Wishin' I were fishin'...

If you are like me, this is the time of year your mail box gets bombarded with fishing catalogs full of all kinds of paraphernalia in all kinds of colors, and trip brochures touting the advantages of booking a trip at this particular lodge or that one.  And while they are fun to look at, they only accentuate the bummed feeling that most Ohioans (and anyone else, for that matter, above the Florida state line) have about now in light of these lingering wind chills and late season snowy forecasts .  It's almost March, for gosh sakes.  The golf pro has sent out emails telling of the opening day on March 1st.  Fat chance of playing on that day with wind chills at -5.  Oh well, at least they will have their indoor hitting range open.  So anyway --- back to the topic of fishing. 

As I was looking thru the picture tubs in the basement, I came across these shots of our first "Bass-n-Bogies" trip.  Chuck, Kevin and I decided that we needed to do a "man trip" back in 2000 so we put this together.  We went on line and looked for a good fishing place that would occupy our time in the mornings and evenings, but also had decent golf courses in the area that would likewise keep us busy in the afternoons.  So we came across a place called Blue Bank Resort at Reelfoot Lake, TN.  The pictures of the place looked real nice (for a fishing lodge) and it was endorsed by fishing legend, Bill Dance.

 These pictures show you the general layout of the place.  I did not shoot the pool or the other areas, but if we ever decide to do this again and take our wives we will point out these amenities. The picture on top-left shows all the boats that they rented out to those who didn't bring their own.  This was a morning shot.  It was pretty cool there as all we had to do was bring our boat back in at night and they gassed it up and got everything else ready for us.  The top-right shot shows the boat tie-up area at night as well as the lodge.  Also, I don't recall taking any pictures of our "cabin" as it was really so small that the three of us could barley fit in it.  That may have been because we were looking for a cheap place.

The other two pictures kinda give you an idea of the water and how really nice this place really was.  We were usually out of the cabin early and fished till noon or so.  Then we played golf and literally finished the day with fishing, coming back to the boat dock well after dark.   I think we had to be back NLT an hour after dark if we wanted the boat serviced for the next day.

We have taken several of these trips but it has pretty much morphed into a golfing only trip now.  Now the man-trip is pretty much old duffers (no pun intended) who really enjoy playing golf.  At least we can all now get the senior discounts at the golf courses and the restaurants (if we eat early enough).

The actual fishing part of it was pretty good.  In fact, this place was the best fishing I have ever had outside of Canada.  Check out these shots:

 I know Chuck caught some fish too, but I don't seem to have any pictures of that taking place.  Hmmmmm.  But I did have this shot...  The caption on the back of the picture says something about "What a life..."

As I said, this was really a good time.  I think we're going to have to do this again sometime, even if it is only Chuck and me.  We actually got to act like we were on a real big-time fishing expedition.  My other brother-in-law, Luke and his buddies actually fly in to some place in Canada and fish .  They have bears in the area and have to put food and fish in containers that are air-tight so the bears don't get into them.  Another of my friends goes with his buddies to Canada and sometimes it is so cold, they say it is more like ice fishing than anything else.  So maybe ours does look more like a "gentlemen's fishing trip" than theirs.  So what.  We had fun and caught fish and got to hit golf balls.  It really doesn't get much better than that. 
This planet is covered with sordid men who demand that he who spends time fishing (and golfing) shall show returns in fish (and pars).  Glad they didn't go with us.

 Hooah