Well we're back at our pond property in Northern California. This is the first time we've been here since November 2008 and it shows. Field grass is a yard high, and the place generally looks neglected. Much different than how we left it in 2008. As we drove down the slight incline to the ranch gate we noticed that two trees had fallen across our entrance road. Fortunately they were both only 20 foot high pines and Ricki was able to drag them out of the way so I could drive onto the ranch. The battery was dead in the Polarius Ranger, so I had to jump start it to get her off and running. Spent the tail end of yesterday, after our 500 mile drive up here, cutting the pine trees, getting the Ranger started and just generally setting up camp.

Today we weed wacked a swath through the field grass down by the pond so we could get a look see at the pond. The pond looks better than I thought it would. It's only down about 18 inches from full pool (that's not bad for this time of year). The Elodea is pretty much gone but the American Pond Weed has come on with a vengence. Fish are jumping everywhere, bull frogs are making there presence known. Overall the pond looks beautiful! After 3 hours of weed wacking in the heat we donned our swim gear and jumped into the pond. Dang that felt so good. Floating around the pond just enjoying getting cooled off. A bunch of rogue YOY bass decided that Ricki was on the menu and attacked. She bravely fended them off - they're aggressive little guys.

We're going to treat the American Pond Weed and I also have a new weed to identify. I'm going to use the Reward/Cutrine mix we used last year to blast the American Pond Weed.

Tomorrow more weed wacking is in store and fishing in the afternoon (perhaps an evening fishing session will occur tonight but right now we're tired and sore and just trying to stay out of the 90+ degree heat). One of my arch rivals here on Pond Boss sent me some lures that I'm dying to try out. He's hoping it will catch GSF but I'm quite sure that I'll slaughter some BG with it. I'm not sure if he wanted to remain unnamed so I shall not mention his name but this act of generosity is a great reminder of the wonder people that we have on these forums. In times of happiness and in times of tragedy we have become one large family that I'm so glad I am a part of.

All is going great and I'm so glad I can stay connected to Pond Boss while here at the pond property.

DIED and I have been playing telephone tag but we'll get connected and I'm sure find some form of trouble to engage in.

Being here enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells of nature completely reminds me why I want to be a Pond Boss.

Sounds like it is going to be a fine summer.

I'm glad to see that the MLM (Man's Liberation Movement) is alive and well in Northern California!

Anyway, glad to hear that you made it safely, and that your new Internet connection works.

I hope that you and Ricki have a great vacation.

Ken

The joys of pond ownership. Have fun you guys.

Welcome home, Hasaponds.
Give us a review on the new USB Mercury connection and performance.
(edit; oops... found your report on the other thread in this forum)

JHAP, do you have someone keep an eye on the property since your away for so long? You wouldn't want to get there and find someone had decided to take up residence.

I thought I might catch some hell for that. I could have lied and said I dragged them out of the way but that was the way it happened.

Jeff -- this could be the perfect opportunity. It sounds like you really a new 4WD tractor with loader, frame backhoe, and multiple implements. You probably need a new chainsaw, hardhat, come-along, some chains, good ropes, a 3-point hitch shredder . . .

Re: "Dang it's good to be here again"

Great post JHAP, you and Ricki have a great time.

Bing

Welcome home.

A well deserved vacation or a ton of work to be done. Either way it is still a great day in paradise !!!

You should set a bear trap while your there for the week, I have heard there have been many bear sightings in your neck of the woods lately...........Just simply dig a big hole and fill it with THREE LBS of ashes from your campfire and line the edges with 47 leftover green pees from dinner. When the bear comes up to take a pee, just kick him in the ash hole!

N8ly:

I thought that was an Ice fishing story.

Bing

Jeff, I hope to follow in your shoes and see my pond wednesday. Like you, we've not been there since last November.

Enjoy it Jeff.

Nate, you blew it. You didn't specify the exact number of peas/pees. Beancounters live in a very structured world with no leeway for judgment or error.

We havent heard from the Hasaponds for some time, hopefully they got him in the ash hole???

Hope you're getting to stay for a long time!

Glad you made it. get to doing some Wr work on those bass. My favorite statement "Fortunately they were both only 20 foot high pines and Ricki was able to drag them out of the way so I could drive onto the ranch." Jeff you got a good one in Ricki. I hope you guys enjoy your time there after the family passing, nice place to think about the fond memories I'm sure.

