This page is about the out of state trips I have enjoyed, or family members have enjoyed.

I want to see some pictures....

The work part of my trip lasted until Weds afternoon, then I headed east, to see my brother in E. Az. Spent the night w/ him, then headed S & W to Yuma, where I had a invite from Bob L. to join him for a day on the water. Bob is the "propriator/webmaster" of a fishing web site called YumaBassMan.

It was a long ride, but alot of very pretty country - canyons, mountains, desert. Got thru Phoenix about 1pm, and made a mistake - took the wrong exit off I-10. Got to bottom of the ramp - waited at stop sign - and BOOM - I was rear ended - by a commerical truck. Boy - did that screw up an afternoon .... to make matters worse - the driver of the other vehicle took off - hit and run. I did manage to get a license plate number, and then had a nice long visit w/ an officer of the Az Highway Patrol.

Finally on my way to Yuma again, I pulled in to town about 5.00 - I was totally wasted. Found my hotel, contacted Bob - got to a Wal-Mart for my license, grabbed some chow, and hit the rack.

Met Bob the next morning about 6.45, and we headed off thru the Az and California country side. He took us to Squaw Lk, to a campground / launch area on some BLM land. As the sun peaked over the hills, we had clear skys and temps of about 60F, a far cry from the 0-5F temps we were having at home.

The contrasts of this area were very stark - sand, dirt, rocks - little plant life, except where there was water - there things were green and lush.

The water temp was about 55F, which sounded really warm to me - I was expecting active bass. Bob on the other hand was more cautious, and he was right - these were 'southern' bass - and used to much warmer water temps. We tryed suspending cranks - Rapala type (although not Raps), and then Bob settled on soft plastics. I tryed various things - especially once we got in to some small pools/ponds/backwaters off a creek channel - the water was as smooth as glass....

My Minnesota mind screamed - buzz bait/spinner bait....not yet comprehending that the "warm" water was really "cold" water. The fish were present - but not in the mood to chase. Bob started picking up a fish here and there on his plastics.

We moved thru various pools - in to another pool called Little Senator - there we spotted fish in the shallows - the water was warming up some, but noon it was 61F. Warmer, but not WARM.

In the afternoon we left the pools, and went up stream on the Colorado. We stopped at a marina, had a cold beverage, and fished a couple of small pools, one them being the kind that if you didn't know about you would never know it was there. Bob picked up a fish in the pool - basicly a pond w/ a channel to the river, lot owners had docks etc on the water.

It ws in this pool I finally had my chance - I had given up on the spinner baits and cranks - and tryed Bob's flipping rod at his suggestion - was rigged w/ a lizard. I admit that I don't fish soft plastics alot - nor do I like to do so - I just don't have confidence in them (a failing I will be working on this summer - going to force myself to learn to use them if it kills me)....

I cast the lizard by a dock, began my retrieve, and things didn't feel quite right. I set the hook - but missed. The fish had the lizard, but not the hook in its mouth.

We came off the water by about 3.00, and made our way back to Yuma. Along the way I saw many of the local canals, and have to say that this area has got one heck of a lot of fishable water - more than I would have ever thought possible.

Here are some pics I took while fishing w/ Bob.....these are full size as I haven't yet gotten thumbs made....

Bob and a LM on Little Senator

LM Bob caught in the afternoon cove...

Some pics taken from the main channel of the Colorado....

Colorado #1

Colorado #2

Colorado #3

A pelican, back at Squaw Lk prior to landing the boat....

2004

October 22-23

Alex and I arrived in Rhinelander on Thur night (Oct. 21) about 9.00, and went to the local Wal-Mart to buy our licenses. There disaster struck. Alex, at 17, had to have his SSN to buy a license. He didn't know the number, didn't have a paper copy, and no one was at home for us to call. We were supposed to picked up at 8.00 the next morning by Gil, and the last thing we wanted to do was burn fishing time trying to find a way to resolve this issue.

Alex then thought of our neighbors - a farm couple he works for part-time. He given them his SSN for tax purposes. A quick call to Carolyn and we had it. Back in to Wal-mart, and we were set. "Memorize that number kiddo!"

