What's up folks

[DanS/FL]

Now that all the storms have gone by everybody must be out fishing or just setting on the beach watching the sunset. Or maybe ya'll went out and got rid of all the gas guzzlers and went looking for a scooter powerful enough to tow your boats. You might find it to be cheaper to put your boats in a marina and have them put it in and take it out for you, but that does limit where you can go and fish. But they do wash it down for you and most have help there to do repairs.
Dan

[Bryan/BC]

Well Dan-- I am not contributing to the atmospheric carbon load as the boat has been parked in the garage for a week. My two young grandaughters , aged 2 and 4 1/2 have been visiting for the best part of a week, from thier home near Dawson Creek at the start of the Alaska Highway. They had to come down and rearrange grans house to make it suitable for little people. No walking around with bare feet to take a whiz at 3 am now Grampa admits he said some naughty words in a volumn loud enough to wake even the dead!.... damn-- those plastic barbies and horses have sharp parts that must have been spawned by Chuckie!!!
The labs love it thought-- the girls are the next best thing to auto feeders for them.. nothing hits the floor untasted! But the cat-- well, lets just say he has been hiding for 3 days. Hope he enjoys his mice diet!

They are waiting for Gramps to take them fishing-- got shiny new life jackets that need fish slime on them-- But..:( weather warnings for several days continuing into the weekend.. .

On Sat. they are heading down to the main wharf in town to join upwards of 500 other kids from 2-12 yrs for the 22nd annual Comox Nautical Days Bullhead derby. This is a fun derby that stresses fun, rather than winning the big prize ( which is a draw prize anyway) Lots of ribbons, McDrinks for free, and small prizes for various categories for catches-- including the most interesting junk dredged off the harbor floor!

This derby is special to me as I brought my kids to the first one 22 years ago. Full circle now that the grandaughters are here!!! ( as an aside, I organized the first derby and ran the event for the next ten years before handing the reigns over )

;)

[DanS/FL]

You can get a special feeling about these fishing things for kids. More then 20 years ago I started a fishing Sat for all the indegent kids in town. Then it evolved into a fishing experence for the mentally handicapped. It is now state wide.
It was a pleasure to see it grow.
Dan

[PK]

in a few words.. fishing really suxx up this way... water temps are boilin'.. 88.9* along the beaches...and in the 'sweetwater' golf ponds and lakes ...
http://tidesonline.nos.noaa.gov/plotcomp.shtml?station_info=8661070+Springmaid+Pie r,+SC+&flag=0

Main water temp site East Coast http://tidesonline.nos.noaa.gov/monlist.shtml?region=ec
Gulf Coast http://tidesonline.nos.noaa.gov/monlist.shtml?region=gu

even have one of those oxygen problems along the beaches that everyone knew was happening for so many years here except the people that had to..... now they're doing tests.. I always said the water was 'poisoned'.. guess I was right... http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/local/story/518743.html

what's a gas guzzler... after four 4x4 Suburbans in a row.. got one of these last October.. it's a Suburban with the back cut off.. for us it's great ..
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y25/Stakeout/IMG_3639-12008Avalanche100807.jpg

[Mont]

I have a welder coming on Tuesday after waiting on him for a month. One of the welds holding the tower on the boat cracked and he's going to put some stiff legs in to keep it from happening again. Snapper season closes the same day. Go figure. Hopefully, it will be the last of the boat repairs for a bit.

The skiff is still running good and I took it out to Redfish Island last weekend. I will probably be out there again this weekend if the forecast holds. The 8 gallon fillup was a nice treat.

Other than that, I have been hitting the range every Friday and have gotten most of my skills back (I can hit the paper, quit laughing). We are going again tomorrow morning, but I am going to the rifle side this time to shoot my scoped Smith and maybe one of my rifles.

I ordered a deal today that amounts to a scuba regulator on the end of a 100 foot hose and a tank to go with it. I got a smaller (40 cubic foot) tank that will stow easily in the tackle locker. My brother encountered a rope on his last trip and about killed himself trying to get it out of the props. I figure this little gizmo will help with that should the day come on my boat. It's a lot better than being on the end of a rope coming back home. With all the bs floating in the water right now from the storm, it just might come in handy. I will post a pic when it gets here.

I also got a nice clock made with nixie tubes while I was in Vegas. It brings back a lot of memories from when Dad had a freq. meter with them.

[~~Snakeman~~]

I didn't fish last Friday. I had to replace the holding tank on my well pump. I'm glad I didn't attempt the job after work & close to dark, as I ended up having to replace more than expected, but I did get the job done with no leaks. That day was my aunt's 90th birthday, so before starting the job, I took her birding & we had a great time.

I'll be fishing on the Mad Son tomorrow evening from 5 to 9. Hopefully, we'll mess up some snappers.

On a sad note, we lost two divers during the first day of of the 2 day lobster mini season. I used to work with one of them.

