Session pictures

Clifton Yo-Yo Barnhart...
Dinner...
Cork screw With Butter
Jose and his coin Magic..
The lady Gina

Dinner Session

Fantastic is the only way to describe the session tonight at Scottys' and Ginas'!
I showed up early with an old Weber BBQ, and set up shop in their back yard. Started cooking the Salmon at about 6:45... Steve arrived with home made beans in a can and Jose showed up with corn on the cob in the husks.. The beans were awesome! Gina made a nice salad, (can't remember the name)
I forgot the smoking chips I like to use but everything went smoothly anyway. The Salmon turned out perfect, not to dry, not to wet, jusssssst right! We were joined for dinner by Clifton, he of Yo-yo fame, it is fun to watch him playing with his Yo-Yo when he thinks no one is watching... pretty amazin...
After everyone had their fill we got down to sessioning magically! We opened the floor for topics. Coins won out! Steve "Butter" Ameden led us in coin work. There is a reason we call him butter. Although He doesn't think so, he is smooth as slippery butter with his soft hands and coin manipulations. We worked on "one coin routines." Beginning with a coin production. Scotty had some nice pointers here. I introduced Ammars' teaching using the downs palm for a production from the ear.... Steve has a multi phase, one coin routine that is really SWEET. We all worked on it for awhile, Things like getting into back clip, getting out of back clip. Also the revolve load and steal from the palm. The muscle pass and using invisible string to make the coin move. Really! Invisible string!
We discussed things like timing, making eye contact, using sound to enhance the magical effect, how sound can kill a magical effect.
We worked on the friction pass and why you might want to use it!
Jose shared his two routines he has been developing, a coins across routine on the close up pad, and he has been working on Trans knee cation by Jason Dean. Looking good. Nice work!
Jose also performed his linking cards routine. Pretty weird looking stuff. Nice!
Steve worked with me on a bit of funny business using two corks and holding them between thumb and middle finger and getting them both apart without lifting the fingers from the cork... A childs gag but very effective and fun..That's butter....
To cap the evening, Gina produced a nice chocolate strawberry, whipped cream concoction. Quite magical actually!
It was a nice size group for sessioning and I think a lot was covered and accomplished!

Tonight's Dinner BBQ!

Went fishing yesterday morning after work.... By myself... Something peaceful about that! The water was calm, the weather was clear and hot. I fished the Redondo area just South of the boat launch. A little cove called Lakota... I was reading fish about 60 to 80 feet so I chose a depth of 70 feet... I got a nice strike. The fish fought well, I got it to the boat twice, but not within reach of my net... I noticed it was hooked through the eye, OUCH! It had a lot of energy and escaped with his life with a beautiful twist and pull, GONE... Put my line back in the water, at 7:45 I got a nother nice strike, watch me leap to my feet, grab the fishing rod, reel in the excess line from being hooked to the down rigger and set the hook... FISH ON! It's peeling line from the reel! Yahoo! Excitement builds as I wonder how big it is, will I land it? I have been losing so many fish lately that this is a real concern. Is my drag set loose enough? Is it too loose? Will the line break?
I have begun to question my fishing abilities as I have never lost this many fish before... He runs again, I love that feeling, the fish giving it it's all, peeling line from the reel, a marvelous sensation! I keep reeling, waiting to see my prize from the depths of Davy Jones' Locker! There he is 15 feet below the boat, Bright, shiny silver and purple rainbow colors. He is swirling in a circle, my hooks holding fast, still there is that bit of doubt... trepedition....
Finally I get him close enough to net, I dip the net, he pulls away, about ten feet of line, too soon, patiently, impatiently, I reel him in, again I reach with the net..... Finally secured in the net, I relax, exhilarated, a beautiful 10 lb Blackmouth!
Later, I lose another as my fishing day closes... Almost... But grateful for my catch!
It will be a fine meal tonight at the session at Scotty Walsh' place! SWEET!

Actin Out!