We joined Gil in the morning for breakfast in our hotel dining room, and then we were off to the lakes. Gil said dress warm so we brought our winter duds - and its a good thing we did - at Lk. B, we faced a steady wind of 20mph plus, plus 45F temps and white caps. Gil's first step was to explain the whats, hows, and whys of what we were going to be doing, and then spent a few moments with Alex, teaching him how to fish a baitcasting reel. Gil also set out a sucker on a bobber, in addition to the artificial lures we were throwing.

Fall colors of trees would have been much prettier with sunshine....

We fished for an hour or so, and had no action, so Gil motored us thru a creek in to WB lake. WB had more sheltered water, so things were much less rough. After casting along a shoreline, Gil moved us off shore a bit, to a weed bed located between the shore and a small island. There Alex had a strike, but was unable to get a solid hook up. We contined moving, and relocated in to a small bay around 10.30 and were fishing a weedline. I had only cast my lure a couple of times when "Whoa!" - my retrive felt like I had connected with a block of concrete - fish on!

I was sucessful in bringing in this fish, a 33" spotted muskie which Gil netted quite handily. Sadly, it was an inch under the legal lenght for WB lake, which was 34".

This fish weighed 12-15#, and was caught on a brown "Crane" bait.

While I was happy to catch this fish, I felt bad for Alex, as I really wanted him to get one. It was photo'ed and released. Gil kept moving us about the lake, and trying differant lures. As he demo-ed one lure to Alex, he had a strike, which caused a fish to break the surface of the water, but Alex was not successful in getting the fish to strike a second time.

We continued thru the balance of the day. I had a strike and a follow. Alex had a follow, and then a strike. This was our last action of the day, and occured when Alex made a 90 degree turn in the direction his lure traveled, as Gil had instructed him. The muskie came at his lure head on - so that all Alex saw was an open mouth full of teeth. The fish missed by a couple of inches.... Gil was very emphatic about L's - that a change in direction by the lure/bait will many times trigger a strike. I can attest to this, as the fish I had follow I saw, to late, as I removed my lure from the water w/o having done an L. He also told us that to catch a muskie, you only needed a single cast, that all of the casts prior to "the one" are just practice.

We ended the day with 2 follows, 4 strikes, and 1 hookup between the 3 of us. A good day of muskie fishing.

Saturday morning dawned wet and raining, but warmer, with much less wind. We met Steve at 8.00, and were soon on the road to Lk. J. Upon arrival, donning our rain gear, we began the hunt. We had 2 sucker rigs set out, and also threw various lures, including one which can best be described as a bacon slab. Its a big hunk of pork rind w/ a couple of huge hooks in it - made by the Uncle Josh company. Its heavy, and you can cast a long way. It will also wear you out.

We moved from spot to spot about the lake, fishing shorelines and weed lines - nothing. About 11.00, the bait clicker on one of the sucker rigs began to buzz - fish? Steve checked the rod, and feeling weight, handed it to Alex, who set the hook. He felt weight, then nothing - it was gone. To say that Alex was disappointed would be an understatement. He asked "What did I do wrong?" - and the answer was "nothing". Thats the nature of sucker fishing, sometimes the fish doesn't have the hook in its mouth. Steve went on to explain that the odds of getting a fish on a sucker are about 50/50, especially when large suckers (10-12") are used.

We continued fishing. Steve threw a large chartruse tube style bait, he saw a swirl, dropped his rod tip, then set the hook. He connected. Alex was given the rod, and the fight began.

This fish put on quite a acrobatic display while it fought. This is one of the many leaps the fish made.

Alex's fish with the lure. The lure was a Lindy Tiger Tube.

When it was over, Alex was all smiles with a 41" "clear" muskie in the boat. With a 40" minimum, he had a keeper. We discussed our "options" at this point. It could be released to fight another day, or it could e kept. I had not told him ahead of time, as I didn't want him to feel pressured in the event he hooked a good fish - but if you want - I'll mount it for you. Alex was quick with his decision - "Mount it".

Steve and Alex with his fish. This fish weighed about 25# according to Steve. Steve told me afterwards that the look on Alex's face while he fought the fish was one of shear terror, although he's all smiles here....

Alex and I with his fish. Alex's fish is being mounted by Reflections Taxidemry in Eagle River, Wisconsin.

We continued to move, back thru the area where the sucker bite occured - I had a strike by a fish that I saw clearly in the water, as did Steve. He said it was easily 36" - I just didn't get a good hookset - my fault. Not used to what it takes to get a hook into the mouth of fish this size.

