C'mon tomorrow!!

Haven't been fishing a bunch, but just a little here and there. I haven't caught a fish in a while now and it feels a little uncomfortable. The weather has been absolutely disgusting!! A three day Nor'easter was not exactly jiving with the beginning of my summer vacation.

Father's Day - Christine was not feeling well and she said go get a new rod at Red Top. Admittedly, I went a little over board, but what I ended up with is so awesome. I got a Tsunami Trophy 10' rod just like the other one I got but longer. This time I got a really good reel too. This is the best reel I have ever had. A Daiwa Emblem Pro 5500. A hard core surf casting reel.

Tomorrow I am planning on leaving around 4am or so to go out and fish along the Elizabeths. I always look forward to fishing around here and I hope that the fog is not too bad so that I can get there safely.

Here is a pic of my new reel.

Depression is setting in

Went to Mashnee Island last night and only managed a blowup on a pencil popper that did not result in a hookup. Very depressing!! Since catching a keeper for my first fish they have all managed to get progressively smaller up until the last few weeks of successive skinks!! No fish!! Yes, I do not get out there as much as some others do, but usually I can count on a bluefish or a schoolie. Nope!! To top it all off, Mike Earley went to middle ground yesterday and boated over a dozen bass. This has just not been my spring. Last year I remember it took me until well into May to get my first fish, but when I finally did it was that great week at Mashnee. I really need a fever so I can get sent home and be quarantined away from school for 7 days for fear of swine flu. That will give me ample time to get build up some hours on the water and get some fish. To top it all off I am still dealing with my fishing rod issue. I have my big surf rod and a couple Wal-Mart specials, but nothing that will throw 7" Hogy's like I like to do. I will figure it out one of these days, but right now I am majorly bummed out.

Good Times with good people

Bad news first - Been fishing three times on the boat so far and I am 3 for 3 with the skunk. last time out I at least saw fish and had a couple hits, but unfortunately I was unable to hook up. Worst of it is that I snapped off a lure at the same time the top section of my brand new rod came off. Long story short I am going to have to buy a new top section of my Tsunami Trophy. To make it worse, my back up rod which was my full time rod for the past two seasons lost its tip on the last trip out. Not my week I guess!!!

Good news - Other than raising over $1000 for JDRF this past fall the other good thing that came from that big fundraiser was that I befriended a fellow SOLer that also has a son with Type 1 diabetes, Colrain.

I took Colrain and his son, Garrett out on my boat on Saturday to fish around the Vineyard and Elizabeth's. Got out to the Vineyard and within' a few casts I had fish sloshing all over my Hogy, but Colrain hooked up. I thought this was going to be too good to be true and it was. No other hook ups the rest of the day, but we saw a lot of skittish and finicky fish which at least kept our hopes up throughout the day. Garrett raised more fish than both Colrain and I, but unfortunately never hooked up. He even had some hits around the Elizabeths during the turn of the tide, but still no solid hookups.

Just wanted to let everyone know that just being out on a boat (Garrett's first time on a boat by the way) with nice people is well worth it even if you do not catch a ton of fish. I had a blast!

Hope to do it again sometime Colrain and we will take some eels along the rocks of the Elizabeths.

3 Miles isn't that far

I feel great this morning!! Got out for a quick 3 mile run. I am hoping to make this my regular morning route now that the 1.5 mile route was getting a little easy. Plus, I am still working on getting up to 7 miles for the Falmouth Road Race. I figure that by the time I reach the end of June or early July that I will graduate to a 5 mile route as my regular route. Shooting for 7 miles by the end of July so that I am ready for the race at the beginning of August. I am a little nervous, but I am going to do it no matter what. It is a good goal for me and will hopefully be a stepping stone to other races and goals that will help keep me fit. I am not trying to lose any more weight, but if it is a product of how I eat and workout then so be it. I looked up online what my suggested weight is for my height and age and it lists it in a range from 180 to 211. Yeah Right!!!!!! I have not been under 200 lbs. since the beginning of my sophomore year in high school. What a joke! I would be psyched if I made it into the 220's never mind being skin and bones, I will leave that to the runway models. Right now I weigh less than I have in over 10 years. While teaching in West Springfield (without children), Christine and I managed to use an awesome gym on a regular basis and I was really fit, not thin, but fit and probably weighed close to what I weigh now. When I ever started teaching high school and eating out all the time and then taking care of children I just really let it go and I am never going to let that happen again. I weigh 243 lbs. right now and feel great. many people around work are noticing my weight loss and it is really motivating to hear all of the compliments. It helps keep me going when I feel like it is getting tough.

Good Weekend

Fishing - Friday, Christine was with her band and chorus at Six Flags so I took the kids to the 99. After dinner I decided to check out South Cape Beach and saw the bluefish mayhem that I have witnessed and heard about. I had told the kids that if it was too crazy we would just watch. As luck would have it it was crazy, but an opening opened up right in front of us and there was a dad with his two kids right beside us so fishing was in the cards. Made a bunch of casts and only managed one bluefish. There must have been 70-80 fisherman all along the beach and most people brought in at least on fish. The bluefish I brought home had a freshly eaten squid inside of it. Sunday, Mike Earley and I went out early in my boat and headed to Middle Ground. It was foggy, but we made it there and back safe and sound. I usually love fishing in foggy conditions, but the bass were not cooperating and we did not manage to see one fish caught by us or any other anglers. Monday, I helped Mike get his boat in the water and on his trip to Quissett he caught a couple bluefish in front of the old hotel. Later, i went fishing with Ed Lott in his 12' aluminum boat out of Poppy Bay. I missed a hit and saw a kayaker land a fish. Pretty sure it was a school of small bass as my Hogy did not show any signs of being bit by a bluefish.

So, the weekend was not that successful on the fishing side of things, but it was relaxing. Had a couple cookouts with the Earley's and Fish/Lott's.

A little better

I went running this morning with a purpose. Needed to redeem myself for not doing that well on Wednesday. I was challenging myself in terms of speed. I was able to run my 1.5 (really 1.4, but who's counting) mile run in 12:45 which comes out to exactly and 8 minute and 30 second mile. I am pretty happy with that. It is incredible how much different one minute can feel. I was really sucking wind by the end, but I was able to push through it. Felt good.

The boat is ready at Edwards. The front fishbox had a crack and they have replaced it under warrantee. I tell you, I am nervous for when the boat is no longer under warrantee, I just can't believe how much stuff comes up. BOAT, Bust Out Another Thousand is not exactly the pneumonic that I want us to aspire to. Hopefully this weekend will allow for some family boating and some fishing.

Not so Fast / Far / Long

Yesterday afternoon Thomas had a soccer practice so I was planning on running for 70 minutes straight. No dice! I did not even come close to what I did last week. I was really hoping that I could build on that experience and prove to myself once and for all that I will be able to do the Falmouth Road Race. Well, I will not be running it tomorrow that is for sure. Probably good to know that still have a lot of work and training to do. I am going to try and start doing my 3 mile run for my morning run instead of the mile and a half I normally do. It will mean getting up a little earlier, but only an extra 10-15 minutes or so. After 38 minutes I was unable to keep myself going last night which was really unfortunate. If 3 miles becomes easy to me then I can open it up to a longer distance from time to time and eventually be ready for 7 miles by August.