Happy Thanksgiving

To all of my followers, friends, clients, and most of all my family.......Have a Happy and safe Thanksgiving.

VAO Turkey Bowl

The members of the Virginia Outdoors website held our First Annual Turkey Bowl tournament on Lake Anna yesterday. It was a beautiful day to be on the water with friends, members and competitors. While we only had nine boats, if felt as if we were in the biggest tounament of our lives. First went to Wayne & Jeff with a little over 11 lbs. Second was JayT & Eric with 8.42 lbs. Third was yours truly & Steve (Squire) with 8.30 lbs. Afterwards, we all went up to Chelsea Joe's restaurant to have food and drinks. Already looking forward to next year's Second Annual Turkey Bowl.

Deer hunting

I hunted the opening day of rifle season for deer in Hume and took this nice looking 8 pointer. While not a monster, it did have a 17" inside spread.

When I'm not fishing / hunting / working.........

......."this" is what I love doing next. My Dad was quite the craftsman and woodworker and he passed a few of his traits down to me. Some good, some bad. Anyway, I love woodworking as my third hobby. Here are a few of my recent projects.

Before

My wife had an old chest of drawers that came from her family and had gone through the kids home's and I was about to trash it and she got a little emotional, so I decided to keep it (without her knowing), tearing it dowm and making her a nice coffee table for her birthday.

After

Last Christmas, I made the two grand-daughters some "turtle" step stools / folding chairs.

Lake Anna Cup 11-8-09

Lee and I fished the Lake Anna Cup trying to compete for the top $2,000 winner take all money yesterday. While the weather was beautiful and the competitors (62 boats) were ready to go fishing, it was again not about fishing, but the comradery and just being out on the water with friends and family. This will probably be the last time Lee fishes with me for a while. He and his wife, Rhoda, are expecting their second little girl anytime now, Maggie. Big sister Molly is awaiting the event also. We only caught two keeper size fish the whole day, but all in all we had a great time. Of course Preston Cox & Larry Wollersheim won with 14.68 lbs. The lake fished very tough today for everyone. Hope to see you out there sometime.

It's not all about fishing!

Yesterday, my friend, Steve McGuire (Squire for those that know him) and I elected to participate (donate) in the the LAPR bass tournament on Lake Anna. After getting a very early start from my house at 4:30AM we headed to the lake under a beautiful but chilly (39 degree) morning. We arrived a little early and a chance to talk with other fisherman and BS about the fishing. Today, there were around 30 boats for Dave Fauntleroy's well-run "get together". Now...............I am going to call it a "get together" because to me it is not a tournament any more. Yes, I like the challenge, the competition, the rewards, (sometimes), but what I look forward to the most in these "get togethers" is the chance to meet and be with people that enjoy the same sport/hobby that I do. Some of the stories you that hear at these gatherings are hilarious, while others are kind of sad. Talks about friends and family that have been ill and are recovering, a new baby coming, dislodging a hook in your partners hand, an accidental fall into the lake (you know who you are), a boat maintenance issue, a lot of old jokes, a birthday and of course, who won last week. As I sat on the bench yesterday and watched a local well-known angler weigh-in almost 22 lbs to win (compared to our 4 lbs), I noticed the variety in the crowd. An older man with his grand-daughter watching the weigh-in, a single mom and her son, a vacationing family, alot of young fisherman with dreams I had when I was their age. These people I saw are the future stories of tomorrow. Most of the competitors know one another and we all shook hands and congratulated each other or just said "hello" - "how you been"? The top five teams that weighed in from 15 lbs-22lbs. were the same ol" teams that have done it all season long and congratulations to them. I am realizing that they have done well before and will continue to do well. I will continue to fish against them and probably lose to them, but the "get together" is what I look forward to.

Lake Anna 10-6-09

Fished yesterday at Lake Anna. What a difference a few weeks makes. I was the only trailer at SCM and only saw maybe six other boats the entire day. Put in at 7:30AM was 74 degrees and temps uplake in both Anna and Pamunkey were 70 degrees. Caught a few fish on a variety of methods. Mainly rattletraps, jigs, crankbaits . Water up in Anna is still fairly muddy with Pamunkey water much better. Key is to find baitfish. If you find a wind-blown stretch, the bait is there. If the bait is there, the bass are there. As evident by this picture, they ARE eating. This one was a chunk. Normally a 3.25 lb. fish.....this one was pushing 4 lbs.