Steve picked up two small muskies - in the 28" range. I saw movement in the weeds close to shore, and casted to those areas. Feeding muskies? No strikes resulted.

Steve motored us to shore, so he could search his truck for some asprin, as Alex had a sore back. He found a bottle, but it was empty. We moved on to a new section of shore line. We had worked this area for perhaps 15 minutes, and there was a flash of lightening, followed by a distant rumble of thunder. A shower was moving in, and it got quite dark. We donned our rain gear again, and soon it it was raining. No more lightening occured, so we fished. Casting to shore, Steve raised a fish, and it followed to the boat. With the reduced light, and the dark water, he lost sight of it. I could just make out a dark shadow in the water - the shadow would put its nose up against the sucker, then swim back under the boat. Steve jigged the minnow slightly, and the fish took the sucker.

I called for Alex, as Steve stripped line off the reel. The muskie took the added freedom, and swam under the boat. Steve muttered, and began to manuver the boat so that the line was clear. Now facing out to open water, we watched the bobber - waiting for the muskie to run - it didn't - it sat there - content to hold its prey in its mouth. Now what?

Steve advised Alex to take up the slack, and to set the hook, which he did. There was a boil in the water, and the fight began - but it ended with a slack line. The fish let go! Steve told Alex to get the line back in the water and to jig it, which he did. The fish returned, and struck a 2nd time. Alex set the hook again, and got a good hookset. Soon Steve netted another good fish, this one measuring 36". I took pictures as the rain fell on us.

Steve and Alex with his 2nd fish. This fish weighed about 18# according to Steve. Alex's back felt much better after catching this fish. The blur spots in the picture are rain drops on the lens. It poured rain on us while we were working it. Once we had the fish boated and released, the rain stopped.

Continuing on this shoreline, and having rebaited the sucker rig, we soon had another strike. This one was my turn. I set the hook, felt the fishes weight, but all to soon - there was slack line, it was gone. I tryed to jig it as Alex had done, but my fish didn't want to play a second time.

We resumed the search, and casting the shoreline. As I was bringing my lure to the boat side, a fish struck, having swam up from under the boat to strike. I saw the fish and felt its strong strike. I knew it was hooked good, so I simply held the rod tip up, keeping tension on the line. Wrong move! I should have hit the spool button on the reel (a Curado - uff-da - nice reel!) , and given the fish some line. As it was, the fish was able to tear itself off the hooks. Argh......double argh! Once again, entirely my fault.

By now it was pushing 4.00pm or after, but we weren't done yet. Steve and I had both casted our lures, Alex was seated, resting his sore back. I saw a fish come up, and once again, strike the sucker. I yelled "fish" and Alex was up to the rod pronto, while Steve and I retrieved our lures and cleared the boat deck. Alex, w/o coaching by Steve, did all the steps Steve had shown him, and set the hook - once again - fish on! It was soon netted, pictures taken, and released. This fish was 33.5", and was skinny - it didn't have nearly the gut the other two fish had. Steve speculated that possibly this fish had broken someone off, and couldn't feed for a while due to having a lure in its mouth.

A few moments later, Alex noticed the bobber for our rear sucker had disappeared. Steve and I looked, it was gone. Weeds - or fish? Steve picked up the rod, and slowly began to retrieve. He felt weight - but was it weeds? Staying with the slow retieve, he saw a tail fin - a fish. As the distance closed, we could see the sucker in a muskies mouth, and the hooks - outside the mouth on either side. I quickly had the net in the water, and Steve brought the fish to the net. Steve said "It's the same fish. It's the one Alex just caught." Alex responded "No way". Steve said "Ya' want to bet?". Alex shot back "Yeah - a $1". So then Steve got the fish out of the net, and looked at its mouth. It was very skinny - and had a fresh hook scar in its mouth. Alex got out his wallet and handed Steve a $1 bill.

That was it for the day. We continued to fish until 5.30, but had no further activity. We ended the day with activity from 10 muskies. 6 were landed, three I had hooked and lost, and the one sucker strike that Alex missed. It was a very good day of fishing muskie. Combined with the previous day we had with Gil, we had action from 17 fish, and if you count the hookless catch of the 33.5" fish, 18.

