Outdoor Research's Astroman's Short Sleeve Shirt

I've been a fan of Outdoor Research products for years now. http://www.outdoorresearch.com/en/ Recently I have been wearing/testing out OR's men's Astroman short sleeve shirt and as usually very impressed.

When out on the yak you can  expose your body to the merciless UV sun rays continuously for hours on end. It really wears me down at times and cuts my adventures shorter. This shirt has 50+ UPF and breathes incredibly well. Be sure to follow washing instructions as to not destroy the sunlight protection. OR products are guaranteed forever, but that is for defects. This shirt is made partially of nylon, which is very fragile, and I have snagged the shirt already and ripped it once in the three weeks of wearing. I used Tenacious Tape Max Flex Patching to repair it. It is also excellent for patching tent mesh and sleeping bags. https://www.mcnett.com/gearaid
I really like this shirt for beating the heat. Due to the extreme dryness of this Ohio summer though, I've not had the opportunity of testing it against mosquitos. Will keep you posted.

Fishing Story # 4

It was a blazing hot day at the Avon Lake beach. Had seen a large common carp lingering around the boat launch so I got out some sweet corn. 'Whatcha catching?' I asked passing two kids fishing the small creek that feeds into the lake by the launch. They were hooking creek chub with hot dogs. 'Cool,' I said telling them if they dry out the dogs they will stick to the hook better. 'I'm going to go over here and catch a carp.' I had one in a matter of minutes. Once again another carp was following underneath the one I was towing in with the 8 lbs line. I had the ultralight rod and it was bending so much I wondered if it would snap! The kids came running over. A guy was getting ready to launch his boat so I didn't have proper time to wear the carp down. It kept going under the rusted metal girder trying to fray and break the line. The guy went to get his net, but as I brought the carp to him he pulled the net away saying no, had to be tail first. What? That's not how I do it, and that is not how the carp wanted it either and with one last burst of muscled energy it pulled and snapped the tormented line. I shrugged it off. The real fishing would be later that night with Paul.
As soon as the sun had set Paul started nailing em. He landed a Fish Ohio channel catfish, but that was not the prize of the evening. Using a walleye lure he pulled in a 14 1/4 inch giant goldfish! I had heard rumors long ago about giant Lake Erie goldfish, but thought they must be koi fish. But no, there really is a population of giant goldfish existing in the lake! A call to ODNR confirmed it and they said just let it go back into the lake. So it was set free.

Do Carp Mate For Life?

Fished the Black River a few days ago because I keep hearing how fishing sucks right now. In less than 45 minutes I caught a 15 inch smallmouth, a 21 inch common carp, and another fat 23 inch 5.75 lbs common carp on sweet corn. (did not catch the bass on corn) The hook i use is a #12 treble, which is about the size of my pinky nail. Carp love sweet corn, but fishing with corn in a river can be tricky. And you have to be stealth with carp, the smartest fish in my opinion. After i crept down a tight, steep embankment to catch the fatty, I barely had a patch of land to stand upon. He put up a great fight and felt even bigger on my ultralight lined with weak 8 lbs. flourocarbon. As he was giving in, surrendering, I noticed something underneath, swimming under his shadow following every move until the final end. I don't know if fish maintain a mate-to-mate relation, I'm not sure, but it sparked a flame of sadness in me that burned hotter than the summer sun above. I took the hook out, took the photograph and measurements and let him gently back into the water. 

With this sadness I called it quits. What if my intentions were different? What if i was actually the angel of death? Back atop the embankment I looked back down. The two were again swimming side-by-side, just as I had spotted earlier and then took aim. Then I drove away in silence.... and shot the sunset.

DIY Kayak Storage Rack

To protect my three yaks from rain and UV rays I decided to put together a shelter consisting of PVC piping and plywood.

 Since I did not want to apply any unnecessary pressure on the PVC piping I used some old door hinges to attached it to the wall so I could add tar paper and shingles.

 In the end I added a tarp to keep out any rogue rain drops and to help further protect it from the sunlight.

A Great Father's Day Gift

Fished the tail end of the walleye for the Maumee River run with my Dad. He wanted to use live bait and had set a trap down at his end at the Vermilion River. I went down to the a creek inlet next to the Avon Lake boat launch and caught about fifty in a couple minutes with a drop net. When we went down to get his bait catch the cage was nearly empty. So, he was content that I had taken the initiative  to catch some the night before and had kept them alive and healthy in one of my many aquariums with an aerator. And the neighbor girls got a kick out of catching the little shiners with their bare hands.

Lily holding a minnow.

The banks of the chocolatey Maumee River.

No one was really catching much that day. One of the guys wading by us pulled in a walleye, used my tape measure and being half an inch too shy of 16 he released it. I think it equated to one white bass per angler that day, but during the heat of the run there is no limit on white bass and it is not uncommon to bring in 100-150 in a day.

Regardless of catching 100 or none at all, there is nothing like fishing with your retired father on a beautiful day. We planned another trip out to Maumee (one hour drive) but our schedules never fit right and eventually the run was over, the walleye & white bass finished the spawn and were back out into Lake Erie. But I took him to my secret smallmouth Vermilion River smallmouth hole and pulled in an 3 1/2 lbs. 18 inch smally. He really liked the spot and we go there whenever I come out to visit because it is only about a mile from my folks' farm house. 

Fishing with your Dad is an excellent Father's Day gift.