A couple other highlights of our outing involved crossing paths with a pair of fellow anglers who have made more than a few casts at Lake Storey. The first one we met on the water (twice) and the second we met on the bank (twice).
Top 5 angler, John Kirkemo, in the background as noted by the arrows. The white cloud represents his reported misfire with the fire extinguisher in his boat which unfortunately was not caught on video.
Top 5 Trio – Brent and I ran into a fisherman on the water who stated, “I’m looking for the Jackson brothers” as we crossed paths. Now, what are the odds that three Top 5 anglers would find themselves chatting out in the middle of Lake Storey just a bit east of Freak’s Point on this morning? Actually, pretty good, as Brent and I were aware that fellow Top 5 angler, John Kirkemo, also had a trip planned. Dating back to 2014, the Top 5 project has resulted in a fun batch of fishing banter with more than a few fellow anglers. Add John, a Top 5 “rookie”, to the list for 2018 as we have shared a considerable amount of electronic fish stories, opinions and laughs over the course of the year. Sure was nice to share more of the same, not only in person, but also while floating on the surface of one of our most popular fishing topics.
John Kirkemo’s creations represent a perfect complement (and compliment) to whatever you call this writing thing I do as while I am certainly serious about fishing I don’t take it too seriously.
OSO Lures – In corresponding with John, he had mentioned a hobby he’d taken up to feed the fishing fix when off the water, crafting some lures. Earlier this year he’d passed along a few pics of the baits complete with his fun and unique take on product packaging and presentation. And now I am a fortunate fisherman to have a pair of his creations in my possession. A generous offering from a fellow fishing fool (take that how you may). Very cool and icing on the cake to the encouragement John has provided upon reading my rambles. Perhaps his creations can also provide a topic to delve into a bit further during the off the water portion of the calendar that looms on the horizon.
The figure in the background knows a thing or two about Lake Storey and apparently a thing or two about the guys using his boat as he showed up just in time to provide a reprieve from some rain.
MVP Race – While Brent wound up taking the unofficial title of “Most Valuable Participant” on this outing, another guy also received considerable consideration. We spotted Dad on the bank at a handy access point at a most fortuitous time although it turns out that he’d been stalking us from a distance for a while (actually said he saw us talking to “that John guy” about a half hour prior). As the rain that was not in the forecast began to pour we beached the boat, grabbed our lunch buckets and made a run for Brent’s truck that Dad was driving as Brent had driven Dad’s to the lake with boat in tow. As we enjoyed the lunch break, Dad (aka Papa to our kids) laughed and reminisced telling Brent and me about how his dad (our Papa) used to show up on the periphery of the trapline with some grub and conversation back in the day. However, Dad’s contributions did not end with providing a dry truck. As shown in the video clip below, he followed up with a run back home for some dry clothes as a couple of his boys didn’t pack so well. Fortunate to have dads who are good like that and ours saved the day as we were experiencing a few shivers in our rain dampened clothes.
A final note for today comes from our second on the water powwow with John after the rain had passed through and we met again not too far from Cannon Hill. He mentioned that he saw us disappear for a while during the twenty five minute or so rain delay. We related the tale of Dad’s timely arrival with a shelter vehicle as well as his run back home for a load of raingear, sweatshirts and towels. I believe the word that John then used to describe us was “pampered.” We had a laugh at that assessment. Right on the money too, considering Brent and I were conducting our second visit with John while sitting in the bass boat that Dad kind of, sort of, in a roundabout way, bought for us back around 1987. Yep, nothing wrong with a bit of good natured ribbing and all the better when you are warm and reeling in some bass on a challenging fishing hole.
One more look inside our outing coming your way tomorrow. Hope you’ll tune in for some forecasting, some fish and some flashbacks. Talk to you later. Troy