listen and if they bought me a beer I would embellish it just a tad. To put you in the boat with Chuck and I you need think of one of them there theme park water rides. A choppy sea, water spray coming over the bow and the real threat of sinking. Now add something big on the end of a line that you can't see. The boat being pulled wildly from side to side and the slight problem that you don't have a motor. Did I mention that I had a few beers on a stomach that just had pretzels and some old fish eggs?

I stood on the deck below the front casting platform, one hand holding the steering wheel to steady myself and the other holding onto the remote that controlled the bow trolling motor. As I retell the story I like to think that I looked like a harpooner in the bow of an old whaler. Water spray dripping through my beard and steely eyes locked ahead waiting for the great fish to surface and do battle on top. My first mate Chuck was prone on the front deck, hands locked in a death grip around the prop of the trolling motor, the braided line tight around the blades. Chuck fighting to gain a few inches only to lose a foot back. Water dripping from his forehead into his eyes and the grease of the small Vienna sausages mixing with the water to make his chin look like a rainbow. Fishing at it's finest, hand to fin so to speak. Just us and the water and the fish ahead of us sounding deep and turning the boat and us back in the direction we had just come from.

"Hold her steady Chuck, Hold her steady" I urged my first mate on with encouragement. " Aye Captain, I have her" he replied. His hands were tightly wrapped around the blades of the prop and he was turning the prop like he was turning the wheel of big oil rig shutoff valve. We turned sharply to port, my grip on the wheel all that was keeping me upright and standing. The turn was so abrupt that Chucks legs slid over the side of the boat in to the white cap of a passing wave. Not knowing what was at the end of the line or how close it was made Chuck pull his legs back into the boat before they even got wet. On a new course now with the waves at our back Chuck was quickly gaining line on what ever was down below.

I took a sip from my beer and glanced at the faces around the bar looking back at me. I had them now, I just need a big finish for my tale, should I tell them the truth or should I make something up. Stretching out the moment I took another sip of my beer and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. A few of the guys did the same, sharing the moment with me and waiting for the tale to continue. In the quiet of the Lodge the phone rang out, Gus answered it on the second ring "Lake Iwanttobethere Lodge, how may I help you? Sure, just a sec. Bobby, your wife on line one" I held one finger up and got up from the stool, "I'll be right back" with beer in hand I walked around the bar to answer the phone. A few minutes later I was heading back to my office to get my coat and truck keys. "Where are ya going Bobby" Gus shouted out. " I have to get back home I forgot the wife's mother is coming over." I said as I put my arm through a coat sleeve. "What about the story" Big Earl asked, his hands upturned out in front of him.

I finished the story as I was zipping my coat up. "The man made pond had a wave machine and Chuck had hooked into a submersible that had been following us the entire time we were fishing. The guy in the white lab coat had bought a twelve pack of Hamms but only had placed four of the long necks in the cooler, the other eight he drank as he watched us and thought he would have some fun with us. He did say there was a fish in the pond, a big one but no one had ever caught it. He told us we could return any time and try again but we thought we would just stick to fishing the waters of Lake Iwanttobethere"

Chuck looking up at the glowing light overhead said how about we go right and taking his can of sausages and his slurpie stepped up onto the rear casting platform. Using the remote control for the trolling motor I pointed us down the shoreline and munched on a few pretzels as I sat behind the steering wheel that was connected to nothing. Kind of hard to steer without a rudder and I told Chuck to look at the transom and see what was hanging back there. Chuck sat his slurpie down and getting on his hands and knees reached over the back to pull up a camera of sorts. " Guess we have someone watching us fishing" he said and he released the camera to splash back behind the boat.

Sipping on my Hamms I got an idea and I pulled the fish eggs out of the cooler. Taking the lid off I sat a container on the console and as I ate the pretzels I would sprinkle a few eggs into our wake. Chuck seeing me changed his spinner out for a bare hook and threaded some of the eggs onto the hook. The hook was then dragged in the wake of the boat and Chuck went back to eating his sausages with the rod jammed between his legs and the seat. We fished this way for a while and I was on my third Hamms when I tossed some pretzels in the water and fish eggs in my mouth. Lucky for me there was enough beer to wash the eggs down.

