That's where we're at as I type this at 5:00 a.m. from Team X and Mile 14 southern bureau here in the Big Sky . I've been taking an on-line course from a fellow Team Xer in Minnesota . Kurt is sooo helpful and thanks to him I have the right gear, the right baits and a sounding board for all my many questions . BUT, the on water part of this learning process just wasn't translating until I met this guy . My readers know that if I'm good at anything on this trip around the sun it's people, I seem to meet just the right people at the right times....it's a kinda Forrest Gump approach to life . If someone were to ask what the biggest thing is in attaining a modest success in life is I'd tell them that's simple, it's people, relationships.
That guy right there is Don Poole. It was like a cosmic convergence to meet him . He's about my age, he's a musician, an aviator , expert pescador and just a cooool guy.....MP had to use the Banos so we ran the boat up to the launch after fishing for 3 hours with notta. As she walked back to the boat she chatted Don up and told him that the Walleyes in the Lake weren't aware of our presence . As I watched him comfortably launch his boat we chatted and he said ' follow me ' . A couple of the spots he stopped at I had seen people fishing and had noticed the structure on my machine but then he took us to a couple new places and instead of just saying this a good spot he went on tell me how to orient the boat to this structure for the best jig fishing. Now I'm a river / ocean guy and I'm always looking for current seams or deeper water that will hold fish but Don taught me to look for ' humps ' , shallow water that drops off to deeper water . I had been anchoring off to the side and throwing to the structure and he says anchor right on top of it and fish it as it rises....make sense ? So a little smaller bait and a with a little more confidence, walla , MP has the the first Wally of her life.
So, now I'm all over watching my Garmin, stupid me I had been trolling with it off instead of looking for the right stuff. I paid a lot of lettuce for that Garmin 93sv with side scan and real scope etc...what the heck was thinking .
So we fished within sharing distance and chatted . Don worked with a guy named Frank MIller who I also did so briefly in 1972 at the ASARCO smelter and who was a real influence in my maturing...did I ever tell ya I was a little slow on that part...but...pretty soon MP was ready to go, she had actually fished a new endurance record of fishing with me of 5 full hours. We pulled the hook and said good bye to a new friend. So Don I gotta tell ya , you're one hell of a guy and a new Team X member with emmertis status with all the membership benefits that come along with it.... unsolicited advice , connections to hundreds, mmm, well dozens of people like us in far away places to help you if you decide to fish perhaps the Lake of the Ozarks for example . Membership also comes with fish posing picture advice, free smiles, belly laughs and Pacifico beer, Team X fuel. And Don...thank you for being you . As we headed home to our first ever Walleye feed I snapped a few pics of the scenery, gorgeous. And yes , I know the joy is in the pursuit but it is kinda fun to actually catch something now and then .
So last week I wrote about the Quilts. Well, we still are wondering what if anything they could all mean....Maybe ' this house votes for fun ' maybe ' this house stands for love '....I don't know but we figure that if it's good enough for the Grain Co-operative in White Sulphur Spring Montana it's good enough for us . Here's a couple the artist in my life put together for us. The second one is our coat of arms, a few of the things that we are about.
As I started to type an hour ago I took this pic from out the window. I always feel fresh in the morning and for me it's a huge part of fishing, up early, new day, new adventures, new start . I enjoy a good sunset of course but if I had to choose, I'm a sun up guy.
