A Few of the Turkeys We Saw A Couple Weeks Ago

As we took a ride around the Lake a couple weeks ago we came across theses Turkeys.  They didn’t seem to be too bothered by our presence as they slowly walked away and crossed the highway in to the woods.

Mona's Sandhill Crane Photo

Last Saturday I had a Fishing Club Meeting at the Walleyes For Tomorrow Office in Fond Du Lac, WI. (About 85 miles from Cecil.) There was some pretty good stretches of fog every once in a while so it was a little tuff to see where we were from time to time. Below is one of the photos that Mona snapped in once area where the fog lifted some. It was taken about midway between Navarino and Black Creek.

Mona caught this photo last Saturday morning.

One Way Trip on Shawano Lake on 10/10/2010

Sunday morning we got up and made our breakfast as usual. Hooked up the boat to the van and took off to Cecil to fill the boat with gas before heading out to Shawano Lake.  We didn't want to run out of gas like we did a few outings ago while we were out by the Island. We got on the lake shortly after 8:30 or so. (Click on photos to enlarge)



Mona caught and released this 5 inch Largemouth while fishing for Bluegills.

While heading down the outlet toward the river we spotted a pair of Eagles.

A short time later we came upon another pair of Eagles. One of them flew away before we could get a picture of them.

We fished for about 3 hours for Bass and Northern with little success. Being somewhat bored and needing to put a couple meals of fish in our freezer we decided to fish for Bluegills. Between the two of us, we caught about 20 of them but nothing with any size worth putting in the livewell.

The decision was made to head over to The Lighthouse Bar near the Airport to hit the rest rooms and get a couple cans of soda since the weather was beginning to warm up a little bit. Once returning to the boat we decided that we would head down the outlet towards downtown Shawano. While motoring towards downtown at a no wake speed, John kept on snapping photos of the fall scenery that surrounded us. By the end of the day he had over 150 photos.

After going as far as we wanted we turned around and ran wide open up to the no wake area a few hundred yards from the bridge we go under to go back towards the lake. All of a sudden the alarm on the motor went off indicating the the motor had over heated on us. John shut the motor of right away so that we wouldn't cause any damage to the motor. We had been traveling through a lot of weeds in the water and the motor probably wasn't getting enough water to cool it properly.

We used the trolling motor again to get us over to the marina right by the bridge and tied up to one of their docks and waited for the motor to cool down so that we could head back home and watch the rest of the Packer Game. The motor wouldn't start after several attempts over a period of time. Here we are nearly 8 miles from our van and boat trailer and we can't get the boat started.

Mona had her cell phone so she called one of our neighbors who was kind enough to pick John up and run him back to our vehicle. The marina had a boat launch, however it is not in the best condition. We got the boat on the trailer after a lot of effort but when we tried to pull the trailer out of the water the front wheels of the van only spun and wouldn't move. We had to push the boat back into the water and move the trailer out of the water a little more. The landing has a drastic 6 inch straight down drop that the trailer tires got stuck on.  Now there were no trailer rollers in the water so it was going to be a job getting the boat out.  We were lucky that there was a women who stopped to check out the area for fishing and a guy with a jet ski who wanted to launch showed up. After a good amount of effort from the four of us we got the boat on the trailer and this time the van had no problem pulling it out. (The motor started the next day after changing the spark plugs.)

Route Lake, Ontario Fishing Trip Photos (4)

Mona caught and released this cute little Northern Pike. She had one that would have been in the slot size get off right by the boat. John couldn't get the net under it fast enough and it spit the hook. The second photo above is part of the elaborate solar system set up at the Lodge to produce electricity. We couldn't run the hair dryer but it worked out well.

Another shot from the kitchen table. It appears to be Miller Time... This young Loon was photographed by John from the deck by the Cabin. One night there were 8 Eagles flying around us putting on an arial show for at least 20-25 minutes.

Glen and Shirley Roulston were our hosts at Route Lake Lodge and they really made us feel welcome. We won the trip that they had donated to our fishing club and we were the last and only people visiting the Lodge the week of Labor Day. Although they were happy the season was over, they still went out of their way to make sure we enjoyed ourselves and put us on some fish. No... Mona's not washing her face here, she's getting a drink of water from a natural spring that's been providing great tasting water for years. We never would have found it on our own, but it was pointed out to us by one of Shirley's relatives as we happened to be following him when we left for home.

Most of the people that know us know that Mona likes to collect things with a Moose on them. Please note the road sign on the right. The black diagonal line on the GPS is the US/Canadian border. We have 478 miles and 8 hours and 22 minutes before we get home, (had we gone straight home).

There's a Few Blue Huron on the Chippewa Flowage

This is the first series of photos presented here regarding the Blue Hurons in the Chippewa Flowage area near Hayward, WI. in northern Wisconsin.

A few years ago a "hail storm" hit the area and damage many of the nests and eggs for that season. It appears to me that the birds numbers are hanging in there for now, but it also appears to me that the trees that held the nests are beginning to deteriorate as well as the nests themselves.

The Stalking Blue Huron on the Big Chip

One day while fishing in our favorite crappie spot this Blue Huron kept coming back to a small bog that had raised from the bottom of the Lake and would stand like a soldier on guard and wait for it's prey to make its' deadly mistake. The bird did this about 3 or 4 times over a period of and hour and a half or so and here are a few of the stills I captured from his efforts.

Any of you who know me know I like to fish but when you have entertainment like this in front of you, the fish can wait. It's really a privilege to watch these creatures in their own environment. Unfortunately for the bird, all of his efforts of trying to survive for the moment were fruitless.