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Here's the hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas.  I had the opportunity to spend some quality time with my father.  A month from 81 years old he had just finished a regiment of radiation and chemo in his fight against esophagus cancer.  Always the optimist, he is doing surprisingly well with his doctors giving him kudo's for his ability to take everything they have thrown at him.  He is also a realist.  His first CT scan will be on Monday, January 3rd and we will see how he has progressed.  Whatever the results, even at his age he is an inspiration.  We also got a chance to visit with my good friend Kevin and his family.  Although our time was short, we always seem to squeeze in a months worth of updates in a few hours.  One of the things I look forward to (but never expect) is the possibility of getting a package of Kevin's homemade lefse.  Well, I was rewarded with a couple of packages before we left.  If you have never had homemade lefse, I guess I feel sorry for you!  Nothing is better than a piece of lefse, spread with butter, rolled up and warmed in the microwave.  For all you non-Norwegians, I feel sorry for you!

Sunday was back at Mille Lacs Lake with my good friend and hunting partner, Jack Taylor.  Jack has been catching northerns at his lake place on Platte Lake, west of Mille Lacs and was hoping to run into a few walleyes.  I told Jack I would pick him up in the morning, he would have to do nothing other than bring refreshments and I would take care of the rest.  The morning started out plowing the snow in my back area to get to the trailer.  Next was the need to shovel 2 feet of snow that accumulated on the trailer.  Pulling the trailer down to the shed, the next task was to load up the ATV and my portable shack.  I guess someone had other plans as I backed the trailer up, both front tires were flat with the beads broken.   Plan B!  Getting the jack out, I grabbed a ratchet strap and wrapped it around the tire.  Immediately the bead took and 1 tire inflated, one to go.  The second one wasn't as easy.  Doing the same exercise, I noticed the valve stem was shot.  Having a new valve stem I attempted to replace it but that proved a waste of time.  Replacing the tire with a spare an hour later I had the equipment loaded.  Picking Jack up we headed north, stopped at Bill's and went back to Dewey's.  To my surprise they were driving right to my spot.  With 18 inches of ice I was willing to take the chance.  As last week the 3:00 - 5:00 slot was the magic time.  I ended up catching 6 walleye and missing a beauty. 

Jack's dad was my good friend Earl Taylor, who passed away about 14 months ago.  Earl and I spent many hours fishing as we had many great experiences on the ice.  When I picked up Jack he had a surprise for me.  Back in the early 90's I had helped Earl get set up with a depth finder for ice fishing.  Being in electronics, I always had the pulse on the latest and greatest.  Back in the late 80's the hot portable depth sounder was Tom Mann's Super Sixty Hummingbird.  In it's trademark yellow case, it was powered by 2 - 6 volt lantern batteries.  Capra's Sporting Goods Store had a special bracket for mounting transducers and worked great for these types of units.  I gladly accepted the gift from Earl, a reminder of both him as well as how far we have come with winter ice fishing electronics these days.  Here is a picture of my prize, just as I set it up for Earl. 

Notice the bracket is a clamp connected to a ball type connector.  One would clamp the bracket to the edge of the case and stick the transducer into the hole drilled in the ice.  To help with the alignment I would glue a small bubble level to the top of the transducer.  This assured that you could position the transducer for the optimum sensitivity.  I am looking forward to getting her running again and may just take it out to experience the way we ice fished 20 years ago.  Either way it a cherished gift from Earl.  Wednesday I head to up to Lake Winnie with my friend Mark Applen.  We plan on staying in his wheel house, fishing Wednesday afternoon, Thursday, and coming home on Friday.  It should be an exciting couple of days and hopefully a great report.