Catching the Big One(s), A real Fish Story

Just finished my annual August birthday present to myself on Friday... 

Every year, the first week in August is permanently booked for a week of grandchildren and Papa at the Cottage on the Edge... oh yes and Lucie....

This year was extra memorable as both my grandchildren caught fish, and by all accounts it seems they were the  biggest they every caught.

Special thanks to Uncle Nathan for fixing the boys up with a rod and reel the eventually caught over 50...  sunfish mostly but perch and bass as well... 

Next year I guess I will have to learn how to fillet a fish, because everyone is looking to eat some fish...

The weather was absolutely perfect this year...  nice everyday but one...  and on that day we had a field trip to the falls on the Coulonge River. 

We also had some unexpected excitement when a neighbor`s golden retriever paid a visit.  Chelsea is her name, and she is a real water dog.  Took a liking to the buoy marking the water pump - playing with it - spinning around, but unfortunately got her tail all caught up in the rope.  Some quick action from Noah and I adverted a tragedy.  While Noah kept her head above water I caught the rope off.

She was extremely tired and we had to help out of the water onto the dock and then up the 104 steps to the top of the stairs.  Her master came to collect her and we were all pleased to have saved her life.

Oh yes!  I must not forget to show you Ben;s catch...  and yes he catch it all by himself!

My two little grandsons are growing fast.  This year Noah demonstrated excellent canoe paddling - he is a natural!  Plus he tried out the kayak for the first time.  It was like he was born with a paddle in his hands...

Well it is back to the grind next week but I will be having a smile...

On the EDGE, Perfect for Book Writing!

Trevor, a good friend of mine is writing a book.  Getting started was becoming a bit of an issue as there were just too many distractions at home.

I suggested that he camp out up at the Cottage on the EDGE where there are none of the usual distractions...  no telephone, no television, and no internet access.

He took me up on the offer, and by all accounts he is well into cracking the back of the book.

Of course there are other distractions, one of which is that it is just so nice up there.  This video documents one time when he let a beautiful evening distract him.

;-)

New Lake Toys, and Dock Shed

We have had some water toys, namely the canoe, kayak and sailboat for sometime, but no place to store them away safely down at the dock.

Well the project to solve that issue began late last season.

A 'boat' shed to hold and store the water toys was began last fall and completed this spring with the addition of a steel roof (my first steel roof... BTW).

Aside:  Those two black tire thingy's in the bottom right of the picture are two of the four anchors I created last fall and have yet to use (see links below).

Sailboat & Fishing Boat to come
My son Nathan and I have been refinishing a sailboat I built over 15 years ago, in our spare time over the spring and summer.  It is a cute 12.5-foot gaft-rig made of mahogany (luan).  He wishes to use it to fish so we have strengthened the transom so that it could accommodate an electric trolling motor.  The sail boat will fit nicely under the canoe once we bring it done to the dock later this summer. (More on that project later)

Dock Shed (Not shown)
We also added a dock shed, which is to the right of the boat shed to store life-jackets, paddles, etc..

Related Posts:

• Build the Perfect Swimming Dock Anchor

• Holy Moley! Those Anchors are Heavy!

;-)