I moved back up to the front casting seat and made a few halfhearted casts towards the shore. Chuck and I chatted some and the talk ran to the thought that we might just end up getting skunked! We then of course decided that this fishing trip would not count as bass season is closed so then we can't get skunked. We were thinking that maybe we would not say anything to anyone back at the Lodge but maybe we would pass the letter on to Elmer and Marv and let the two old geezers have a crack at this fishing or lack of fishing hole. Bout then in a pause in our conversation my nose started twitching, I was thinking maybe fish as I have been told I can smell fish. But it was something else, I looked back at Chuck and made a comment about the foul odor in the air. Chuck turned away with a grin on his face and I knew right away it was him. He was passing gas like he was Chili judge working his third day of competition.

I was looking to pull my tee shirt covered in beer, pretzels and fish eggs up over my nose when I saw Chuck's rod tip twitch and make a slow decent towards the surface of the water. Chuck was standing up like he was making a money pool shot on the Lodge's table trying to hold the rod tip up. Then the first sound of the drag, music to my ears as the line started to sing as it left the reel and raced through the guides. Chuck was grunting and I stopped the trolling motor and let us glide through the calm waters. Trouble is the line was going straight under the boat and heading for the bow. Chuck was dragging his thumb on the spool but it was not slowing it down. A little puff of smoke came up and Chuck jerked his thumb off the reel. I quickly came off the front deck to assist moving across the lower deck stepping over the cooler I arrived in time to pour a few precious drops of my Hamms on to the spool to cool it.

With the spool slowing Chuck tighten the drag down till it would tighten no more and stuck the rod off to the side, the line slipped out from under the boat and leaped skyward. Chuck hopped down to the bottom deck and almost made it to the front deck before stepping in the cooler and slipping on the last container of fish eggs. Landing face first and just missing hitting the front seat the rod fell to the deck and went over the side. We both just looked at the bow and the missing rod. Chuck crawling on his hands and knees leaned over the bow and shouted " Hit the trolling motor hit it" I looked at him and watched as he lifted the trolling motor up on to the deck and I saw the line wrapped around the prop. I started the trolling motor and we watched as the line started to wrap around the prop and tighten. The boat however started to move forward and we both looked at each other, " Ye Haw" yelled Chuck. " Fish on, fish on!" To be continued from Lake Iwanttobethere.

With the light growing brighter we crept into the fog bank, Chuck stepped down from the front platform and we exchanged places. As we past each other Chuck made a comment about he was not going to be the one that ran the boat into the wall or that reinforced dock. Come to think of it we had not seen that dock at all, I headed out farther from where I thought the shoreline was, just to be safe. Both of us had played with the graph trying to get the side imaging to display but we just figured it was just not working. Would be a nice thing to have with this fog and maybe even help us find some fish. I was back fishing with my top water bait, even if it was deep this was a good time to be working the surface. I could not see the lure but I could hear it sputtering through the water.

My belly was doing a little rumbling and I was thinking twice about not having brought my brown paper bag lunch, I didn't even have a stick of gum on me. I heard some smacking behind me and turn to see Chuck working some chew. "Where did ya get the chew from?" I asked. He kind of gave me a grin and open his mouth wide for me to see, no chew but he had one of them white Gulp trailers in his mouth. " Aww Geeze, you is eating the bait!" Nope, just soften it up some, the grape ones are kind of tasty" and with that he turns back to launch a cast out towards the plywood wall where it hit with a smack before landing in the water.

After awhile the fog seem to lift some and now we could see where our casts were landing, if we moved back closer to shore it got thicker. I was thinking it must be the way the lab coat guy had planned it. If ya can't see the shore then you can't see the plywood wall and the fake scenery. I launched a cast deep into the fog towards the shore and felt a thump, First thing I felt all night, or was it day? Anyway, I set the hook hard and just for good measure I set it again. Chuck watching me commented with "You crossed his eyes with that one" and I waiting for the answering tug on the line, nothing, I tugged again and lifted the rod high over my head, Dang snag! I turn the boat towards the snag and followed my line right to the dock where the lure was buried in the back of Chucks winter coat. Someone had set a cooler on top of the coat and the lure was not going anywhere. We eased up next to the dock and Chuck grabbed the cooler and I grabbed his coat. I used the small blade on my handy dandy universal tool and belt knife to cut the lure free. " Look what at what ya did to my coat" Chuck said . "What, you can't tell it apart from any of the other hook holes in your coat" I said as I held the coat up for him to inspect before tossing it back on the dock.