For many years now I have been going to the little church down the road! Actually it is now quite far from my home as we moved 14 years ago but still go to the same church as it is where my church family is... I enjoy the people there. They are not perfect but are just everyday people like me that believe in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ! I have been privileged to have been involved in many of the church plays we've put on. Mainly at Christmas and of course at Easter as well. I thought you might enjoy seeing me in some of the characters. Generally I am type cast as the bad guy, Pontius Pilate, the pharisees, Satan and the like.... Somebody has to do it. In addition to the many plays, I have been involved in many skits too. I really enjoy participating in this way. It is a shame that as a high schooler, I was under the influence of peer pressure and so did not join the choir nor the drama teams. I really enjoy these activities but ran with the crowd that thought of them as "sissy." Anyway, a different look!

Fishing Report

Started fishing at Redondo at about 5:30... calm water, smooth as glass... started with the blue and yellow squid, only because it was already rigged to a flasher...lots of bait fish on top of water, marked fish early, had two or three shakers, and a couple of 2-3 lb. blackmouth that had to be released... At 9:20 I was trolling down by the "dead tree" where we used to put our crab pots. Had a tremendouse release on the down rigger, the rod was slammed and then sticking straight up, I leapt for it, thinking Yeah, right, probably just popped off or snagged, but lo and behold it was a nice Blackmouth of 15 lbs. Fought great, stayed down deep and peeled lots of line, a perfect fight as it was tired when it got to the boat, I was ecstatic! 55 feet with the pearl squid... It was a nice hen, heavy laden with two beautiful skeins of Salmon Roe, I took the Roe and cut it open and cured it for later use to fish with after the Salmon rin up the rivers!
Will be fishing agian in the morning! Wish me luck!

Session at Scottys'

Went to the session tonight at my friend Scotty Walsh' home... He had just arrived home when I showed up. His friend Clifton was there and we sorta relaxed into a two man session and Clifton provided spectator support as well as feedback. Clifton had just arrived from out of state, a long day for him. He is mastering yo-yo work.
We began by doing a few card sleights, I am working on Elmsleys' "ever change count." I shared it with Scotty and mentioned it is something that I am planning on using in conjunction with the MacDonalds aces cards. While not doing Macs' aces, but it is a great count to show five cards, then the ace vanishes, and now you show four, cards so the ace really did physically vanish. In Macs' aces when the ace vanishes, you still have four cards, so it is really a transposition. Another card takes the place of each ace, so to speak...
I have been trying to develop a "cull". We worked on the "Cull" for several minutes. It will someday be a great addition to my card control repertoire!!!
Scotty shared with me some vital work on the dribble to secure a break and some great tips for the Zarrow shuffle, now all I have to do is..... PUT IN THE TIME AND EFFORT!!!
I shared the Stones of Tutankhamen with Scotty and Clifton, we discussed possible patter lines and their importance. The natural relaxed nature of speaking in a normal manner, drawing the audience in with your patter as you make it your own. Also, I went into the routine of Gallos' with the Ball & Vase, but I am using a different set of balls and using patter that I picked up from my friend Doug Gorman from San Antonio, whereby you use pool balls, basically the eight ball and nine ball. The patter here lends itself for a more natural relaxed storyline for me...
All In due time, I suppose!
Scotty is interested in getting some large 14 inch linking rings. I brought out my set. They are 13 and 1/4 in diameter. Scotty played with them for a bit, and I did The legend of the Five linking rings. I did it with no patter. Scotty was impressed at how far I've come with the routine. I twas nice to hear some positive feedback. Actually, It was GREAT!
He mentioned that I MUST put them into my routine, I said I don't know where to fit it in as the Linking Rings is such a powerful piece of magic it should go at the end. I have the Cups & Balls at the end.... Ah, the trials and tribulations of performing!
Scotty mentioned that he would like to develop three separate acts/routines. I feel the same way. I mentioned that I would like to develop a routine for children in the hospital. It would need to be just a few minutes of strong close up magic that wouldn't require too much from the child as they are injured and or drugged up.
We played with the acrobatic knot a bit, Scotty brought out his set he made and hasn't used in a long time. I love to see him perform, he is so easy going. I would like to become more relaxed like that! Sweet! I was able to give him a bit of help in a stronger ending. Don't know if he will take the time to work it out though...
His girlfriend Gina arrived about 10 PM. And she is always a bright, positive addition to the scene! I owed her a trick from two weeks ago that we discussed but I didn't have the props with me. I dug them out of mothballs and performed the jumping gems routine I learned ages ago...
I also performed ring, rope and wand with her ring. Blew her away! Thank you very much!
This brought up the subject of performing magic in the sense of what is strong magic and wha tis not. You see, the hot rod and jumping gems might be considered by some magicians as "slum" magic, or magic that is "less' than real magic. (Whatever that is)....Anyway, we came to the conclusion that it is performance style, being entertaining, involving your audience in an engaging presentation that is most important.
Next week looks good as we are discussing sponge balls and sponge rabbits.
I think the dinner will be on me!

