Granny and I’ve been pressing to get our new Hayward, WI house up to par. That cigarette smoke I mentioned a couple days ago is the real deal. The house was freshly carpeted only a year ago and we had to rip the entire thing out. It took us 14 hours to uplift the heavy shag and then dig out and pull the staples and nails buried in the plywood floors below. It’s a bummer but Tuesday we have a meeting with the floor people at Nelson Lumber. One of my old college pals, Tom Smedley, is the manager there.
Today we woke with sore backs, shoulders, elbows, wrists and pain from unknown hand muscles. It was gratifying though; it seems most the smoke left to the dump with the carpet. After a nice Yeti filled cup of coffee from the back porch, Granny suggested a day of light work and perhaps a few casts at some fishy looking spots we passed on the way to the dump last night.
I don’t need to tell you I was in. We pushed the paint brushes for a few hours then rode our bikes to town to put air in the tires. After that we packed the car and went out and made some casts. We fished the shoreline of two different lakes and a river.
At first we tossed nymphs on the Air 2 4-weight. I was hoping to stumble upon some slab black crappie with thoughts of whacking a few for tonight’s dinner. But all we could find were small bluegill. They were fun but not large enough for a deep fry. I started tossing my 7-weight around with some wire bite tippet and a rabbit strip fly. I caught this small pike and he was hooked down to the gills and bleeding. The fly was barbless but as I looked at him, plain and simple, I said, “Honey, we have dinner”.
A lot of folks don’t eat pike. They say it’s the taste but it’s more likely they don’t know how to manage the tricky Y bones. I became a master filleter during college and I carved us out a beautiful dinner. Granny fried him up and added in a salad. It was delicious and the satisfying feeling we woke up with feels even stronger as I hit the sack. I think we’re gonna love this place!
Pike tastes great! A chef I know from #MiddletonBbq loves pike as much as walleye. I am all for catch and release but definitely will eat. Right thing to do if they are hooked deep!