Chuck pushed the boat away from the dock and looked at me, "What? We got food, no reason to stop fishing" I nodded in agreement and watched as Chuck open the lid of the cooler and we both peered inside. Salmon eggs? What we suppose to do with salmon eggs. "Chuck did the lab guy say there were bass in this here pond" I asked. " Well I just figured it was bass since he sent us that there letter to the Lodge, your not thinking there is salmon here and we is fishing it all wrong" Chuck said as he pulled the eggs out and kept digging deeper into the cooler." I shook my head and pulled the cooler closer to me and started looking at what was under the cloth towel that was under the container of salmon eggs. Chuck said " See if there are any crackers for that there caviar "No crackers but there is two cans of them little Vienna sausages you like so much and a slurpie from the Gas-N-Go" how would they know to pack that stuff" I asked. Chuck popped the lid off the first can and used his fingers to dig out one of the sausages, Tossing the sausage in his mouth he then took a long slurp from the slurpie, " I might have mentioned it when I was giving the lab coat his forms back " he said. I was going to say something but then I saw the bottle of Hamms and the bag of pretzels. " So Chuck should we go left or right" from somewhere close to Lake Iwanttobethere

We stood facing each other in the boat not saying much, the pond was quiet except for the piped in croaking of some frogs and maybe the hoot of an owl but it was hard to tell. "I thought you said it was a sunrise, not sunset fishing?" Chuck mumbled something about telling the lab coat guy we liked fishing at sunset. Chuck came down off the back deck and sat down behind the steering wheel. I could hear him flicking switches on the console and after a few clicks we had some interior lights. Not real bright but they gave off enough light that Chuck starting going through the tackle box under the seat looking for a replacement spinner to tie on. Chuck looked up at me and said "What? We might as well fish as long as we are here" Nodding I turned away and flinged the top water lure out into the darkness. It hit the plywood wall with a bang and I heard a splash as it fell into the water, just like night fishing off the dam at Lake Iwanttobethere.

I tossed the lure out a half dozen times and worked it back slow, Chuck joined in and I could hear the splash of his lure when it hit the water and we both waited for another hit. None came but I did get the trolling motor back running. I heard a few beeps coming from the motor and it reminded me of mine. I pulled the motor up out of the water and in the dim light I saw that there was fishing line wrapped around the prop. I located a pliers and a few minutes later I had the prop cleared and we were moving again. I didn't find Chuck's lure but I pretty much blamed him for getting his line wrapped around the prop. Of course I was trying to figure out how his line got wrapped around the trolling motor in the front of the boat but I would figure that out later. In the quiet of the make believe night we heard another beep and the graph was on! Chuck climbed down from the deck to sit behind the graph and started hitting buttons.

"Well will you look at that" Chuck called out. I stepped off the front deck to look down at the graph. As I watched the graph drew a boat on the bottom of the pond and it said it was at twenty-two feet. "A sunken boat" Chuck said and I replied with" Twenty-two feet! too deep for top water" Chuck continue to click buttons and adjusted the graph, soon he had the shallow and deep alarm set along with the fish alarm and was trying to figure out the side imaging. I found a diving plug in the tackle box and returned to the front deck. After a while even the frogs stopped croaking and it got pretty quiet on the pond. We passed over the sunken boat again but Chuck was thinking it might be a different boat. Hard to tell as since the pond was round and it was dark and we had no way of telling how many times we had gone around it.

Neither one of us wear a watch and we lost track of time, no bites, no splashes and we started thinking maybe we should have brought some samwiches. I let Chuck talk me in to running the trolling motor and we traded places. I sat in the driver's seat and let the rod hang over the side with the diving plug working in our wake. I watched the graph for anything and saw nothing. A little shiver caught me by surprise and I looked up to see fog on the water. I was seeing fog but how was that happening, I then noticed that it was a little brighter out, at least on one end of the pond, I am thinking we were going to get a sunrise. I blinked a few times and pulled my glasses off to wipe them, sure enough there was some moisture on them. I called out Chucks name and pointed towards the light, Chuck followed my finger and turned the boat towards the fog bank. I heard Chuck say "Just in time for the morning bite" and that is when the fish alarm went off for the first time that night.

The trolling motor on the bass boat was the same kind that I had on my Puddle Humper and I found the remote control resting on the seat. I slipped it over my head and Chuck untied the two ropes holding the boat against the metal dock. I lowered the trolling motor down into the water and checking over my shoulder to see if Chuck was ready, we headed out on to the pond. Chuck was fiddling with the fish finder but it would just keep flashing and not give us any picture. I thought it was kind of strange to have a fancy boat like this and not have everything work on it. Since fishing is always better on the other side of a lake we headed across the pond with the trolling motor on high.