Pray for my son and the others...

The Amazing Deck of Cards.
I t was quiet that day, the guns and the mortars, and land mines for some reason hadn't been heard. The young soldier knew it was Sunday. As he was sitting there, he got out an old deck of cards and laid them out across his bunk. Just then an army sergeant came in and said, "Why aren't you with the rest of the platoon?" The soldier replied, "I thought I would stay behind and spend sometime with the Lord."
The sergeant said, "Looks to me like you're going to play cards." The soldier said , "No, sir. You see, since we are not allowed to have Bibles or other spiritual books in this country, I've decided to talk to the Lord by studying this deck of cards." The sergeant asked in disbelief, "How will you do that?" "
You see the Ace, Sergeant? It reminds me that there is only one God.
The Two represents the two parts of the Bible, Old and New Testaments.
The Three represents the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost.
The Four stands for the Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
The Five is for the five virgins there were ten, but only five of them were glorified.
The Six is for the six days it took God to create the Heavens and Earth.
The Seven is for the day God rested after making His Creation.
The Eight is for the family of Noah and his wife, their three sons and
their wives - the eight people God spared from the flood that destroyed the Earth.
The Nine is for the lepers that Jesus cleansed of leprosy. He cleansed ten, but nine never thanked Him.
The Ten represents the Ten Commandments that God handed down to Moses on tablets made of stone.
The Jack is a reminder of Satan, one of God's first angels, but he got kicked out of heaven for his sly and wicked ways and is now the joker of eternal hell.
The Queen stands for the Virgin Mary.
The King stands for Jesus, for he is the King of all kings.
When I count the dots on all the cards, I come up with 365 total, one
for every day of the year.
There are a total of 52 cards in a deck; each is a week - 52 weeks in a year.
The four suits represent the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.
Each suit has thirteen cards - there are exactly thirteen weeks in a quarter.
So when I want to talk to God and thank Him, I just pull out this old deck of cards and they remind me of all that I have to be thankful for."
The sergeant just stood there. After a minute, with tears in his eyes and pain in his heart, he said, "Soldier, can I borrow that deck of cards?"
Please let this be a reminder and take time to pray for all of our soldiers who are being sent away, putting their lives on the line fighting.
Prayer for the Military

Great Weekend

Well, it is Sunday night and I survived the weekend intact! I am at work right now and feeling a bit sunwrecked, those of you who have spent any amount of time on a boat in the scorching sun know what I mean! Saturday I got out, more like crawled out of bed at about 10 am... I know, sleepin in! Anyway, I talked my daughter into going out to lake Washington and trying our hand once again to catch some of that great tasting great fighting Sockeye Salmon while we can! We fished for about 4 hours, intermittently swimming and dousing ourselves with life most important chemical, H2O... Not one bite... Ran a cross a fellow and his wife and daughter fishing that had caught Nine! Whatsup with that!
Got up early Sunday morning for church and drug the boat out of the garage to take with me. Today was the last day for Sockeye fishing. Gonna go after church! Amen! I had childrens' adventure club at church, we showed the young people a video about Moses. Afterwards I did several coin tricks and stunned them all, including the adults!
Talked my lovely wife into going, we got out there about 1:30, caught our first fish at about 2:15 and another at about 3:30... Lost a nice one too...It was great to have my wife on the boat with me. It has been a rare thing. Just the two of us! We caught are third fish about 4:30, it turned out to be silver. I didn't know they would bite on bare hooks, hmmm, maybe try that in the Sound?
Got home about 7:30, cleaned and vacuum sealed our catch, went to Taco Time for dinner and with the children all out of the house......
Like I said, A GREAT WEEKEND!!

