New Years Eve

No. I won't make it until midnight. Not even interested. We hung out at Deano's for about four hours this evening. They were closed but had a private party in the restaurant and believe it or not, I was invited. I know, it's hard to believe. It was a pretty good time. Nothing crazy, just hanging around, shooting the breeze. No catfish talk. There wasn't anybody else there that likes to chase catfish like I do.

Is it spring?

55 degrees today? Maybe 60 degrees in the next few days! Is it spring? No its not spring yet. This is just mother natures way of screwing with me. Cruel right? Not really. She can't help it. Thats just the way she is. I had lunch at Deano's in Rome, Iowa earlier today. The Skunk was still mostly froze over but the ice looked to be pretty slushy and wet on top. There were multiple snow mobile tracks on the ice. Hopefully they were made before the warm weather hit. No chance of trying a little ice fishing now.

I spent the morning browsing catfish websites, just being nosey. There are actually quite a few sites but many haven't been updated in several years. most of them require registration before you can use the site. I'm not the one doing all that. I just wanted to look around, not give them enough personal information to write my biography.

Other than that I am just enjoying my News Years break from work.

Work is done and its another four days off. The warm weather has stopped the ice fishing around here, I think. A fishing buddy is laid up with a bad back so I took a stack of magazines out to him so he would have something to read other than Louis L'Amour. Louis wasn't a fishermen, nor has he ever contributed to a fishing magzine! Maybe some of us need to pick our reading material a little more carefully! You know who you are!

Ice age

Took a drive down to the river just to see how things are. Mostly frozen above the dam, open from the dam down passed Faulkners. The Skunk is getting low and really clear. Too bad its not that clear during the summer. Checked out the no snagging zone from the down river end of the boat ramp(which would be the top of the ramp) up to the dam. If there are guys snagging on the south side rocks it might be almost impossble to get a boat above the ripples. We'll see in a couple months I guess.

Had to go back to work today. Didn't like that one bit. Long, slow, quiet day.

back to work

Just in case you didn't know, four days can go by really fast. In the days prior to Christmas I was looking forward to Christmas break and now it's over. The worst part is I didn't get much done, other than tying up a few hooks. There was plenty of fishing on TV but no catfishing. I haven't heard much from the guys who ice fish the local ponds but I did hear of one guy who put an ATV through the ice on a local creek. Not really sure how thick the ice is on the ponds.

Happy day after Christmas. Hopefully Santa brought you something good. Cabin fever is setting in in a big way. There are no catfishing shows on the outdoor channels. I came real close to putting a video in but went into "my room" and tied up some stainless 5/0 hooks instead. In the boundary waters of Iowa, like the Mississippi, you can run up to four trot lines with a total of 200 hooks. It does require a boundary water sport trot line license, $22.50. I might. I'm thinking about it. Even if I did it on a long weekend just to see what I can come up with.

White Christmas

Christmas Eve and snow is falling. Nice, I guess! I suppose I'll have to fire up my big green tractor and clean off my driveway. I have a trot line project in the works. Maybe I can get that wrapped up over the holidays. I called the fat man in red about my new boat. He said not a chance. I was good all year for nothing! I suppose he will give it to some other loser.

Merry Christmas

Merry Cristmas

Visited my favorite restaurant for supper tonight. The owners who also happen to be friends know that I have been wanting a new boat so they gave me a toy truck, trailer and boat. Nice. I also got a t-shirt that says the size of the fish that you catch depends on the size of your worm. I think I need a bigger worm! As usual my interest in fishing is always worth a laugh.
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve so I want to say Merry Christmas to everybody tonight because I might be busy for a day or two.

If you have never been to Deano's Place in Rome, Iowa you should give it a try. Its a small town but the restaurant is great. Believe it or not they take reservations and and sometimes that is the only way you will get a table. Tell them Roy sent you.

Well, I've got one more day of work left before I'm off for Christmas break. I'm not sure what I will do to occupy myself but I'll take the time off any way. I' not sure if we're half way through the non fishing months but I feel like we're on the down hill side. I'll take that too.

