4/1/2018 Sunday, Easter Sunday and April Fool’s Day We sleep in until 8 and finally force ourselves to go to McDonald’s where there is a new kiosk customers can use to place their orders. There is nobody behind the counter and the only visible worker is standing next to the new kiosk. As she takes […]
3/31/2018 Saturday We get up to the alarm and wander to the hotel office where breakfast awaits us: a pot of coffee; a stack of wrapped, generic granola bars; a tiny wrapped pastry; a Little Debbie stuffed, soft cookie; bananas and apples. So excited. We grab a little of this and that and head
The Gray Blur of a Manatee Read More »
3/30/2018 Friday According to Mapquest, it’s possible to get from Orange City to Crystal River in about two hours. Thus far, though, it’d taken much longer to get anywhere in Florida, and the more I’d been in a hurry, the more frustrating the traffic. To outsmart the traffic gods, I announce I’m in no hurry
The Not Always Crystal, Crystal River Read More »
3/28/2018 Wednesday, somewhere near Ocala When Bob Stonewater isn’t being a fishing guide for boneheads from Michigan, he sometimes participates in billiards tournaments. This evening being a tournament in Orlando, Bob chose a more local venue for fishing on lake called Lake Diaz. We meet him at the 7-11 and drove about 15 minutes to
Bob Suffers Two More Days Fishing with Mark and Amy Read More »
We start our morning at the Quality Inn lobby where we find cereal and milk, tiny pastries, a waffle maker, and eggs which have been cooked and flattened into a round shape to put on an English muffin with a sausage of the same shape. I go for the cereal, grab a piece of fruit
Florida Shiner Fishing – A Humbling First Day on the Water Read More »
We spend our first day in Florida getting acclimated to sunshine and warm air by touring three nearby springs. After a simple hotel breakfast of conveniently round eggs and round sausage on round muffins, we head to our truck and see this bird. It’s a mockingbird, and while known to sing up to 14 songs,
Fishing for Big Florida Bass – Day Three – the Springs Read More »
The thing about living in Michigan is that winters are long and it’s hard to fish our rivers and lakes several months of the year unless you like ice fishing. I’ve never gotten into ice fishing: I prefer certain alcoholic beverages on ice, as well as Coke. But standing on ice and waiting for a
Fishing for Big Bass – Getting There Read More »
We are up at five and finish packing, which consists of putting all sorts of damp clothes into a large duffle bag, all of which are starting to smell like wet athletic socks that have been storedin a locker for a month. Along with odiferous clothes are a bunch of unused, unopened lures Mark thought we’d
Peacock Bass Fishing in Brazil – 2016 – Day 10 – Almost Pooping My Pants Again Read More »
Friday: 2/5/2016 On the fifth day of fishing in the Amazon I awake in the middle of the night wondering what I’m doing here, because the pain in my right hand is constant, and when I stand up at what is about 4 a.m.—though I’m not sure because my watch is on the counter because my
Peacock Bass Fishing – 2016 – Day Nine – Oh No! Read More »
Thursday, 2/4/2016 I wake up at 4 a.m. with a crampy pain in my left hand and it takes an aspirin to help me get back to sleep again. It’s an interesting pain–puffiness mixed with tingliness in my hand, and when I place my arm just so on my bed I experience a ray of
Peacock Bass Fishing 2016 – Day 8 – My Trouble Begins Read More »