A wee Maine fishing trip

[Blue Raider Bob]

16 hours ago, Eric 26 said:

I could write a novel on how awesome your dock is but all I’m going to say is, That is freaking awesome!!!!! As a former framing carpenter I really appreciate your time and eye for detail ?? As far as your otter story I’m glad I wasn’t drinking anything when I read that as my phone would be covered?

Thanks Eric!

I also used to frame many years (decades) ago. I framed back in the day when every house was a 4/12 ranch and it was way easy. Nowadays the houses I supply ( I sell building materials) are so cut up....well you know, but I still have that itch, as I'm sure you do. I get a wild hair and just build something. There are structures all all over the farm. Lately I have been fighting itches and just go fishing!

One thing about the otter I failed to mention......I was dozing off in a chair like I sometimes do when he (it was huge) shot through the observation hole onto the deck at my feet. If I would have been standing, I would have cracked my head on a dock post trying to get away! It really scared the daylights out of me! 

[Blue Raider Bob]

14 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Bob, you don't just live in Heaven; YOU BUILT HEAVEN!

 

It's so cool to see the depth of fellow fishers. I'm a hard worker too and they say that game knows game in sports, well, hard work knows hard work. You're creative too. I love your fish viewing hole and I love your otter stories. I also love that you feed your fish. 

 

Since you shared a winter shot, I'll share one of one of my winter gardens. The raised beds are limestone. The pathways are rose quartz. It has a secret garden in one corner and a tea garden in another, which you can't see. I used architectural elements from Victorian houses, and I laid three patios and two paver sidewalks. My current garden under construction is much bigger and the garden between the one in the photo and the current one was featured in Maine Woman magazine. I do 99% of the work myself. The only work I can't do are the big boulders and I have to hire a man and a machine to lift those. I just built five raised beds from Hemlock for my current garden and like the garden in the photo, it also a secret section, which is a Japanese garden. 

 

Jeremy, I've designed my Maine garden to ease me through the winter. I built two mounded beds in front of my house. One is planted with red twig dogwoods, with branches that grow redder the colder it grows. The other is planted with yellow twig dogwoods, which turn gold in the cold. My driveway is lined with Paperbark maples, which at their most beautiful in the winter with their cinnamon and salmon-colored exfoliating bark and I've also planted over a hundred evergreens. 

 

Eric, I like what you wrote!

P.S. - Included a summer shot of the same garden too! I think it's funny how men and women react differently to my gardens.

 

Women say, "It's so beautiful!"

 

Men are quiet at first as they scan the garden and then they say, "This. was. a. lot. of. work." 

I can say both!

This is a lot of very hard work and is beyond beautiful! I really love the different tones of green in the summer garden. Very creative and I am envious. My gardens are very boring...just rows of beans, corn, squash, ect. And they are dreadful to work in July and August down here. I would rather build something or fish! Thank you for sharing.

If you look at the dock picture with the snow you will see an automatic fish feeder from Moultrie. These things are terrific. It is solar powered and feeds my Bluegills three times a day. They hang around the dock and are almost tame in a way. Speaking of which, I have Molly,(my resident Red-Eared Slider), who showed up four years ago and has remained. She is so tame she will eat out of my hand. The other turtles spook easily, but not Molly. When she sees me approaching the dock, she heads that way for a private feeding.

[ol'crickety]

Bob, I live in an area where a lot of rich New Yorkers and Bostonians have purchased seaside mansions. On paper, they own their properties, but not like you and I own our properties. I just put two arborvitaes in the ground, am about to plant a third, and then have to build a ring of granite cobbles around them. I live in granite country, so granite is affordable here. Heck, we build our curbs out of granite! I priced a three-step granite stoop yesterday at $810. What a deal! My current garden dwarfs the garden in the pics I shared. It's about five times its size, but no pics until it's done. My last garden was also huge. 

 

Thanks for the photo of Molly! I would love to feed her too. 

 

How big do your bluegills get? Do you catch and eat them or are they pets? How big do your bass get? Pics, PLEASE!

