Johnboat Outing Success

 

Although Nathaniel and I only caught two bass yesterday, I'd consider our short afternoon outing a definite success. We implemented Nathaniel's idea of toting the boat inside my Expedition, and for the first time since I traded in my F-150, we were able to tote his johnboat somewhere else and to fish together from it. Yesterday morning, Nathaniel bought a fairly thick plastic tarp, and it worked perfectly beneath the boat to keep the interior of the Expedition dry. The boat was plenty stable in the back, so it worked just fine.

We fished Lake Russell, a 70-acre lake on national forest land that's only about 10 miles from our house. It's a pretty little lake that reportedly has some big bass in it. I suspect that as winter begins giving way to spring, we'll start to tap some of Russell's bounties.

The fishing was slower than we both hoped. With strangely warm weather and falling pressure ahead of a big front, we both had envisioned that the fish might be feeding like crazy. Of course, maybe they were. We don't know the lake and its moods well, and we may have simply not fished the right lures in the right places. Yesterday's only two fish hit an XCalibur Rattle Bait. Both were on the same steep bank at the mouth of a major cove in the lake's lower end and were relating to downed trees.

Big rain coming today. Back to writing fish stories for me!

A Good Truck

My red F150 has served me well, but it looks like it's about time to bid it farewell. In July, when Holly joins our family, we'll officially outgrow out minivan for full-family travel. I plan to trade my truck for an Expedition that is about the same age, but has a whole lot less miles. It will work well for my travels and for the whole family, and the rest of the crew will still fit in the van when I'm not home.

I'll miss having an open bed to throw fishing rods, wet waders or a load of mulch into, and I admittedly just like driving a pick-up. That said, the Expedition, which gets about the same gas mileage as my truck, will serve me a lot better for most travel. Even when it's just Nathaniel and me, if we're fishing and going to a music festival on the same trip, we carry a fair amount of junk, and the extended cab space gets tight. If we tote fishing rods in the back, we have to stow 'em every time we stop long enough at any place where they don't quite seem secure in the back of the truck. And we can't tote anything that can't get wet in the back if there's any threat of rain along the way. All that space will be useful to me in the Expedition.

Another good thing about the Expedition is that both back seats fold all the way flat. That means I'll have just as much open open cargo space as I do now when I need it. It also means that as long as it won't be too terribly hot, I'll have a built-in camper space.
My truck virtually knows the way to favored places like Black's Camp on the Santee Cooper Lakes, Gaston's Resort on the White River and the Walnut Valley Festival. I've tallied about 100,000 miles since 2006, and during that time my truck never seen the inside of a shop, except maintenance necessities like tires, brake pads or fresh oil.

My children also like my truck. Somehow it's always more fun to go places in the truck than the van. Maybe that we'll translate to the Expedition. We'll just have to call it Dad's new truck.