I Think It Is GAMERA!!!!

During a slog through the Bear Creek watershed looking for Steelhead Morin and I happened across this cool little turtle.
The Steelhead were someplace else so we took the time to snap a few photos and take some video.

Bye Bye Turtle from Gene Norland on Vimeo.

We are mental....no question about it.
LOL


If for no other reason my daughter Ella loves this BLOG entry.
We argued a bit about what kind of turtle this was.
Typically we were both wrong.


Morin thought it was a 'Pileated Snapping' Turtle and my guess was a box turtle.
After a bit of searching it looks like we ran across a Blandings Turtle which is a big deal because it is kind of rare.
I am glad he was wrong about it being a snapping turtle or I am sure I would've had difficulty typing this BLOG entry.

Two Morons arguing over what kind of a turtle this is...sad from Gene Norland on Vimeo.

Pretty cool.
:o)

I Love Suicide

By all accounts we mis-timed the Michigan trip by 3 or 4 weeks.
According to the locals and by the condition of most of the fish we caught a majority of the Steelies had been and gone and finished their bit 'o business.

We didn't see as many fish caught as last year but all of us avoided a skunk and caught some really great fish in a really great place.
After some thought that really is the bottom line and I am grateful for it.

Two thumbs up from me.
We left Tuesday on the 6th at about 6pm.

I happened to turn 41 on this day and I really can't think of a better present to ones self than to go fishing for a few days with The Boys.
Giddy-yup.
The weekend before saw me sift through all sorts of wacky Bullshit at work and I was dying for some windshield time and some peace and quiet.
That is what I get paid to do and I am pretty good at it but it takes its toll on you spiritually.

I think we have all decided that the mad dash trips are behind us and when you plan a multiple day trip it is understood that you roll the dice a bit with the conditions.


The Michigan Rivers are nothing like ours.


It rained and rained...and then it rained some more. I was convinced that we would be fishing a mudslide on the first morning at least but it was clear.
Crystal in fact ..
Our rivers would've been at least 48 hrs from fishable.

On the first morning we decided to gamble a bit and run up to the Betsy River.

This is a river that I had only read about and I was dying to fish it.
OCD Morin had researched it a bit and after a pregame pow wow the night before over copious amounts of alcohol we were gung ho.


It sucked.

It was nice to look at but the shitrat factor was 9 mile-esque.

Arnold managed a fish and I will hate him forever for it.

The late evening bite had a Sawdust skunk waiting for us on water that was less than ideal.
Thats fishing...and I will take the good with the bad but I could feel the Michigan Black Cloud starting to settle above me and it was the sure beginning of a bummer.
It didn't help that the game plan for the morning was to fish Tippy Dam.

I personally wouldn't choose to fish Tippy Dam even if I could be guaranteed a 40 fish day.
I would rather stick a Michigan cricket in my eye but a fishing trip is a democracy and also I have learned to follow Morins nose when in Michigan.
Tippy Dan here we come.


That night saw even more rain and the river rose about a foot overnight....but still no colour.There were some fresh quality fish in the river.
Both Brian and I executed a couple of long distance releases right off the hop just down from the first bend.
As per the Michigan usual there were about 20 million smolts and Browns in the river and we hiked like mad to get away from them.

At Suicide opposite the stairs we got to watch Morin find his groove with some pretty sweet droppies.
As for me?..
I fell in the water and just about drown....a snow storm came in and I was just about ready to kill myself in honour of the place.
Long story short...
We regrouped and hit the Suicide run from the opposite side after some HotDogs and Beer back at the cabin.


The first fish I hit was a beauty and I was sure I was going to lose it....but I didn't and just like that the weight was gone...

LOL
Then just in case I missed the point the fish gods threw me another one on the next drift.


Morin got a beautiful dime bright fresh fish that I just about lost for him when I tried to tail it whilst filming...
Very dumb..
Surely Beer induced...

I am stupid when I am sober so you can just imagine.


Great trip regardless of the timing.