On Friday, we had no action on the suckers, while on Saturday, suckers were a major portion of the action. I learned alot from Gil and Steve about fishing for these critters, and while similar to fishing for N. Pike in some ways, its also differant. I can also see how this gets to be an addiction. One of Alex's last questions of Saturday was "Dad, can we come back next year?"

2001

May:

This spring, Melmac invited me to come come to Missouri to sample the spring fishing in his part of the state. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance.

I left home on the morning of the 18th, in 70F temps, and hazy sunshine. The trip down I-35 was uneventful, except for a thunderstorm about 4.30 in the afternoon, just after I had left Kansas City. It rained so hard that I had to slow my speed down to 25mph, just so I could see to continue on my way.

I arrived in Warsaw about 5.30, and then Melmac joined me as we made our way to Berry Bend State Park, which is located on a peninsula on Truman Lake. Setting up camp was un-eventful, save for the soggy ground and water dripping from the trees. Once camp was set up, we made our way to the TrailSide Store, where I purchased my license, and had a nice visit with Wayne, owner of the store. Then we proceeded to the boat ramp to put the boat in the water.

Putting the boat in the water was un-eventful - well - almost uneventful.....

I hit the starter on the motor - and nothing. I could hear the starter motor turning, but the engine was not turning over. A quick popping off of the hood confirmed this. But I made a quick dive in to my boat tool box (don't leave shore without one!), and found a screwdriver. By prying gently on the starter gear, while at the same time hitting the starter button, the starter gear popped free and engaged the flywheel, the engine started and I was off.

Now to make my way to the camp site. Truman Lake is BIG water. The biggest water I have ever been on (about 55,000 acres of BIG!). It was about a 1.5 mile run from from the boat ramp to the cove below my campsite - which is where we intended to beach the boat. This cove is a popular spot at Berry Bend, with many fisherman doing the same thing. I made it ok, but cut a little close to shore while rounding the corner of the Berry Bend peninsula. Did a really nice customization job on my prop!! I had not hooked up my sonar for the run to the cove, and did not know how shallow and rocky it was on that corner. We tied the boat to shore, made our way up the hill to camp, and I called it a day.

Saturday morning arrived - clear and sunny - a beatiful morning. Eggs and bacon for breakfast - then the arrival of Melmac and David. We hit the water by 6.30. Our objective was to find some of Truman Lake's famous crappies. We found them 12-14 ft. deep in 16-22 ft of water, in standing timber - specificly Cedar trees. We caught a goodly number of fish, but returned many of them due to being undersized (9" minimum). By the time we quit at 1.00, we each had several fish - David did the best with 10, one a 13" long, Melmac had 8, and I had 6.

David with one of the many crappies he caught.

Mel was the first to catch a crappie, and also caught the first legal fish.

One of the crappies I got.

In addition, I caught a 15" LM Bass, which I returned to the water, and a couple of hybrids - a cross between the white and striped bass. We were fishing with crappie minnows under slip bobbers, and also were using jigs.

Not the biggest bass I've ever caught, but fun to catch all the same. I don't normally wear T-shirts, and my neck had started to burn in the bright sunshine, so I made myself a shade using my handkerchief.

After lunch, we set out to rustle up some trot line bait - we were going to attempt to catch some catfish. I had heard of fishing with trotlines, but had never done it, while Melmac and David were old hands at this method. David and I headed for the baitshop, to inquire about the price of goldfish ($4.00 each - too spendy when you need 25 of them!). When we returned, Melmac was gone. We got in the boat, and started running up the shore line - we found him - he had found some small "perch" among the rocks, and was catching the bait we needed. What Missourian's call perch, we in Minnesota call sunfish or bluegills, further on down south, they are known as bream. We picked up Melmac, and joined him "perching". Along the way, I caught another keeper crappie, and lost a second at the boat. When we had enough perch, we set out the line. It is quite a job - it takes at least two people, and we had our hands full, as we also had a on-shore breeze, trying to blow us into the trees and rock filled shore line. So I manuvered the boat while Melmac and David setup and baited the trotline. Once setup and baited, we motored to the opposite side of the lake channel, and looked for more crappie. We didn't find any, but we did find the white bass.