Wasted

Wow, how the water can beat you up! I fished yesterday on Lake Washington with my friend Ed, I got home around 9 pm... Went to work at 10:30 pm... Left work at 5 am to fish in Puget sound... The water was choppy and it was windy and difficult to keep your boat going straight and hooking up your fishing line was a chore... I was already tired but wanted to go for it, well I got home and CRASHED.... This old body finally realized its age! Hahaha...
May go again tomorrow...

I wanted to share a fun BBQ/outdoor party game with anyone reading this... It's called Ladder golf or Bolo toss.. I saw this game in a magazine awhile ago and thought it would be fun, I never got around to building it though, Then last month I saw it again while vacationing over near Lake Chelan, Wa... Here is a photo of it...You need three sets of bolos per individual or team, you toss the bolos at the ladder and score by landing it on a rung, the rungs are numbered one pt. Two pts. Or three pts.. Your opponent can cancel your scores by landing on the same rung. You play to 21... It was more fun than it looks and easy to make...For more info google search "ladder golf or bolo toss". My set I made cost less than 20 dollars..

Thinking

A scary thought that... Thinking.... :0
Recently at work a new development has kept me busier...Many of my friends know that I spend a lot of time watching magic DVD's' to learn magic while I am at work... But recently the Seattle field has been shut down for re paving and this has sent a surplus of employees over to Renton field where I work. I have reconnected with several fellow employees that I haven't seen in years. It is funny because I now have a fresh set of victims er, I mean audience members to practice and show my magic to... One such fellow is Frank David. I knew Frank about 20 years ago when I was in the Amway business, I sponsored him and was the best man at his wedding...
Things change and we parted ways. Mainly because of work related things, like transfers... He arrives in my office at about 5:20 A.M. and I leave at about 6 A.M. so recently I blew his mind with some card tricks... Zingone for sure and the Biddle trick as well...
The next day I did some coin tricks for him and scared him with Michael Ammars coins across where the final coin appears in the spectators hand. But I must say that the cups and balls really blew his mind. I have been wondering about what the spectator can see in my pouch when they are basically right next to me. Frank got up and stood practically on top of me. Not having any oranges for the final loads, I used baseballs. Still freaked him out. I think I need to trust in my magic and my abilities and get out and perform... Have fun doing it!
Well, I drove home from work feeling pretty good about myself, (pat on the back)... I am realizing slowly that I have a lot to offer magically, and I know more tricks than I think, Weird!

Thanks to all who have given freely of their time and talent in my life!

I had my doubts. My neighbor has been telling me about his friend, Sinshay (SP) from Korea. And how he has been slaying the Sockeye in Lake Washington, Fishing by the Stan Sayers pits, that is where the Hydro races are run from.... No one fishes there, at least not many boats as far as I could see... I had been fishing in the "customary" spots... Around all the other boats, like a great big freeway at rush hour... Yesterday I went out to Puget Sound and caught two nice Blackmouth Salmon, lost a couple as well, that means that the fish are showing... So I wanted to go back to Puget Sound today, But my daughter wanted to try where Sinshay (SP) has been nailing them, I have never met this man so I was skeptical. We started fishing at about 3:15 this afternoon and my wife joined us on the boat... We were trolling along and BAM! Fish on! My daughter grabs the fishing rod and I start going crazy getting ready to help her land the fish when the other rod goes BAM! Fish on! My wife grabs that one and all hell breaks loose, I net my daughters and struggle to get the hooks out of the net, just in time to net the fish my wife is fighting! Yahoo, A DOUBLE!
We fished until about 8 pm and headed home with Six Salmon! Thanks Sinshay (SP)!!!
By the way, the one in the middle is a silver!

