A fisherman, I am not

We spent Memorial Day weekend at my in-law's lake house.

It was a fun-filled American weekend of seadooin', fishing, exploring, digging in the sand, looking for pottery and lures, swimming, boating, cooking out, and napping.

I fought the fish and the fish won
After securing a license at the local bait/tackle/gas station/convenience store for a double sawski and a fin, I grabbed a 6-foot rod donned with a Sonic Rooster Tail and headed for the boat dock for a some alone time with my finned and scaled friends.

Bluegill was the fish of the day, even though a black bass and a channel cat paid my pole a visit.

I also witnessed the tenacity of a fish who didn't want to be caught, nor would stay caught.

After an amazing fight (I'm not much of a fisherman, remember), this big old bluegill refused to give up the ghost, even after being pulled from the water and plopped into my 5-gallon bucket.

That bugger stuck his head out of the bucket, gave me a look, and jumped right out of the bucket. He flopped around on the boat dock for a few seconds, only to find his way back into the clear of the open water beneath the boat dock.

I swore at him for just a second, but laughed at the realization that his will to live his life on his own terms was a lesson to us all.

I wished him well.

C prepares for her first fishing tournament
C and her grandfather will be taking on the local ankle biter anglers in her first fishing tournament a few weekends from now. She's determined to get her picture in the paper holding up a big string of small mouths and crappie out of our local lake. This weekend was her first opportunity to "practice" for the upcoming tournament.

Using her new Zebco 33 spincast reel and Made in Taiwan Angler rod, C caught a huge appaloosa catfish with her first cast.

The rod and reel was her kindergarten graduation present from my in-laws.

The catfish was longer than her leg.

She followed the catfish with several small bluegill, a black bass, and a channel catfish.

Now if I can only get her to remove the hooks, I can get some quality fishing time in as well.

The view
The view at the lake improved by ten fold this weekend as the neighbor's college aged daughter brought a bevy of her friends down to the lake for the weekend.

I'm happy to report that bikini sizes are still shrinking in direct proportion to my nearsightedness.

Why we don't like the lake on holiday weekends
We cursed the moronic boaters and jet-skiers who came too fast and too close to the boat dock, ignorant to the damage and discomfort their wakes can cause.

Too many teens behind the wheels of watercraft, too many watercraft in the water, too many uncorked exhausts on rumbly V-8's. While I enjoy the sound of an uncorked exhaust on a radically cammed 4-stroke internal combustion motor, my enjoyment level goes way down when that motor is on a boat instead of a hot rod, and it's rumbling by at 2 in the morning.

I don't get how the government boys can put restrictions on how loud we can make our cars on the streets, but there are no restrictions on decibel levels on the lake.

Later, we took a quick cruise over to the beach area known as "The Cut" but the crowds of "Girls Gone Wild" partiers on small boats tethered together chased us back to the safety and quiet of our boat dock.

More on "The Cut" later...