I leaned over the side trying to look into the water but with the dim lighting it was hard to see anything. " So what exactly did that guy in the lab coat say" I asked Chuck. "Not much really, but he did say several times no matter what you do, don't go into the water" Chuck replied as he too was now looking over the side into the calm water sliding by. Coming up on the far shore I decide to turn left and we made a smooth arc in the water as we lined up for our first pass. I had a top water lure on that looked like it was meant for Muskie fishing and I fiddled with the reel some adjusting my drag, it had been cranked down tight. Chuck had on a big spinner with a bright red head on it and he had added a white plastic five inch grub to it, said it was the smallest one he could find in the tackle box under the seat.

We both tossed our lures at the same time and as we have a tendency to do we each watched each others lure. I let my lure sit on the surface while I watched Chuck's spinner sink slowly and then head back toward the boat as he slowly turned the handle the lure running in the small wake of the lake. With Chuck's lure back at the boat I turned my attention to my lure and gave it a little twitch. The rings from the twitch spread out from the lure and when they grew to about ten feet or so I twitch the lure again. I let the lure sit as I turned to watch Chuck fling his second cast out towards shore. The lure was high and was heading for a pile of brush only to stop with a bang and fall straight in to the water. It was not brush but it was a wall painted to look like brush. I was thinking plywood by the echo coming back at us across the water. Turning back to my lure I twitched again and watched as the circles spread, nothing.

Reeling back quickly I was thinking about banging a lure off the plywood wall, I was not looking down as I pulled the top water lure out of the water. Something big took a swipe at the lure right at the boat. I looked down in time to see water filling up what was a hole and feel the warm water rain down on me. Chuck standing in the back of the boat was chuckling at me as he was still reeling. With water dripping off the bill of my fishing hat I looked back at him with a comment on the tip of my tongue when I saw his rod tip jerk right down to touch the surface of the water. His grin became a grimace as he turned trying to save his rod from getting pulled from his hands. He leaned back with arms straight preparing for one of them big hook sets of his when the line parted. It made the sound you hear when you break a guitar string, a high pitched twang that echoed back at us. The rod hung in his arms and the heavy braid was limp. Chuck turned to me and said in a church voice " There is something big out there" and that is when the trolling motor stopped and the lights dimmed even more. From Lake Iwanttobethere

With it now halfway through January here at Lake Iwanttobethere Sunday night the first meeting of the season for the Lake Iwanttobethere Bass Fishing Club was held. Most of the guys were already here watching the football game so we just moved from the main room of the Lodge to the small meeting room. There is a small window in the wall that opens up to the bar and we don't even have to leave the room to order our drinks. Since there was enough guys on hand we ran through the order of business and past meeting minutes quite quickly and officers were retained from the previous year. This means that I am still president with Chuck being the vice president and Big Earl as our treasury and master of arms with Marv being our secretary.

With the minutes have been read we quickly broke into discussion groups which centered on the pitchers of Hamms beer and the bottle of Wild Turkey that the Lodge donates every meeting to the Fishing Club. There are benefits to belonging to the fishing club besides the beer and Wild Turkey, one of them was a letter addressed to the club that I was reading to myself before sharing. According to the letter the county fishing association was looking for a few volunteers to do some winter fishing for bass in an enclosed environment that is not open to the public. Being the president I made a decision that I should check this out before bring it up with the general membership. I did slip the letter to the vice president who nodded in agreement while holding the letter up close to his face like he was calling a football play from the sidelines.

Monday morning found us taking a seldom used back road to what I always thought was a government farm. An electric gate blocked the entrance and we had to wait for a guy on a four wheeler to come down the trail and open the gate for us. We followed him up a winding trail that open up into a parking lot and a building that looked almost like the twin to that football stadium in the big city. We parked in the visitor's space and after showing the guy our Lake Iwantotbethere Bass club patches we were allowed to enter. What a surprise, the roof covered a small pond that was climate controlled and we had to duck when a duck buzzed us. The place almost looked like a huge hockey rink except there was shore where the boards should have been. A brand new bass boat was tied up to a dock with all the bells and whistles except it had no motor hanging on the transom.