Now that's more like it

Fishing report for the day! Fished Redondo side this morning... started about 5:45... My friend Aaron was with me.. we fished at 40 feet using the pearlescent squid with a herring strip... we caught two blackmouth salmon, 7 lb. and 12 lbs... we lost a nice one because the leader between the two hooks broke allowing the fish to escape. It was the same set of hooks that were on the line after the first one was landed. Learning the lessons all over again... We had many shakers, almost every time we put our lines in... had a nice pop off but the fish was gone when we got to the rodd... that's fishing..
Will miss the magic session at jose's tonight because I need sleep and will try to fish tomorrow!

Dinner

A lazy Monday after a long Sunday. Sometimes the weekends are tough as I stay up from Thursday afternoon til Friday night, about a 30 hour run so I can sleep Friday night and turn my schedule around to be with the family for the weekends... Get up Sunday Morning about 9;30 am and stay up til about 7 am on Monday, another long sleepless run of about 20 plus hours... Monday and Tuesday I recuperate. My wife enjoyed her day at Coulon Beach with her mother and sisters, leaving me and Katie to fend for ourselves. I fired up the Green egg Hibatchi and cooked pork chops. The Hibachi we salvaged from her fathers garage. We think it is from the 1960's. It was still wrapped and tied as if it had just been shipped over from Japan. I have been doing research on them via the internet... Can't wait to become better informed about how to use it and some great recipes!

In My In Box

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WW II MOVIE STARS Hope you find this as informative as I did.

In contrast to the ideals, opinions

and feelings of today's "Hollywonk" the real actors

of yester-year loved the United States .

They had both class and integrity.

With the advent of World War II many of our actors

went to fight rather than stand and

rant against this country we all love. They gave up their wealth, position and fame to

become service men & women, many as simple "enlisted men". This page lists but a few, but from this group

of only 18 men came over 70 medals in honor of

their valor, spanning from Bronze Stars,

Silver Stars, Distinguish Service Cross', Purple Hearts

and one Congressional Medal of Honor. So remember; while the "Entertainers of 2005" have

been in all of the news media lately I would like to

remind the people of what the

entertainers of 1943 were doing, (61 years ago). Most of these brave men have since passed on."Real Hollywood Heros"



Alec Guinness (Star Wars) operated

a British Royal Navy landing craft on D-Day. James Doohan ("Scotty" on Star Trek)

landed in Normandy with the U. S. Army on D-Day. Donald Pleasance (The Great Escape) really was an R. A. F.

pilot who was shot down, held prisoner and tortured by the Germans. David Niven was a Sandhurst graduate and

Lt. Colonel of the British Commandos in Normandy . James Stewart Entered the Army Air Force

as a private and worked his way to the rank of Colonel. During World War II, Stewart served as a bomber

pilot, his service record crediting him with leading

more than 20 missions over Germany , and

taking part in hundreds of air strikes during his tour of duty. Stewart earned the Air Medal, the Distinguished Flying

Cross, France's Croix de Guerre,and 7 Battle Stars during World War II. In peace time, Stewart continued to be an active

member of the Air Force as a reservist, reaching

the rank of Brigadier General before retiring in the late 1950s. Clark Gable (Mega-Movie Star when war broke out)

Although he was beyond the draft age at the time the

U.S. entered WW II, Clark Gable enlisted as

a private in the AAF on Aug. 12, 1942 at Los Angeles . He attended the Officers' CandidateSchool at

Miami Beach, Fla. and graduated as a second lieutenant on Oct. 28, 1942. He then attended aerial gunnery school and in Feb. 1943

he was assigned to the 351st Bomb Group at Polebrook

where flew operational missions over Europe in B-17s. Capt. Gable returned to the U.S. in Oct. 1943 and was relieved

from active duty as a major on Jun. 12, 1944 at his

own request, since he was over-age for combat. Charlton Heston was an Army

Air Corps Sergeant in Kodiak .Ernest Borgnine was a U. S.

