This is about the longest I’ve gone without fishing during the summer. But this drought was planned. There are three major fishing events this July. One starts this week. About ten college friends and I turn 60 within three months and we are having a massive party starting tomorrow night. I’ll fish with them Thursday and Saturday for sure. Next Tuesday I head for Pinedale, WY to help with the fundraiser – Fishing for the Fight. And yes, I’ll enjoy three days western trout fishing on my old stomping grounds. Then after another week returning and fishing Wisconsin, I head to Labrador for massive brook trout and landlock salmon. More on this adventure later.
With all these fishing events coming soon, I had to catch up on work. There’s no better time to remain on the property than during the chaos of the 4th of July Holiday week. Hayward, Wisconsin is a tourist town and the last ten days have been busy. Busy in town and I’m certain busy on the water. I started two major art projects. One you see here for my friend Brian Iannacchione and another soon to post for my friend Mike Lodge.
Both Mike and Brian travel on my Yellow Dog hosted trips to the Indian Ocean and both paintings are highlighting trips. Mike’s will be an Indo-Pacific permit he caught at St. Brandon’s Atoll and Brians celebrates the day he caught each of the two major triggerfish on Providence in the Seychelles, the mustache and the yellowmargin.
Mike’s is a huge painting, at least 20 x 25” so I’m making space to have my painting tools out and about for about ten days straight. Big paintings are an undertaking when you live in a tiny 1100 square foot house. Brian’s isn’t exactly small. His is 14 x 20”. Triggerfish are also the most difficult fish there are to paint so I also saw these last eight days as an ideal time to tackle the high detailed and challenging project.
My plan has been good and today I finished Brian’s memorable piece. It was an unbelievable task that took far longer than I expected. But I’m delighted to say, I am very pleased with how it came out. Now its time for a few days fishing!