Secret River with Pat Renwick

On Saturday, April 24, Pat Renwick took me on my first river fishing trip to a "secret" river. I met Pat while installing a printer for him, and of course we started talking fishing. Turns out Pat is a Rep, working with Sportsman's Supply Company! He also hosts a radio show on AM 1230, WJOB, called "Region Bass Buzz" which airs weekly on Saturdays from 6:00 am to 7:00 am.




Pat invited me to go fishing with him on a river herein named "secret river", so as not to disclose it's true identity, and thus attract hordes of anglers.

We were on the river at 10am, and you'd think you were in Kentucky. This day, we owned it. Pat got his 6 tourney rods set up, up front, 3 port, and 3 starboard, and looking ready to go. He set me up with a spinner bait, which being a newbie, I have not really fished with before. I decided to mainly use my baitcaster, and had just developed a two-hand cast.

To say that Pat's boat is really a rocket is an understatement. When he quietly said "hold on to you hat", I knew he was going to punch it. And did he ever. Blasting down a river in his boat is like riding on a motorcycle on water. Unreality set in, and the river banks flew past as if in a dream world. I could feel my face being flattened out like those old films of Astronauts training on the giant spinning centrifuge.

Quickly getting to our starting point, we began testing the lily pads and weeds for fish. We were fishing quickly, working the banks. 3 or 4 casts, and then move on, looking for action. Pat missed a big one, but that told us that there were fish to be had. Up the river. Pat has a beautiful cast, precise, and quick. I clumsily try to imitate, but I need a lot of work..someday..

Pat grabs a fish and set's the hook so hard that the fish flips overhead, comes off, and drops in an arc on the other side of the boat. I can hear the fish say "What just happened?". I cast at the disappearing ripple, just in case.

He carries pop tarts for emergency food, and offers me one. It is delicious! Once you're on the hunt for fish, there's no stopping for food. Suddenly the wind changes, and Pat gets an idea. We re-visit banks down the river, and Pat starts catching largemouth! Nice 10-12 inchers. Nothing for me yet, but I'm getting twitchy. ("Was that a Bite?").

Before long, we came along a backyard with a kid sitting on his pier. Lots of weeds and lily pads. We talk to the kid, but are fishing his pier. Pat nails 2 good ones.
Without knowing it, I have set the hook, and dragged out a good fat river largemouth!
My first fish this year! A beauty.

Life is good!

Pat ended up with 8 largemouth, and I got my one.

Thanks again to Pat Renwick for a great day on "Secret River".

Ice Fishing 2010

Not only did Columbus discover America, but to celebrate the discovery, he gave us a holiday! Ron and I have been planning this ice fishing weekend since the end of summer, and our wives are tired of us talking about it! It turns out that the weekend of of January 15 - 17th is the weekend for ice fishing.

View the photos

Ron signed us up for a tournament on Saturday, the 16th. on Lake Galena. Pat and I arrived Friday night, and while Pat and Kathy enjoyed being inside, Ron and I tried to prepare in the garage. We tried out his little propane heater, which sits on top of a propane bottle, and directs heat upwards. Very nice idea.

Of course, our gear immediately started to break! The reel wouldn't stay on one of my ice rods, so I duct taped it on. One of Ron's new reels just locked up, and after messing with it for way too long, it was dumped into the return-to-the-store pile. I gave him one of my reels from a warm weather rod that I brought along.

The heater click switch failed, so a match had to be used. It was destined for the return pile.

We packed the car, and retired to a glass or two of wine, and bed.

Saturday - up at 6am. Kathy made us toast, coffee, and sandwichs and off we went. The Marina was filling up rapidly with fishermen registering. Lots of pickup trucks, and fancy ice sleds. It was pretty cold, in the 20's.

Our first choice was the North Cove, but everyone already beat us to to it, and there was no parking spaces left! We left and went to another spot. Unloaded the car, packed the sled, and trudged along the ice out into the lake! Setting up the tent was a breeze - we each pulled on a handle on opposite sides, and it popped up!

We decided to use the manual auger that I brought. Ron dug the first couple of holes, and we moved the tent over the holes. I struggled with the auger until I realized that you need to move both hands in a wobbly kind of motion.

I set up my polar tip up, and we moved buckets and gear into the tent. We used spikes as bait, and dropped our lines. The little heater worked nicely. There were a couple of other ice tents set up, but ours was the only camo tent.

Time went pretty fast, as it always does when we're fishing, and after about 3 hours we decided to move, as there were no fish to be caught here. I sent pictures of our camp to our wives, and we packed up and decided to move to another spot.

We stopped at the owners club to warm up a bit, and eat our sandwiches. We headed back to the North cove, to see if the parking situation had improved. Pat and Kathy met us there. We unloaded again and set out on the ice. This was where the action was. Lots of tents. Lots of catching.

Except, of course, the bite had stopped 20 minutes ago! We set up our tent again, this time drilling the holes in a better pattern, and faced the door away from the wind. I drilled another for our tip-up.

Inside the tent, the ice emitted an erie glow, as though we were on a glass floor, with a light below. Pat and Kathy came out to visit us, and that made our day!

Soon, the other fishermen started packing up and leaving, because, of course, the fish were not biting anymore. Except for the one 79 year old man and his girlfriend who just set up their tent. While we were chatting with the him, his girlfriend went to a hole left by another fisherman, droppped a line, and pulled out a fish in 5 minutes!

This broke our spirit, and beside the Schnapps was empty. We packed up and headed back to Ron's house, with zero fish. We did see that the bait was gone from the tip up, so that was interesting.

The next day, we decided to fish some open water, so we went to the base of the waterfall, and captured some spectacular pictures of the ice and waterfall. Fog frost on everything! No fish, of course, but it was fun to be casting again. Until our casting rods starting breaking down too!

Our wives came with us, and sat in the car keeping warm, while we cast. A good time was had by all!

Thanks again Ron and Kathy!