2nd Annual Camping Trip - Check!

We made it up north for our 2nd Annual camping trip from Thursday until yesterday. We got up just after the sun went down so that we had to set up camp as best we could in the dark. Well, more mainly Patrick. But he did it and we got up the next morning and were on the lake around 7am. The first few casts produced smaller bass and we were excited thinking it was a good omen for the rest of the day/morning. Not so much. The fishing this year was scarce and finicky. We pulled in too many northerns for either of our liking. Unfortunately it looked like the northerns were taking over that little lake. Nature does what it wants to though, right? I had horrible luck on the water this year. Last year we both pulled in some big bass and got some good pics. This year Patrick was the only one that managed to pull in a decent sized bass at around 4 lbs. (pic on right) I only had one bite that we saw was a decent sized bass but that little f'er jumped and threw the lure. :( Total bummer! Besides that happening, I was having issues with my reel and line. It would always get an extra loop in it and caused my line to get tangled A LOT. Another instance where I probably could have brought in a decent sized bass was when I cast right on the edge of the lilies and something hit it immediately on the drop... but my line got f'd up and I didn't notice so it got off. AHHHHHHHHHHH! Just thinking about that stuff frustrates the crap out of me!!!! Oh well...next year. :) We decided that we came a little later than we should have this year and will remedy that next summer. Live & learn. The final tally was I caught 14, Patrick caught 15. Those numbers should not only be higher, I should have caught more, not Patrick. :) Just kidding. There just should have been a lot more bass in those numbers.... ah well.

I do love to go camping up there every summer with Patrick. It's like our little getaway and it's relaxing and makes you feel "clean" again. It's a lot of work, though. Especially this year since Patrick had to do 95% of the work since I can't lift stuff, etc. But he's a trooper and he did it for us so that we could have a good camping experience, despite my being 6 mo. pregnant. Haha. Everything worked out just fine with me being pregnant, except for the sleeping on the cots part. Those are not really made for side-sleeping, which is the only type of sleeping that I can do right now. I don't think I could have stood one more night on those things. We were planning to come back this morning after hitting the lake one more time early-on, but we decided since the fishing was so bad this year we would just come home early instead. Oh, and we were running out of water. Haha... evidently when you can't drink beer, you drink more water. :-P But anyway, it's a perfect camping spot - pretty much totally secluded. I like it that way when I'm sitting on the makeshift shitter open to plain view. Haha. Ahh the joys of camping! :) It's worth it though! I sometimes get a little nervous at night, in the dark. I've never been a fan of the nighttime/dark and when you only have a thin tent between you and whatever's out there, it's a little creepy. But then you have to tell yourself those random crackles and random noises are leaves falling and little critters like squirrels and stuff scampering around... it's not really always the chainsaw massacre guy. But I did sleep with my mace by my head the first night but didn't bother with it the other 2. Last year I slept with it in my hand for the first night. This time I just laid it nearby. I'm getting better! haha. We heard wolves this year while on the boat. A pack of them howling over something. That was pretty cool to hear, I had never heard that before. When you're submersed in nature like that, it's both exciting and a little nerve-racking sometimes. But it's thoroughly enjoyable! Can't wait for next year.... I'll have a beer in one hand and a 5 lb'er in the other. :)