Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Visit to Wausaukee

Since I am not a big fan of air travel on holidays, I decided to visit Wisconsin the weekend after July 4th and see what the parentals are up to instead of fighting the crowds and firework toting yahoos spoiling my North Woods peace on Independence Day.  This worked out pretty well and I am happy to report I got through the entire weekend without hearing a firework or gun being shot off – a real rarity for Wausaukee and Wisconsin.

Arriving on AirTran at Mitchell Airport at 7 in the morning, it was nice to get picked up by Dad in the same type of car that my parents have been driving for 40+ years (used car no less than 10 years old).  The weather was in the low 80s and humidity noticeably higher than where I live in the Bay Area, though I am very aware that I am spoiled living in a climate that has no temperatures lower than 50 nor higher than 85, with hardly any humidity year-round (except when it rains). 

I noticed there was a lot of construction work being done near Mitchell Airport, and this was also nothing new since it seems like construction has been going on there since about 2000.  I did not stop in the City of Milwaukee once during my visit, just driving by north and south on my way to Mequon, Wausaukee, and back.  The City looked as it always does in summer: clean, orderly, green and quiet.  I read in the newspaper about the “mobbing” by a gang of pre-teen and teenage youth in the Riverwest neighborhood (about 1 mile inland from Lake Michigan, not far from UWM).  It's a little hard to believe this stuff happens in as serene a place as Milwaukee.  I even hung around that neighborhood when I went to UWM 1997-99.

I also read about as the usual crowds of people and sweltering temperatures at the Summerfest grounds along the Lakefront.  Summerfest appears to be as popular as ever, even including a footrace this year where about 1,000 people suffered from dehydration because of high heat and humidity and the race organizers running out of water.

One common theme in Milwaukee in the summer, then, is crowds of people trying to enjoy themselves, to exercise or in the case of the Riverwest youth mob, to commit crime together.  So there is definitely a social element in Milwaukee!

We left for the northern town of Wausaukee around 3 p.m. the same day, allowing me to catch up on some sleep after the red-eye flight.  The weather was fine and Mom had even gotten the usual chocolate croissants for the car ride, which is about the only time she gets sweets from the bakery.  We got to Wausaukee about 6 and the first thing I did was buy a fishing license at the local gas station on the way to the cabin so I could go bass fishing, which is just about my favorite thing to do there.  Luckily I had provisioned some new rubber worms and worm-hooks the previous year, so I was “geared up” and didn't need to purchase extra.  There are not many good stores left to buy fishing tackle in Wausaukee anymore.  Like other small towns in America, Wausaukee is losing out the the big retailers in other towns 20, 30 and 40 minutes away.  But I digress.  I do not fish for bass with anything other than rubber worms and craw-dads these days, with maybe a Fat Boy floating minnow to mix it up.  Rubber baits are where it’s at in summer.  You've got to throw some bait down where the bass hang out and just about hit them on the head with them before they will bite.  At least, that's how I like to think.  And when those bass do bite, it’s exciting action and the pulse and fight of a healthy fish of just about any size is hard to beat in terms of fun and excitement.

Anyways, I headed out in the canoe about 7 p.m., allowing me to put in 2 quality fishing hours.  Being in the lightweight fiberglass canoe, I got blown around a bit on the lake, though, so that I was not able to do much good bottom-fishing.  Without an anchor or trolling motor (our family does not believe in technology), the fishing is usually just not very productive when there is any wind at all for me.  I need those still, windless, humid North Woods sunsets to liven up the fishing action, when the water gets calm and glassy, you can see bugs swirling around the boat  (and up and down your neck and arms), the fish are sometimes feeding on surface insects, and frogs croak on the shoreline.  I love that feeling and weather and stillness, only occasionally broken by my canoe paddle, a passing motorboat or my uttered curses when I again miss a cast and have to untangle my line from some weeds or from my own gear.


I did see a loon up close, which was neat, and a really beautiful sunset on the lake (I took this on my cell phone.)

That same evening (after fishing) some family stopped by so I caught up on the latest Lewandowski/  Paluta / Napierkowski  news.  This is always good.  It seems a lot of information gets exchanged in Wausaukee this way.  When I am there and talking to relatives, it is usually the best way to learn about the family goings on, graduations,  weddings, babies, new/lost jobs, and also less fortunate situations.  Our family just is one of those that likes to know your business.  I guess  it's part of what they call being "close-knit."

The next day, Saturday, Uncle Roy met me at 8 and we headed out on the pontoon boat for our next round of fishing.  Again, I got skunked, though this time I had the advantage of a big boat and motors (both outboard and trolling), more gear and a good vantage point.  However one of the rods I took was Dad’s old spincast set from about 1980 that doesn’t cast worth a darn anymore.  So that messed me up.  Plus, I just was plain not concentrating and missed many casts (even more than the previous night).  Also, the fish just weren’t biting on my bottom fishing lures.  Uncle Roy caught 2 bass, embarrassing me, using his Rapala floating minnow.  He threw them both back (neither fish was much to brag about.) 