We spotted a ruckus on the surface of the water. Melmac and David thought this was shad. David had a throw net along - he wanted shad for catfish bait - but when he threw his net - we had white bass instead. So we began to chase the bass - from ruckus to ruckus on the surface. That was fun. I only caught 3 or 4 fish, but Melmac and David got in to them. Those fish hit really hard. The ones we caught weren't big, maybe 15-16" and 1.5 pounds, but they really fought. These were the last fish of Saturday.

Sunday morning, Melmac arrived at 5.30, as we had to run the trotline. We were on the water by 5.45, with just enough light in the sky that we didn't need running lights. Melmac had caught catfish before, but his biggest was under 20 pounds. He wanted a big cat. I just wanted to see some - I figured a 8-10 pound fish would be plenty.

We got to the line, and Mel tended it, while I manuevered the boat. Melmac's first words were "We got a big 'un - I can feel him!". I was surprised. We slowly worked our way along the line. Then Melmac said "Look at the size of this thing! Get the net!" I looked, and it looked like a brown log was attached to the line, but the log was moving its tail. Melmac took my landing net, and tryed to scoop the fish, but there was more fish out of the net than in it. So then he grabbed his gaff and lifted it partly from the water, while I cut the dropper line with the hook. Then we both leaned over the side and pulled in our prize.

This is Melmac holding "Mo" - the name we gave to this fish - right after we pulled her from the water. It was later than this picture would lead you to believe, as the flash going off made the sky look darker. "Mo" is a 56 pound Flathead, and measured about 48-49" (estimated).

This is Mo with her mouth open - you can see my feet in boots at the bottom of the picture - I was shooting the picture looking straight down in to her mouth. We later found we could take a 12oz. softdrink can, and put it in her mouth, without touching at any point inside her mouth.

**Update: 09-20-2002 Mo's head is being mounted by Larry Lawrence at Larry's Taxidermy, in Stewartville, MN. Larry is doing the head using the freeze-drying method. Larry's phone number is 507-533-8710. You can reach him via email here. I asked Larry to mount her much as you have seen her here. I later had Larry add a small sunfish, to accent the size of that enormous mouth.

Mo as she appears after Larry got her mounted and the sunfish mounted. She now adorns my office wall at work, and has created much office chatter over the years.

After we took these pictures of Mo, we went back to the trotline, to finish running it. Melmac felt another tugging, and we found a second Flathead, this fish going 8-10 pounds. Unfortuneately, in our excitement over Mo, we never got the vital details on this fish, but it was a good one, none the less.

Melmac holding our other Flathead. This was also a nice fish, and more of what I was expecting when we set out the trotline.

We then returned to shore, and took our trophies down to see Wayne at the store, and to use his scale, where we learned Mo's weight. Wayne was also kind enough to take some pictures, with his camera and mine. Several of Waynes customers wanted to hear our tale, and to look at the fish while we were there. I also learned that while Mo was a good fish, bigger have been caught in Truman. One of Wayne's customers had caught a channel cat that went 74 pounds.

Melmac and I with Mo.

We then returned to my campsite, where I learned the art and science of cleaning a cat. We are talking serious amounts of catfish fillets. We bagged and and bagged fish. Catfish aren't filleted like other fish, so Mel did the honors, while I watched and learned the method he used.

Melmac doing the honors on a hunk of catfish.

This is a five gallon pail, and its over half full of catfish fillets.

Remember that soda can I mentioned? This is Mo with her mouth open. This picture doesn't show it as well as I would have liked, as this picture was taken at a slight angle instead of strainght up and down. There was room all the way around the can - her mouth was that big.

Melmac then left for home, to join his family for church. I too went to church, and then later joined Melmac and his family for Sunday dinner at his house. Later in the afternoon, we took his son and daughter fishing on a farm pond. Melmac and I were after more "perch" to rebait the trotline, the kids were along for fun. While we were perching, Melmac's daughter, Lindsay started yelling - I looked up to see her struggling with her rod. I yelled to Melmac to help her. She had hooked a channel cat of about 2 pounds. She was quite excited over this. Then a couple of moments later, she did it a second time.

Melmac and Lindsay with one of her catfish. She caught both catfish on her Snoopie rod.

We rebaited the trotline that evening. Later on, about 9.00, a bigger storm than Fridays blew in, complete with rain, hail, strong winds, etc. Made for a wonderful night in my tent. The lake was very rough on Monday morning. We tended the line, but had nothing. We called it "fishing trip" due to the rough conditions, and spent the day doing other activities. It was a great trip.

