RISING

A slightly rising lake during a fishing trip is generally a good thing ! The fish bite better and in a springtime fishing trip the air is washed clear from time to time by those wonderful and mild showers that are causing the lake rise.

Most of our springtime fishing trips kind of follow a pattern in general, that goes like this. Fish during a mild lake rise for a couple of days. Then as the lake drops back to a more nearly normal level and the fishing slows down, we have held our daily catch in the live box. During this lake dropping and slower fishing time we catch up on our fish cleaning and filleting, putting one gallon freezer bags of fillets up for future use. This slow down period is when we catch up on fish fry’s and Dutch oven cooking.

This spring’s fishing trip however, was different. Once the lake quit raising, we, . . . . No, wait ! The lake just never did quit raising ! Between rains we were able to have fish fry’s and some great Dutch oven cooking, but that lake just kept on rising.

Fishing was pretty good, but, then, that lake just kept on raising. Daily it seemed, we would have to move our boat tie up lines further up the bank. Soon our neighbors were leaving out and, soon, there was just us ol’ die hard’s left there with the rising lake. Then we realized that it was time for us to go. After all, we had a trans Canadian trip to get ready for ! Yep, we’re back at the docking port, rounding up our plunder, getting ready to tour again !

MEALS

We are not fishing quite as hard while at Lake Ouachita. Rain, winds out of the East, friends visiting, going to town for supplies and so on and so forth, consumes our days. We have a large rain fly over the fire pit and cooking area which gives us a gathering place around the fire with full coffee cups where we plan our day. Checking the forecast has allowed us to adjust our activities so that between weather events we are cleaning fish, repairing the jugs or cutting firewood.

Meals have been absolutely primo events with all kinds of Dutch oven fine fare. On a personal note, clicking on the photo’s to get a better look can trigger  campfire cookery cravings !

Dutch oven treats such as yeast rolls and blackberry cobbler as well as things like racks of ribs barbequed over the campfire have been such a real memorable treat.

With regular fish fry’s scattered through the week, the variation of side dishes has been amazing.

As our campers and fishermen have came and went over the duration of our stay at Big Fir campground, each has brought different skills to the cooking fire and kitchen area.

The clickable video link below gives a quick look around the campfire during a rain shower.

Rain fly campfire big fir 2015

WIND

Our boat has sat in our campsite, out of the water, for the best part of a week. Heavy thunderstorms and high winds from the east will capsize our boat where it is tied up at our lakeside campsite. When the National Weather Service sent an alert to our cell phones we knew that it was time to pull the boat out of the water.

That means it is time to pull the bait traps out of the water, repair jugs and other chores around camp so that we will be ready to fish. He, he, now, after three days of rain and storms, none of which amounted to a hill of beans,  all is ready to fish and I have gone to looking for things to do around the fiver while it is raining, After five days I have read all of the books from kindle that I have on my tablet. The rain finally quit last night and this morning I am starting the reverse process. Traps are baited up and back in the water, and the boat is ready to launch, when the NWS sends out a lake wind advisory  ! There will be gusts up to 30 MPH !

Crud, crap and crim o nettly ! Oh well were’ on the lake, it is a beautiful day and I think I will cut a little firewood because there is nothing quite like the smell of a campfire on the banks of the state’s largest lake !

STICK

Back in 97’ or 98’ while fishing down on Lake Greeson I found a Hickory stick that I liked. It caught my attention because it had been stripped of it’s bark by a beaver. Now, Hickory is a bark that Beaver’s seldom like, so, it caught my eye. The stick was quite long and still pretty green, but it was fairly straight. Naturally I hauled it home and it stood by the fireplace, with me thinking about it, for a couple of years. I had a hiking stick on my mind.

Hickory is well known for it’s strength and being a particularly hard wood when seasoned, and this one was well seasoned. My cool Sister, Candy who is quite the Artist took it home to Centennial Colorado to carve on a bit. And a bit of carving it did take, it is well seasoned Hickory for sure.

The first year she carved a long haired, bearded mountain man on it.

The second year she sculpted a Black Bear on it.

Followed by a silhouette of a Ghost Fish.

Then the nick name that Granma’ gave me.

Who would have thought that a old stick floating in a lake could make such a light, strong, beautiful and very useful keepsake ?

SALET

Sharp eyed mountain folks have always kept a look out for Polk salet early in the spring time. Back in the day, here in the mountains after a long winter,  that the main food staple might have been pork that was salted down in a barrel, the early salet sprouts were a real treat. Though now it is more of a tradition, we still look forward to spring time polk salet greens. Betty picked these this morning.

We are camped on the shore of Lake Ouachita, Arkansas’s largest lake, jug fishing. We especially love the polk salet fried up in scrambled eggs.

A word of caution though, after separating the leaves from the stalk, they must be washed, checked for insects, discarding the damaged leaves. Then they are ready to cover with water and bring to a gentle rolling boil, cook until the water turns green and the leaves are tender then drain, rinse and boil again until completely tender.  Then drain,  rinse and drain completely. Cook in hog jowl or bacon grease until all moisture is gone, then add scrambled eggs to suit. We like onions in with ours.

It sounds like a long complicated and lengthy process but it goes quickly and is well worth the effort.

DISTILLED

One of our most important chores around our fiver each year is the checking of the  condition of the solar storage battery bank. Lots of things can go wrong over the course of a year what with all of the miles that we tow. However, strangely enough it is the prolonged stays in the docking port with full hookups that wreak the most havoc on the battery bank.

The coach’s  converter provides a constant charge that tries to cook the battery’s to death. Under those conditions the acid level can drop causing the lead plates to loose efficiency.

Keeping the acid level up over the lead plates is done using distilled water. The trick is how to put a accurate stream of distilled water into each cell until it is at the correct level. Needing to add the water in a confined space means that the gallon jug can’t be used. It is just too large.

This Coca Cola bottle’s slim design and small size works out well after a cleaning in distilled water. After each cell in the battery bank is carefully topped off, the next step is to clean and inspect all battery cable connections.

After four years, this connection seems to be working well but corrosion is obvious, meaning that it could loose connection at any time.  Yep, it’s time to do some routine maintenance and cleaning ! I wonder, does this qualify as Spring Cleaning ?

OIL

We are Back home in South West Arkansas. After being out on the road for awhile, we are always behind on chores around the fifthwheeler, dually, Jeep, Boat, and all kinds of other stuff. Today I was changing oil in our generators, we have two of them, a Honda 1000 watt and a Yamaha 3000 watt.

Both are quiet and efficient, but, the thing that amazes me is just how little oil they actually have in them. The actual oil change doesn’t take very long, but, the getting them in and out of the dually, where they are strapped in and locked down to prevent theft, takes awhile.

This little Honda 1000 has had a rough life. Tens of thousands of miles rattling around in the back of our dually, then, run un mercilessly on extended boondocking stays. Yet, regular oil changes keep them both alive and well. Tomorrow, if the weatherman should be wrong, and we don’t get rained out, I’ll start on the boat.

Now, there again, the boat has been in storage in the boat barn, and, it will take a bit to get it out, washed off  and ready to start the servicing process that includes a gear oil change in the lower unit.

Have you figured it out yet ? Yep, you know it. We’re getting ready to go fishing !