Cisco's Sonar

Well, the Rich County Times has come to an end.  Amber McKee put her heart and soul into this publication which lasted for eight years.  It provided readers with local news, high school activities and general information.  For that we can not thank Amber enough.  Her selfless efforts resulted in more community involvement and understanding.  The Rich County Times was a true public service.  People can not be expected to continue things forever just because we want it.  I support Amber in her decision to cease publication and pursue other things in her life.  I am sure her decision was not easy but there was no one willing to take on the task of continuing the paper  I have mixed feelings.  The paper provided me a platform to ramble on about things I thought were interesting, but there were times that I really struggled for something to write about.  The pressure was always on every two weeks.

I will put more effort into my blog when something that I think that I have something other people would be interested in.  Bobby Coray has taken on the responsibility to put the Rich County Times online.  Just email her at rctonline@gmail.com to become a subscriber.  I will try to submit articles as time permits.

You know, there are a lot of people that are willing to criticize what others are doing. They are a dime a dozen but theey think they are so important.   In my long career in public service I have come to the conclusion that there are doer's and whiner's.  Amber McKee is a doer. We all owe her a debt of thanks and who knows, maybe someone will have the ambition to start a paper again.

Carter Catching Cuts

Most fisheries biologists are terrible fishermen because we usually catch fish with gill nets. It has always been a standing joke that if grandpa (me) is fishing there will be no fish caught.  My grandson Carter was hot to go fishing when he was up a few days ago so we took out the Bass Buggy at 10:00 am.  Doreen was along which is also bad luck but to our surprise he caught some nice fish just north of the Marina.  I can't believe how well the fishing is this area is holding up.  Usually it is over by now.  A lot of dock people are catching fish.  Maybe the "rockpiles" we put there are finally paying off.

Cisco Carp

I haven't made a post for a while.  I have been waiting for the tourists to come and the wind to stop.  Neither has happened yet but think it will happen this weekend.  The ones that are really anxious for the people are the Cisco Carp.  All their friends have arrived for the holiday and they need food and toes.

No restrooms for these guys.

It is amazing how boaters are creatures of habit.  During May and the first part of June we have some beautiful days at the Marina.  The water temperature is almost 60F and with the exceptions of weekends (which suck) but the parking lot is always empty.  A few more seasonal cruisers and sailboats have been launched but for the most part, boater have not shown up yet.  Maybe it is because there is so much green goose shit (sorry, no other way to describe it.  Anyway, I caught the long legged culprits yesterday strolling along the vacant Marina.

Carp

Well. it obviously the first summer weekend at Bear Lake because there are huge snowflakes falling from the sky.  No boat rentals today.  On a happier side,when it warmed up yesterday afternoon by old buddies the carp made their appearance.  I hadn't seen them since last fall but when I picked up a handful of fish feed and started dropping in the lake here they came.  Shadows from under the docks, yellow lips slurping the tasty morsels down after not eating for five months.  They are so glad that they hung out at Cisco's Landiing for the winter.  Soon, manna will be falling from the skies.

Thieves

I hate thieves.  They slink around, usually under the cover of darkness, taking things away from people who have worked hard to acquire them.  I have lost stuff like three outboard motors ripped off my boats inside the Parks storage area, fuel tanks full of gas taken off my pontoon boat, who knows how much shoplifted out of the store, but this weekend takes the cake.

I had spent a couple of days in Midway watching grandson activities so on Sunday morning I went down to check on things.  The first thing I noticed was my fishing boat was not in its slip.  I finally found it tied up in another slip a few rows away.  According to Mike, it was just drifting around on Saturday, ended up near the slip so he tied it up.  I took care of that and  then noticed that a 20'x10' Connect-a-Dock that I had tied up since last fall was missing.  Another search of the Marina turned up nothing.  I talked to Curtis, who is the "eyes" of the docks and he said that he had seen a fishing boat towing something toward shore early in the morning the day before.  He said they took it to shore in Daisy Bay.  Great, I thought, good guys try to get it off the lake where it could be recovered.  I couldn't understand how the dock had come loose however, let alone drift out of the Marina through all the docks, and out the entrance without someone seeing it.  I went back out in the boat with a tow rope to retrieve it.  I found it about where Curtis said he saw it towed but to my astonishment, it was perfectly positioned perpendicular to shore with pipes beaten in all four corners to hold it in place.

That angry feeling that I usually avoid, welled up inside me as I drove back to the Marina to get my truck and tools to free my property.  After partial disassembly and digging to get the pipes out it was free.  Back to the boat I went and towed it back to the Marina.  By the way it was a real effort to get it back trough the docks to its original tie up.  I reported it but I know it would be almost impossible to prove anything.  "We just found it washed up on our beach so we decided to use it" would be the thieves response.  They will be contacted just so they know, I know.  What a way to start the summer season!     

Paddleboards

It has always been interesting to me how many different ways we find to have fun on the water.  A few years ago when I was in Hawaii I saw people standing on boards paddling down a slow river.  Boring, I thought.  Then at a number of places in the Caribbean and Mexico I have seen tourists paddling around on the calm ocean bays.

There must be something to it I thought but why weren't popular in the US.  Then they started showing up at Lake Powell so I bought an inflatable paddle board from Hyperlite.  It didn't rent too much but my family had a blast on it.  Carter, my seven year old grandson, loved it and made his Mom rent one when they went to Starvation Reservoir.   This spring after coming back from Cabo, MX, Lance Bourne showed up on one in the Marina.  After talking to him and doing a little research I found out that they are the "rage" for great exercise, eco friendly and fun.  What is really great is they don't use $5 gal gas.  Cisco's Landing now has six rigid boards for rent/sale.  I can make you a fair price on them.  What a great way to keep kids entertained at the lake without firing up the boat.  When I open up in May come down and check them out or call me..