We shook hands with some guy in a white knee length lab coat sporting a fishing vest over it. I didn't catch his name as I was watching a big boil out on the water where I though I had seen the duck land just a minute before. The guy was in deep conversation with Chuck and he handed us a couple of clip boards with a release form on it and a next of kin document. I glanced at the forms and followed Chucks lead as I signed them both and handed them back. The lab coat guy pointed us to the boat and shouted good luck before using a plastic key card like they have in them fancy hotels to disappear in a door hidden in the wall.

Peeling off our winter coats we walked out to the boat on what appeared to be a reinforce metal dock. We just dropped the coats on the bench at the end and climbed into the boat, several rods were on the front and back casting platforms. We did the rock, paper scissors thing and I won. I headed for the bow as Chuck picked up one of the rods. 'Dang" he said " Has to be fifty pound test braid on this thing" I picked up my rod and saw that there was a big top water bait tied on to an aircraft grade swivel. That is when the lights dimmed and the inside of the dome looked like a sunrise on some lake, but not Lake Iwanttobethere

Mid January and we are finally settled into the middle of winter. We have a little snow, a lot of cold and the sun is hiding behind cloud cover. Football season has been done for us here at the lake as our local pro team that we follow put up a dismal season and most are glad it is done. Hockey on the other hand is heating up and last night the Lodge was busy as we watched the local college team on national TV The Hamms beer was flowing with the Friday night special and some friendly wagers were being made between friends. Here at the Lodge there is always a little gambling going on, bets and wagers and side wagers are just something that happens. All year long the Lodge sponsors fishing challenges and boards are ran on football games and rumor has it you can even bet on the local little league team along with the church softball team.

Between periods of the hockey game a couple of guys were trading stories about Marc D. Who used to own the fish pet store in town. The store was really a cover for the gambling that went on in the basement. Marc would run goldfish races but ended up getting in trouble with the law when he started an underground Beta fish fighting ring. It was pretty hush hush till it got out that the fish associate working at the Walmart the next town over was feeding the stores Beta fish steroids. The store manager also noticed sales were up and it seemed to be a lot of older guys buying three and four Betas at a time. Of course the first rule of Beta fish fighting is you do not talk about the fish fighting, the second rule is you don't talk about the fish fighting but one of the guys told his wife and that was the end of that.

Guys will bet on almost anything, wait I take that back, guys will bet on anything. Some of the things that come to mind are how long a cigar will burn by itself. How long to drink a beer through a straw, how many times will a dog turn in a circle before lying down. Cutting holes in the ice, how long before first catch, longest cast first fish, last fish. The list is pretty much endless what there is to bet on and what to bet on. Just this morning they were betting on how many pigeons would take off from the roof when Elmer went out the back door. Ever since Elmer and Marv starting shooting at the pigeons with pellet guns they are pretty wary when either of them step out back.

Today I am working the Lodge as Gus is out fishing with his wife, they are taking advantage of the fling package that Gus's wife won. Pretty quiet here as there are a few guys playing cards and a few more watching TV Fishing shows are on and there is are segments on hunting and fishing and of course the guys watching are sipping coffee and talking back at the TV. I am hearing a lot of remarks start off with "I remember when" and then drift off into a story about a fishing or hunting trip that they are reminded of when something shows up on TV.

Tonight I am going to return the favor with Chuck and we are going to go out and fish in my shanty straight out from the Lodge. I have an auger so there will be no need for Chuck to bring along Betsy. We will set up a few rods, listen to the hockey game and play some cards. Might even catch a few fish and place a few small wagers, just something we do here at Lake Iwanttobethere

This morning I was up and dressed before dawn, my neighbor Chuck and I were going to go out and do a little fishing in the small bay where we have our cabins. First time this year that I got the insulated bibs out and the sorrel boots. I went out to the Tahoe and got my bucket of ice fishing gear and I could hear Chuck next door banging around in his shed. By the time I was ready the sun was just starting to peak up on the horizon and I took a picture through the trees.

I put my bucket of stuff in the wooden pull sled that Chuck had made years ago and we set off for the short walk out on to the ice. A few minutes later and we were at a few holes that Chuck said he was catching crappies out of yesterday. I told him that since he had pulled the sled I would auger out the holes. I turned to the sled and pulled the tarp off to find the auger missing, raising my hands I turned to Chuck and told him he forgot the auger in a way that only friends talk to friends, the dumb sh**. Chuck just waved me off and said he was here last night and there was hardly any ice in the holes and with that he pulled out his single shot twelve gage shotgun. " We don't need no stinking auger! We have Betsy!" and with that he dropped a shell in and took careful aim at the closest hole.

