On The Sound

More fishing this day, while fishing I often reflected about Ted.
Gotta live your life, Bummer man! All kinds of thoughts going thru my noggin...
Family ties, family lies, family spies, and finally, family dies...
R.I.P...
Had a nice bite today on the water, Katie couldn't make it because she had to go to school to set up her classes and schedule as a 9th grader.
But I went anyway, I turned down an offer to golf free at Merridian Valley Country Club. A great, tough track. They used to hold a fantastic women's PGA event there.
But fish are here and I am there.
I caught a nice 9 lb. Blackmouth, a 5 lb. Blackmouth and a 6 lb. Humpy.
A good day when you catch your limit plus 1 !
I also caught a squid, when I put him in the bucket of water, he got excited and squirted out black ink. Kind of weird!
Before filleting


and

after.

Today is Your Birthday...

Today my brother Ted would turn 47 years old. But he had a drug problem, a self image problem and never could turn the corner. It is weird because he was the type of person that fit in with everyone, rich, poor, clean cut, raggedy, didn't matter...

I loved him so much. He died just over three months ago. I still can't believe he is gone...
Ted was always the funny brother. He could always make you laugh. He was the “life of the party!”
I can honestly say, “To know him, was to love him.” Ted had an infectious mischievousness about him. He is often referred to as “Teddy.” He would draw you in and before you knew it, you were a co-conspirator in some endeavor.

He had a special relationship with our mom. He could make her laugh instantly. She couldn't’t stay mad at him for long, and she could never say “No” to him. We used to watch T.V. and send Ted in to ask for a treat. She could never deny him, never. Many times, after telling one of us siblings “No.” we would send Ted in a few minutes later and he would always come back with the goods. Usually ice cream! I don’t know why that was, but it was!

Ted and I would make up many games growing up. We played the “interception game” on our street in front of our house as children. It took three players, a quarterback, a receiver, and a defensive back to guard the receiver. We had two routes we would run. Route “A” and Route “B” I remember getting taken out by the side view mirror of a parked car one day as I went out for a pass, looking back for the ball, as I caught the pass from Ted and turned to run up field, my face smashed into the side view mirror of our car. My feet flew out from underneath me, and down I went, blood all over.
We used to play “Home run Derby’ with a Wiffle ball and bat. We would hit from our yard, the pitcher standing across the street in the neighbors yard. A home run was to hit the ball onto any of the two houses across our street. To get a turn at bat you had to catch a fly ball or strike the batter out. One day, Ted hit a home run up on the Nelsons’ roof and it got stuck in their gutter. I had to climb up on their roof to retrieve the ball. Little did I know that there was a bee’s nest in the gutter. I agitated them and they swarmed after me. I was barefoot at the time and only wearing cut off jeans. I did two complete circles and ran straight off the roof. Ted says it was the funniest thing he ever saw as my feet continued churning the air as I was flying off the roof, I landed barefoot on the driveway and didn’t miss a beat as I flew past him and into the house. I out ran those bees and they only stung me three times.

Another game we made up was rather interesting. We would go down to the park and swing on the swing. Someone would stand in front of the swing behind this bar and throw a football at you while you were swinging. Your job was to block the ball with your feet or catch it. If it hit you anywhere on your body, it was the ball throwers turn to swing. We employed three people in this game as well, One throwing the football, one on the swing and one behind the swing to push the swinger and to retrieve errant thrown footballs.

Ted and I played together on the same Little League teams growing up. Ted was an excellent pitcher. I used to love watching him pitch from my vantage point in center field. I used to laugh when, being left handed, Ted would throw a nasty curve that dropped into the right handed batters, many times they would swing and miss this pitch and it would hit them in the foot. He was a fast runner and could hit well too! He was an excellent outfielder. Ted’s 12 year old Little League team won the State of Washington. Our whole family went to San Bernadino, California to watch them play and root them on.

We golfed together, fished together, played ball together, got high together, got in and out of trouble together, went to Mariners games and on and on and on...

Love you bro...

Wish you were here!

Back to the Sea...

No rest for the old man of the sea..

Katie and I fished Redondo today, My friend Dan has been emailing his fishing reports daily... 19 lbs. 17 lbs. and on and on..

