Well, by my count there
are way more sleeps than I want to even think about before the 2005 LPLT
event. Thought I would share some thoughts from 2004. First, Knicker, Jake,
The Doo, Deuce, Byler, and Mathis were all sorely missed. A good time was
certainly had by all 7 (8 if you count Bogey) of the 2004 attendees, and it
was kind of nice only having to fool with only 2 fishing boats and the
morning lines outside the facilities were not as long, but each of the
missing members always adds a special flavor to the trip that is just not
the same when they are gone. Especially for the missing guys, here are a few
trip highlights:
First, the fishing was
dramatically better than last year. In fact, it was the best I can remember
for the last several years. Having said that it was almost exclusively
smallmouth bass. Still lots of very little ones with only a few over 1 to 1
and 1/2 pounds. Some of the larger females were quite stuffed with eggs and
they were all immediately released. Couple of Stripers, but I saw NO
largemouth or Crappie, and our boat had only one Walleye. Wallstreet caught
one catfish off the back of the houseboat, which apparently didn't set too
well with that community as, the next night, he learned the art of overnight
pole securement, the hard way. There's going to be one very unhappy catfish
in that lake for a while. The water level is deplorably low at some 120 feet
below "full pool". It's really difficult to describe how low it is until you
see it for yourself. In fact it is so low that they have NO boat rentals at
Halls so we were forced to get our houseboat from Bullfrog. After much
discussion we decided to drive directly to Bullfrog. The first indication we
had on the low water level is that the Hite's Marina is completely closed
and the facilities are nowhere near the current water level. Right above
Hite the road crosses the incoming Colorado River. I've never seen the River
in "normal" times but what I saw was a muddy trickle compared to what I
anticipated. It is actually a pretty drive to Bullfrog and we finally got
there about 1pm. Difficult to say exactly how much longer it actually takes
as the additional beverage consumption did require some additional stops, at
unfamiliar locations. Most of the Bullfrog facilities are also far away from
the water. The Marina store cannot be accessed from the water. The rental
area has been moved. The concrete area of the boat launch is completely out
of the water and if the lake goes down much more they will have to look for
a different area, as the current area is very shallow. The Ferry on the
Bullfrog side is running out of temporary location, accessed by a "new" dirt
road. With the lower water level we thought we might find some new camp
spots in places like Annie's Canyon but no such luck. We did find an
excellent site in the area across from the New Spall, in between what used
to be Cave Canyon and Edna's. I remember we used to fish that little finger
without any success but there is a very nice spot there for one boat ONLY so
it was great.
As is often the case,
the weather was absolutely perfect, for two days, the day we arrived and the
day we left. Wednesday was warm but very windy. We fished in the am with
good success but didn't even attempt to go out in the afternoon. Thursday am
was decent but it rained most of the afternoon and a cold front moved in
that night. In fact, Durango had 4 inches of snow that night. Friday was a
decent day but fishing was quite a bit slower right after the front. Banjo
and Freeburg were the only ones to brave every night on top, but that may
have had more to do with consumption than conviction. There is a rumor about
Stinky, Deadeye, and Bogey becoming "intimate" one night but you all know
about "what happens at Lake Powell . . . ".
The food was
exceptional as usual, despite missing Grace's tortillas, breakfast burritos,
etc, etc. Deadeyes Chili Verde heat index soared to new levels and the red
chili and LP Casserole were outstanding, Freebies beans and green chili were
exceptional, and Stinky's posole was consistently superb. I'd like to be
able to review what Wallstreet described as his best batch of Cinnamon Rolls
ever. However, since they spent the trip in Durango I guess we'll have to
take his word for it. There was a new fish preparation method invented on
Friday night (only to be improved on in the future), and dinner was on the
Veranda, which was a very nice touch. The Library was thinned out
considerably and the AV equipment supplied by the "other" Polish guy worked
without a hitch. As for beverages, there are several story lines. First, the
DC boys did (sort of) honor their commitment to buy the booze for the trip.
However, they cannot agree among themselves what the term "community booze"
means so Stinky went without any scotch, Jake could have suffered plastic
poisoning from water only. Fortunately there was one fifth of "truly premium
vodka", one fifth of gin and two bottles of wine (that's right Doo, 2, count
em, only 2) left over from previous years. The High Roller DC boys sent
their Polish contingent out of state for the "premium vodka". He returned
with 2 bottles of Sky and one bottle of Schmirnoff - NO Kettle One, NO Grey
Goose, NO Belvedere, or other accepted "Premium" vodkas. The fact that there
was a small amount of Sky remaining can be attributed more to small numbers,
old age, cold weather, and very mediocre quality, much more than proper
tactical planning on the part of the DC. Saturday am was interesting as we
were packed and moving with both fishing boats tied on by 7am. At about 8:20
we sent a small boat and two drivers to Bullfrog to retrieve the two
vehicles and empty trailers and ferry them across to Hall's. We learned a
couple of valuable lessons. First, the Ferry leaves "ON TIME" and we made it
with almost 2 minutes to spare. Secondly, they are very proud of their Ferry
and charge $1 per horizontal foot for the ride. I'm not sure I actually had
$76 of fun in that 20 minute ride but the logistics worked out very well.
There is still plenty of water at the boat launch at Hall's and we were out
of there in time to be back in Durango by around 3:30 Saturday afternoon.
Finally, we agreed that
we will wait and see what happens with the 2004/2005 NHL season before we
agree on another wager. Hopefully by that time the DC boys will have also
come to consensus on the "Community Booze" definition. In the meantime both
our hockey teams are 3-2, facing elimination in game 6, but from different
directions, with the AvNots having a little momentum, and the Wings without
"The Captain", who is lucky he can still see. Would still like to see a
Western Conference finals between our two teams but it's going to take a lot
of luck.
That's about it for
now, boys. Thanks to everyone for another wonderful trip. A few of my
pictures turned out pretty well and I'll get those to Banjo to see if we can
figure out a way to get them shared with everyone either by web or disk. The
only other highlight was on Buck's birthday when Jimmy Wayne "spilled" a
glass of water on Buck, and Buck then sort of "accidentally" misplaced his
dirty vodka and blue cheese olives on Deadeye, but, again, "What happens at
Lake Powell . . . ".
Until then, Bassholes,
just make darn sure everyone shows up for 2005! P. S. GO WINGS!!!!!