Coming back to land, I had the usual healthy breakfast and then we had our requisite post-breakfast / brunch conversation about many things but nothing important.  Then I got to participate in Cabin Work Day 1, meaning I got to help Dad do some of the work there is to do around any log cabin in the North Woods.  In this case, that included cutting dead wood (or in our case, a 20 inch diameter log), moving the cut wood, digging dirt up, moving dirt to another spot, dumping dirt and raking dirt.  That was mostly it for Saturday.  I sweated up a storm and it felt pretty good.  The sweat was making my shirt heavy and running down the top of my nose.  I never sweat like that in California, except sometimes when I go for a bike ride, but even then it’s not the same kind of sweat – it’s more like a salty sweat, where I lose lots of minerals and my skin gets all crusty, but the wetness evaporates instantly because it’s so dry.  So, anyways, it was a sweaty, dirty day in Wausaukee.  In the evening I did not fish, because we were invited to dinner at 7 at Uncle Tom and Aunt Harriet’s.  They have a cabin at the end of the road.

On Sunday, I got up a little later, around 9, and again went fishing.  This was round 3 in case you are keeping track.  Finally, I got my bass.  I was fishing the area around Stein’s – not too far from the public boat landing where I have had success several times before.  I placed my rubber worm in a perfect spot, bounced it once and immediately could see the line go taught and start to move through the water.  This is always an exciting moment, when the fish takes the bait and moves with it.  The suspense is will you be able to hook the fish, and then will you be able to bring the fish to the boat without the fish spitting out the lure, tangling itself on some underwater obstacle, or otherwise dashing your hope of finally landing something?  In this case, I was in luck.  I got to enjoy the feeling of the pulsating bass fighting on the end of the line, tugging and jerking the line and even making the drag click.  It jumped out of the water at least twice as the largemouth are apt to do, trying to spit out the lure, but it had swallowed it and was hooked very firmly.  So it was just up to me to reel the fish in.  I did not take any picture though it surely would have been entertaining and fitting for this blog.  The fish could not have weighed more than about 1 lb. and was about 14 inches long.  Nevertheless it put up a nice fight and I always feel sorry when I have to hurt the fish by removing the hook.  Even after 25 years of  fishing I still feel bad.  I eventually was able to extract the barbed hook from inside the fish’s gullet and, observing no blood and no damage to the gills (you always should keep a fish if its gills are damaged), I put it back in the water and watched it swim off.  Hopefully it will live to fight another day, maybe even on my bait.

Though Wolf Lake is a much prettier place than shown here, the size of the fish shown above is about the same as I caught.  The bass I pull out of Wolf Lake have a noticeably darker color.  They are also good to eat, if I bother to keep them and clean them.

The rest of Sunday was spent working, though at the more leisurely pace that Dad now works at since he is retired.  Our big task was to repair the 20+ year old raft, which needed all the bottom boards mended sort of like an IKEA bed frame.  This was not a complicated operation except for the fact we needed to flip the raft over to work on the bottom, and the raft weighed approx. 800 lbs or more because of the weathered wood, degraded foam insulation core, nails, screws and boards.  Using some of Dad’s special Neanderthal engineering tricks (apply leverage using long posts), however, we did manage to lift the raft enough to rest it on some of the cement bricks, after which we had to recruit the 3rd adult in the party, Mom, to help flip it over in an act of brute force.   Luckily we were able to do this without damaging the raft too much or our own backs.  

After some discussion and the usual debate between Dad and myself how to best do any task, we sealed off the rotting insulation core with plastic sheeting and staples and then replaced the rotten bottom boards with new ones and nailed them on the frame.  I had actually suggested we just throw out the insulation cores and salvage the wood from the raft, since mice had decided to make a nest in it some winters ago and the Styrofoam pellets were coming off the foam, and I suppose, leaking into the water.  But surprisingly, mending and fixing the raft felt pretty good, and we made quick work.  So my worries were unnecessary.  After sealing off the foam with plastic sheets, and then replacing / re-nailing the bottom boards, we flipped over the repaired raft once more using the above mentioned technique, onto some waiting logs.  Imagine the Egyptians or the Incas moving some large stone around on round logs and you get the picture.  We finally leveraged the raft back into the water after which I went for a refreshing walk through the famous Wolf Lake muck (up to 1 ft. deep in parts) and positioned and then anchored the raft in the deeper water.  Then I went for a quick swim and came in for a nice dinner.

So we'll just have to wait till next year to determine if that raft should finally be salvaged for parts.  I wouldn't bet on it!

In the evening on Sunday (before fishing) I went up to Uncle Roy's to look for mushrooms in his woods (there were none, it was too dry) and chat a bit more.  On the way back to the cabin I ran into this young family of skunks waddling down the side of the road.  They acted pretty oblivious to my presence.  I suppose I could have tried to scare them but I was afraid of tempting the skunks to emit their spray.


This was about the most exciting wildlife I saw the whole weekend, with the exception of a bunch of deer on the fields, and some loons and sand cranes in / near the water.


Sunday after dinner, I went fishing one final time with Uncle Roy for 90 minutes, had no action, and we decided to call it a night.  It was time to once again leave the cabin.  I'll be back in September.

So anyways, that is the highlight of my July Wisconsin trip.  I won't go into details about Monday (though I was around) because that was mainly spent on the computer dealing with work and other responsibilities.




I hope I did not bore you too much with this more detailed account of my activities, but some family members and friends seem to appreciate this style of writing better.  I am glad if you were able to be entertained by this.