Fate was in the air at the annual Mother Cup on Lake Skegemog in Williamsburg. While doing some scouting Thursday evening in preparation for the weekend activities, what was seen atop a flagpole a few blocks down from the Crouse residence? The Seadog flag was flying strong. It was a sign of things to come in this battle for fishing supremacy. And a battle it was between the reigning champion Sons of Liberty (SOL's) and the Seadogs.
History was made this weekend as the executive committee came together and enacted the Puskie Rule. Rule adoptions/modifications are normally not an easy thing to get through the many levels of the committee (lot of vetoes over the years) but the group stayed up into the wee hours of the night hammering out the details of this groundbreaking policy. The rule’s name takes its origin from the pike/muskie combination. The pike that were taken in recent years (muskies are a pipe dream) didn’t survive too long in the live wells and normally took up too much space for other catches. The rule allows the boat catching the pike or muskie to contact an opponent’s boat to get a weigh in on the spot and letting the fish go rather than having to wait for the official weigh in after the session. Throughout the weekend, the “I caught three today” talk became “we had two Puskies today” or “did you see that fish I had on while the Puskie boat was approaching?”
Friday evening’s fish started under cloudy skies with the wind coming in from the north and west (and sometimes from the south and east). With that, the chair I’m sitting in right now as I type this is still swaying in the Skegemog waves. The lead dog on this day was none other than the Red Rocket captained by Jim M. and his trusty co-pilot Gus. As he and his boat have taken their share of ribbing in recent years, it was his time in the sun this weekend as the motor didn’t miss a beat. Working at an undisclosed location that became disclosed very quickly after they took best boat the first session, the two helped the Seadogs to an early seven pound lead. Gus used his Finlandic heritage to woo enough fish to take the lead for total fish pounds (individual).
Friday night was a wet one to say the least but thankfully we were done with the session by then because boy did it rain. As Forrest Gump said, “we saw every kind of rain there is. Little bitty stingin' rain, big ol' fat rain, rain that flew in sideways, and sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath.” I had a moat surrounding my tent but the elevated mattress was a savior.
After a blink of the eyes and the rain coming to a halt, Saturday morning arrived and session two was under way. Tom, who dominated the golf outing on Friday morning, had a very nice four pound pike that looked to be a tough one to beat for individual fish honors. Doke and I had our first Puskie experience in witnessing the mid-session weigh-in. For the morning session, however, it was déjà vu all over again as the Red Rocket combo again took honors for top boat. The Seadogs now had a nine pound lead at halftime with two sessions to go.
The halftime festivities consisted of sitting around the fire pit and enjoying the song that made its debut last year, “Mitchell Sucks at Fishing.” Roger added some verses that really brought the song together and had the group singing along with him. Mitchell was a good sport through it all although he still had a hint of bitterness for not making Friday morning's golf outing.
The Seadogs lost one of its anchors for the Saturday evening fish as Gus had some family business to attend down state. I made a feeble attempt to fill in for him on the Red Rocket but felt like Gerald Laird pinch hitting for Miguel Cabrera. I caught a couple but nothing to hoot and holler about. The rest of the team tried but here came the SOL’s!! Each one of their boats seemed to get better and better at the weigh in leading up to the mother load pulled in from the Keith/Champion boat. Keith dug into his live well and out it came, a nine pound catfish! The gallery at the dock was in awe as the beast was presented. The SOL’s high fived in their good fortune along with an 11 pound lead going into the last session. The Seadogs knew the deficit would be tough to overcome but having their clean-up hitter available would help matters. A little after midnight, the headlights passed the driveway and out of the shadows came Gus. The Seadogs were ready for the challenge.
The sun finally showed itself Sunday morning for the finale. Al and I clawed our way to a pretty good showing as he got a Puskie rule fish and some nice fat bass out of his boat, Crazy Chester. Greg and Rob did their share and the Red Rocket found the magic again taking the last session. All that we could do at this point was to wait for the weigh in and the final tally. The SOL’s came in with the quantity that morning but unfortunately for them, the quantity consisted of rock bass instead of the large and smallmouth variety. The Seadogs took the cup with a 22 pound turnaround on the final day. The final stats and awards:
Final Score:
Sons of Liberty – 87.07 pounds
Biggest Fish:
Keith – 9.04 pounds
Most Fish Pounds - Total:
Gus – 29.14 pounds
Boat Captain of the Year:
Jim M./Red Rocket
Golf Outing Champion:
Tom/Tim (course record -1)
Thanks again to Dave and Judy for being the hostesses with the most(esses). Your place is the bomb.
Trail Head
Paul Simon said it and it was all happening this past Saturday at the Detroit Zoo. I was a small, whining child the last time I had been here. Now I'm a large, whining child but it was fun just the same. I was ready to do my version of the the lions and tigers and bears chant from the Wizard of Oz ("lions and tigers and bears, oh my!") but they were all taking naps in the shade when we visited them. The prairie dogs, penguins, and the seal/polar bear exhibit, however, made up for it. The head scratcher of the day was when a heavy set, hairy woman was commenting to her family how ugly the tapir was. While the tapir has a funky look (cool coat on it), I was ready to point at her and make the same comment.
