G.R.U.B.

Sorry I took so long to post. Labor Day weekend was an adventure to say the least. Carl and I thought it would be a great idea for us to bring our girlfriends on a primitive camping trip along the Au Sable River. Not only were we boating over to our campsite, we were going to have convince these girls to pooop in the woods.

We rented two aluminum fishing boats with huge 15 horse motors powering them. Lauren(lil bear) and I were first on the scene. We headed up river to our campsite which was on a 40’ bluff. Everything we brought(and if you are a camper you know what’s involved) had to be lugged up the side of the river.

Carl(C-LO) and Ginger arrived shortly after and we proceeded to set up an elaborate base camp. We had the works!

I brought up a specialty item. A potato gun that most military officers wish they had! A couple of miss fires but I think I have the kinks worked out.

Now on to the scenery….ahhh, great to be away from city life if only for a few days!! Bald Eagles circling above awaiting their next dive to the river below. Signs of deer and the chance of a bear snuggling next to your cooler was all part of the experience, I was telling Lauren(which she did not find all that funny).

The night life was great. After a fine meal(which took me three hours to cook), we set a blaze our small fire.

We partied the night away and obviously I had a little too much of Ginger’s special concoction! I guess I was the only bear they heard that night.

Fishing….SLLOOOOOW.

My one thought when I arrived was how am I going to get these monster Pike in the boat without a net. It turned out I didn’t need a net, I needed some help from the locals. Navigating these waters was tough to say the least. If you didn’t stay in the natural river pattern, you were lost in a mess of weeds. No depth finders and a lack of knowledge lead to many complications. But at least I found the small guys. After I caught the smallest Large Mouth ever recorded, I hooked up with a monster Pike which I saw hit right at the boat. It engulfed the whole lure and after a 15 second fight, it chomped through 14lb. Test like it was 4lb. I cried like a baby for the rest of the night. Steal leaders…that’s all I’m going to say.

All in all, what a great trip with friends! Next year I will be prepared to do battle with the fish in the Au Sable River!!!