Hello on Saturday Morning

Dear Friends,



I had another fishless day at Laurel Lake in Lee. I did get some suggestions and helpful hints from my avid readers. Deep water is not necessarily a solution for catching fish. One of my friends used to cut a hole, and look down it. He looked for a particular color weed that he knew the fish liked to swim, and feed in. If he didn’t see that particular weed, and would keep drilling holes until he found the magic weed.

Another reader asked if I changed to monofilament line. I now have five tip ups set for Northern Pike fishing, and another five set for trout, and salmon fishing.

On Friday, no one was getting any flags. For some reason, the fish just weren’t biting.



I did meeting an interesting character yesterday who visited and chatted with us, but wasn’t ice fishing. He was one of us baby boomers with all kinds of aches and pains, and he even had a limp. He was an ex-marine baby boomer who needs knee and hip replacements. He has heard those stories of people getting infections when those replacements are being done so he refuses to have any type of surgery. At one point he unbuttoned his shirt, and showed us a large tattoo across his chest which said: “Do not resuscitate!”



Not all the people whom I went to high school with were at the top of their class in academics. They did turn out okay because if they weren’t college bound, or they even quit high school, they always could get a job in the paper mills. The sad thing now is there is very little opportunity for that type of kid anymore because those good paying manufacturing jobs have been outsourced to foreign countries.



Well, I did have salmon last evening even if I didn’t catch it myself. We went out with another couple to a restaurant in Lee called “Salmon Run”. Isn’t the name quite appropriate with respect to my ice-fishing adventure?



Social Calendar – I am going to retro fitness in a little while. I am going to take a break from ice-fishing today. I will get a fresh start next week.



We are off to a dinner party this evening. It is a three couple affair I think. Of course, there are two NFL playoff games starting about the same time which we will sit down to appetizers. Also, the hostess of the party is a stickler for shutting off the television, and communicating with one another. Yeah right! What ever happened to guys in one room and girls in another (particularly the kitchen making meals)? Guys have the ability, to eat, talk, and watch football. Sometimes even we males can multitask.



I think that our next free day isn’t until Wednesday.

Sunday - Memorial Service at the Temple for Linda and ITAM monthly meeting for me.

Monday - Mah Jongg for Linda, and UNICO membership meeting for me.

Tuesday - Mah Jongg for Linda and ice-fishing for me.



Weather – In the Berkshires, we are in a winter storm watch for Sunday evening through Monday. The storm depends upon the track. It looks like a wintry mix is coming our way.



Observation – Even if the fish aren’t biting, I always seem to meeting interesting people. I went to my car to put away my chair, and a total stranger came up to me asking where the bait shops are located in Berkshire County. He was from a Massachusetts town forty miles east of us. He was planning on going to a couple of Berkshire County lakes over the Martin Luther King Weekend. He too wanted to catch a few Trout and Salmon. I told him that if he sees my on a Lake or Pond, don’t put his tip ups in next to me. I have no clue how to catch these illusive fish. The super market is the best place to get those fish. I did direct him to the couple of bait shops that I know about in Pittsfield.

Also, as I chat with fisherman, the conversation always seems to lean to body parts that don’t seem to be working right. Is this a sign that we are getting old?



Well, I have to get on my gym clothes and head out the door to Retro Fitness. Hopefully the 6 AM start on the weekend will have fewer distractions than they did the last time that I went to the gym. I was minding my own business on the treadmill when a thirty something jumped on a stair like device next to me. She was in a skin tight black outfit that looked like it was painted on her body, not that I was looking. I never see any of these distractions at the 4:30 AM starting time Monday through Friday.



Have a great Martin Luther King Holiday.

Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad