NEW e-mail address

My NEW e-mail address is gotdirt@martinsmaterials.com

Lake Manassas Work Session

I went to the Lake Manassas work session last night to check it out. The meeting went well. It included the City of Manassas Council, the Mayor, the Chief of Police, Public Works officials, VDGIF representative John Odenkirk and a host of around 75-80 others. In the crowd were quite a few fisherman. Some I knew and some I didn't. Charlie Taylor (sports writer) and Rob Grike (CBANV) were a couple that I did know and chatted with briefly. This was an outstanding showing for our sport and to show that we mean business when it comes to opening Lake Manassas back up to the public. However, the City Council mentioned upfront that this would be a work session and NO comment from the public that attended would be allowed.Anyway, the meeting opened with Mike Moon from Public Works giving a history of what had happened to close the Lake in 1999 and the process that led them to working with VDGIF on this new venture. He also explained the work that has been done so far and what he/VDGIF propose. The proposal goes something like this.Brookfield Homes at Saranac on Glenkirk Road has a 20 acre parcel of waterfront land they want to donate to the state. It lays just east of the dam. If this happens, it would fall into the hands of VDGIF and be the new access to the lake. They would contract with someone to open and run a concession /ramp much like Lake Brittle or the old marina at Lake Manassas. This would leave City of Manassas pretty much out of the picture, but they would have to monitor water quality, put in dam protection , etc. (They are still a little concerned about the Zebra Mussel thing, so monitoring boat livewell water brought in from surrounding areas would be an issue.)So, without a total commitment on their part, the City Council moved that the process, meetings, details, investigation into possible problems, etc. between the landowner (Brookfield Homes), the City and VDGIF continue and hopefully within a couple of years (by John Odenkirk's estimation) we would again be allowed on the lake.This is only Step 1 folks. If I hear of anything else on this, I will be sure to post it.

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.