So we hit the water this morning. Got lots of "nibles" and finally got a few small fish. Started with a three lb Silver, then a 4 lb. Humpy, finished with a couple of five lb. Black Mouth salmon. Nothing big, but we had a geat time and Cub did too.

When we pulled up to the dock to take the boat out of the water, I jumped onto the dock, Cub wanting to get out of the boat, jumped into Puget Souind. Weird!

Going in the morning again because I got too. Saw some really nice 15-20 t pounders at the boat launch. We got the small ones, they got the big ones, Tomorrow? Who Knows!!!

San Diego

Last Thursday we packed up our daughter, took the dog to a kennel and flew off to San Diego. Our purpose was to have some fun, get away and to see our son Eric before he heads off to duty in Iraq. The flight went well on a Boeing 737-400. Wonder if I towed it while it was in Renton, probably!
Eric picked us up at the S.D airport and drove us to our hotel. The marines gave him a couple of days off. Big of them... I would have thought they would let him come home for maybe ten days or so before his tour of duty. Instead, the four of us (Ryan came down Friday) had to go to him. Oh well, San Diego is a great place to take a vacation! Beautiful weather, great beaches, warm ocean waters...
We stayed at a local La Quinta Inn as the hotels were all booked. Hey, we weren't there for the hotels! It had a swimming pool and a nice continental breakfast each morning. No complaints. Good shower too, all the necessities!
Eric looked great, although he seemed a little out of sorts with us hovering over him for several days. He finally warmed up Saturday night. It was like we invaded his space, broke up his routine, which of course we did!
Thursday night found us trying to eat in Old Town at Guadalajara's Mexican restaurant, we arrived at 8:15 and they weren't taking anymore customers. The place was packed. The restrooms were both "out of service." Hmmm, maybe that is why they were turning people away? We had eaten there two years prior and really enjoyed the food and the experience.
Eric suggested the Coyote Cafe. He had eaten there before. Good call. The food was excellent.
Friday morning we got up and headed off to the San Diego Zoo. We were there 11 years ago. Katie was almost three then. We walked about and enjoyed the weather and the zoo. It was a good time. No schedule, just walking, talking and taking pictures.You can meet the strangest critters at the zoo, some large, and some, well, not so large.





Eric left about 3pm to pick up his brother Ryan at the airport, and then came back to pick us up... Friday night we were invited to eat dinner with John and Rachel Galvan, John is an M.P. Dog handler like Eric. They have become fast friends! We had a great time dining and sharing and just being with them, they had some fun stories to tell about times with Eric..
Saturday we mosied our way to La Jolla beach. (Pronounced LaHoya) It is right next to Torrey Pines Golf Course, home of the 2008 U.S Open. I looked into playing it on Sunday afternoon, but decided against it, the boys wouldn't get out of it the greatness of the course and the price was steep and we would only get in maybe 14 holes. I didn't bring my golf clubs or any of my golf attire, shoes balls etc... Next time though I will plan for it!
La Jolla beach was a blast.


We enjoyed body surfing and splashing about in the warm Pacific Ocean waters. Throwing the Frisbee around, I think this was just about the most fun Katie had, playing with her brothers and me in the surf. Joan got brave and joined us as well, it was nice to see her "let her hair down!" I got sun burned of course, it is a yearly ritual with me. I tell anyone who comments on it that it is just the way I tan, "I tan red!"

After a short stop at our hotel, we went to San Diego's Old Town. Lots of people, shops and restaurants,(Mostly Mexican) kind of a Pike Place Market atmosphere at night. We went there two years ago when Eric graduated from boot camp. Ryan didn't go with us then, so it was a nice time for him. We ate at Jack & Guilio's, a fine Italian restaurant. If you ever go to Old Town, And you should. I highly recommend it. Two years ago I ordered the Chicken Cacciatorre, excellent. Of course, I ordered it again. Excellent again.
Late nights and early mornings. Swimming in the hotel pool... meeting people from all over, a family from Egypt, now living in Las Vegas. Marine buddies of Erics'.

