Lake Lessons 7-9

Life on the lake is high maintenance. Here are a few lessons on the lake that you just don’t think about. I, or someone I know, have learned these lessons the hard way. If you have some lessons to share, please  feel free to share them by clicking on the comment button at the bottom of this page. It’s a three-part series. Here’s part 3:

7. Yo-yo’s make you lazy.  When I first moved to the lake, I didn’t have a fishing boat so I put up a dozen yo-yo’s around the boat dock and baited them with shiners. On a good night in the spring, I’ll catch four white perch, two catfish and a barfish. Combine that with the four white perch, two catfish and a barfish that I catch on a pole standing on the dock that morning and I’ve got a mess of fish.  Now I have a fishing boat. It has some great places to hang yo-yo’s off of.  I bait them 3-4 times a week when the fish are biting. One day I might even fish out of the boat.

8. A very large percentage of people living on the lake have some sort of looking glass, binoculars or telescope. The bigger the device, the farther you can see.  Here’s a little tip for you folks out there in the middle of the lake:  Somebody is always watching you.  What you are doing. Where you are fishing. What you are fishing with…and what you are catching.  I first discovered this visiting on the lake when I thought the home owner was a star gazer. Nope, a fisherman gazer. Here’s another hint: The game wardens do it, too.  Yikes!  Who is that in that four-wheel drive green pickup truck sitting on the side of the road?

9. Ethanol is the devil, too. Not just dirt daubers. Ethanol.  Fine tuned precision outboard motors are not made to run on moonshine, which is part of what Ethanol is.  If you let gas sit in your boat and fishing engine, you can bet you will have trouble.  Even if it run it regularly, there are hidden little chemical thingies in Ethanol that don’t like your outboard motor. You can kill them by keeping a good dose of fuel treatment in your outboard.

Hey now, you have a good day. You have successfully completed the Lake Living 101 course. Your certificate is in the mail. Or maybe not.