It sounds like I'm the only one around that doesn't ice fish. Although I have never fished the ice I'm starting to think I might have to man up and give it a try some time. I know some guys are happy to catch a bluegill or whatever through the ice but I'm just not into it. I'm thinking if I did try it I'd have to go after the cats. The bad news is that nobody is catching catfish. If my cabin fever gets any worse I might try it. But its so cold!

We took a trip to Burlington yesterday and of course I had to do a drive by down around the river just to see what was going on. The Miss was mostly frozen with just a small portion open, I believe because of some construction barges in the area. Needless to say there wasn't much going on. Usually I stop by a farm and home store in Burlington so I can walk the aisles of the fishing section but I skipped it on this trip. I had already spent my allowance. No need to look at fishing gear I couldn't buy. Next week I'll get some another allowance.

So far I'm hearing mixed reports about the thickness of the ice in my area. I've heard of ice from five to twelve inches in the area. No catfish yet.

Deer season, not cat season

My older brother and I went on a ride about just to see what was going on out in the deer woods. We didn't see any deer and just one group of hunters standing around three pickups with their orange on. So I guess we didn't see anyone really hunting. Things have changed or atleast it seems that way. All the local creeks and the Skunk River are froze over. The only way I can describe how I feel when I see "my" river frozen over is to compare it to a kid finally making it to Disneyland or Six Flags and the park is closed. Damn I'm a big baby! Don't say it, either one of you!

My big accomplishment today was getting the barrel cut in half for the shad tank I'm building. As you might think it was a little cold outside but it's done. I wonder how many days until the shad start running? Has winter even started yet?

I just looked through craigs list, checking to see whats for sale. Conclusion; not much. There were a few 1648's but nothing bigger in jon boats. When a guy buys an 18 or bigger he must keep it because you rarely find a used 18 or bigger for sale. There are times I want a bigger boat but then I find myself thinking I don't. I've been so damn good this year Santa might bring me an 18 or 20 footer. I know, probably not! I don't suppose a bigger boat would help me catch any more fish anyway.

?

It wasn't a good day. Started out raining, turned to a mix that slicked up the roads pretty good. Although she protested quite a bit I made the warden take me out for supper. Slippery roads aren't going to keep me from eating! Earlier today I finished up the last bait trap I was making so I think I have seven traps now. The next project is the shad tank. If all goes well I might get started tomorrow. It is awful cold though. Next to fishing, I like to spend time in the garage or outside just tinkering around with my fishing gear. It's something to do until the catfish come up the river next spring
The Skunk River is completely frozen over, even through the sharp bends by Rome. I don't like it! Nothing I can do about it, I guess

Flippin"

Tonight I was flipping the channels as I am often accusesd of doing and I came across a show called Hillbilly Hand Fishing. Although I wouldn't do it myself I am always willing to watch others do it but this show was a little different. There were a few experienced noodlers trying to teach what they called "city dwellers" to noodle. Just as I am sure nobody would want to watch me attempting this type of fishing, I couldn't and didn't watch but just a few minutes of it. Had it been just the guys who do it all the time it would have been a good show and occupied me for a half hour on a cold December night, but it wasn't so I continued to flip.

I ran into Terry down at Oakland Mills yesterday so I ran home, grabbed his reel and headed back down to the river and handed over the goods. There is no doubt he enjoyed it more than I did. I would have like to add that reel to my collection. Anyway, enjoy the reel Terry!.

I slacked off yesterday and didn't get much done but this morning I did get back to the trap I'm trying to finish. One more funnel to build and add to the trap and it will be done. The door, tag and tie line are in place already. I might get bored enough later and finish it just to have something to do.

For years I have watched countless trophy size flatheads and channel cats being taken illegally or tossed back into the river with injuries that were probably fatal by the snaggers at Oakland Mills but finally those days have come to an end. In 2011 snagging will be illegal below the Oakland Mills dam on the Skunk River, just south of Mt. Pleasant, Ia.

The winner is.....

Congrats to Terry from Winfield, Iowa.

Terry is the lucky winner of the Abu Garcia 6500C3. We contacted him by phone and he was thrilled about winning the reel. We will be posting a photo of Terry with his new reel in the near future. Be sure to check out sliprig.com on a regular basis as there may be a new giveaway or game for 2011.

Thanks to everybody who visited sliprig.com this year. We wish you the best for the upcoming year.