Well, once again Father Time has continued his tick, tick, tick to a new season and a new year……

It’s been a long time since I posted another blog entry.   Can’t believe it’s been since October.   But it has and I’ve got lots to share with anyone interested in my outdoor “comings and goings”!

I need to start this entry with a sad note.   I lost a great friend, fishing buddy, and the most wonderful father-in-law anybody could ask for – Lesa’s dad, Dwain, passed away on November 20.   Dwain and I shared a passion for catching fish – especially panfish.   Dwain was a really great fisherman.  He and I spent a lot of time together in many different boats over almost 46 years.   He was a generous, fun, loving man and I will miss him forever.

Rest in peace DwainO.

Andy had a good fall this year, taking his first deer by bow.   It was a young buck and a great starter deer – we’ve had some really great venison in the last few months!   Congratulations Andy!    Here’s a picture of Andy and Sarah with his deer shortly after harvesting it.

Later, In the fall, Lesa and I made our annual pilgrimage to Hilton Head, South Carolina.   We really enjoy the fall weather, food, beach, and general relaxation of the area.   I, of course, love to catch sea trout and red fish and both seem to be available in pretty good numbers around Hilton Head.

This trip I fished with Captain Dan Utley (aka “Coach”) and did we ever catch the heck out of them!  Here are some fish pictures from the trip…..

It wasn’t long after we got back from Hilton Head that the weather turned cold.   And of course, when it turns cold up north, the snow starts flying, the water gets hard, and eventually the snowmobile trails open up.   I snowmobiled with several people this past year including Dan Fierce, Steve Osterling, and Mike Toombs.   Here are some pictures of Dan, Steve and me, and Mike.    With Dan, we had our first fire on the ice of the season.   Was a great evening!    With Steve, it was the first time in a long time that I rode the trails west of Minocqua, and with Mike, it was the first time he had ridden east of Minocqua.   Can’t wait to ride with them again!

It’s not a good year if our friends and family don’t come up from Sapulpa to snowmobile a few days.   We had a lot of fun riding this year as usual and can’t wait till next year – here’s a few pictures of our weekend together!

We had several people come up and ride the rest of the season but unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures – will have to fix that next year!   Guests included Scott and Zach Deutsch and Mark and Sandy Lawinger.  Trails were pretty good overall and we got in quite a bit of riding.   We hit the usual places – Sayner, Pope’s, Howlin Dog, Sister’s, and Blink Bonnies.

Our last guests of the year were Andy and Sarah.   We rode some and fished some – was a great weekend together with them.

In March, Lesa and I headed south – waaaaaay south – to St. Croix to visit Ryan and Michelle and to spend a week with our goods friends and traveling companions.      Of course while we were there we had to fish and we did pretty good with Ryan Bennett, Barrett Book, Tom Hayes, Jim Cleary, and me doing the fishing.   Here are some pictures of a large permit, some barracuda, and the fish of a lifetime caught by Tom Hayes – a 11 foot, 400 pound shark!  We had tons of fun and enjoyed eating the tuna and some of the barracuda – a great trip!

So this is the end of this blog entry – it was a great fall/winter and I can’t wait till the water gets soft and I can share some wonderful turkey, bass, and boating pictures!   Stay tuned!