... since we get to hear from you while you're there, now.

Your fish will be mad if you kill their American Pond Weed

we'll figger somethin out jhap.

edit, i forgot to mention you are blessed my friend, i havent been able to get DWIED to drag tree trunks around for over 10 yrs......

Fish Wife will drag trees for me, but insists on using a tractor.

JEFF, GIVE US AN UPDATE!!!!!

What kind of sick joke are you playing here? I have checked this forum 6 times now with no update!

Update:

Weed wacking, weed wacking and more weed wacking. Man I hate weed wackers now. Normally we would use our field mower but everything is too dry to mow and local Fire Safety Council officer would arrest me and force me to eat Brussell Sprouts with Bacon. (Betcha can't guess who the Fire Safety Council officer is can ya?).

We fished yesterday and Ricki caught three tiny bass. We were fishing during the wrong time of the day (high noon and man was it hot - the Aluminum boat was so hot you couldn't touch the sides, as I'm sitting here right now at just about 5pm it's 100 here, YIKES). We're gonna do a sunset fishing session this evening. Ricki spotted one large bass trolling the shoreline. She said it was bigger than the 4 pounder I caught last year.

We're getting the place whipped (or weed wacked) into shape (I said whip it, whip it good) we've got some paths cleared to get from one place to another. This morning we treated some of the American Pond Weed with the Reward/Cutrine mix. Don't worry Dwight we're not killing all of the American Pond Weed, we're just trying to keep in under control. We like to have some areas of it in the pond but we don't want it to take over the pond like the Elodea did.

This morning we saw a deer, and a pair of California Quayle and their young. Red tailed hawks are patrolling the sky as are turkey vultures. The pond looks really good. It is a banner year for Bull Frogs, we are seeing the most number of bull frog pollywogs that we have ever seen.

It's great to be here, I'm looking forward to getting together with Dave and Jean. He's busy but I'm gonna bother him one way or the other.

And now in response to your questions and comments....

Ok Natester so the bear trap worked wonders. But now I have a problem. You see I'm up to my Ash Hole in angry bears. Now what the hell do I do?????

There's a method to my madness. Now the used John Deere 990 4WD that I was looking at is looking better and better to her. I looked at one last week that came complete with a backhoe (with 3 buckets), a FEL and a box scraper. It only had about 300 engine hours and was in great shape. It was tempting before, but now, dang I look around and think of all the things that I could get done with a tractor. It's not in the budget this year, but next year....

Brettski, I gave you an update today, see the other thread for the details.

Funny you should mention that AP. Last year in November we drove onto the ranch only to find a truck parked behind our storage shed. It was an old beat up truck and the entire bed of the truck was filled with tools. When I first approached the storage shed and saw the truck filled with tools I thought that I had caught some one in the middle of breaking into our storage shed and stealing our tools. I ended up calling the sheriff and it turned out the owner was wanted in two counties and the by the California highway patrol. The owner was supposed the friend of a neighbor. The sheriff went and talked to the neighbor and the neighbor removed the truck but claimed they didn't know where the owner was. We fenced in the section of our property that was open (this was the only unfenced portion of the entire ranch so now there is no access without cutting a fence). As you might imagine I was none too happy with the situation. I made it know to the neighbors that I wasn't going to put up with anything like that again.

Oh and this time I brought up my Smith & Wesson 38 special.

Make sure you post an update Rainman!

Any fish we catch we will calculate RW. As I mentioned earlier Ricki saw a large bass cruising the shoreline. We haven't sighted (seen, saw, viewified?) hardly any sunfish - I think they are hiding in the weeds. YOY LMB are everwhere, juveniles are patrolling the shoreline in packs.

And yes with Ricki I have a keeper, very primitive living conditions and not one complaint from her.

I see my dad in many things we do on the ranch. Last year it made me kinda sad, this year as I see something that we have accomplished that I know dad would have liked, well it makes me smile. We are going to place a bench next to his favorite fishing spot as a memorial to him. I believe I'll enjoy many a reflective moment sitting on the bench.

Ricki is still having a tough time with her father's passing - it's so recent and raw for her. My main regret is that we were never able to get him here at the ranch. He would have loved it since he was an avid outdoors man. But you can't live your life stressing over things that you cannot change.