Navy Gunners Mate 1935-1945. Charles Durning was a U. S.

Army Ranger at Normandy

earning a Silver Star and

awarded the Purple Heart. Charles Bronson was a tail gunner

in the Army Air Corps, more

specifically on B-29's in the 20th

Air Force out of Guam, Tinian, and Saipan George C. Scott was

a decorated U S. Marine. Eddie Albert (Green Acres TV)

was awarded a Bronze

Star for his heroic action

as a U. S. Naval officer aiding

Marines at the horrific battle on the

island of Tarawa in the Pacific Nov. 1943. Brian Keith served as a

U.S. Marine rear gunner in

several actions against the

Japanese on Rabal in the Pacific. Lee Marvin was a U.S. Marine

on Saipan during the

Marianas campaign when he was

wounded earning the Purple Heart. John Russell: In 1942, he

enlisted in the Marine Corps

where he received a battlefield

commission and was wounded and

highly decorated for valor at Guadalcanal. Robert Ryan was a U. S. Marine

who served with the O. S. S. in Yugoslavia. Tyrone Power (an established

movie star when Pearl Harbor

was bombed) joined the

U.S. Marines, was a pilot

flying supplies into, and wounded

Marines out of, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Audie Murphy, little 5'5" tall 110 pound

guy from Texas who played cowboy parts?

Most Decorated serviceman of WWII and earned: Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, 2 Silver Star Medals, Legion of Merit, 2 Bronze Star Medals with "V", 2 Purple Hearts, U.S. Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal, 2 Distinguished Unit Emblems, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with One Silver Star, Four Bronze Service Stars (representing nine campaigns) and one Bronze Arrowhead (representing assault landing at Sicily and Southern France) World War II Victory Medal Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Combat Infantry Badge, Marksman Badge with Rifle Bar, Expert Badge with Bayonet Bar, French Fourragere in Colors of the Croix de Guerre, French Legion of Honor, Grade of Chevalier, French Croix de Guerre With Silver Star, French Croix de Guerre with Palm, Med al of Liberated France, Belgian Croix de Guerre 1940 Palm. So how do you feel the real heroes of the silver screen acted when

Compared to the hollywonks today who spray out anti-American

drivel as they bite the hand that feeds them?

Can you imagine these stars of yester-year saying they hate

our flag, making anti-war speeches, marching in

anti-American parades and saying they hate our president? I thought not, ......... neither did I!

Golf for a cause

Went golfing in a charity event at McCord Air Force base today. $75.00 and dinner and raffle prizes... The money goes to erect a memorial wall for the Air Force 1st in Asia fund!
Our foursome was five under. My friend Mike and I had to carry the load as we only submitted the two of us and we were paired with a couple of ladies who hit the ball about 150 yards every now and then, their putting was atrocious... (actually I'm being kind) Mike carried us with his great short game although I sank a few nice putts and had some nice drives. We had fun anyway as it was a perfect day for golf. Nice breeze, sunshine and free beer...
They were selling polo shirts for 20 bucks a piece, but they had leftovers and Mike and I stuck around long enough to get a couple for free! Free is good! :)

Another big ZERO

Took my daughter out on Lake Washington again yesterday. A friend and his wife joied us as my wife showed up later as well. I had a full boat! We fished from 2pm to 8 pm, with about a half hour break. Fished the Rainier Ave. side of the lake, didn't get a hit the whole time. Good friends and good food. but no fish.
Still it was nice to be alive and well and enjoying Gods' creation!

Session, Scotty Walsh Style!

