Devils Lake snapping turtle

Very impressive snapping turtle we encountered on a little walkabout we took at Devils Lake State Park. Almost garbage can lid size. It was right on the sidewalk, sadly right next to the edge of the road. I think she was trying to get a bit further inland and lay some eggs, as it looked like it had given up trying to get over the edge of the walk and had started to scratch out a hole with a VERY impressive set of claws on its left rear foot.Heat, bright sunshine, car traffic, people walking by, boaters, snorkelers, none of it seemed to phase this very impressive and prehistoric looking creature from the deep. I just hope it made it back to the deep. It was big enough that I was a bit nervous picking it up and walking it down to the water. I'm told turtles have surprising long necks and I did not want to confirm that.

Paddle And Portage 2009

Finally, this year I was in town and not tied up in soccer tournaments, vacations, and projects. So after a six year break, I did the Paddle & Portage again. This time around my kids were big enough, so Hayley did the first lake and half the portage. At the Capitol Square we met my wife and Lindsey took over from Hayley and did the rest of the portage and the second lake.The paddling was nice. I love the motion of a paddle moving through water. Even on a windy day with crosswinds and waves for most of the way. The first lake was really blustery, with a fairly large number of canoes meeting Davy Jones, although I don't think anyone actually sank. But they certainly got wet in some nasty looking green water. The portage was a good workout. I actually trained a bit for the portage. My neighbors were probably wondering what I was doing running around the block with a canoe in the weeks leading up to P&P. This is a great event. With at least 325 boats doing it this year, many other people seem to think so to. Put it on your calendar next year and come and give it a try!

Kayaks and Redfish along the Gulf Coast

Like peanut butter and jelly, kayaks and fishing go great together. Whether in the Chippewa Flowage up in Wisconsin or down on the Gulf Coast, kayaks are just right for all sorts of places and conditions. People too. Pictured above is Gary Taylor bringing in a nice redfish somewhere in his spot on the far side of Lake Borgne near Slidell, LA.

To the right is Danny Wray our Grand Isle guide and one of the redfish he brought in during the day we spent with him and his wife, Kristen (who I think may have caught a few more than he did...)

Down in the near-tropics of Port Mansfield Texas,
we hooked up with Ruben Garza and two of his co-guides for yet another great day on the water, in kayaks, paddling and poling after speckled trout and redfish.

Louisiana pictures

I came back from our latest project to the Gulf Coast with a ton of content. Some of it, I simply had not considered prior to actually seeing it. This shot, for example, is of some very surfable waves breaking on the beach on the south side of Grand Isle. I was shocked how big the surf was. It just NEVER occurred to me that Louisiana had surfable waves. Even "weirder" (if that is a word) is the sight of the oil rigs only a few miles offshore. It all made for a great day in Grand Isle with Danny and Kristen Wray taking us around their stomping grounds paddling, pedaling, poling, and fishing for redfish.

NY Times article: Lake Superior surfing hits the big time

My hometown and home lake (if there is such a thing) got a nice page one writeup in the Travel section of the NY Times. The front picture accompanying the article could not be better.

Surfing Lake Superior

Mainly about surfing, but as my friend on the scene, John Abrahams, will say - there is much more to be done in Lake Superior waters.

Gulf Coast kayaking road trip

The time arrived for another movie project. The goal? More Native Watercraft boats, in use along the Upper Gulf Coast, chasing redfish and speckled trout. So we spent the first twelve days of 2009 on a road trip. From Madison, WI., it was due south down Hwy.51 for a long ways, then east to Mobile, Alabama, where I met up with Jimbo Meador again. From his place in Mobile we went to Slidell, LA., then on to Grand Isle, LA., and then finally a monster drive to Port Mansfield, TX., all the way south almost to the Mexican border, right on the coast. Lots of driving, happily all through country that I have never seen before. Eye opening and quite interesting. Not all of it was good. The boats, the fish and the people we met were great. To my great surprise there is still an enormous amount of work to be done to recover from Katrina. Something that happened almost four years ago still lays heavy on the land, the water, and especially the people living in the small towns that dot the Gulf Coast.

Next Year's Water

Record breaking December snowfall in Madison,
for the second year in a row.

This marks the last entry in this blog for 2008. Being an optimist, I'm trying to take the lemons (HUGE snowfall) that have come my way and turn them into lemonade (next year's water). December 07 set a snowfall record for southern Wisconsin that I thought would not be broken. Turns out that December 08 was even bigger and snowier! In the immortal words of Greg Brown, "who woulda thunk it?" Every shovelful that I threw up on the pile next to the mailbox, I tried to imagine as water in a lake in a few months. I also tried to block out the buzz of snowblowers that surrounded me as I use a shovel to move the snow, unlike all of my neighbors. The top of the mailbox is about four feet above the curb. Thankfully, I finished the driveway before I ran out of space to throw the snow. The next few months look to be fairly quiet here in Wisconsin as there is no "boatable" water to speak of. Canoecopia looks to be the next big thing. Should be another fun event and a great way to usher in a new spring!