Kissy Fish

Hiya Folk's!  

Hey--I think I see a four leaf clover!  Look at the clover, beside the clover that's underneath the bluegill's chin.   Since, I spotted it now, at 10PM as I'm typing away in my PJ's, will the good luck still come to me?  Help-- I need a Irish person who knows folklore, asap!!!  Hmm, I wonder if there's a hotline for that. 

Anywho, Jean and I have discovered a really fun little puddle to fish that's not real far from the house!!! 

So far, the only thing big we have caught from this new place are trees.  However, we caught a whole slew of little fish. 

The gills and bass were biting like crazy!!!

At times, we wondered if it was the same bass as the one before.

Often, we would both get fish on at the same time.  Sometimes the hooks were not all that easy for us to reach.  Soooo, we would put the fish back into the water, while we worked on one of em.

The strangest thing kept happening-- the hooked fish drew a fish crowd!!!  Shhhhh, I know, this is a gem, right???  Were these fish some sort of hot actor fish, that all the other fishes were after?  It sure seemed like it to us. These Brad Pitts of the fish world gave out kisses.  Or maybe the other fish wanted their fly.  :-) 

Crazy Fish! 

Family Reunion

Whoa, this summer is flying by!  It's all ready family reunion time with Uncle Bobby and Aunt Laurie!

SnowBall seemed happy to see me again.

I had good time visiting with everyone.

All the bad people had to sit in the naughty tent!

Sheesh, I'm just kidding!  No one puts Baby in a naughty tent!

I think this was the first time Gladys really got to hang with her cousin Andrew.  They were kinda shy at first.

Uncle Bobby knows how to Break the ICE!!!  :-)  :-)  :-)

The cute little blondie is Andrew's sister, Emily.  We had matching hairstyles that day.  ;-)

Brrrrr.

Gladys really got it good!  Hehehe!!!

I look forward to this reunion.  Not just because I like how Bobby tortures the kids either, that's just a bonus. :-)

 

I like gabbing with family.  It's been forever since I seen my niece, Sherry and her new baby, James.

 

I don't see my family as often as I should. 

Sherry and I passed around our babies.  ;-)

Right before we left, I peeked in on SnowBall.  I miss my Snowy, but she's chillin in luxury, as Y'all can tell:

Thanks, Bobby & Laurie, for hosting another great family reunion and giving SnowBall a lovely home!

Carp and Other Scary Fish

The pier on Lake Michigan, in Michigan City, is about to get real busy with folk's fishing for a strain of trout known as Skamania Steelhead.  Skamania happen to be the largest type of the trout; often measuring a length of over three foot and weighing more than 30 pounds.  Ehh, maybe not 30 pounds, but they're big!  I had hopes of reeling in these acrobatic fish the other day, but they were not on the run yet.  Instead, all I got were gobies.

 

Although, I did have an exciting mystery fish break the line.  I wish I knew what it was.

I didn't see any skams, but I did spot a big carp.

I tried to entice it with shrimp.  I think that carp had something other than food on it's mind.

Later that day, I changed out of my swimsuit and into jeans, a hoodie, and a winter coat!  Yes seriously-- I watched hail/sleet fall from the sky.  That's Indiana for ya!

The hail storm didn't last long and the very next day the swimsuit weather was back.

Since I kept seeing big ole carps everywhere I went, I decided to actually target them for a change.
I whipped them up a special dough-ball recipe.  Bread never stunk soo bad!!!  Blahhh!!!

I tell ya what-- those carp sure did like it though!!!  Yeahh, I'm even touching a real live carp!!!

I have to say, holding that carp wasn't really as bad as I had expected it to be. The lips still freak me out a bit, and it was a very flippy fish.  The hand placement in the gills didn't feel as squishy and slimy as I had imagined it to be, (thank goodness).

It looks as though I need to graduate into holding a catfish.  One type of fish a day is plenty for me.

The catfish holding will have to wait.  I'm just not sure about those stingers and whiskers.
Eeeeek!  I'm not into holding the spider that I somehow managed to reel in either!

Crazy Canine

I fished a clay pit in Lake Station for the first time.

A gaggle of geese welcomed me.

All of the sudden, as I was fishing, I noticed something BIG swimming in the water.

I thought to myself, "Is that a duck?", then my buddy said-- "Wow, there's a husky in the lake!".

Yes folk's, a real husky dog was swimming around harassing the waterfowl.  Crazy Canine!

In other news, a friend, Donald, gave an awesome presentation on Steelhead fishing at our last FOF meeting.

Donald is like a waterfall of knowledge when it comes to steeelhead fishing.

I took a few pages of notes and couldn't write fast enough.  The Michigan rigging was interesting to me.  I don't ever recall using a weighted line above the bobber.

He even gave us all a good look at his flys:

I am READY for Skamania fishing!!!  :-)

Dustball

Dustball died yesterday.

 

He was a GREAT kitty. 

 

He was born in Wanatah, Indiana 18 years ago.  I found him seconds after his birth and he was still inside his umbilical sack. He was the first born of seven kitten siblings.

When he was a kitten, his fur always looked like he was covered in dust.  That's how he got his name.  As he grew older, his fur turned darker, and he even got some grey hairs later in his life. He was a very smart, outdoor, cat for the first 14 years of his life.  He became an indoor cat after we moved down to Pendleton. 

His favorite pastimes included sleeping, catching mice and he loved a good game of Chase the String.

Dustball LOVED trying on clothes and had an extensive custom wardrobe.

He was married to Jean for several months back in 2005.  Even though their marriage ended; they have remained close throughout the years.

Dustball and Sophie were best of friends.

So much so, they often dressed alike! 

Dustball was such a Great cat!  If ya needed a lap warmer that purred, he was the cat for the job.

 

I am really going to miss him. Over these past few days, his health had suddenly began to decline.

He could barely move and cried out to me.  We went to see the vet to end his suffering.

She gave him two shots, the first one to put him to sleep, and the second to stop his heart.  He has joined his siblings in heaven. 

RIP Dustball.