During the last morning I overheard a Driftboat Guide that I am pretty sure was Tim Roller say the following to his clients.

"Do you see those Center-Pin guys over there?....Those are Canadians...that is a pretty good indication....
If they're not catching fish then the fish aren't here"
LOL
It actually filled me with a rare moment of Canuck pride.
The evening bite at the Suicide run was very low pressure and was a very peaceful moment that I am sure wouldn't have been available if the run was teeming with fish.


That is a trade off that I am fine with..
Good times.
Now back to reality
...Or is it away from reality??????
The lines are starting to Blur...

What are Friends For?

Turn the sound down if kids are in the room.
Here I try and tail Morins hot fresh run fish while filming it with the camera....
Maybe not such a good idea after all.
Some fish you can do everything right and still lose them while some it seems you can do everything wrong..
Funny.
Nice fish.....
I'll have to try harder next time to knock it off.

Morins Dime Bright Steelhead and my clumsy tailing effort from Gene Norland on Vimeo.

Roe

A roe crisis has seemed to have snuck up on us.
The last season or so has been riding on the gift of Muskegon roe that Jeff Stuhan so generously provided.
The gift came with such alacrity that we(I) foolishly assumed that we'd get more this winter when we made our what has become a yearly trip in his boat for Muskegon Chrome.
Jeff wasn't so free with his roe this year.
:o/


I don't blame him one bit and he is still a great guy and all that but we were kind of counting on him to replenish the stock.
Not so lucky this year.

With the Michigan trip looming things were looking pretty grim.
I had about a half a days worth of the Magic Muskegon tied up left over and I seemed to be in denial about my predicament.



I left it until yesterday to really start looking into buying some.

Apparently roe is a little hard to come by this year?

The three tackle stores I tried just laughed when I asked them about Rainbow roe but I did manage to procure some pretty sweet looking King Roe.

The local store The Outdoorsmen had 2 lbs for sale loose...SCORE!

I would've bought both but the girl that worked there begged me not too until they could see if they could get more in.

LOL

Suffice to say that there may be a few unlucky Michigan Hens with very little time left.

Having said that I am sure to get skunked.

Other than that ...nothing really fishy to report....
My nuts are still a little tender and I bought a really cool amp today....

Convalescent

Ouch...
Well,
I am now hopefully sterile....
It wasn't the worst thing that I have had to endure but it was far from pleasant.
Here I am on my third day and I am left with just a wee achy feeling.....
Not quite ready to go horseback riding but getting a tad stir crazy for sure.
My Tiger Woods golf game is right off the chart.
I just finished shooting a 49 at Sawgrass....I can't be stopped.
Thursday I was bed ridden which sucked ass except for the March Madness tournament that took me by surprise. It has been one of the few things that have kept me sane over the past few days.
I used to love The Big Dance....
I was a basketball junky...the only sport that I really loved.
I was never an athlete but I could shoot the fucking lights out!!!
;o)
I was always impressed with the pure shooters in the game as opposed to freak of nature dunking Cretans.
Lying in bed with my feet propped up watching March Madness I got to thinking of some of the best shooters...besides myself :0) ...that have ever played the game.
Allan Houston
Reggie Miller
Drazen Petrovic
Larry Bird
....But considering college only I would say that the greatest shooter that I'd ever seen was Shawn Respert from MSU.

I used to LOVE watching that guy do his thing.
That dude had range the minute he got off the bus.
I never did understand why he never amounted to much in the pro game...he was a man among boys in the college ranks...??
..So I hobbled downstairs and Googled it.
Shawn Respert
Poor bastard ended up with stomach cancer in his rookie year. He tried to keep it a secret for years.
Very sad.
Sounds like he landed on his feet though.He is currently working for the Houston Rockets in some capacity.
And here I am with just some sore stones.
Anyhoo
I am looking forward to some fishing in the near future.
There is nothing like a freshly shorn scrotum....quite breathtaking....

Dare I Say It?

