Fishing heaven...

Kramer's bachelor party in the great Northwoods was a rousing success, and I am hoping that we'll have a cd full of pictures soon. In the meantime, Brandon sent me a couple of pictures that I'll include of the 33 inch northern I caught. The weather was stormy, but the houseboat and captain (Justin's dad Rich) were true and we had an unbelievable time. The weather broke enough on the second day to see some sun, and then have a feast of a fish fry (my attempt at alliteration). Seriously, I might have eaten more fish in one week to equal the amount I have eaten in my whole life...it was that good. We saw a ton of Minnesota loons, eagles, and even a deer swam up to our small island where we docked the boat at night (This was initially a major issue because several of us rookies assumed that by renting a houseboat we would just float in the middle of the lake at night and drift off to sleep...umm, no. That sounds real nice and idyllic until you realized that there would be whitecaps busting against the boat at night and we would have rocked endlessly. Instead, we docked at night in a quiet cove off of one of the hundreds of islands and slept peacefully. At least, those of us who didn't get up at 4am every morning to go fish some more slept peacefully. Good call, Kramer).

Anyway, the trip was amazing...it was so good to have my fishing fix and it was a ton of fun to catch up with a lot of old friends. Overall, a great way to celebrate his upcoming nuptials. And everyone caught fish...walleye, small mouth bass, northern, even muskie. I am traveling again for work this week before heading back to Missouri for Festivus, so time is short. But I look forward to updating more pictures and then doing some additional fishing back on Uncle David's pond. :-)

Fishing in Canada...

Rebecca was nice enough to send along this photo of my dad so that I could include it, I believe the caption to the picture is "Bragging Rights." I've seen it before, but it's perfect.

I'm on my way to Portland, then to Seattle, and then Minneapolis, and finally I arrive in the Boundary Waters on Wednesday afternoon. Wish me luck!

Fishing-palooza

Okay, so next week is the big trip to International Falls, MN to go fishing on a houseboat for 3 days...how cool is that? It will be cold, and probably a little windy, but a once in a lifetime trip to the great northwoods to fish and explore the Boundary Waters. As I have been packing and preparing for the trip, I couldn't be happier...one of the greatest benefits so far, other than catching up with a bunch of friends I haven't seen in awhile, has been a little unusual. And I mean that in a good way. :-)

So, everyone knows that my Dad was a huge fisherman, although this particular gene didn't get handed down to me. I like fishing, but I don't have the same passion that was there for my father. In fact, I can't remember the last time that I went...ice fishing in Missouri, perhaps? Anyway, the coolest thing has been happening lately...I have been dreaming about fishing A LOT. And everytime I do, my Dad has been in the dreams with me. I have really fond memories of family trips to Canada to go fishing for walleye, and hanging out in a cabin in the woods for a week. One week, I went fishing everyday and didn't catch a thing but I still had a great time (although I think I complained a lot, but hey! I was eleven). But even though I have all these fun memories, they haven't really come up until I have been dreaming about fishing in the great white north. And my Dad is there guiding my cast, or joking about the whopper that got away, or frying up the catch from the day for dinner as we all sit around and play cards. By participating in something that my Dad loved, he has come back to me in a vivid way. Now, there isn't a day that goes by where I don't think of my father (especially now that I am a sales manager on the road like he had been for awhile, very ironic), but any time I can wake up in the morning and savor a little more of him...it's a great day. I still miss him so much, but the pain subsides for just a little while, and I'll take whatever I can get.

Who knows, maybe I'll get out the golf clubs next weekend... :-)

Where in the world is International Falls, Minnesota?

Real quick, I am including a map link of the location where I will be fishing next week...I am super stoked that I'm attending a bachelor party 3-day fishing extravaganza up near the Boundary Waters in Minnesota. Evidently, the ice just melted off the lake a couple of weeks ago. A group of 7 of us are renting a houseboat for a couple of days, and seeing who can catch the biggest fish. Sadly, I know this will not be me...but I will hold my own in the cribbage tournament. Check this out, and I will add more later :-)

http://www.nps.gov/voya/planyourvisit/upload/RendezvousMap2006.pdf