One of my favorite fishing lures is the Johnson Sprite. I started using them a long time ago fishing at the “lakes” with family. I am not sure when exactly we started using them the Johnson Sprite is definitely my favorite spoon. They are lighter and spoon through the water with a nice wiggle. The little pink thingy that hangs between the spoon and the treble hook is very important. I figure it makes the lure appear to a fish like a bleeding or injured minnow.

Went out for a few beers and a chili contest last Saturday the 8 Th. Had some amateur live bands and a few crock pots of chili. I tried several of the pots of chili. None of them really stood out as special to me. Don’t really have a lot to say about the night just that i had a good time and it was nice crossing paths with some people i hadnt seen in several years.

I snagged this big carp / buffalo while trolling in the pit. it is a pretty sloppy and nasty fish but it was alot of fun to bring in. It pulled the boat around alot and was fun to net. Would have been nice if it had been a walleye but i guess thats just too much to ask for.

Mom finally went out on the boat with me. The river was a little choppy because the wind was coming and going but the boat was pretty stable. She seemed to enjoy herself.

I was hoping to show her the Eagles that have been flying around the river but they must have been hiding. I did show her the eagles nest but there weren’t any eagles in it. I have watched the eagles fly around several times.

She had never seen the houses with riverfront property from the perspective of the river so that was interesting to her. I have a dream to someday have one of the houses on the river. I think it would be pretty awesome to put some poles out in the morning and sit behind my computer looking out a window at my poles.

I Don’t know why I am sharing these pictures of nasty bugs. I am not even sure why i took these pictures but I did so here they are. I know the first one is a wasp I think the second one is some sort of beetle but it really doesn’t matter i am just sharing.

This was a pretty fun day. Well even if it wasn’t I can pretend anyway. Well as you can see in the pictures above My mom is wearing camo. Not sure what got into her to make her want to but it created some smiles.

When Grandma offered me the trolling motor she also gave me some of Grandpa’s hunting stuff. When mom saw it all she was pretty excited she liked the light stuff and she put it on. She wanted to send these pictures to some people she wanted to be sure to get her ladybug coffee cup in the picture.

Then we sent the pictures out and waited for replies.

Since I have been boating I have wanted a trolling motor. For convenience and for safety. My grandma had mentioned that she had an old one in her basment that I was welcome to check out and see if it still worked.  All it needed was a 12 volt battery and it was alive.

I was very surprised with how the little trolling motor was able to move the boat. It actually cruised around without any trouble as long as i wasn’t trying to use it in the river and fight the current. I played with it for several hours the first day i had it in the water.

What I like most about trolling is being able to stand on the front of the boat and slowly jig and cast and be able to cover more water. I have found that it is very useful when the fish are not biting in the area I start to fish. Before having the trolling motor i would have to pull up anchor and try to start the gas motor. Now i almost never use an anchor i just float around and when I get in a shallow area or too close to shore or a tree I can just slowly move out of the way.

Trolling disturbs the water a lot less and I think it greatly increases the chances of not scaring away the fish.

As most of the loyal readers know Minnie was hit by a car. You can read grandmas update on Minnie here. Minnie Rose. Grandma and I took Mini back to the Madison emergency animal hospital for her check up to see how she was healing after all the surgery. Everything checked out well and Minnie is recovering to the best that could be expected.

While waiting for Minnie to have her exam at the animal hospital Grandma and I found a place to park and look at the lake in Madison. As you can see in the picture above it started to sleet. This was the first time of this winter season that we had sleet.

When I was a child I remember Grandma and Grandpa taking me to a restaurant in Janesville WI called Shakeys. Grandma and I were going to see if they were open and we sadly found that they had gone out of business. So we were forced to find another place to eat on out way home.

Grandma and I found a place in Janesville called Milwaukee Grille it wasn’t busy so we decided to go in and check it out. We both ordered their special Chicken thingy and onion fries. Lunch was very good and more food then either of us could finish.

I snapped this pic of mom getting ready to go out. She had some Dr appointments this day. I thought it was kinda unique because of the way i took the picture of the mirror so it also caught my cellphone taking a picture of itself.  might sound goofy to you reading it. but o-well. I can be goofy when I want to.

After her appointments and a little shopping we went out for lunch at Old Chicago. We took these pictures to intentionally tease Doug and Grandma. When mom and I go out for lunch we like to take pix and send them to a few people. Its a lot of fun sometimes to see their replies.

Doug responded to the pix I sent to him with a picture of his lunch an apple. It was pretty silly and gave both mom and I a smile when I received the image from him.

Brandon was a cow for Halloween. Michelle sent me this picture on Halloween day just before trick or treat. I think he makes a pretty cute cow hehe. I know he had a good time trick or treating. He wanted to be an airplane for trick or treat but its not easy to find a airplane costume so he had to settle for the cow. If he is still into airplanes next year I hope he can dress up as one then.