It looks and feels like we are on the hill now..
Today it supposed to get up to 7 degrees and I can almost feel the season changing right out from under me.
This last blast of winter has really knocked the wind out of my sails and I can't wait for some spring weather.
Morin has secured the spring camp on the Manistee and even though we'll have to do some scrambling for roe I am looking forward to it like a starving man looking for crumbs.
I have a fair amount of time off this spring between the Spring trip and my upcoming....ah hem....procedure ...
I have finally booked my snip job.


Although considering that they do it with lazers now I don't know if "snip" is the right term for it.
Maybe Han Solo will come in and give me a blaster in the nuts from across the room...either way they better get it right.....I love all these kids but WE ARE DONE....and I wouldn't want any other surprises.
The nurse at the consult has a great sense of humour.
Kimi had to work that day so I brought Avery....who was still sleeping from the ride into town....in with me.
She was draped over my shoulder sawing logs when I walked into the office.
The nurse looked me up and down and said "Well this is ironic isn't it?"
...she has no idea...


Ah,... I can't imagine my life without that little monkey now and we have been having a ton of fun these past few months.
To be honest I have enjoyed the downtime aside from the usual shack nasty - stir craziness that settles in right around the end of February.


Work has been fun lately as well.....It is still work but occasionally things happen that are encouraging and that I can be proud of.
I could be digging ditches for a living.
I crave fishing ...
There is talk of the Perch Fest and a return to Downrigging with my buddy Jason this year and I am cautiously optimistic...the real trick is finding the time and he is a busy MFer.
At the very least I have a good chunk of time off for the Salmon Derby and Opening Day...I am not sure if I will fish the opener but I am sure it wouldn't be too hard to talk myself into it.


Last year was fun.
I have even been thinking about the Pickeral Drift with an aching heart...lol
Absense makes the heart grow fonder and all that jazz...you never remember the bad shit..
Maybe that is as it should be

Give me Strength..

So I have finally got a couple of days off work.
I just put three 12-12 shifts in the can and got about 4 hrs sleep last night.
I am wiped.
I awoke this morning to find out that Ella has come down with something and she is laid up on the couch with a fever....
Nice!
Winter has decided to rear its ugly head once again and even though this has been a relatively soft winter...especially after last years meatgrinding horror show...this latest snowy round has me a wee bit down and out...

Aves first toboggan run Feb14 2010 from Gene Norland on Vimeo.

My youngest daughter loves it however...

Spring can't come soon enough....
It could very well be that another Stuhan trip is the medicine that I am looking for....

I Wonder If Tim Hortons Is Hiring???

Interesting day at work last shift in....

I can't say too much about it other than the fact that it is the kind of thing that you look forward to but when it happens things can get heavy in a real hurry...

I wonder if I will ever get used to the idea that this shit really exists?

I guess I'd better.

Salmon Part II

...You know?...
I do miss the Salmon.

I miss the trips to the river in Full Shitrat regalia...Jello cured Skeins the size of golf balls...giant k9 like teeth on fish that are half rotten and that have morphed into something out of a science fiction movie...

I recall a trip to the Bighead in Sept where I went 0 for 11 on giant salmon and drove all the way home smiling!!

My father in law and I used to chase the salmon around on that river during an annual family trip to Collingwood.

He used to just love it...

I used to have all kinds of skein left over from the open water boat stuff of the late summer and the nasty old boots would literally chase the giant skein balls once they hit the water.
There needn't be any subtlety to the drift...and Gerry was all over it!!!

This picture he has on a shelf in his sun room ....much to his wifes chagrin.
;o)


I remember an afternoon with JDA at Inverhuron watching a big old fella with no eyes left still trying desperately to defend his turf and secure his right to mate with the ladies present.
I love sex ...but if I had to go to that kind of bother?
There used to be a brilliant Coho run at Sauble falls and some of the males were as red as tomatoes..


World class fishing...


I haven't seen one there in some time.