[Blue Raider Bob]

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

Bob, I live in an area where a lot of rich New Yorkers and Bostonians have purchased seaside mansions. On paper, they own their properties, but not like you and I own our properties. I just put two arborvitaes in the ground, am about to plant a third, and then have to build a ring of granite cobbles around them. I live in granite country, so granite is affordable here. Heck, we build our curbs out of granite! I priced a three-step granite stoop yesterday at $810. What a deal! My current garden dwarfs the garden in the pics I shared. It's about five times its size, but no pics until it's done. My last garden was also huge. 

 

Thanks for the photo of Molly! I would love to feed her too. 

 

How big do your bluegills get? Do you catch and eat them or are they pets? How big do your bass get? Pics, PLEASE!

I do not eat the fish because I treat them as pets AND I don't like fish! As one of eight kids, and no money, we had fried Bream (Bluegill and anything close to Bluegill) often. Headless and with all fins still attached. I loved catchin' with canepole and crickets, but I hated cleaning and eating!

My pond is four years old and it was built with a plastic liner because our ground does not hold water. It is fed with a solar powered well pump. It is stocked with local lake catches as well as baby bluegill and bass that are stranded when my wet weather creek dries up in the summer. They are washed into the creek from farm ponds further upstream. I had several nice size bluegills until the otter family moved in and ate them ,as well as all my larger bass. Since the otters have been discouraged from returning, some of my bluegill are getting up to 1/2 lb. I also have several bass over two and maybe a few over three, and I definitely have "Bertha" in the pond at 5lb 3 oz when I brought her home from the Cumberland a couple months back.

I don't eat the fish but I am fascinated by them and observe daily. I toss out feed and the Bluegill gather, followed by an explosion or two. Don't see how the bass catch them because the Bluegill are lightning fast.

They are also a barometer of sorts for fishing trips. Some days I'll toss out a handful and the Bluegill with bust the feed from all directions. That's the day I hook up the boat!

Other times the feed will set for 15 minutes without any takers. That's the day I sit on the dock!

 

Just now, Blue Raider Bob said:

I do not eat the fish because I treat them as pets AND I don't like fish! As one of eight kids, and no money, we had fried Bream (Bluegill and anything close to Bluegill) often. Headless and with all fins still attached. I loved catchin' with canepole and crickets, but I hated cleaning and eating!

My pond is four years old and it was built with a plastic liner because our ground does not hold water. It is fed with a solar powered well pump. It is stocked with local lake catches as well as baby bluegill and bass that are stranded when my wet weather creek dries up in the summer. They are washed into the creek from farm ponds further upstream. I had several nice size bluegills until the otter family moved in and ate them ,as well as all my larger bass. Since the otters have been discouraged from returning, some of my bluegill are getting up to 1/2 lb. I also have several bass over two and maybe a few over three, and I definitely have "Bertha" in the pond at 5lb 3 oz when I brought her home from the Cumberland a couple months back.

I don't eat the fish but I am fascinated by them and observe daily. I toss out feed and the Bluegill gather, followed by an explosion or two. Don't see how the bass catch them because the Bluegill are lightning fast.

They are also a barometer of sorts for fishing trips. Some days I'll toss out a handful and the Bluegill with bust the feed from all directions. That's the day I hook up the boat!

Other times the feed will set for 15 minutes without any takers. That's the day I sit on the dock!

 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

6 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

I do not eat the fish because I treat them as pets AND I don't like fish! As one of eight kids, and no money, we had fried Bream (Bluegill and anything close to Bluegill) often. Headless and with all fins still attached. I loved catchin' with canepole and crickets, but I hated cleaning and eating!

My pond is four years old and it was built with a plastic liner because our ground does not hold water. It is fed with a solar powered well pump. It is stocked with local lake catches as well as baby bluegill and bass that are stranded when my wet weather creek dries up in the summer. They are washed into the creek from farm ponds further upstream. I had several nice size bluegills until the otter family moved in and ate them ,as well as all my larger bass. Since the otters have been discouraged from returning, some of my bluegill are getting up to 1/2 lb. I also have several bass over two and maybe a few over three, and I definitely have "Bertha" in the pond at 5lb 3 oz when I brought her home from the Cumberland a couple months back.

I don't eat the fish but I am fascinated by them and observe daily. I toss out feed and the Bluegill gather, followed by an explosion or two. Don't see how the bass catch them because the Bluegill are lightning fast.

