Positive Changes are Happening!

Another Mole!

What a difference a week can make.  Thursday Frankie's called and said the boat is ready!!  I am not sure if the boat likes being at Frankie's more than at home as in the last 12 months it has spent at least 5 of them in the shop.  The fiberglass guy does a good job and it looks like new.  As long as they had the lower unit off it was prudent to change the water pump.  It still looked pretty good but I agree with that philosophy as it seemed like a great idea.  I wasn't too impressed by the repair job on the front of the skeg, I guess my idea of a repair falls more in line with the fiberglass guy, it should look like new.  You have to look close at the skeg repair and because the "trim Tab" is built into the skeg design, it probably is a hard one to duplicate however...........and I'll just leave it at that! My friend Bruce understands the dilemma, you know it isn't right, bugs the crap out of you, but what's a reasonable answer for the repair, another month of no use?  Sometimes common sense has to dictate until there is a convenient time to address the issue that unfortunately only bugs you!  Upon getting her home and checking things out, the live well still had water in it and the valve control was on empty.  I thought...........I'll bet they forgot to remove the whiskey bottle cork that I inserted in the live well input at the rear of the boat, to stop water from leaking in (and would stop water from draining out).  Sure enough, after pulling the screen it was still in there.  Although it took a channel lock to pull it out we are back to normal.  She's washed and waxed, windshield cleaned, and the electronic's software has been updated.  The grab pole for the Ezee Steps, the system for us old guys to get into the boat easier, was rusting on the mount.  Being held by 4 1 inch 1/4" bolts, after removing and wire brushing the rusted areas it was repainted with truck bed liner spray (matches the Armor Coat on the trailer) then remounted with new stainless steel bolts.  It looks pretty good, at least better than seeing rust as one enters the boat.  Last week was posted a picture of a mole that I got on the first try.  Since then these seemingly dumb creatures have done their best to outwit me.  My friend Paul Wenaas responded to my post with a fool

The Cat Earning it's Keep!

proof mole trap that I needed to get, Fleet Farm had them for only $22.00, but after three unsuccessful tries I set only 1 trap again then headed to Fleet Farm to act on his suggestion.  Upon returning to set my new trap, damn if there wasn't a mole caught in my 4th set of this tunnel.  With the dry weather upon us, the moles will head to my irrigated lawn so all is not lost.  He says this trap works pretty good, I hope so as now my collection includes a 5th style.  Oh well, if they were pocket gophers it would be a different story.  It would be really nice if somehow our cat could figure out how to catch those dang moles.  He's actually pretty good at the above ground rodents and is quite successful in keeping the mouse, vole, and stripped gopher populations in check around the house.  It is quite amazing how quick our cat, Rocky can be however  I've seen those ground squirrels out run him but he's pretty savoy when it comes to mice.  Here he is pictured with a field mouse he got in the perennial garden earlier.  It's also amazing to watch as he seldom plays with them once caught, rather simply sit's down and within a minute has devoured everything but it's guts.  As stated earlier, if we could teach him to get moles!

Shimano Stradic CI4, 2500 Series

Thursday was the annual Fishing Garage Sale which usually has taken place down the road in Champlin.  At a previous sale, I signed the registration book with my e-mail and this year it was held east of Buffalo, MN, about 15 miles away.  Calling my friend David Grant we headed out there by 9:00 and it was pretty good.  As any good fisherman knows, one never has enough fishing rods and there was a nice selection of 13 Fishing and Fenwick rods, all at about 50 - 60% off of standard retail.  I ended up with a couple of 13 Fishing, 1 Muse which is a very nice 6'10" medium light/fast action spinning rod which is extremely light and 1 lime green Fate, another 6'10" medium light/fast action rod, not as light as the Muse but the color is pretty cool!  On the way home we stopped at Cabela's as in their Father's Day flyer was Shimano Stratic CI4's for $80 off, normally $229.00 for only $149.00.  These reels are premium reels which are incredibly light and come in at 6.7 ounces.  They are extremely smooth and a pleasure to fish with, especially paired with a nice lighter rod like the Muse,  one can fish all day jigging without any fatigue, which is important at my age.  My Canada buddies laugh at me, what if it goes in..........my Ugly Stick or Snoopy Rod is just fine and I am only out $30!  Well I try to be a little more careful although admittedly I wish that were the same for my boat!  The problem was that on Thursday Cabela's only had 1 series 4000 left, too big for walleye fishing, although this is what's on my Alaskan Salmon rods.  The guys says come back tomorrow, we will have more but get here early.  Like a good sheep I was in line Friday morning by 8:45 and the doors opened at 9:00.  At the reel counter there were 15 guys listening to the man behind the counter stating that there were no reels.  After a few choice words were exchanged, the guys said he didn't know when more would be in but they could come any day.  Repeating the routine on Saturday morning they had gotten in the 2500 series only.  Although I wanted the 3000 series the only reel difference is the 3000 has a slightly larger spool however the body and weight are the same as the 2500.  They say a bird in the hand is better than 2 in the bush........I took a couple.  It looks good on the Muse and ready to go for our trip to Mille Lacs on Wednesday.