Too Hot to Fish?!?!?

Years ago if someone said it was "To Hot to Fish" I would have laughed in their face.  Remembering 1983, my boat was a 1982 Lund S-14 Deluxe with a 25 hp Evinrude.  My first new boat purchased the year before, it was a product of inspiration from my friend Gary Barneson, who had the exact same boat.  Come to think of it I saw him last week and he still has it so I took a picture of him standing next to his fine rig!  For 1983 it was a pretty nice boat, flat floor between the rear and front seat with a split center seat you could walk between.  Each center seat had a storage compartment for anchors, life vests, and other necessities.  This boat also had an open storage space under the rear bench seat, perfect for the 6 gallon gas tank.  A far cry from what I have today it was my yacht.  Being pretty handy I fashioned a front casting platform out of 3/4 inch marine plywood, added my own pedestal seat, and made a small front deck for mounting lights and an anchor mate.  It was pretty tricked out for the time and looking back I would have to admit there was something special about the simplicity of it all.  I caught a lot of fish out of that boat, with a metal mesh fish basket as my livewell, hung over the side it worked pretty well.  It was late July of that year and we were in a throngs of a pretty good heat wave.  I had just purchased a new Metro Fishing Guide and had read up on a lake I was interested in checking out, Whaletail.  Near Lake Minnetonka, it was suppose to be clear, full of bass and big crappies.  Getting away on a Sunday afternoon the bank thermometer in Wayzata said 105 degrees!  Often when it is this hot the wind is blowing hard right out of the south.  Remembering the humidity wasn't too bad, the breeze made it even warmer.  This weeks weather was insane.  As they often say, it's not the heat, it's the humidity and this week was no exception.  If you have ever been in southern China in August, you would have experienced exactly the same hot and humid conditions we saw in Minnesota this week.  It will actually take your breath away when you walk outside.  The latest trend in weather is to accentuate the Heat Index.  Living in the north country, we seem exceptionally proud of our wind chill index.  This is the result of the air temperature combined with the wind to make it feel colder than it really is.  Well we have gotten our fill of the "Heat Index" as a relative perception of the temperature, humidity, and wind to give you the feeling as though it was 120 degrees out.  Right, just as the wind chill all we need is something to make us feel more miserable than we really are!

So this is Fishin with Dave, not Bitchin' About the Weather so I my fishing picture today is of my sweetheart Megan.  The daughter of my friend, Megan and her brother Ben (who has been featured before) are very special to me.  As I have stated in the past, Megan's dad Jack Taylor and his family are my family away from home.  As long as I can remember I am Uncle Dave to all of the Taylor clan.  Dealing with my dad's hospice,  it is comforting to have my "family" close.  Well, Megan is quite the fisherwoman, she can be stubborn, but that's OK, it gives her that spunk!  Here is Megan with a couple of dandy sunfish caught on their lake just west of Mille Lacs.  You got to love it!!  She is turning into a lovely young woman and knowing how to fish just adds to her resume of her many talents.  Her brother Ben is an absolute fishing addict and in a sense reminds me of me when I was young.   Having adopted the saying, "My greatest fear in life is when I am dead and gone why wife will sell my fishing equipment for what I told her I bought it for!", I think maybe Ben would be a good repository for some of my stuff. 

The heat is breaking however the weather doesn't look good for the weekend with storms in the forecast.  Hopefully I can get back up to the pond as the State of Minnesota is back in business and with a little luck the slot limit will be increased from 18" to 20".  If nothing else it might be time to get the Jon Boat out and try cat fishing on the Mississippi River behind the house.  My good friend Jeff King of Mile14 (see the side bars) will be having surgery soon and I want to wish him well.  I have been working with Matt Taylor and his trip to Alaska, hopefully he can see some of my friends and say hi for me.  I am off to the Twins game on Friday night with my neighbor Lory, always a good time.  Lot's of stuff going on.