Sunday morning meeting going to church. Ryan planned a nice church adventure for us. I don't really know how to explain it but his home church in Seattle is connected with churches all over the country, perhaps the world. He found a Church of Christ in San Diego and we drover there. They were holding services at a Marina. The sermon was really good and hard hitting. We were welcomed as if we belonged and the people were really friendly.


After church we walked about the marina a bit. San Diego is really beautiful, I mean, water everywhere, parks and it seemed there was always a gentle breeze.



We rented a car as Eric would be working on Monday and Tuesday. We ended up at Camp Pendleton
where Erics' dog Zoran is kenneled.


Eric enjoyed showing us his working grounds. The Marine corp Kennels. I think there were upwards of 30 hounds in the kennels. They were loud and rambunctious when we arrived. I think they were all hoping we would let them out and they could run and play and stretch their legs.
Eric took Zoran out and ran him thru the obstacle course. You could see great affection and love between Eric and Zoran. Zoran is a really nice dog,


well mannered and well trained. Eric has done a fine job with him. Later, another Marine arrived and Eric had him use his dog and Eric demonstrated how they attack and respond to their handler.Eric was the one being attacked! I don't know who had more fun, Eric or the attacking dog, or his handler. It was really eye opening and enjoyable to see Eric working at what he is trained for.
Would YOU be afraid of this SWeet dog???

Having no plans for dinner, Ryan talked us into walking the block or so up the street from our hotel to enjoy the fine dining and entertainment of Benihana's.


Katie had never been to Benihana's before and Joan and I haven't been in about 25 years. While the prices are some what high, it was well worth the time we had. The food was excellent and the chefs really make you laugh and have a great time. We were paired with a man and his daughter who just happen to be from our state and live fairly close to us. They were gracious and fun, Nick and his lovely daughter Ashley. At Benihana's, the chefs have fun with food, here is an onion ring choo choo train, smoke stack included!




Sunday night in the hotel room was a wild and somewhat weird time... how to explain???
Ryan was getting up very early to catch a flight back to Seattle so he could be at work by ten. Eric was driving him to the airport and then heading to work himself Monday morning...
The Flynn clan got crazy... It all started because of Eric's... well, he had been passing gas all weekend and laughing about it, it was bad to say the least... Now not only Eric, but papa Flynn and Ryan had the problem... Poor Katie and Joan...
Us boys were having too much fun stinking up the joint, Joan was getting angry and trying to keep everyone in line...

but she succumbed to Eric and Ryan's antics and began laughing... we were all laughing and trying to get to sleep, but soon a pillow fight broke out between Katie and the boys... She had no chance, she loved it!

What a commotion! Eric and Ryan began jumping on the bed, strutting their stuff, mom yelling at them half heartedly to "knock it off."
We had a grand Ol' time.

Monday morning and what to do today? Ryan off to work in Seattle, Eric at work in Pendleton... no plans.
So we went to Del Mar Race track and watched the thoroughbreds run. Joan and I had never been to the horse races. It was a beautiful day.
We asked many questions of many people, never did figure out how to bet. We lost a few bucks but had a good time along the way.
Almost immediately after arriving, as we were walking around the paddock, I got jostled by a big man and he immediately apologized. Him and his buddies were having a bit of fun pushing one another and I got bumped into. One of the men is the son of a horse owner. He asked us about our time in San Diego and found out that it was our first ime at the races and that Katie loves horses, (What 14 year old girl doesn't?)
He invited us to join him and his party in the inner circle of the paddock. The paddock is a circular area that they walk the horse around right before they are about to race so people who are betting can see them. Hey! This is pretty cool. We were introduced to the jocky and we found out later that he is a Hall of Fame Jockey!
Splendid!
The owners son told us that his horse hadn't ran in about a year due to injury, and was picked to finish last by one source, and first by another. He told us that if she finished first, were could join them in the winners circle to be photographed with the winning party! WOW! Now that gave us some incentive to root for his horse. Well, funny but his horse finished dead last! Oh well, it was pretty cool anyway!

Went shopping with the ladies Monday night. Found some nice things for Katie, and Tuesday found us on a jet plane bound for Seattle.
Everyone had a much needed vacation and family time!