You are so right JHAP - got to live each day to the fullest. I guaranty you that your dads would not want you to be sad about them but rather that you celebrate their lives with joy.

Keep us posted on the goings on at the ranch.

Last night we fished from about 6:45 until almost 9PM. It was great watching the sunset while fishing in our boat - I took some sunset photos that I'll post when we get home. We only caught a few small bass until I made a completely bone-head move. I was casting a black rooster tail toward the weed line and WHAM huge strike. I could tell that is was a decent sized fish because it was pulling drag like crazy. I adjusted the fighting drag on my Shimano and the fight was on. Man my ultra light pole was bending, Ricki was afraid it would break. I get the fish up to the boat and it swam under the boat bending the pole almost in two. I manage to get the fish out from under the boat and along side the boat and it was a really nice sized LMB. It didn't look quite as large as the 4 pounder I caught here last year but it looked pretty good.

So here's the bone head part. For some reason unknown to mankind, I decide to hoist the fish over the side of the boat using just the line and yep you guessed it the line snapped and off the LMB went - lure and all. Dang was I mad for pulling such a stupid stunt. Why I didn't just reach over the side and lip grab the fish I'll never know. Oh well, lesson learned. All future LMB will be lip grabbed.

More weed wacking and weed spraying today. The Polarius battery gave up the ghost so we drove into town to get another one.

100+ weather today. HOT HOT HOT!!!

Swimming in the pond is a great way to relax and cool off.

We're gonna try a dawn patrol fishing session tomorrow - perhaps the fish will be hungry for breakfast.

JHAP try a night fishing attempt. Use a floating frog or buzz-bait (something noisy and on top).

When the fish quit biting on lures or the rooster tail, slip on a small jig tipped with whatever worm or bug you can find around the pond and catch some bait. Get a half a dozen GSF or BG 3-6 inches long and then hook em up to a nice sized hook and float them in a fishy looking spot with a cork.

Just sit back and wait.

You just got to try it! I am assuming your californian pond is crystal clear and fairly deep?

Live-lining is crazy-good fun. I don't do enough of it, but you only catch bigger fish.

Real nice move with trying to line-hoist that bass into the boat. You're a real man for even admitting that to us. Funny enough, I think you were a little scared of the bass which prevented you from just grabbing that thing. Man, I know how you might have felt! We're all growing some big & hard fighting fish!

Great story!

Now, you don't have to let on if you decide to live-line a GSF. They'll be better formed for bait for a large LMB as opposed to a standard BG.

24 hours since we have had an update???????????????

Today's update. Work, work, work. Had to go into town for some parts and supplies, trying to get the place in order. No fishing today makes for a dull JHAP. The Polarius keeps shutting off (even after the new battery) - I'm going to trace the wiring. I'm thinking it maybe a bad ground wire as all of the power (dash lights, etc) shut down intermittently. The Polarius was sitting in a mini-barn that has mice so I'm thinking a mouse may have chewed some wires - who knows.

DIED called and we're still playing telephone tag but we have an invitation to his place tomorrow afternoon for some much needed air conditioning (104 at our place today) and some beverages. It'll be great to see our good friends again.

I forgot to mention that yesterday we almost got into a serious car crash. We were driving along and a car towing a trailer slowed and then stopped in front of us. I slowed down and stopped as well but a large utility truck behind us wasn't paying attention. I saw the truck coming in my rear view mirror but didn't have anywhere to go - there was a car in front of me and on coming traffic in the other lane. At the last second the driver of the utility truck noticed that we were stopped and it was way too late for him to try and stop. He swerved off the road and came so close to my 4Runner that the wind rocked the car violently - I actually though he had grazed us. I pulled off the road to check the bumpers and mirrors of the truck (yep, that's how close he came). He turned around up the road and came back to see if we were OK. He apologized, which I appreciated, but I couldn't help but think how lucky we were that he just missed us. He was going about 50-60 on a 50MPH road and with the size of the utility truck we'd have been toast. Oh did I mention that I had just gone to the gas station and was carrying 10 gallons of gas in gas cans in the back of the 4Runner. Someone was watching over us yesterday.

All is good. More work tomorrow and then off to DIED's place.

We caught some small bass yesterday - use them for bait? I don't think live bait (other than worms) are available around here, I'm gonna have to ask DIED.