2000

November:

I was invited by Mel and David to come to Missouri for the second weekend of the Missouri firearms deer season. The area we were to hunt has both whitetail and mule deer, and both are legal. Mel had hunted the area in years past, and had been scouting during the late summer and fall. He had set out several trail monitors to see what was using the area we were to hunt. He got this picture on one of his monitors, and sent it to me, so I'd have an idea of what is down there. Funny, this doesn't look like a mulie to me - or a whitetail for that matter.... Missouri allows the hunter to take 3 deer, one antlered, and two antleress in the area we hunted.

I arrived on a Thursday afternoon. On Friday, our first morning out, we each took a stand in a 40 acre woods, Mel and David in tree stands, myself in a platform stand Mel had built. I could see about 100 yards to my left (N), about 40-60 yards in front of me (E) and, about 200 yards to my right (S). As we walked in about 5.30am, we could hear many turkey - turns out they were roosted all over the woods. Some we busted off their roosts, but many of them just complained - lots of cutting and some yelps.

A new feature for me was the use of 2-way radios - we could discuss what we saw. Not much for deer as the sky brightened, but we sure did discuss the turkeys.

About 5 minutes before 8, I saw motion to my left, on the edge of the woods, where the woods met a field. I had my Remington 700 (.243) with me. The motion was a pair of does, and they were in range - the problem I had was since I was new to the area, I didn't know what was beyond those trees. I held my fire and watched, and the does obiliged me by turning in to the woods and coming toward me. I had given Mel and David an inquiry about the lay of the land beyond the trees, but as the does approached, I had to go silent. Mel guessed correctly the I had deer in close by, and was talking in my ear the entire time, as I watched the deer close the distance. I put my rifle up and aimed when the range closed to 40 yards (Mel had told me told to sight my rifle for a minimum of 200 yards) - and this was a shotgun and slug shot if there was one. But still, here they were. I placed the cross hairs of my scope on the shoulder of the lead doe and fired. She didn't drop. Instead, she trotted about 20 yards and stopped. Mel and David both began talking - knowing I had deer - but what were the details? I ignored them - I was busy. This doe was not going to get away on me - I chambered another shell, placed the cross hairs on her shoulder, and fired a second time. She dropped. I waited, but she didn't get up.

I radioed the details to Mel and David. Mel told me to stay put - I think he was concerned I'd get lost trailing the deer, but not to worry - I could see where she dropped, just the other side of a barb wire fence which ran through the woods. And what a fence!! Five (5) strands of brand new barb wire, extremely sharp, and tight as guitar strings. I finally got thru the fence, and walked to my deer. Both shots hit - the angle of the 2nd shot allowed the bullet to hit and exit thru the neck, which is what killed and dropped her, although the first shot was also fatal - as I hit both lungs.

I don't know what happend to the 2nd doe, I did not see it run off. Mel arrived, we field dressed her, waited for David, and then took a bunch of pictures - none of which you'll see here - as I later lost my camera. Argh!!! While the monetary loss stung, the loss of the pictures hurt worse. But I do have the memories.

The weather in Missouri was partly cloudy and cold. The first morning it was 13F, and by Sunday morning it had warmed up 30F. We only saw a few more deer (9 total in 3 days) - and mine was the only one we took. Mel and David were disappointed - they said each of us should have seen that many in one day.

October:

I put this hunt here, as it was an outstate trip in reverse. I hosted Melmac and David, for what was supposed to be a trip to Minnesota to hunt the many Canada geese in this corner of our state. The birds and weather didn't co-operate; that is, there was to much food available inside the game refuge which surrounds Rochester, and as a result, the birds weren't flying out.

As a backup plan, we hunted ring-neck Pheasants, which were brand new to David, while Mel had hunted them in the past, but only in NW Missouri.

Mel and David arrived on a Friday morning, and we hunted that afternoon, Saturday, and Sunday morning, before they returned to Missouri to open the Missouri bow season.

While we didn't get a lot of shooting - we saw mostly hens, we did put up some roosters, and saw some whitetails as well.

David took this rooster on Saturday morning in a WMA near Truman, MN. This particular management area was over 500 acres, in two sections. The grass and cover in this area was incredible - well over head high in many spots. Here you see one of the easy spots, where the cover is only waist high.