Rain at Redondo

My friend Dan the fisherman has long said that he never catches fish in the dark or in the rain. I concur completely with these statements. Maybe it's because you don't spend enough time pounding the water in the rain? or perhaps it because it is difficult to fish in the dark? Tying hooks and fishing rigging in the dark while on a boat being tossed about by waves, add some rain and, well, fishing becomes more work than pleasure...
We of course tried it anyway... started trolling at Redondo at about 5:15am. Dan caught a small black mouth shaker pretty quick, and it was still dark, I think he had two shakers pretty fast... where there's small fish... hopefully there will be large fish as well. Fish run in schools. Big, medium and large.

Well, the water was calm, and then the rain started, thank Dan for a covered area on his boat to sit comfortably under.At about 6:30 am Dan had a nice tap, tap on his rod and then it popped off. He was on it immediately, the fish didn't fight too well, in fact it circle beneath the dark water, rain coming down. Dog fish Dan says, they circle, another friend of mine, also named Dan, calls them circle fish for this behaviour. They are basically a dead weight. Well this fish did some running, peeling line away from the boat. I remarked, that ain't no dawg fish. Dan was still uncertain, the fish didn't fight too well, just kinda hunkered down, like a big weight, Dawg fish do that, but they generally don't "run." Finally we could see it, a nice big Black mouth, I netted him and he weighed in at a nice 17 pounds. SWEET! Caught in the pouring rain no doubt!

The other Dan I mentioned earlier, Dan Nomura has a theory about this. This not catching fish in the rain. A change in Barometric pressure occurs when it rains. The fish sense or feel this and do not bite... for the first few hours of this change. Once they acclimate to the change, they're ready to go again. Well it rained yesterday and this was the second day, perhaps it is true, the fish today were acclimated. Another rainy thought to consider, when you don't catch fish in the rain the first day, what makes you want to go out again in the wetness?
There was a nice "bite" on, it lasted about an hour, we saw many fish caught by several other anglers on the water. I had a nice strike but it didn't stay hooked.
We fished until 11 am, I caught about a three pound silver, just as we were about to call it a day, I had another pop off and as I grabbed the rod, line was being peeled from the reel, the fish ran straight away from the boat and surfaced, the natural trade mark of a Coho, or silver Salmon, the fish leaped out of the water once and i noticed a deep purple blue hue before it vanished beneath the surface, hmmm, might be one f those Duwammish black mouths that fight on top of the water, as the fish got nearer he hunkered down, straight down, ah yes, the tell tale signs of a Black mouth,low and behold, a lovely 11 pound Black mouth. Sweet!
Well, now we know, you can catch fish in the rain!

Family Reunion

My cousin Cathy held a family reunion for Saturday.
I wasn't really looking forward to going. This would be family members from our mothers side of the family and could potentially include many relatives. Last year the final remaining members of my moms brothers and sisters passed away. This was the first attempt to get everyone together. The event was held at Lake Wilderness park which is about three good golf drives from my home. I had to work this weekend so I needed to sleep. I got up at about 12:45, took a shower and headed over to the park. Like I said, this isn't something I was looking forward to. Normally this type of thing is "right up my ally." But I haven't heard from any of my brothers or sisters since our brothers funeral, that's a span of about three months. Before that it had been seven months. I am very bitter towards them. I really don't care if I see them or not at this stage in my life. Not knowing if they would be there or not... My wife and I went, it was about a mile from my home, I really don't know why Cathy wanted to have it at Lk. Wilderness. Her family lives way up North in Marysville and Everett. Guess she might be trying to get my family some healing.???
I tried to have a good time but my heart wasn't in it. I got out of bed early, so I was tired. My older brother and sister were both there. Really could care less if I see them. My older brother dis owned me last October. His exact words were,"I dis own you as a brother." Our younger brother died May 23rd, about 3 months ago. I thought his funeral might open some doors and hearts but it doesn't seem so... Maybe they are waiting for me to approach them? I dunno...
Right now, I feel like it was a total waste of time.
I did get a couple of my cousins' email addresses so I can send them some pics I took. My niece Lindsay was there as well, she just got back yesterday from boot camp, she is now a United States Marine! OORAH!
Superman made an appearance at our reunion as well. He was hard to capture on film as he was moving faster than a speeding bullet and climbing tall buildings!
Remember being young and full of dreams!?

