Greybeards Gripes

Packed and ready to head out tomorrow morning.  I’m taking a 6.5 ft graphite medium action rod, with an older SilStar open faced reel,  holding new 12 lb test Berkley mono-filiment.   I’ve never Salmon fished before, but I have watched the family quite a bit and I think I’d be more comfortable hunting this fish,  with my LR-308 DPMS, or my Darton bow,  (but I suppose this is a -fishing- trip).

I was tempted , very tempted, to take my short  Walleye/Bass rig, a 5.5 ft graphite, Ugly Stick, bait caster with 20lb test teflon fiber line.  But,  it’s a royal pain trying to make a decent cast, with a rig like that.  I also checked out the casting with the Big Walleye rig,  an 8 ft, Thunderstick, with Okuma counter reel and 12lb test Berkley mono.  (again,  it doesn’t cast Salmon bait worth a shit).   So,,, it’s the open face rig. 

So it’s on the road tomorrow morning,  (no posting for a while) and we’ll see what hauling in a Salmon from the river feels like. 

I’m hauling along a shotgun,  and of course my dog,  so who knows,  maybe we can find something worth hunting one day and if anyone else brings along a handgun,  maybe we can find time to toss off a few rounds when them too.  If not,  there’s alway’s (hopefully) a sunny fall day, a camp chair,  and a good bottle of Scotch,  to while away the time. 

A quote comes to mind from last year,  when my wife asked a young man if he was keeping his 3 fairly large Salmon;

“Hell No,  I don’t eat the stinky things, they’re just fun to catch”

~~GB

We looked over a new Chevy HHR a couple of days ago.  My Sonoma is starting to show it’s age, (a very early onset of aging at that).  We found one we liked and priced it out,  and the price sounded pretty good.  (The one I really liked was the new HHR Panel Truck,   but the other half wouldn’t go for it). 

Anyway,  I did a little web research and found a raft of complaint’s about the HHR.  Way more complaints than the other vehicles I checked out,  in fact,  enough to make me think GM is pushing out a bunch of lemons.  Since the HHR is build on the Cobalt chasis,  I checked out the complaints on the Cobalt,,,,,,  similar complaints.

Looks like I’m going to have to reconsider that trade a bit.  But,  speaking of the 2002 GMC Sonoma I currently drive:

54,000 highway miles,  usually at or below the speed limit.  No heavy loads or towing.  Oil changes and service every 3500 miles.

Here’s it’s list of problems:

1. The drivers door is falling off due to worn hinges.

2. The AM\FM CD player, no longer plays CDs.

3. The door handle for the third door is currently broken for the fourth time.

4. It has a nasty howl,  that I attribute to a faulty driver’s side rear wheel bearing going south. (not confirmed)

5. The driver’s seat has a hole worn in it.

6. I recently had the fuel flow sensor replaced, ($170) after the vehicle stranded us on the expressway.  (driving along at 65mph,  and it just died, and wouldn’t restart)

7. The front brake rotors are shot.

And this is at 54,000 easy miles!  Maybe I should look at a different brand?? 

NOTE:  I find no faulty workmanship on my Sonoma,,  only faulty parts that were used to assemble it.

NOTE II:  Take it for what it’s worth,  the HHR’s are made in Mexico.

~~GB

“”What ever the workers do,  it’s not enough”"

“”What ever the Executives get,  it’s not enough”"

Between having a bit of trouble accessing the blog,  and all the fall preparations and travels standing before me,  the blogging has been suffering a bit.

Salmon Camp is short on the horizon,  and we’re still waiting for those Perch to pick up in the Bay. 

As a meat fisherman,  I’m not overly enthused about Salmon Camp.  (No I don’t eat Salmon,  especially dying Salmon)  But everyone tell’s me I’m going to have a great time. 

The boats are still in the water,  but, Salmon camp is on an inland river, fishing by way of waders.  When we get back,  hopefully there’ll still be some (boat) fishing left on the Bay.  (I’m really not that fond of ice fishing either)

~~GB

Thanks to Ballseye’s Boomers for this:

The 11 Winning Ticket Numbers:

#550 , #095, #540, #617, #537, #172, #407, #331, #084, #078, #539

Thanks to everyone for their support, and if you’re not a winner,  better luck next year. 

The Turkey shoot was an off day for me,  (so was the raffle). 

These are the old guns I took:

A Winchester model 62a that my Dad bought new.

A J.C. Higgins 12 gauge pump, with polychoke,  (Dad bought new, shortened the barrel and added the p-choke)

and my K-22 S&W .22 revolver,  that I bought used back in the early 70’s.

I shot best (though it was horrible for me) with the K-22.  I actually outshot myself on the 50 yard range,  using the pistol over the rifle,  but nothing good enough to take home a turkey.  I had never shot clay birds with the old Higgy before,  and just couldn’t get warmed up to it.  Maybe next year I’ll get serious, take a rifle and shotgun that I’m more familiar with,  and even practice a little bit.  (probably not,  Dad’s old guns don’t get shot enough now-a-days). 

Time to do some gun cleaning,,,,

~~~GB