Posting from Cleveland

14" perch, WOW!

I guess maybe I need to stop complaining how crazy it's been, maybe I could get some fishing in sometime.  Actually I am hoping to get a months worth of fishing in next week with 3 1/2 days at Lac Seul, the clock is ticking down.  Writing from the Airspace Lounge in Cleveland-Hopkins Airport with 3.5 hours to kill, it's giving me time to write this weeks post.  As stated, not much fishing has gone on as I was thinking about going last Sunday but it was pretty windy and everyone was busy. On Saturday my wife and I attending a family reunion in Independence Wisconsin and after 5 hours we headed to Eleva to stop at my friend Kevin's place to discuss the upcoming wedding of his son Ben, which we are attending. Of course it doesn't take very long for the conversation to evolve into fishing and Kevin showed me a beautiful perch that he had caught in the Mississippi River earlier in the week.  This thing is huge!  I definitely needed some material for this week and he reluctantly agreed if I promised never to give up his secret, something I wouldn't do anyway.  He has promised to take me there someday and maybe when I get back from Canada, we can make that happen.  In the meantime I am looking forward to a pretty good evening of fish talk with the boys on Saturday.  Our good friend John Felix will be there as well as most of the good old boys from Eleva, it will be a fun time for sure.  The wedding is at a the Barn Again Lodge just Southeast of Mondovi, Wisconsin and it's a pretty cool place.  The reception is in the machine shed, the barn is remodeled and features sleeping quarters, it's nice and self contained for an event like this.  

All Hooked up!

I do not lack in people who claim that I should have my head examined!  Well on Monday I did just that and had an EEG, electroencephalogram at the University of Minnesota Hospital.  I have had some issues with short spells of dizziness and they are trying to pinpoint a possible problem.  The EEG takes about an hour however at least 40 minutes of it is dedicated to attaching 38 different electrodes to your head by first measuring everything then marking the locations with a crayon.  Next they scrub those areas with something that to be honest, my head still hurts where it feels like they used sandpaper.  Next they apply some adhesive before attaching the electrodes.  It was interesting and the good news is they did find some brain activity. One of the tests involve shining a strobe light into my eyes to see how I react, both with your eyes closed then open. Apparently that did nothing for me.  Before they unhooked everything I asked if I could take a selfie as I was sure it looked pretty stupid. I was right.  I won't know the results for a few weeks but the good news is they let me leave. Next on the testing plan is to hook me up to a heart monitor and leave it attached for 2 weeks to see if I have any issues with my heart stopping which could affect the blood flow to my head.  I decided to wait until mid October to do that as I didn't want to be tethered to anything while I was fishing.  Something tells me that won't show anything either but one never knows as I am not getting any younger.  I suspect losing about 20 pounds would hurt either. It's about 3 days before we leave for Lac Seul and the weather is looking very good with no snow predicted like there was this spring. Normally we bring our blue Clam ice fishing suits but I don't think it's going to be necessary this time as it looks like the mid to high 60's are predicted.  The boat is pretty well packed as I have removed all of the unnecessary tackle boxes, packed my boat fenders, updated my electronics including downloading all of my friend Bruce's information on the lake, changed out which fishing rods I would like to bring with, and made room for everyone else's stuff.  The oil reservoir is filled, my spare prop put away, and all of the safety equipment double checked and ready to go.  I certainly don't need any run in's with the the conservation officers.  

Because I will be in  Canada all week, returning Friday, next weeks post may not happen, we'll see. There is extremely slow internet at the cabin and I am sure it will not like pictures but we'll see.  If not, I'll post as soon as I can with hopefully another great report.