Anything seemed possible.
A friend of mine asked me if I performed any magic at the reunion. The mood wasn't right. (Or at least my mood) I didn't feel the "right vibe." I din't want the reunion to be about me. Maybe another time.

A Dogs Life

Well, we've all heard about how great it would be to be a well loved dog... a dogs life is supposedly something to be wanted or valued.The easy life, lazin around, good food and no responsibilities... Not this dogs life. His new name is Lamp Shade! Joan named him that for the next week. We had Cub neutered. OUCH!

Smashing Waves...

Fishing, not necessarily catching... that is what it's called, fishing..
Today was a fishing day.. I got to the launch early, heard that Three Tree Point was the place to go to catch Kings... two different people told me this. I have fished there twice with little luck. BUT, I went there anyway, a long 20 minute scoot North in the pitch blackness of early morning. I was the first to arrive. I don't know why but I do not enjoy fishing at Three Tree Point. I left at 6:20 and drove South to Redondo. I got a message from my wife that a friend had his limit of two Kings by 8 am at... you guessed it, Three Tree Point!
Well, whatcha going to do? I got two really nice hits at Redondo, the first one stripped a lot of line, I put the boat in circle mode, the fish was right below the boat at one point way down in the murky depths of Puget Sound, I never saw him, he stripped more line and... was gone... Not much later and another nice strike, more peeling line, not as strong, maybe a silver? Maybe a humpy? I will never know... Gone... Fishing!
AHH, But the day before, now that's a fish story of a different color!
Andy and I went out in my boat, I am not sure if he has been on my boat before, it is always a pleasure to have Andy around, he is a McGiver type person... Always tinkering with something, making it better. Always an opportunity to learn something.
Anyway, fishing. Seems almost immediately, around 6 am, we were both doing something and we hear my rod screaming, it is definitely not connected to the down rigger any longer and line is being peeled from the reel, Andy gets ready to grab my rod and then thinks better of it as he looks at me, I chuckle inwardly, he moves out of the way as I grab the rod and start reeling although line is still being stripped from the spool. OH MY WHAT FUN! The scramble is on, where's the net? Should I slow the motor? Should I get the other down rigger out of the water? Is it a large fish? All these thoughts and more run thru your mind in seconds... meanwhile you keep reeling, keep the tip up...
After She ran, she didn't run much more, expending all her energy in her initial run, usually you get three good rips from a large fish... Andy did a great job netting the fish and we were rewarded with a 15 lb. Black mouth!

We fished til about 11 am and caught two other fish, a nice Silver and a humpy. The sun was out, the cigars were good and the day was great!

Fishin W/Dan & holy Mackerel

My friend Dan the fisherman took me out on his boat yesterday... We flew across the Sound to Pt. Beal. He really wanted to fish at Redondo but put so much gas in his gas tank that he needed to burn some of it...
we fished Pt. Beal from 5:30 to 7:15.. no bites, nothin, we didn't have a good felling about it so we drove back to Redondo..
No sooner than you could say "fish on" and I had a nice Pink Salmon in the boat, Dan caught one right after that.. seems we might have missed the bite at Redondo... but all of a sudden my rod pops off and I got a nice big king on... well, at least that's what I think... This fish hit at 70 feet and peeled line so fast and furious that I was worried that It my "spool" me... I guess I needn't have worried because the beast kept right on running, somehow it had freed itself from the sticky hooks..
We'll never know, but the "big one" got away...
The sun was shining, the water was smooth and Dan was driving the boat, I mentioned to him that maybe we should go out to 200 feet of water and try a depth of 90 feet, he said, whatever you want... No sooner did I drop my line to 90 feet and bam, fish on!
I thought it was going to be another pink, but not so, a nice, bright 8 pound Black mouth!

Almost immediately Dan the fisherman gets a bite, something small, it doesn't trip the down rigger, he reels it in on the down rigger ball, releases the catch and what? What is that? A Mackerel, are you kidding me?! Never seen one before. I guess the warm water currents have brought them in, might even see some large sharks this time of year... dunta, dunta, dunta, dunta....

Bags & Eggs & More...

