Making it through another year, '25-'26

[Nebraska]

I really have had good luck with them. Although hydraulic oil and grease don't come out of them super well. They do help when I do hay with a bareback tractor. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Well first, thanks for the recommendations on that shirt and the endorsements. I found then for 18 bucks but 10 bucks shipping. I would rather poke myself in the eye with a sharp stick than knowingly buy from amazon, it's just the way I am. If I do go, I may give one a try.

 As far as making the tip goes, there is a bit more to it than what you read on the surface. Let's just call it a family friction thing and leave it at that ok? I know my son is trying to include me in something he thinks I will enjoy and means the best and I do appreciate that but there are other issues at play here. So deciding for me is not quite as simple as it might appear. I am still thinking on it. Also, it makes for a tight schedule for me, I have Grey Fox immediately after. So when I get home I would have 12 hours to do a full changeover, laundry run, repacking, and loading truck and trailer to be back on the road at 7am the next morning. People are depending on me to show up on time and do what I always do for them. So it's complicated.

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Res, that's a great tune, I had never heard of it, or the artist before and really enjoyed it. Great concept and writing.

This one had always been a favorite:

[Resonator]

Yup, that song does have a catchy "hook" to it. (See what I did there).
Milan is more known for his songwriting in the bluegrass world, and has had many songs recorded by Balsam Range. As well as co writing songs for Russel Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out and Terry Baucom. I'd never heard the song before until recently, when the local public radio station that does a bluegrass show on Saturday's played it. 
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As far as Brad Paisley, He is a very talented guitarist and singer. I've heard that song many times over the years, good stuff. Right up there with "Mud On The Tires".

[aigheadish]

If I'm reading all your "Making it..." posts properly you seem to have a penchant for stacking all kinds of stuff around your trip to Grey Fox Tom. Not saying you always like to but it seems like it happens a lot!

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah Austin, now that you mention it, it does seem to turn out that way quite a lot more than I would like it to. It's pretty difficult to change gears from one event to another in under 24 hours. It is also difficult to prepare for two events at the same time, often with overlapping gear. Grey Fox takes a lot of prep, planning, and packing to get it right because once I am there, folks depend on me for what I provide and there is little opportunity for 'do-overs'. I'll have to have the trailer packed and loaded before the fishing trip so it is ready to roll when I get home. Then there's the food, fuel, and lots of other stuff. This year I will have campmates coming from KY, Belgium, and just down the road from me at home. So I have some coordinating to do in the week before when I am away.
 I am still thinking on the whole thing.

[Old Greenhorn]

Cooler today but hot enough for me to blow it off. I went and got a haircut since the barbershop has AC and I thought more about this fishing trip thing. My barber is one of the guys involved in this trip. He's been buddies with my son since high school and they fist locally a couple of times a week after work. There's 3 guys involved (there was 4, but one dropped out) and my son instigated it last year and made the reservation back in September finding an Air B&B with a dock, sleeps 10. The third guy in just my son's age and although from different Troops and packs have been friends since cub scouts. Some may recall I wrote of a young firefighter about a year and a half ago who was serving as a Captain on an accident scene and got thrown about 50' when he was hit by a car. We nearly lost him, it was very close. But Matt has made a 99% recovery and has been back at work for more than 6 months now. It will be good to spend some time in a boat with him. My son knows the river a bit, certainly enough to respect it, these other guys are in new water.
All I know is I have 10 days to prep, plan and pack for both trips and it's a lot to wrap my brain around and get the work done. My gear is old and picked over, but I will bring my tackle box and a couple of rods and let it all ride. What the heck.

[Machinebuilder]

Enjoy the fishing trip, make some good memories.

Try not to worry about Grey Fox while you're fishing, I'm sure you will be as well prepared as if you didn't go fishing.

[doc henderson]

If you cannot help it, and think of stuff, write it down or add a note to your phone.  then you can have a list when you get home.  Enjoy your trips.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well I am a man of lists. I have been using nearly the same packing list, altered by year, for grey fox, for about a dozen years. I just make changes for the special events covering that particular year. Still, it's a lot of wrangling. For the fishing trip, well that's different.

 It's been a number of years since I've been up there and the town has changed a lot. Places that were there are no longer and others have moved to other parts of town. Some houses are gone and others popped up. Water levels change. In short, it's not the same and I have to adjust. Laws have changed too. Now in NY to operate a vessel you need a certificate, doesn't matter what your experience is. I did my Piloting, Small boat handling, and Seamanship training when I was about 14 years old with the US Power Squadron. My Pop was a Commander and Instructor back then, so I studied from his teaching guides. But I don't have any of that paperwork. So I spent most of today taking the online course and answering the silly questions and got that done. The I renewed my fishing license. Nice to see that it only cost me 5 bucks this time because I am apparently old.
 Finally I spent a mess of time looking at the online charts to see what the water levels are, where they moved navigational aids and anything else that might be important. I looked on Google maps and street view checking out the boat ramps I knew to see if they were still there and looking for others. Of course I also got sucked into checking out some old haunts to see if they were still there.