~~Greg~~

[SpeckTackler]

The good news is that I bought my wife a Roomba. http://www.irobot.com/sp.cfm?pageid=122
This entitles me to MUCHO fishing trips. That little robot is awesome. Sold my boat after 15 years. That really sucked. It needed way too much gas.
I also sold my trailer in Port A before she rusted out. The 2004 trailer was still in great shape. So now I'm on the hunt for a new trailer, and I've become a vagabond staying with friends and family when they'll take me.
I try to bring fresh fish because that will usually open the door. Now to the good stuff...I've been fishing the last few days. I did a wade down the upper Laguna Madre. My first fish, a 27" speckle trout that I lost right at my feet. I thought she spit the hook, but there was only a curly Q at the end and no hook. I guess I need a refresher in Knot Tying 101. Okay, I've said it. It does happen... we just don't like to talk about it. The second fish, with a well tied professional knot, landed me my biggest speck of the year. A 29", 8 lb. trout. This fish had a lot of girth to it. Fished from dawn to dusk. I ended up with 9 trout and 1 red that went about 9 lbs. By the end of the trip I am sore and tired from treading water the last 3 days...but, life is good.
Monty,
The shape of those tubes remind me of the days I used to rebuild my mom's old TV.

[Jack Hexter]

Well the named storms may have passed but it's been raining here for teh last several days. I've had to dump water out of the pool a couple times. I'm leaving on Saturday for a 10 day inside passage cruise/tour to Alaska/Danali, then returning to Vancouver/Tahsis for some fishing before returning home. I'll be gone most of August.

[DanS/FL]

Have a good time, mine for some gold, climb some mountains, chase some bears, play the tourist. In other words do it all. Is your wife going?
Dan

[Jack Hexter]

Yeah Pam is going with me. Gonna do the tourist thing this time instead of concentrating on fishing. Everyone who I've talked to says the inside passage is one of the best trips they have ever done. Plus I'm fishing at the end of the trip in Tahsis. I don't know the exact dates I'll be in Tahsis since Joe has a new home on the island, it's only several hour trip from his home to Tahsis.

[Howard/Jax]

Jack, you and Pam have a great time. Thats what all the years on the job have earned you.

[DanS/FL]

I wondered when you were going to show up. I missed your witty comments.
Dan ,, :rolleyes: ,, :eek:

[Howard/Jax]

Sorry, but have been real busy cleaning up the barf every time I see Obama on TV. Gives me no time to post.

[Mont]

Quit watching TV, Howard. You need to get out in the boat and keep OPEC happy.

[Howard/Jax]

I know a lot is OPEC, but seeing the financial report for the last quarter from Exxon-Mobile making 15 Billion for the quarter did not help the Black Jack go down that well either. it is the Goomba from NC that keeps them in business with them big trucks and SUVs. Towing that boat of mine behind a Moped sucks.

I was just figuring that a 5 day, 4 night at the Harborside would cost me over $1000 in gas for the boat, gas for the truck and the room and dock. No food or libation included. Man, it has become ridiculous. $145 a night for the room at Harborside that use to cost me $89/99 a night and originally free dockage and then went to $10 a night. Now $25. I am sorry they got wiped by the storms a few years back, but they could have made it back over the long haul. In PV I can go out on one of the big sportsfisherman for my $125 for an 8 hour day with 5 other guys sharing costs, including Water, Beer, Soda, lunch and license. Get some Marlin (maybe) Dorado and Sail for sure. When finished I have no boat I need to clean, no fish I need to filet or freeze.

No one has to run me a benefit, but I do like to get the bang for the buck.

The times they have changed.:rolleyes:

[PK]

yop on the Dockside prices... we usually still stay there before our cruises on the way down either two or three nites depending on the weather... it's cheaper to double up on a cruise and do back to backs than to stay at the Dockside for 7-10 days...

we've got a 14 day cruise to the Southern Caribbean going November 7th with a trip up to LI about 4 days after we get back for Thanxgiving then a stopover for a 3 nite Comp we have in AC on the drive back as per our usual...

home and resting up for the Holidays.. leave on another back to back 20 days in mid January... come back home for three weeks then head back thru the Canal again like we did this past Jan-Feb.. this time it's a 28 day cruise..leave Feb 20 get back Mar 20th... I gotta get back to Guatemala and Sailfish again.. this time Pat's going to wet a line with me there.. I talked her into it...have to get her first Sailfish for her.. stopping in PV again around Mar 15th or so..

end of next year thinking about doing either a 30 day Hawaii--French Polynesia cruise or a 30 day Canal down thru South America to Peru and Chile.. not sure yet

Jack.. you and Pam have a great trip to Alaska on that cruise... enjoy...

[PK]

that you'll need a 'fat wallet' for these days
http://www.docksideinn.com/rates.html

[Mont]

those prices ain't all that bad, at least from what I can tell these days. I gave $199 a night for a king sized bed and a bathroom in Vegas that was 5 miles from the strip. The fishin' is a lot better at Dockside. We need to do a spring get together next year.