They are also a barometer of sorts for fishing trips. Some days I'll toss out a handful and the Bluegill with bust the feed from all directions. That's the day I hook up the boat!

Other times the feed will set for 15 minutes without any takers. That's the day I sit on the dock!

 

Lol, I used to use my Koi Pond as a barometer for going fishing, throw some pellets, see their reactions.....not once did I ever not go fishing when the Koi didn't eat the pellets ?

 

Awesome job, beautiful lake.    Those are about as fun of a project as you can have, lots of work, but very rewarding creating diverse ecology out of nothing.  

[Blue Raider Bob]

Just realized these picts are from 2018. The pond is six years. Time flies!

2 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

Just realized these picts are from 2018. The pond is six years. Time flies!

My God my math is horrible!!

It's four years old. 2018 to 2022

 

[TnRiver46]

@Blue Raider Bob, I need to borrow you for about 6 months. 

[Blue Raider Bob]

17 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

@Blue Raider Bob, I need to borrow you for about 6 months. 

As long as we get to wet a line within site of the Greatest Building in the World! 

Go Vols!!!!

And my Blue Raiders who have dropped two since they went to Miami and beat the Canes!

[AlabamaSpothunter]

51 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

Just realized these picts are from 2018. The pond is six years. Time flies!

My God my math is horrible!!

It's four years old. 2018 to 2022

 

2020 counts as two years.....it was like 1968 in terms of historical happenings lol 

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

As long as we get to wet a line within site of the Greatest Building in the World! 

Go Vols!!!!

And my Blue Raiders who have dropped two since they went to Miami and beat the Canes!

Deal! Haha

[ol'crickety]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

@Blue Raider Bob, I need to borrow you for about 6 months. 

We all want to borrow Bob. I think there should be a Bob lottery. 

 

"I won! I won! I won the lottery!" I'd be shouting.

 

"How much did you win? A mil? Two mil?"

 

"Oh, I won so much more than that."

 

"Five mil? Fifty mil?"

 

"No, silly. I won Bob for six months."

[TnRiver46]

1 minute ago, ol'crickety said:

We all want to borrow Bob. I think there should be a Bob lottery. 

 

"I won! I won! I won the lottery!" I'd be shouting.

 

"How much did you win? A mil? Two mil?"

 

"Oh, I won so much more than that."

 

"Five mil? Fifty mil?"

 

"No, silly. I won Bob for six months."

I’ve got a deck to build, and he’s just the guy! Haha

 

he would have it done in 4 days and fish the rest of the time. The deck is at a lake house! Haha

[ol'crickety]

Just now, TnRiver46 said:

I’ve got a deck to build, and he’s just the guy! Haha

Wait your turn. I have a pond to build with a floating dock with a fish feeding hole and Bob's just the guy. FYI, Bob, I will take you fishing every evening. How do 40-bass evenings sound? And I fry some mean taters and sausage for the mornings. 

[TnRiver46]

2 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

Wait your turn. I have a pond to build with a floating dock with a fish feeding hole and Bob's just the guy. FYI, Bob, I will take you fishing every evening. How do 40-bass evenings sound? And I fry some mean taters and sausage for the mornings. 

40 bass is the trump card, takes me a month to catch that many 

[Blue Raider Bob]

Just now, ol'crickety said:

Wait your turn. I have a pond to build with a floating dock with a fish feeding hole and Bob's just the guy. FYI, Bob, I will take you fishing every evening. How do 40-bass evenings sound? And I fry some mean taters and sausage for the mornings. 

Can't believe the outpouring of love! I'm humbled. Tater's and sausage, 40-bass evenings. All I have to do is build a pond (which I love). I've got two other small ones I've built. One with a completely covered rock bank from digging up rocks on the farms. I would feel honoured and blessed to build your pond and TnRiver46's deck!

[ol'crickety]

Just now, TnRiver46 said:

40 bass is the trump card, takes me a month to catch that many 

YES!! I'll even paddle for Bob to give him a shot at 50 or 60. Heck, if he installs a solar-powered fish feeder at my BOB-Pond (TM), I'll take him to my honey hole, the secret one in the woods, and give him a shot at 70 fish with four and five-pounders quite possible.

