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Last Thursday we both had a day off to fish Apple Creek, hoping to catch a salmon. At one point I dropped my waterproof camera in the water, so I decided to take a couple of underwater pictures. And it confirmed that there were no salmon. It was another slow day fishing. Oh well.
The Saturday morning was not any better fishing/catching. It got very warm, almost 90! We went to beach to cool off in the afternoon. Too hot for anything else!
We just kept hoping to see our first salmon. Sunday was forecasted to be just as warm, so we took an even earlier start to go back to Apple Creek. The morning mist was very pretty, though it only lasted a short while.
My first cast into the dark water caught a 13" Brown. Maybe, maybe a sign for the bigger salmon....
But then, Nothing! Fish weren't even after Joe's crawlers. That's pretty bad. We fished downstream with not much success. We just wanted to see the salmon were up, even if they weren't biting. So we walked back to the first Big Hole now that the sun was starting to shine into the water to illuminate for us to see underwater. After a little while Joe spotted two sets of fins moving around above the water. Just like shark fins. Salmon are up, and those two were heading up the stream. So we chased after them. We got to watch them splash and chase each other. They were so close. Joe missed one of them once. They wanted nothing to do with a spinner, or a crawler. All in all we ended up staying on the river extra two hours. Fish won.
We are fully intending to fish for salmon as much as we can till the end of the month. Joe went out this evening after work and saw one salmon and caught a bunch of small rainbow trout. Fall salmon have just started coming up the rivers.
With small signs of autumn popping, we started to check on the grapes in our backyard. This past week they really started to turn color. Maybe in a week or so Joe can pick his first batch. It looks like we won't have as many grapes as previous years.... We will see. It's almost grape jelly making time again.
And tomorrow is the last day of my 9 days straight working. Phew, almost there! We both have Thursday off to go fishing. Can't wait!
For about a month already the Nature has been showing the signs of fall. Any time now we could have a burst of fall color and fall salmon. The anticipation is killing us. Not so much the fall color, but the salmon. This weekend it seemed all fish were gone on vacation, if not on strike. Joe caught a couple of trout right at the beginning on Saturday, but then nothing after that. Yesterday we didn't see a single fish during 2 hours we fished. Not even a tiny minnow!
That's life. Fishing is as unpredictable and unexplainable sometimes. So we tried (really had to try) to enjoy the beautiful nature, not wondering where the fish were. Afterwards Joe treated us both to Big Creek Burgers on our way home. A tasty consolation prize!
We took a 3-day weekend and visited Ironwood before summer is over. Though the wet weather felt more like fall, it was a wonderful getaway. The highlight was the day trip to the North Shore of Lake Superior. Even through our rainy car windows, we could see the rugged lakeshores, much more grandeur than most along the South Shore. We would love to go back to explore the wilderness for sure, but also to have an excuse to have another mind-blowing meal at New Scenic Café.
Everything was amazing! The whole experience was just so perfect. Thanks to Phil and Judy for treating us to our belated anniversary gift, one of the best meals of all times!
Not that we didn't eat enough the day before, but Judy fixed a wonderful meal at home before our departure. Fresh Wisconsin corn, garden tomatoes and basil were not to be missed. As always we ate our way on this trip to the west, only this time to have our first taste of the North Shore.
The first frost advisory last night. (I don't think we actually had frost though.) The low temp this morning was 40 degrees F. Chilly!
August is fast approaching its end, and we had our first beach outing on Sunday. The high temperature reached 85 with balmy south breeze. We closed our eyes, imagining we were in Hawaii.
Earlier that day Joe had to take me fishing, a quick trip, to confirm that catching was indeed bad. The river was absolutely gorgeous in the morning sun. Fish were almost non existing. We caught only a few, all smaller than 6". Oh well. Even on the trout stream, you could see signs of early fall. Ferns are starting to brown. That means fall salmon season! Though we still have about a month before we actually catch them.
Another event for the end of summer was the State Fair last week. We went there on Thursday (my day off), when thunder storms were predicted all day long. We somehow missed the rain and stayed dry. Joe also missed his annual Elephant Ear because he was too full from all other foods. He probably has to wait till next year....
Fishing had been rather slow... so many bugs out there for fish to feed on and high waters from rain. On some occasions we couldn't prove there were any fish at all! Joe keeps reminding me that's why it's called "Fishing" not "Catching."
But this Sunday I learned that complaining does sometimes help. We took a trip out to Apple Creek, and the first Big Hole was almost a bust. So as we waded downstream, I complained about not having seen any decent fish out loud, purposefully audible to Fish God. Then, right there, I hooked on this 14" Brown. Thank you, Fish God! You do listen. You can just imagine how shocked I was. Later Joe caught his 13" Brown.
The truth is that when we are on Apple Creek, the natural beauty, almost undisturbed, reminds us of the good life we live. With or without big fish. Of course, we admit a can of Miller High Life tastes much better after catching a big one. That's what we live and fish for.
The day before we attended Joe's cousin's wedding. Joe wore his new cool Aloha shirt. It has skulls, flowers, serpent, and geisha.