Memories, I had one flash through my mind as I started backing up away from the hole. When we were much much younger we had done the exact same thing on the lake in the dead of winter. We were on an overnight camping trip and it was cold maybe ten below but when we tell the story in a bar it was at least minus thirty. Chuck and a almost brand new Betsy had shot into a ice hole and broke the lake! Really he did. I am sure it was just a freaky accident and the stars had to be aligned just right and there may have been some lunar tide and gravity involved but Chuck shot Betsy into the hole and the lake broke. No sooner did the echo of the shotgun die and the spray of water from the hole fall back to the ice then the ice on the lake groaned and a loud report of breaking ice was felt and then heard.

We looked at each other and did what any other person would have done under those circumstances, we ran! Now anyone who has spent anytime on ice has heard ice crack and if you drive on ice you of course have heard it beneath your tires. This was different, it was like the blast from Betsy was just the last straw for the lake ice and she just broke. It was not a little groan and gone this noise just kept growing getting louder and louder. We looked back over our shoulders as we ran and open water was now where our fishing hole was. We didn't stop running till we hit the shore and even then we went up a ways just to be sure.

So we didn't really break the lake and later that day we walked back out to get our ice pails but I am thinking about it when Chuck pulls the trigger and the ice in the hole is blasted out. Water and ice chips are sent skyward to fall back on us but nothing else happens. After a few more shots echo around the bay we are fishing. As we sit on our upturned buckets and watch smoke drift upwards from each other's cigars I mention that no one else is out fishing this morning. Chuck looks around and says " Betsy has that effect on people" from Lake Iwanttobethere {34,171}

Three weeks past Christmas and winter has finally sort of arrived. Single digit temperatures, some light snow and howling winds makes it feel and look like winter when viewed through the deck windows here at the Lodge. Lunch crowd comes in and those that are lodge members carry a stick of wood with them picked up from the outside wood pile. The rack is full near the main fireplace and a pretty decent fire is going as everyone is taking turns tending to it. On a day like today you want to see tall flames not glowing coals burning. Sunshine Ray is calling for normal temperatures for the next forecasting period and compared to what we have been having it will feel like a real winter. Hammering Hank and Skinny have been in demand as guys are looking for help hauling their shanties back out on the ice. Still hoping to savage what looks to be a short ice fishing season.

On the home front some excitement at dinner time last night. Wife was down in the basement changing clothes when a field mouse ran across her toes. You would think after all of these years living here she would not be bothered by a little old mouse. I guess when you are not wearing socks little feet running across big feet can make you jump. Duncan was not too far away and gave chase, of course he started barking and that brought Bud and Barney who came running down the stairs all excited but not knowing why. One of the tomcats, Buff was sleeping in a clothes hamper and the hamper was knocked over sprawling Buff into the fray. Buff took off running and Duncan was now distracted by something bigger then a mouse and something he could see. Buff quickly left Duncan in his wake as he ran upstairs Bud and Barney seeing it was only one of the house cats stopped barking and loitered in the laundry.

It took a few minutes for things to calm down, dogs all went back upstairs as I offered them a dog bone and the wife put some shoes on. I gave the dog's bones and was headed back to the den with my dinner plate when I heard her yelling in the basement again. Dogs did nothing I guess they figured it was another false alarm. I ignored the wife to till she came upstairs looking for our small Siamese cat that we call Smoochie. Took ten minutes for the wife to find the mama cat hidden and fast asleep under one of the quilts on a bed. She carried Smoochie to the basement and locked her in the laundry room after giving her orders to catch the mouse. Seems no sooner had me and the dogs left then the mouse had reappeared. The wife back upstairs made herself a cup of tea and I heard her mumbling about having three cats in the house and they can't catch a mouse, who knows how many mice are in the cabin and now she was going to have to carry some kind of weapon with her when she does laundry.