1 minute ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

Can't believe the outpouring of love! I'm humbled. Tater's and sausage, 40-bass evenings. All I have to do is build a pond (which I love). I've got two other small ones I've built. One with a completely covered rock bank from digging up rocks on the farms. I would feel honoured and blessed to build your pond and TnRiver46's deck!

[Blue Raider Bob]

4 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

YES!! I'll even paddle for Bob to give him a shot at 50 or 60. Heck, if he installs a solar-powered fish feeder at my BOB-Pond (TM), I'll take him to my honey hole, the secret one in the woods, and give him a shot at 70 fish with four and five-pounders quite possible.

Wow! I'm really ruint now. It's hard enough trying to figure out how to build this house I'm staring at without the exciting distractions of a guided trip through the marshes of Maine with a kind, generous, new fishing friend, (who is paddling) with the thoughts of taters and sausage and 70 honey hole fish! No, friends....it is I who just won the lottery!

21 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’ve got a deck to build, and he’s just the guy! Haha

 

he would have it done in 4 days and fish the rest of the time. The deck is at a lake house! Haha

Decks take a lot longer when they are attached to a lake house! Trip to truck to grab a toolbox and come back with a tacklebox! How does that happen?

[ol'crickety]

You're the best, Bob.

[Eric 26]

@ol'crickety I ran out of time yesterday to comment on how beautiful your work is ? I guess you can count me in as one of the men who would comment on that being a lot of work ? Your paper maples description brought back memories of my mother’s favorite tree from the house I grew up in, it was a white paper birch. When my parents moved if there was a way me and my siblings could have had that tree transported to there new house we would have tried our best to have made it happen. As I said about @Blue Raider Bob both of you have an eye for detail I just don’t possess, in my relationship I let my wife plan it out and either I or both of us will figure it out as we go. As far as my building days go there was a time many years ago when I didn’t mind being on a 8/12 pitch roof or working in open elevator shafts 10 floors open in a high rise but now looking at @TnRiver46 pics from his trapping forum I get shaky just seeing them. Which reminds me I can’t compete for the talents of any of you guys?

[Blue Raider Bob]

14 hours ago, Eric 26 said:

@ol'crickety I ran out of time yesterday to comment on how beautiful your work is ? I guess you can count me in as one of the men who would comment on that being a lot of work ? Your paper maples description brought back memories of my mother’s favorite tree from the house I grew up in, it was a white paper birch. When my parents moved if there was a way me and my siblings could have had that tree transported to there new house we would have tried our best to have made it happen. As I said about @Blue Raider Bob both of you have an eye for detail I just don’t possess, in my relationship I let my wife plan it out and either I or both of us will figure it out as we go. As far as my building days go there was a time many years ago when I didn’t mind being on a 8/12 pitch roof or working in open elevator shafts 10 floors open in a high rise but now looking at @TnRiver46 pics from his trapping forum I get shaky just seeing them. Which reminds me I can’t compete for the talents of any of you guys?

Eric I totally get that. Back in the day I would fearlessly walk a top plate...on the second floor......now I won't walk a top plate on the first floor! 8/12 is too much for me now. I won't even ride my daughters horses any more because they are too far off the ground. Falls hurt worse than they used to!

[ol'crickety]

I'm fraidy cat of heights now too. I painted my two-story garage this summer EXCEPT for the tippy-top, i.e. the eaves and I hired a young man for that.

 

Speaking of wee Maine fishing trips, I'm going fishing tomorrow or Saturday. There aren't enough bass pics being posted, so someone has to represent bassresource.com's fishers.  

[Blue Raider Bob]

6 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

I'm fraidy cat of heights now too. I painted my two-story garage this summer EXCEPT for the tippy-top, i.e. the eaves and I hired a young man for that.

 

Speaking of wee Maine fishing trips, I'm going fishing tomorrow or Saturday. There aren't enough bass pics being posted, so someone has to represent bassresource.com's fishers.  

Looking forward to more Bass pics!!!

I'm going to the Tennessee River tomorrow afternoon and to the Cumberland Sunday. Would go Saturday as well but Saturday is farm day. Expected high temps in low 70's!!!!   What a spoiled life we lead!