Lack Luster Weekend

This weekend was pretty calm despite being about as perfect a weekend to be ice fishing as I have seen. Unfortunately I was relegated to taking it easy recovering from an angiogram on Friday. This is an interesting procedure where they insert a catheter into your femoral artery and go take a look at your arteries from the inside. Usually this is done if you might have coronary blockages however in my case it was to look at my aortic aneurysm. The males in my family have been known to suffer from this genetic anomaly and when told that we all should have this checked out, like most of us, I ignored the advice. A few years ago while fighting pneumonia, a sharp doctor noticed the problem on a CT scan. Although no laughing matter, it's a heck of a lot better discovering it now rather than on the autopsy table! The results were as expected with my coronary arteries being as clean a whistle, it's probably time to fix the aneurysm. A normal aorta is about 1 inch in diameter and mine is almost 2 inches. Doctors orders were to lay still till Saturday evening as well limit lifting to a max of 10 pounds for a few days. Well that means my ice auger, loading my house, and with a little luck holding a fish fitting that description. There are still a lot more opportunities to get out and hopefully the weather holds off this weekend. The above picture is one I took Tuesday morning behind the house. A heavy fog overnight and temperatures below freezing created this stunning hoar frost on the trees. One of the delights of winter, it was a great reminder how beautiful life is. 

The St. Paul Sportsman Show was last week. It is the first major show of the year and although not as large as the Northwest Sportshow at the Minneapolis Convention Center, it's a good chance to get in the mood. Frankies, my dealer, is the largest Ranger dealer in the world and he had 18 boats on display. It was good to see Frankie and his wonderful wife Deb as they always treat me as their number 1 customer. I spent some time with Keith Holtan of Beaver Creek Cabins and Guide Service, Kenai, AK. Keith was our fishing guide out of Jeff King's in August of 2002 that I wrote about last August 18, 2009. It was great to share war stories as well reconnect with him and hopefully we can get together again before he heads north. One of the things I love to do at these shows is check out all the new products and did I find a gem. Pictured is one of those "Why didn't I think of that" gadgets called the EZ lube. Based on a garden sprayer, it has a bottom hose attached to heavy duty valve with a rubber cone end. It's purpose is to make refilling your outboards lower unit a snap. Simply drain the gear lube out, fill the EZ Lube with good quality gear lube, screw in the pump assemble and pump it up. Hold the rubber end into the bottom fill plug and squeeze the valve. No messy pumps, no squeezing tubes like toothpaste, no almost having all the gear out of the tube yet it's still not full......I just had to have one. As a bonus, Steve Carney, one of my favorite Outdoor News writers and local guide was working the booth. It was great talking with him and hopefully I will win the free trip with him they were giving away. Anxious to test, I will definitely post it's usefulness some time in the future.

On the left side of my layout is a list of Blogs I follow as they are my favorites. I have mentioned Jeff King's Mile 14 in the past and his recent posts have been nothing short of fabulous. Jeff and his wife MP spend a number of weeks in Mexico each winter fishing, relaxing, and escaping from the cold and darkness of Alaska. Jeff fishes every morning and his fishing reports give the feeling of being right there next to him, casting for rooster fish, corvina, and toro. Jeff and his friends work the shorelines along the beach like I work the reefs on Mille Lacs. It's a welcome break from staring out the window looking at the snow! Check out mile14 and experience the thrill of surf fishing in Mexico. Here is a picture from one of Jeff's posts featuring the first rooster fish he caught this year. Although not the largest he has bagged, they certainly are an interesting looking fish. This picture also features the rare evidence of needing a jacket in Mexico.

This week is the Minneapolis Boat Show. My brother Steve has threatened to by a new boat for the last 10 years now and I have reminded him he'd better do it soon before he needs a lift to get in it. The boating industry has seen better times and I have been encouraging Steve to do his part to help the economy. I am sure he appreciates my advice! With my weight lifting restrictions off my goal is to get back out fishing soon.  I know the fish are missing me for sure.