Lots have taken a run trying to pay tribute to the trials of the migrating Salmon...
The relentless heroism of the fish returning to its natal stream...and all that ....it is almost cliche.
I have neither the energy or the skills to wax poetic about the stinky old river rats...
..But I do know that one day this past fall I stopped my hike to watch two lonely old Kings do the dance and my heart went out them...
Dislocated and now struggling....
It was sad and beautiful
The Alewife problem is gone...well done....maybe too well done.

Salmon

Last night Jason (Jackass) and I got together for some Skeeters Chicken Wings and Beer.
It had been too long..
Life can do that to you if you are not careful. It is tough to keep in touch when life is a warzone and I really hope things settle down enough in the near future for us to pick up somewhat where we left off.

I miss the fishing we used to do together.

Back when we were all a tight knit group J-Mike talked me into buying a boat with him....he used to talk me into a lot of shit.....all of which usually turned out to be a lot of fun....and invariably had us in and out of the matrimonial doghouse.
This boat purchase was no exception...taxed with the hairy eyeballs we'd get from wives and inlaws...
I miss the boats.
We had some catching up to do last night and it made me realize how much I missed his company.
Over coffee this morning I decided to take a trip down memory lane.
Some of the pictures had me laughing out loud.
Fuck I have aged...

Here is a picture of our first boat...LOL...
If I remember correctly boat,motor and trailer cost us $300.oo.

All of our Boats were Christened "The Blind Squirrel".....
As in "even a blind Squirrel will find a nut if it looks long enough".....


Well maybe at the beginning but towards the end we really had our shit together ...so much so that we smoked the Izumi team in the Tournament of Champions....
I think we came in 11th out of fifty or so boats...
Not too shabby.
;o)
...oddly enough this first boat leaked.
LOL
Come to think of it all of our boats leaked....but then thats why god gave us bilge pumps....and CBs...
:oO
Here is our second boat.


I think that this boat was my favourite even though it almost sank on us out at the shipwrecks....geesh ...there is an irony there I had never considered before!
LOL
I got the biggest salmon of my life in this boat and I will never forget it.
I had just put our first line down as we were pulling out of Port Credit..
Pop goes the rod and it just starts singin....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz....
By the time we got the boat turned the linecounter read just under 500 ft!
Screamers indeed.
I have tried like hell to locate the picture and I haven't given up either.
I had dug it out last year because I was sure that it was going to make the TOP TEN list but decided at the last minute to leave the salmon out of it.
It was an oinker that went just under 22 lbs....
Fun stuff.
The biggest fish we ever took in any of thses boats was a King from Lake Ontario.
We'd arrived at Bluffers to the thickest fog anyone had ever seen.
Rather than exercise common sense we went out anyway....Fuck it...we had the GPS...what else did we need!

This is a pic of Jason on the bow....you can't see two feet into the distance.
we hammered fish that day and that fish was just a hair under 30LBS.
Dumb ...but made a great story.
Over a two - three year period we went through 5 boats upgrading each time.
Here are the photos..and to be honest I can't be sure of the chronology!


Memory is a funny thing.


The last boat we drove deep into Quebec for only to run into an irate Francophone that could barely communicate to us that he'd expected to be paid in US funds!!!
Always drama and always a story...


Man I hope that fucking guy is dead.
Life...
We finally got the boat of our dreams just in time for kids to come along and place all of this on the back burner.


Distant memories now...but very good ones.
At some point I will own a boat again.

I have been thinking a lot about salmon lately...mostly because we were counting on Jeff Stuhan for some roe!!!
...and were bitterly disappointed.
That stuff was awesome this year and I have just under one trip left of it.
The poor old salmon don't get a whole lot of respect and I remember the quest to find a loose one at the beginning of every season.
It was never too hard...they were everywhere.
When I am with roe and on the prowl for Steelies I don't miss them much.
Do you remember how the rivers used to stink in the fall?
If not just make a trip to the Oak or Dirty B in late Sept/OCt....
There are still few Tules kickin about down at this end of the lake but it will never be like it was....
And ...anybody who has had a high teens fish take a bait in early spring will never look down his nose at the KINGS again.
Heres to em...