A little while later I was headed down to the basement to go work on some lures in my Go To Place when I heard scratching on the laundry room door. I open the door to find Smoochie holding a field mouse by the neck in her mouth. She proudly pranced past me heading for the stairs. I followed as Smoochie carried the mouse up the stairs through the kitchen to the living room. Bud and Barney were laying on the rug in front of the fireplace and they both open their eyes but did nothing. Duncan on the other hand was sound asleep next to the wife on the couch and never saw Smoochie coming. The wife was busy watching one of her TV shows, drinking tea and eating supper. Not till Smoochie was in front of her did she notice the cat and the mouse. Her first words were "Bobby why did you let her bring that dead mouse up here?" I was about to reply when Smoochie dropped the mouse on the floor at the wife's feet, small problem here, the mouse was not dead and hit the floor running. Smoochie just looked at the wife and the running mouse and I am sure she is thinking her job is done. Duncan wakes from his nap with something that looks like one of his squeaking toys heading to the dinning room. I can't do justice to the mayhem of the next thirty seconds as all three dogs gave chase, knocking over chairs and cats thinking they were being chased jumped up out of the way only to knock a planter over which added some dirt to the mess. In the end the mouse was headed my way and I just open the outside door and out it went, dogs in pursuit.

Somehow in the end I was blamed for it all as the mouse got into the cabin and I need to make an inspection to look for the secret entrance. I made a big deal about adding it to the Honey Do List and she came over and circled it with a red marker. I went to the den and sat in my easy chair, a moment later and Smoochie made her entrance. She jumped up on the arm of the overstuffed reading chair and licked her paws and then just sat and gave me the "Look" I get a lot of that around here, from Lake Iwanttobethere

The other day Barney and I spent some quality time together here at the cabin watching TV Somehow the wife had convinced both Duncan and Bud to go outside and they were picking up things that I had forgotten to last fall. It being a nice day the wife got herself sidetracked cleaning up pots in the greenhouse and the two dogs were enjoying laying in the heat of the sun filled building. Barney being a little more of a house dog in the winter was instead sitting on the couch with me and we were watching fishing shows. Bud and Barney as most of you know are brothers and are about to celebrate their twelfth birthdays here soon. Bud has always been the hunter between the two where as Barney has been the fishermen.

Not wanting to get in the wife's way and there being slush on the ice of Lake Iwanttobethere Barney and I sat on the couch and channel surfed through the wealth of Saturday morning fishing shows. Normally I am not one to watch fishing shows but Barney had the remote control so I didn't have much choice. Snacking on goldfish crackers we watched a little saltwater fishing but that did not hold Barneys interest for long. He did take notice of some tarpon action and when he found a show on stripers he was sitting on the edge of the couch watching the TV like he does when he sits on the end of the dock. I am thinking the stripers look a lot like the bass he sees off the end of the dock. We watched a lot of commercials and I would watch Barney as new lures and collar combinations would be shown. If Barney's ears perked up I would take note of the lure being advertised otherwise I would just ignore them.

Duncan and Bud came in after a while and Bud walked in to the living room, he paused and watched a little turkey hunting before leaving. Duncan having inspected the kitchen floor for anything that might have fallen while he was outside came in and jumped on the couch with that "What are we watching attitude" He was soon fast asleep having a puppy nap catch up to him. A segment on bluegill fishing was good enough that Barney got down from the couch and moved closer to the TV just like the grand kids try to do. I could tell he was interested as I heard him whine a little and could see his head cocking from side to side like he was trying to get a better look as they pulled slab gills over the side of the boat on TV When the commercial came on for some heavy duty pickup truck he took a break and went to the window to look out at the frozen waters of the lake.

I took the time to slide a dvd into the player and sat back to watch some of my own fishing adventures. Barney came back to the couch and when a segment with him in it came on he barked and woke up Duncan. Duncan snapped out of his puppy nap and saw Barney on the TV and jumped down and sat in front of the TV watching intently. He kept looking from the TV to Barney on the couch trying to figure out what was going on. On TV some geese are honking and Duncan leaves the TV to race to the window and look out, no doubt for the geese he hears. Bud comes in from where ever he was and hearing the honking looks at the TV and me and then walks away, hard to trick him any more.

Today finds a fire burning in the fireplace and water dripping off the eves, not snow melting but rain falling. For almost mid January for it to be raining here at the lake I would not have taken that bet if someone was offering it. I am going to go out on a limb here and predict we are going to have a long few months of Cabin Fever here soon. Looks like a real early ice out and snow will be long gone. Won't be nothing to do but work on the Honey Do List and hope for enough rain for the rivers to be up enough for steelhead fishing. At the Lodge we are talking about an early ice harvest while we still have any ice to harvest. From Lake Iwanttobethere