Pontiac Lake - "Who's a Good Doggie?"

The bike tour got some bonus entertainment yesterday at Pontiac Lake Recreation Area as after the loop I got to witness what a spectator told me was the Grand Prix of the United States Dog Agility Association (USDAA). This was not a walk in the park as these dog owners I would have to guess work each and every day for the event. Some of the dog owners, however, don't appear to share their dog's passion for exercise. The mission for the dog is to get through the entire course as fast as possible with points deducted for failing to properly execute the course. There were some pretty talented dogs out there as my old dog Angus would have been sniffing the crotches of the spectators rather than listening to me yell "jump."

Good dog.

Trail Head



 

 

 

 

 

Chippewa River - Blind Squirrel Theory at Work

Yep, this here blind squirrel threw a blood red hook with a half worm into one of the many holes on the Chippewa River Saturday and.....waaa-laaa, what I thought was a fun sucker fish fight turned into a frisky bass with some nice girth. I learned from my Lake St. Clair experience earlier this year as I was patient in bringing the fish close. It's too bad we didn't have a big fish kitty as I would have been a rich man. Al and Doke probably caught 40 each as all you had to do was "let it roll down the hill" in the current and it was fish on. We again managed to stretch a designated two hour float into five hours. A beautiful day. And U-M almost lost. So close to the perfect weekend.

Trail Head

    

Doke working his craft

yep, pretty stressful

Badwater End of the Year Celebration

After eight grueling fish outings (we were fishing, there was no "gruel," unless you count waiting six hours for the fish that never came at Kent and Portage lakes), it was time to celebrate another season on the Badwater circuit. The final stats below tell the story as Team AMSOIL (AKA the Vaden brothers) dominated the league this year. Hopefully Greg V. will use his prize money winnings to finally wash his AMSOIL shirt as I've never seen the guy without it on. Yours truly has some work to do as I couldn't crack the AOY (Angler of the Year) point totals. Sad. Joe A., while hanging in the cellar near me in the standings, made it count each time he brought a legal fish aboard as he had the highest average pound per catch to garner the Rookie of the Year award. While a three-plus pound bass is not too bad and a nice big fish prize for Jeff V., the club members better get some bigger hooks next year as you would expect something larger for an award titled "Bassquatch."

A great season it was though. Good people.

Until next year, fish on Badwaters.

Trail Head    



Greg V. - Angler of the Year



Joe A. - Rookie of the Year



Jeff V. - Bassquatch (big fish) award

Gus - Mitchell award