April 6, 2023 at 3:48 p.m.
Fish Like a GIRL
Will winter ever end?
Fish Like a GIRL
At the same time, I am sure it will make fishing the Stevens Point Flowage pretty interesting on May 7, which is the first tournament for the Wisconsin Bass Team Trail, the series Chet and I run. The water should be roaring by that time with all of the snow melt coming down from up north. I am not a big one for fishing in heavy current. But sometimes you have to do what you have to do. I suppose it will not be too bad - as long as it is not windy and raining, too... or snowing.
I am still looking forward to this season, though, more so than many in the past. After Chet's heart attack in June and him spending the majority of the summer in the hospital, we missed a ton of fishing last year. He was not feeling strong enough to spend a lot of time in the boat, even by fall.
Now, though, he is doing much better and we are looking forward to getting back on the water. We are fishing some of my favorite lakes again this year, including Nokomis and Mohawksin. I have done well (and not so well) on both of those bodies of water, so it will be fun to see if we can do it again this year after taking almost an entire year off.
Once again, as I am thinking about setting up my tackle bag, I have taken everything out of it that I "do not need." Of course, before the season actually starts, all of that will be back in my tackle bag.
"But what if I DO need it," is common among anglers, especially tournament anglers. We know we will probably throw four of five baits in two or three colors. But that "What if" sticks in all of our heads.
The garage
We are hoping that we will soon be able to start the saga of the garage remodel. The boat just barely fits in the detached garage of the house we bought last year. By "just barely," I mean it will fit with the Talons laid down, and the motor down and turned to the side. OK, so legitimately, it does not really fit, per se. But we made it work over the winter.
Now, this spring, we are going to add eight feet to the front of the garage and raise the roof two feet. We are also putting a bigger door on the front. All of this should give us plenty of room for the boat and to also get things in and out of the garage, such as the smoker, which I will be using daily when we have people here helping with the work.
We will be putting a metal roof on the entire garage, too. A friend recommended an Amish gentleman who makes the roofing and his price came in at far, far less than the big box home improvement store.
So it all sounds great - except for the timing of it all. Chet's dad is basically going to serve as the GC (general contractor) on the job. He is not in construction, but he has done more than his share of it over his lifetime. The issue is, at the age of 81, he is still running a cranberry marsh and will need to start with that, he thinks, in May. With the amount of snow he has over there on the west side of the state, it will be interesting to see if that will be the case, but we are trying to plan this for April.
At the same time, in order to get the concrete here for the addition to the garage, the weight limits need to come off the roads. Obviously the concrete needs to come first, then the building of the rest of the garage. In a perfect world, it would all fall into place just as we need it to. But so far Mother Nature has had other plans.
As new home owners, of course we have a list of projects we want to complete. The rest of them can wait. But the garage is a basic need for a couple of tournament anglers.
The garden
Anyone who reads my column often likely knows how excited I am to have a place to garden once again. The last few years with my small balcony garden in a second floor apartment have been fun, but I cannot wait to actually garden in a "real" garden again!
Last week we went to get the bricks for the corners of the gardens. We have enough bricks for two raised beds two feet tall and 8'X4'. Once I looked back at my garden plans, I realized I had only planned for one such bed. How much fun is that? I get to plant far more than I originally thought.
I do still have some plants I would like to save for a STEAM learning center where I am volunteering in order to make them a garden they can tend as well. But now I can plant even more than I originally thought. That is an exciting prospect for any gardener.
I still need the wood for the sides of the beds. I am hoping two feet is tall enough to deter the bunnies if I also have marigolds around the beds and plant a "decoy" plant or two for them to munch on, hopefully leaving my garden alone. I am not sure if decoy plants can work, but I think it's worth a try.
The crazy plant lady
Speaking of gardening, however, I must admit that I started my plants far, far too early. I was excited. And, I believe, the use of the little greenhouse where I started them jettisoned things along quite a bit. I noticed not too long ago that my beans, cucumbers and squash were starting to bloom. I may be the crazy plant lady before spring hits.
The beans, of course, need to help. And I have yet to learn to hand pollinate anything, but I believe the squash would need that in order to produce vegetables at this point. But I have also read that squash flowers are edible and can be added to salads and all kinds of dishes. I might try that. Or I might just hope I can keep all of the plants from taking over the house before it gets nice enough to harden them off and then get them outside. I will know better for next year for sure. One nice thing, though, is that I have fresh basil to cook with now.
I noticed, as I was snapping pictures to go with this column, that I actually have several green beans already forming. In my great excitement back in February, I may have let this whole gardening bug get away from me.
I suppose that is what gardening journals are for, to fix the things next year that I did wrong this year. Who knows, though. Maybe it will work out just fine. Either way, it is a fun way to spend the late winter and early spring, even if there is more snow on the way.
Beckie Gaskill may be reached at [email protected] or
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