Got up today with great expectations. Session tonight at Scotty Walsh's home... Yeah Baby, I missed last weeks session at Jose's place...
Had a few chores to take care of like having a lug bolt and nut replaced on my Dodge intrepid and nailing a gutter that was hanging off the front of the house... took care of those details and had a bite to eat and headed to Scotty and Ginas' place for our first session at thieir new digs. Small but quaint. Their place fits them. Cozy and warm, they remodeled the whole place. Nice job, no spiders! :)
Gina is a lovely lady and a wonderful. charming hostess. Scotty is a very lucky hombre.... by the way, so is Gina. (not that she's an hombre, jsut lucky!) I like Scotty a lot. He is a gentleman. And he has some wonderful magic and is full of exuberant energy when it comes to performing, he has a quiet, strong style!
It was great to see my friend Steve Ameden again, he is looking much better, he shared some great card tricks with us... Jose and Randy were there as well, it is always my pleasure to be with Jose, he is another of the quiet types, in fact, now that I think about it, I'm probably the loudest in the crowd, OY! Everyone was having fun sharing tricks with Gina as she is just about what is known as a layman... she enjoyed all the attention and fun magic... I performed Sympathetic cards, jumping gems, jumping arrow and some card tricks like the biddle trick, Jazz aces and a coin trick of Daryls' called the Cross of India, Bernard, a friend of Scottys who is an expert juggler showed up and he was in the category of laymen as well and so he got to be the guinea pig so to speak also...
I think everyone enjoyed themselves. I had to leave at 10:45. I'm sure things heated up after I left. They usually do.
Thanks Scotty and Gina for opening your home and hearts to all of us!

Got the STINK out!

Fished today with my friend Ed and daughter katie. We eschewed the "get up early" fishing action, and I got five hours of sleep. (that's a lot for me of late!) Got up early at 11 am and went and picked up my friend. We fished in lake Washington at about 2pm to 3:30 and my wife called on the cell phone so we talked her into coming down and joining us!
We got two Sockeye today and two that were hooked and fighting escaped with their lives.... The day was nice! Less boats and catching fish, enjoying time with loved ones, the radio playing "that forgotten song"!!!
I would like to fish tomorrow as well but am going to a magic session at my friend Scoty Walshs' home. I am looking forward to seeing him and his girlfriend Gina.
Fishing Friday though... gotta go while the fish are present!
pictures are of....
Me and My 16 foot boat.... our catch!

Smelly boat trip!

That smell your nose is tired of smelling is the awful, dreadful smell of skunk! Yep, no fish again, and no hitbites or snags... I fished with my neighbor from 5 am to close to 10 am. not a hit at all... saw some caught, seemed everyone I asked said 75 to 80 feet and had two fish...Mostly with red hooks, heard a story about a guy who put two 00 dodgers together on his line and a silver special 20, he caught 3 in ten minutes. My friend was an eye witness...I am going tomorrow in the lake with my friend Ed and Katie at 1 pm. hey, who needs to get up early?Didn't work today!
First thing I did wrong besides actually go fishing was to try to put my friends down rigger down in the dark! He has Scotty downriggers and they are manual. I was not prepared for how fast the 15 pound ball was going to descend into the black depths of the lake, I tried to engage the braking system but was too late, the ball was traveling too fast and the abrupt stopping apllied caused the ball to snap his wire cable... so I owe him a new downrigger ball and line catch release... these fish I haven't yet caught are getting more expensive all the time!!!
Funny thing is this chowder head is going to keep banging his head against the wall until he either drops from exhaustion or catches fish...

