Jumbo Perch

We made a trip to Madison on the Lake last weekend to visit friends, and took the opportunity to go out on Lake Erie to go after some perch. The waters in the eastern part of the lake are much deeper than in the Western Basin, and the fish tend to move to the east as the weather cools, so we expected a good catch.

The waters were calm as we set out at 8 o'clock in the morning. Unfortunately, the winds picked up through the morning, so that by about 11 o'clock, we were bouncing around in 3 foot waves. It's very difficult to feel the perch bite in those conditions, so we gave up around noon - but not before we had 30-some perch in the box.

I've fished a lot in the Western Basin, and the rule on my boat was that if the perch wasn't at least 7 inches long, it was to be thrown back in the lake. I know some guys who keep fish as small as 5 inches, and I just don't understand that. Those fish need another year to grow. So a typical catch would be a lot of 7 and 8 inch fish, with a few 9 or 10 inch fish generally n the mix. We've caught some 11 and 12 inch perch, but those are rare in the west.

I'm happy to say that the perch we caught last week were good sized fish. There was probably one 7 incher in the box, but most were in the 10 to 12 inch range. The prize of the day was one I caught - it was slightly over 14 inches in length, and not only is it the largest perch I've ever caught, it is the largest perch I've ever seen. According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the state record is a 2.75 pound, 14 1/2 inch yellow perch taken from Lake Erie by Charles Thomas of Lorain, Ohio on April 17, 1984. We didn't weigh my fish, but that record puts my catch into context.

For comparison, the perch in the lower left of this picture was an 8 incher. We'll plan another trip next fall - perch like this are just too hard to pass up.

More Chalk

This fascinates me. The man spends many hours creating these chalk drawings, only to have them washed away or eroded within hours or days.

His time might be better spent going to Scotty's for a Porkanopolois!

Porkanopolis

I have not been around for a while, and I need to leave for Toledo in about 8 hours, but I need to post this.

A few miles south of Defiance, Ohio, on Route 111, is a barbecue place known as Scotty's. I had dinner there Monday night with some friends, and I was intrigued by one of the "signature" sandwiches: The Porkanopolis. This sandwich is composed of a half-pound sausage patty covered by a half pound of pulled pork, topped with a fried onion ring, into which is stuffed some cole slaw, over which is poured barbecue sauce, all of which is put into a large sesame seed bun. I had a side of curly fries to complete the meal.



I'm one of those people who tries to maintain a balanced diet. I'll drink several cups of coffee in the morning, but I'll also try to have a glass of fruit juice or some fresh fruit to go along with it. During the week, I usually have a salad for lunch, with more fresh fruit for dessert. The evenings are for pizza and beef and bacon (which goes well with EVERYTHING), but I don't go overboard with any of it. I subscribe to the Ben Franklin philosophy of well-being: all things in moderation.

After I ate this monstrosity, Scotty (the owner) came to our table and told us that he was working on an improved sandwich, which would include everything that is on the Porkanopolis, but would be supplemented with a half-pound ground beef patty, curly fries on top of the onion ring, and a dousing of cheese sauce before the slathering of barbecue sauce.

I think I'll pass on this one. The Porkanopolis was good, but I felt so bad about having eaten it, that the next morning I actually had a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. I haven't had oatmeal for breakfast in probably 30 years. And if I eat any more Porkanopolis sandwiches, I'm not likely to be around in another 30 years.

Milestones

With an absence of more than a month, it should come as no surprise that Sam has been a very busy guy lately. During that time, there were several mileposts achieved, and I'll pass along three of them here, in no particular order.

First, the dock has been built, the boat is in the water, and little Bea came out to go on her first fishing trip with Grandpa Sam. The first order of business was to make her safe, and that was accomplished by Bea donning the little "boat coat" that Dorothy got for her. I was happy that she put up no fuss, even though it was very hot and muggy, and the coat restricted her movement somewhat.

So after wishing everyone a bon voyage, Bea went out with Mommy and Grandpa Sam to find some bass. We were only able to find one, in part because it was so hot that we decided to go back after only 10 or 15 minutes in the water. Bea was a great boat mate, and it's obvious that she likes being on the water. We'll get her back out this fall after the weather cools.


The second milestone relates to golf. I've been out 15 or 20 times this year, but on most occasions, my back hurts so much that I can hardly swing a club after a few holes. Twice I've had to cut the round short, and other times I stuck it out, but my scores reflected the state of my back. I can swing the club pretty well when it doesn't hurt, but it seems to hurt more often than not these days.

Two years ago, I set a golf milestone by scoring a 78. That is still the lowest round I've ever played, but I came close yesterday -- I shot a 79.



The reason this is a milestone is that I am prouder of this 79 than the 78 I shot two years ago. My back started to get to me around the 12th hole, and I ran off a series of bogeys, which marred what had been a stellar round of golf. But they were bogeys and no worse...on 3 occasions, I got into some serious trouble, but in all cases I managed to keep my cool and salvage the bogey. It's a rare day when I have nothing worse than a bogey on my scorecard. And I simply played better yesterday than the day I shot the 78 -- had I made a few easy putts (one from 2 feet) and avoided that one bad fairway wood, this could have easily been a 73 instead of a 78.

The third milestone is the biggest.

You might remember the first Wyndanwood post, in which I described meeting Dorothy for the first time after a round of golf. That was June 29, 2000. So on June 29, 2010, I took her back to the scene of the crime, got down on one knee, and proposed. After ten years, you get to know your partner pretty well, and she has been the most consistently...well, just about anything good that I could insert here...woman I've known. I knew that once I committed to buying Wyndanwood with her that there was no backing out, but I wanted to wait for a special moment to ask the question.

So those are the milestones in my life over the past month...and summer isn't even halfway over yet. I'm curious to see what's coming around the bend.

(By the way, she said "Yes!")