Busy Life

I just realized that I've written absolutely nothing for far too long. Fishing season is almost upon us. As a typical marine mechanic, I am too busy working on everyone else's boat to do anything except look at my own. I have been busy in past weeks and months getting my house ready to sell because the woman I've been seeing for 9 1/2 years is going to be my wife soon. She also has a house she will be selling (fortunately hers doesn't need any work done) and we will need to find a new house to live in. This property has to have a shop on it or enough room for me to build a shop so I can start to build a marine business for myself. I still have full intentions of publishing before and after pictures of an old camp boat I bought and restored. You won't believe it's the same boat! Once everything is more settled in my personal life, I will work on updating the blog and writing articles on a more regular basis.

Ice breakers are busy on the Red River just north of Winnipeg prior to ice breakup to try to make water flow better when the ice starts to break up on its own. This works well provided there is not a winter storm during this time to mess things up. This year, it got messed up and there are ice jams in front of and behind the locks at Lockport. The launch at Lockport is under water, and the cabins have ice and water almost up to the doors. If the water levels rise any more, there is a possibility that the ice will destroy those cabins. Unfortunately, this video was taken with a camera with far too little zoom, but it's still a moderately interesting watch.



We drove up to Lockport yesterday (it took a LONG time to upload the video, hence the delay in posting pictures) and were more than surprised by what we found. Floods are nothing new in the Red River valley, but this ice jam is something else!



This is what the Red looks like in summer. This is just north of the locks, between the locks and Cats on the Red launch. The next picture is roughly the same vantage point yesterday.































This is what it looks like on the north side of the locks in summer, and again yesterday.





























This is what the launch and cabins look like yesterday. If you zoom in, you can see the ice is almost at the steps of the cabins.















This is what "stupid" looks like: You climb over and through locked gates and disregard yellow tape that says "Danger". He walked through flood waters to get here. If the ice had shifted, he would have been a goner. I don't know what part of locked gates and "danger" he didn't understand . . . . .

Rock Lake, Manitoba

Cutting a hole in the ice at the east end of Rock Lake.











Ice fishing at the west launch.













Summer sunset taken from east end launch - I guess it shows this is our favorite place to launch!











Typical shoreline at Rock Lake in mid July











End of May - prime fishing time on Rock Lake











Also the east end launch. Some spring flooding happening.












These are taken from the east end launch in spring.

Waiting For Summer Fishing

Somehow, going out fishing in the winter just isn't the same as fishing in the summer. Although there is something to be said for cutting holes in the ice and trying to entice cold and lazy fish to feed on what you push down the hole, summer fishing is far more enjoyable for this blogger. Fishing on the open water in a boat, or sitting at the shore, basking in balmy weather, listening to birds, watching insects on the water, seeing the occasional frog - these are things you can't have in these cold and dreary winter months. Sure, you can lay on the ice and look into the hole you've cut, but it's no substitute for summer fishing. I look forward to fishing for cats, goldeye, crappies, perch, pike and walleye by casting over the open water. More another time on what kind of bait to use, other tips and tricks, and stories. Fish on!

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