The Happy Fisherman

Hello Everyone , I know it’s been awhile scence my last blog but things have been crazy busy in my life so I thought I’d catch you all up with what I’ve been up to and what I’ve been catching. So Those who follow me on facebook know I have been non stop busy Scence the ice fishing season which ended with us catching the biggest perch we’ve caught and discovering the sweet taste of white perch.

End Of Ice Season Catch

Then we worked continuously on our boat which worked then died every time we put her in the water by the third time, the motor we thought to be an expensive fix just needed to be JB welded and set for 24 hours. (will be posting boat launch success video  on getreeled.com today.) We tested the boat and all it’s gear that day so no fish but we will be taking boat out again soon to really fish from it this time, now that the testing phase is over.

Old Busted Motor

Fixed working Motor

On top of all that I’m planning my wedding, but still managed to squeeze in a day of fishing once every weekend, problem is here in Vermont the spring weather has really been Funky and what I mean is that one day the weather would be in the 80’s and the next would be in the low 60’s threw spring fishing way out of wack, the only fish we caught worth mentioning is a nice size pickerel caught in the shallows from shore.

The last few weekends we went night fishing from shore at Limoil river in hopes of catching channel cats, we caught one small channel cat that night. but before the night was over a ” Mystery” fish doubled over my 8 foot surf rod and put up one heck of a battle I was netting and my buddy Nate was working the fish when he tried to adjust the drag and Snapped the line.

Limoil River

The following weekend we went back, this time loaded with 65 lb sonic braid ,at first the night Started out the same way nice and slow and relaxing, then Nate got his line tangled in the rocks so I went to help. while doing so my rod began to double over and bounce violently, Nate was Lighter and faster than me so I sent him over to catch the rod, He reached it just in time as the rod itself was coming out of the holder and the first battle ensued. Drag screaming, Hearts pounding, Adrenalin flowing. The Beast reached the net to our amazement it was a 13lb freshwater drum (better known as a sheephead) , almost 3 feet long. shortly after that I reeled in a 9 lb that was 2 feet 4 inches. Awesome fish and wicked battle. The Following photo are our victory and trophy poses from that night.

Nate's Victory Pose

My Victory Pose

"Nate's Trophy Pose"

My Trophy Pose

well that should catch us up for the moment, and I’m almost Finished with installing our pool, which was eating up alot more time than anticipated. and only a few more months left till the wedding i should be back in business and blogging more often. thanks for your time and patience.

30TH Annual

Lake Champlain

Islands

ICE FISHING DERBY

SATURDAY – SUNDAY:

FEBRUARY 13 – 14, 2010

MARK YOUR CALANDERS AND BUY YOUR

TICKETS TODAY!

YOU COULD WIN:

Now in it’s 30th consecutive year, the derby is proud to award over $4,000 in cash and prizes. There are seven categories of which to compete for cash prizes up to $300.00, plus a trophy for the first 3 places in each category. However you don’t have to catch the biggest fish in the lake to be a winner. Your derby ticket qualifies you to win a jiffy power auger at the awards ceremony on Sunday night, You must be present to win.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

you may call one of the following committee members : Mindy and Gilbert Granger ( Martin’s General Store) 802-868-4459; Steve Martell (Bayside Bait and Tackle) 802-524-2222; or George Fowler (The Islander Newspaper) 802-372-5600.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL !

Get your gear ready , Cold weather has brought us an early ice season. I came across this article in the Sunday paper while drinking my coffee and my excitement level shot through the roof . I ran through the house showing everyone, and now sharing this info to you my fellow ice anglers. Our first ice fishing adventure will take place after the new year. Also just got an HD camcorder so Keep an eye out for great ice fishing Videos. (Coming Soon)

Last year, after wishing we had a boat, cause fall was approching and the fish were heading into deeper water. My uncle gave me and my partner Nate a project boat. It was fire engine red, the floor was rotted, and she had no steering wheel or motor. But we did not care, we had a boat. So we went on craigslist and purchased a motor at a reasonable price, 25hp and in excellent condition, what he Failed to tell us was there was an adapter that conected the fule line to the motor, more on that later.

We worked for months fixing this boat the redneck way. Creating our own control panel, laying a new plywood floor and patio carpet. When it came to the motor we were clueless, We knew it could be wired to the battery so we tried that but something was a miss seeing how the engine would crank when we connected the battery cables. We did some research and found we needed a solenoid to keep the engine from turning over until the key was turned. We decided we would just hand crank it and not bother with the key start for now.

Thinking we were ready I invited my pops to come out with us. My mom dropped pops off to us in the morning, and we loaded the boat with all our gear and headed off for the lake. We stopped by Dockside bait shop to get our bait then proceeded to the sandbar. We prepped the boat, conected the fuel line and got pops in the boat as I started to back down the ramp there was a CRACK, THUD! when I got out to see what the problem was I noticed pops was missing. The seat screws didn’t hold and the seat fell backwards and poor pops was laying on the floor. After a good laugh we began to lower the boat, but Nate made the mistake of unhooking the boat from the trailer before starting the engine. Nate quickly Climbed aboard the boat and tried to start the engine while i parked the truck.

When I returned to the ramp they had drifted 25 feet out, I could see Nate yanking on the cord trying to get the engine to turn over. I laughed for a moment before realizing they were drifting further, Nate gave up on the engin and began to frantically look for the paddles. “Trow the anchor!” I yelled Nate Threw the make shift anchor, a heavy scissor car jack tied to a rope, and he yelled “Were are the paddles?” Thinking to myself Oh No ” I holared back “Left them at the house.” Nate slapped his forehead and gave a Homer Simpson “DUH!” “You’ll Have To Swim Out Here And Get us.” Nate Replied.

I began to Strip down to my shorts and walk out. The Stones on the floor of the lake hurt like hell, as i got up to my chest i couldn’t go any further. Nate then grabbed the anchor line and pulled the boat forward, then he lifted the anchor and gave it a toss in my direction and pulled the boat closer till i was able to grab the rope and walk the boat to shore. After all that excitement we just fished from shore and laughed at ourselves and our first boat adventure pops comment is and will always be “At least she floats.”.

Since our adventure We found the problem and fixed it, but I don’t think I’ll be taking on anymore project boats anytime soon. This is one of our favorite stories, and I’m glad to be able to share it with you.

Check out my profile on GetREELed.com

…is meeting new friends. I had a lovely conversation with one of my blogger friends today, and it was the first time I have spoken to someone on the phone that I have met through my blog.

I love meeting new people who share my passion for fishing and for life!!! I wanted to take a post to thank you all for stopping by, for commenting, and for making my blogging experience more FABULOUS than I could have ever imagined it could be.

I have met more great people over the past four months than I could have ever imagined, and I really look forward to getting to know you all better in the future. I am the luckiest fisherbabe EVER!!!

Happy Friend Making ~

LIZZY aka The Fisherbabe

Check out my profile on GetREELed.com
Check out my site: www.fisherbabe.com