Frustration factor

Man am I bummed, angry, evious, just plane ticked off...
Fished yesterday at Pt. Robinson with my daughter. I want so badly for her to catch fish. Never before have I had this kind of luck fishing. 4th day in Puget Sound and haven't yet had a true hook up. had a nice pop off today, but no hook up. Fished from 5:30 am to 7 am at Robinson, didn't see many fish taken so we pulled up the down riggers and headed to the Redondo side of the bay, saw some fish taken and had our pop off. We stopped fishing at 9:30 am because I have to get some sleep sometime. My friend Dan the fisherman, who has been slaying them for the past two weeks hadn't had a bite either, He picks his grandkids up at 9am and heads back out. This day he decides to stay on the Redondo side and yep, here's his story...
"I started fishing Point Robinson shortly after 5:00 AM and I quit a little after 9:00 AM. I didn't get a hit. Not one!!! Just little shakers. I went back to the dock to pick up the boys. I thought I would fish Redondo and see if the boys could catch a silver. At 11:00 AM we hadn't had a hit and J"____wanted to go home. I told him we would troll back to the dock and go home. After all I was tired and we hadn't gotten a hit all day. B"____ got a hit on his pole and he caught a 16 pound king. J"____ still wanted to go home. I told him we would keep trolling toward the dock and if he caught a fish then we would quit and go home. B's pole got another hit and it was J"___'s turn to catch a fish. J"____ caught a 20 pound king. I couldn't talk J"____ into staying any longer. Right in the middle of a great king bite we went home..........
He sends me pictures too which makes it feel even worse, these two little chowder head grandkids with fish as big as themselves!!! :)
I've been fishing the same water, the same gear and the same depths and not a hit. I like to catch lots of salmon to smoke and give away. In past years it has been rather easy, just keep your line in the water and sooner or later you get a strike or two. Not this season. I love my daughter and am afraif that this non catching might sour her on fishing... Frustrating! AARRGHH!
I got invited out to go Sockeye fishing today on my neighbors boat. Hope I don't jinx his boat!
Wish me luck!

Got out on the lake at about 5 A.M... a nice glassy lake, boat launch crowded, people all trying to catch the Sockeye Salmon... A longer season than expected. more fish than expected. It is interesting to see where people go intheir boats, makeing you wonder if you ae fishing in the right spot. We didn't catch any today, we had a nice one on, it surfaced, danced for ahile and then spit the hook, that was at 8:30... we fished til 10. The Blue Angels began practicing for this weekends Seafair event. It was pretty sweet being on thelake with them flying overhead!
After fishing, my daughter and I pulled over and walked the Cedar River walk, it was a nice pleasant time together, picking black berries, wattching rabbits hopping about and looking for the Sockeye running up the river. We saw only one fish, so we think they are milling about in the lake waiting for the first good rain to come and spook them up the river.. Got home and to bed around 1pm, a long day, about 24 hours between sleeps....
Later.

Catch of the day!

Left work early Tuesday morning to get after the elusive Blackmouth Salmon in Puget Sound... My daughter and I enjoyed a wonderful boat ride across the sound as the water was like glass. We put our two crab pots down and proceeded to fish. Got started about 5;15 A.M. My friend Dan the fisherman was there as well. We fished Pt. Robinson.
Immediately Dan caught a 13 pounder. Our hopes soared as we had a "pop off." The fish didn't hook up but it was a moment of anticipation and excitement. Dan caught another by 6 A.M. Wow. Been there done that! Since the limit is two fish per angler he was done for the day, he had a three hour wait for his grand kids to show up. Nice to be retired!
Katie and I continued our journey for the Blackmouths... We endured another pop off later in the day. We found a fish balloon floating in the sound, that is our "catch of the day" (see photo!)
Well things got better, or worse depending on your perspective and whose boat you might be in...
We went over to Dans' boat after checking out crab pots, they were full of female crabs, which of course we released to the murky depths of the salty water, of course Dans' Grandkids had each caught a Salmon by this time, and as we were saying our farewells they got another nice strike but lost it as the grandson was a bit lax in his reeling prowess. (he hit the bale switch releasing more line, hence the fish escaped). All this excitement caused me to drop our lines for a bit more fishing, so it was a really late day for this angler.
May go back into Lake Washington as the Sockeye season was extended a few more days.
Better luck next time!

Hot and Cold baby!

Sockeye run has been fun, Got six on Saturday, but the fish won on Sunday, no fish. We fished from 1 pm to about 8 pm with a break to buy some fish at Ivars on Lake Washington! My wife and daughter and my neighbors son went on our boat... well a new day a new dollar, My daughter and I went out on Monday morning, fished from 5 am. til 10 am... we caught 3 sockeye salmon... lost one and netted one that was floating on top of the water, it had a hook in its mouth and the dodger was still attatched to it... man it was a gift from God!
The water was nice, the weather just right and as you can see, Mount Rainier highlighted behind my daughter!
Going to fish in Puget Sound today, over at Pt. Robinson...
Looking for the BIG one!