This is Mel and his German Shorthair, Bigsby. Once we knew that the trip was going to be for Pheasants, we decided to have Mel bring Bigsby along. She did the job, putting up many birds for us, but in this WMA, the cover was so tall we couldn't see the birds to shoot, although we could hear them when they flushed.

L to R: My son Alex, Mel and Bigsby, David.

1976

This is a trip down memory lane. I was on active duty with the U.S. Air Force, stationed in Montgomery AL. I was fortunate to be able to hunt with some other active duty military and civilians from the Montgomery area.

We were able to lease 1400 acres near Highland Home, AL. We named our group the Highland Hunters.

I took this deer in Dec. of 1976. We were making a drive, and I was sitting on a side hill, with my rifle, a Remington M700 in .243 Win. I saw motion to my left and nearly behind me. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the antlers.

We were hunting bucks only, this was the first deer I had seen and a good buck at that. I put my rifle up, centered the cross hairs of the scope on his chest and fired. My shot took him square thru the lung and exited thru right shoulder, and he dropped. The range was about 85 yards.

I took two more shots to finish him - the buck fever was setting in! Then I made a terrible mistake - I cut his throat. Dummy! He was dead - there was nothing to bleed out.

I had ruined my shoulder mount. The taxidermist did the best he could, but it is still noticeble. This picture shows the mounted head, in my apartment, after I got it back. The buck has 10 points, although some are hidden by this picture. We never scored him, or had the oppurtunity to weigh him. While not as big as some of the bucks I've taken and seen up here (Minnesota), for Alabama he was a fine animal.

This is the only deer I've taken with a rifle.

Another view of the buck - shows antlers better - although still hard to see all 10 points, but they're in there. In this picture, he graced the walls of my apartment in Montgomery Al.

1975

The pictures which follow were taken in January of 1975. I was invited to go fishing on a reservoir called Lake Martin on Alabama River, with a friend and co-worker named Doug Walker. Doug owned a boat, a 16-17' Ranger Bass boat called the "Whoppah Stoppah", Doug being an avid bass fisherman. Another fellow, who I only remember as Charlie went with us.

The first spot we tryed - a narrow arm of the lake is where I got this fish. I was the most poorly equipped fisherman back then - I owned a single spin-cast rod and reel Doug had sold me, and only a few lures and other tackle.

Doug and Charlie tied on plastic worms. I looked, and found I indeed owned a plastic worm - one worm, purple, pre-rigged with a leader, three snelled hooks, and a spinner blade. Doug and Charlie used slip sinkers (bullet style), I had none. So I made do by putting a small tear drop sinker on my line, and then tied on my worm.

I started casting. On the 3rd or 4th cast, I felt "something" - I thought I was snagged. I jerked, the water boiled - Doug yelled "Get 'im Jim" and the fight was on. This fish came out of the water twice before I got him to the boat. I was shocked. I had never fished a plastic worm before, and had no idea of what to do. Doug and Charlie both had a good laugh when they saw what I used. But the joke was on them, cause the fish had struck short, and I had hooked the fish on the rear hook, located in the tail of my worm. Had I been fishing a "Texas" rigged worm as they were, I would have missed the fish.

This was the only bass we got that day, although Charlie got a couple of crappie later in the afternoon.

Doug had the sense to bring a camera, which is how I got these pictures. If memory serves me, this fish weighed somewhere in the 2, possibly 3 pound range.

Doug, should you see this page, email me.

1973

While I was there, I had the opportunity to sample some salt water fishing, mainly in the harbor and its channels, fishing from bridges, and piers. I also had the chance to sample some of the "Low Country's" freshwater fishing, on the Santee-Cooper reservoir, fishing for crappie.

I was limited in the amount of fishing I could do, as I did not own a car while there, and was dependant on co-workers for a ride to where the fish were biting.

These are the only pictures I have of my time there.

This picture was taken in October or November at Sunset. This is one tiny portion of Charleston Harbor, taken from a bridge we (myself, a co-worker and his wife) were fishing from. A tide was running at the time. We were fishing on the bottom, using fresh shrimp for bait.

This is the only fish pic I have - the rest did not turn out. I can't recall for certain what this fish is - possibly a "Blue" or a "Spot" - we were catching both. I was told both were excellant eating, but I never found out, as I did not have access to cooking facilites.

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