Not afraid of the bass, when I caught the 4 pounder last year I immediately lip grabbed him. I just didn't think. I saw the bass. I wanted the bass. I jerked up on the pole to hoist him over the side. I lost the bass. I screamed obscenities. I got better. Oh well it wasn't the first bone-head move I've made while fishing and it won't be the last.

I've never tried night fishing on the pond. That could be serious fun. Well as long as the bears or mountain lions or rogue squirrels don't eat me.

i'll let jhap fill you in on the rest of his trip up nort but we had a nice afternoon and evening on saturday, i believe he and JWHAP are on their way home today.

jhap, FYI, i attached the woodpecker to the house so's the next time yer up you wont be able to play with it anymore.

Dang it JHAP that bass would have been good data for tracking Wr. Glad to hear about pond is putting smile on your face. I plan to sprinkle leftover ashes in our pond.

What makes you think that will stop me???

I think this is a wonderful idea Greg. PM sent.

Well we're back in Southern California. Overall it was a successful but exhausting trip. As usual the highlight of the trip was a visit with Dave and Jean (aka DIED and DWIED). To say that they are great friends is an understatement. Every now and again in life you meet someone that you know at the first meeting you will be good friends. But if you're married and your new found friend is married, it's rare IMHO to have the spouses hit it off as well. Fortunately with our fearsome foursome the spouses have become great friends as well. We can discuss politics, world events, as well as lighthearted topics for hours. When we get together we spend much of our time laughing and joking. I am extremely grateful for my good friends Dave and Jean, to say they are wonderful people is an understatement. Anyhoo enough of the mushy stuff....

Saturday morning and early afternoon was more work in the heat, it was 104-105 when we left for Dave's. We had a great visit with Dave and Jean, relaxing in their air conditioned home, drinking some beer and enjoying great conversation. In the evening we tried out a new Chinese food restaurant that was great, more laughs and good times. Next trip DIED and I are going to transfer some of his fish to my pond as his pond is suffering in this year's intense heat. (We'll schedule a date for that Dave and get 'er done). I learned several new things about my good friend DIED, one of which gave me an idea for a new, non pond related thread, that I'll post today or tomorrow.

On Sunday unfortunately Ricki was sick and she tried to work with me in the morning but she was just too wiped out to work. Being sick in a tin box trailer in 105 degree weather is not fun (I can attest to that from last year). Ricki is such a trooper, I don't know what I did to deserve her, my Karma reserve must have been completely full when I met her. She felt better in the afternoon and we mostly took it easy. We floated around the pond and low and behold we saw schools of BG. Several 6 or 7 inchers along with 30 or so 3 to 5 inchers. They were staying deep in the pond. I'm sad to report that we never fished the pond again during our trip, at the end of the day we were just too exhausted.

A certain sadness creeps over me when we close the gate to our place and begin the 500 mile drive south. I feel like I leave a part of me there each and every time. Lord willing someday we'll be able to build our home there and live there full time.

I hope this thread hasn't been to trivial and boring, I was happy to be able to report some days from the pond property. I was not able to access the internet at all on Sunday, a fact that I'm not happy about at all. I envy all of you that live at your pond property. Even with all of the trials and tribulations that we endure to own a pond the payoff can be enormous.

i hope JWHAPs malady wasnt from the chinese food......DWIED and i just finished it last night.

yeah JHAP, instead of sitting around drinking we need to do something productive

I don't think it was from the food Dave, she enjoyed the food and we would enjoying going back to that restaurant.

What do you mean "do something productive?" Solving world economics, ending global warming, eliminating taxation and starting a new business enterprise isn't productive???

Oh and please apologize to Jean from me for my, how shall I put this, teenage boyish humor, at dinner on Saturday. My only excuse is that on occasion (ok, probably more often than not) I lose my sense of decorum. And that's all I have to say about that.

Jeff, I for one found the thread uplifting! Glad Ricki's illness was short lived. Working on your own piece of heaven IS exhausting, but a feeling we wouldn't trade for anything! I know EXACTLY how you feel when you close the gate behind you and are not sure when you'll be back. Our plaaces can be primitive and require endless hours of work, but are more satsfying than you ever imagined!

I'm glad you went and sad you had to come back so soon!

You mean you find it again?

Theo, I hate it when you're right.

Rogue Beancounters are never trivial and boring.