Monday night found me at my good friend Jose's practicing the art of magic. I asked Jose to help me with the Gazzo bag routine... It was a nice session with just three of us attending. Leslie proved himself to quite an artistic magi with his pirate get up and sword swallowing. I think I will have him teach me how to do that, He is from India you know!!!
He also shared his pet mouse...Leslie is a really great childrens entertainer... I can learn alot from him..
We also worked on the Tricky wallet as Jose has been wanting to refresh himself in it's arcane value. I think we did a good job covering it. Jose performed the Gazzo bag routine for us, I love Jose's smile, it is quite captivating..

We discussed the use of vulgar language in magic, the do's and don'ts. Opinions about using borderline jokes as well. I favor the idea of not using them at all. They have the potential to do more harm than good. If you alienate even one spectator, that may be their impression of magic and magicians forever. Why run the risk if it is not necessary?
I think it especially important when ding magic for children, we are all intelligent enough to use descriptive words instead of swear words. Our culture seems to think swearing is o.k. Again, if you offend even one person....
I have learned this from actually having offended some people, though unintentional, it could have EASILY been avoided. You rarely, if ever, get a second chance to make a first impression.
I performed three fly for the boys, kind of off the cuff as I was getting ready to go to work. They both really liked it and said it was ready for audience consumption... I haven't been performing it for anyone as I feel unready... hmmm.
All in all it was a good night of magic!

New Times, Old Friends!

Saturday night, 30 year High School Reunion. Everyone had a great time, those that chose to attend. I heard we had about 80 alumni at the reunion. It was held at Gordons on the Green. Formerly known as Foster Golf Links in Tukwila.
Joan and I (The best looking couple there) arrived about 6:45 and it was fun to try to figure out who was who!
Good thing everyone had name tags on! It was a rather casual affair and went to midnight. It went by really fast. I was disappointed that more classmates didn't attend.


In my opinion, the men looked better overall than the ladies. (ooh, Ouch, did I say that!)
It was funny to watch some of the people still playing games with there appearances and their attitudes, not many, but a few...
Still it was great to see people and catch up on their lives.

Reasons Why Fishing is Expensive

Took our daughter fishing today. We had a great time, Joan joined us at about 9:30.
Today we took our dog Cub too. It was his first time on a boat. He did really well.
We fished Redondo from 5:30 to 9:30. We caught one 4 lb. Blackmouth, barely legal. It was a costly fish however. It didn't hit the lure very hard. Not hard enough to pull the fishing line from the down rigger clip. I noticed that we had a bite and that it didn't hit hard enough to release from the clip. So, I jumped up and grabbed the fishing rod and yanked it upward, standard operating procedure in this instance, by yanking on the rod, usually the line will release from the clip and you are fighting the fish... not so this time, there was a LOUD CRACK as the rod broke in two! Katie couldn't help herself as she was astonished and began to laugh... meanwhile we had this fish on the other end. The broken end of the rod slid down the line stopping when it got to the flasher. Not much to do but keep reeling. It was difficult to control the fish because I had not tip for leverage and play. If it had been a large fish, I doubt that we would have landed her.
Notice the big smile on Katie's face!? That is because she is holding the fish and her NEW rod.
Earlier this week, on Monday while launching the boat, I jumped down from the dock to my boat trailer and my new cell phone jumped out of my pocket and landed in about four inches of salt water. I had no cell phone insurance.
Just another day in the life...
We fished Three Tree Point from 10 am to 12 and had a nice hit or two but they got away. I think they were pinks.

Fishin not catchin

I went out to Redondo Thursday morning after work... fished Redondo from about 5:30 to 7 am. Flew across the Sound to Pt. Robinson. fished there til about 8:20. Not many fish caught that I could see... I let about four small ones go. Then back to Redondo for the tide change, still nothing, quit fishing at 10... had to get home to get some shut eye.
Saw this really large ship carrying masses amounts of containers. Notice the white water wake it is making.
Will be fishing with our daughter and taking our dog on his first boating adventure today.

Wednesday Night at the Flynn's

We had the church body over for a potluck Wed. night. A large crowd showed up. We played volleyball and ladder golf and some kids played pool. Good food, good times and good friends.