 As far as real prep work goes all I did was go pick out two of my rods that I might take, my tackle box (which will be a project), and a couple of bait buckets we could use for picking up bait. I also found my little air pump that I used to oxygenate the water between the bait shop and the dock. That was seized, but some TLC and Blue Creeper had it humming again. I am finding it's more a matter of getting my head in the game again. I am not the shot caller on this one and their 'plan' has me rolling my eyes a bit. We arrive on Monday afternoon (5 hour drive if it goes well) and have to get the boat(s) in the water and around to our dock, stock the fridge, move in and set up, then have dinner. We have a guide charter at 6am on Tuesday morning. So I don't know how hectic that will be but it feels stressful. It is what it is. I just hope we have good weather and not socked in with fog, wind, cold, or rain all of which I have experienced up there.

 Anyway, there is a lot to do. Tomorrow is supposed to be even cooler than today and I may go get some new line and re-spool my reels and look for some decent hooks. I have to start working on the Grey Fox stuff too.

[SawyerTed]

Something tells me you might just like letting someone else lead the fishing trip.   Since 1995 I have been the "planner" of many many fishing trips.   In the last few years, I've had opportunity to go on trips others have put together. 

It's a nice change to not be the captain, let others find bait, just pack my stuff, ride in the passenger seat and enjoy the trip in a much relaxed way. 

Let the young guys figure it out and enjoy the trip.  The only time I've ever said something about plans or decisions is if something dangerous or really inconvenient is about to happen OR if I'm asked.  Otherwise I just fish.

Usually I just ask a question.  Don't see the channel?  What's the plan for lunch?  Whose turn to go to the bait store?  How do y'all plan to do supper?   

Oh how fun is to watch other' brains work.   

[Old Greenhorn]

Oh absolutely Ted! One of the first things that occurred to me for sure. But I also want to see them have a good time with all the money they are spending. Some of their 'decisions' I can easily guess will lead them into hassles during the trip. There are 4 of us and I don't think two boats are needed, but that seems to be their plan. Also, not throwing new bearings on the trailer which has never done highway driving seems to me to be 'questionable'. But it's their choice. 
 Really It's a pretty short trip, just 5 days, so I don't think they need as much stuff as they are bringing, it's more to pack/unpack/setup, etc. But what do I know? All I asked is "Does this place have a coffee pot and do I need to bring bedding?" After that, I don't care. But these guys want to catch fish and develop their own stories about big fish, long fights, and all that goes along with it. I don't blame them and would like to see that happen. But after fishing all those years up there I know that every trip is different and some can be pretty washed out by weather like fog or wind or severe rain storms. Year over year water conditions can really kill an entire season too. Yeah, it's just a river, but it can be very big water in a lot of ways and there are many hazards for those who haven't thought it through.
 But just being "The Old Guy' or "Pete's Dad" is not a bad place to be. I can say things like "you fellas did look at the soundings in that area, right?" and it will be enough. My son is the only one who has fished it, and it is likely the area that really got him hooked on fishing for life, but he was a lot younger back then and the challenges and safety issues were transparent to him, mostly. This is an area where you had dang well better know navigational markers, how to read a chart, and the commercial shipping rules of the road, not to mention all the special fishing regulations they have there.
 But I spent the day getting that stupid safety permit so that I could drive their boat while they fished. I'd rather do that than catch 'em myself, it's more fun. I am going to stick with my old school gear (which would make @YellowHammer throw up if he saw it) with my paper chart, and try some of the 'new tech' ideas they think they know will work. It's all about technology now you know?  They have an AP for that!  Except for my son, the other guys only know River fishing as being like the Hudson which is a few miles from here. But the difference is night and day. The Hudson is a relatively flat boring river. It's biggest challenges are currents south of us and for commercial traffic and sail vessels, that it hazard enough. But it doesn't have waters depths that go from 70' to 1' over a distance 100', and it certainly doesn't have them EVERYWHERE like the St. Lawrence does. So I am really looking forward to them taking in the differences and making their own adjustments to conditions.

 Last night I spent some time listening to the radio traffic on the Seaway (they do have a AP for that) and it put me back in that frame of mind and the pace of the commercial river traffic and got me in the mood a little. It's one of the most difficult waterways to navigate in the world for those huge cargo ships and especially those long lakers coming through. The Seaway Pilots make pretty good coin going back and forth, but it's a tough job and interesting to see how they do it by speed and a clock. In some spots on the main channel they only clear the bottom by a few feet and if they are moving too fast they can create a 'bottom suction effect' which will suck the ship down and ground them. Max seaway draft this season is, I think, 26'6" so that tells me the mean water level is a tad lower than 'normal', but we will see when we get there.

 Guess I'd better start getting myself organized.

[SawyerTed]

Sometimes the old guy just has to be quiet and lead by example.

[Wlmedley]

I crossed over into Canada several years ago at Thousand Islands. I remember thinking at the time that I would love to go fishing there. I guess that's the same river that you'll be fishing. Should be an adventure.