Anniversary Fishing

This year for our 23rd anniversary, we decided to head down to the cabin on Barbee Lake near Warsaw, IN. We’ve tried to make this an annual event with Dave and his wife. So far we are batting 2 out of 3. (Steve) Yep… 2 really fun years. A good part of that is because our wives get along so well. Not to mention the GIANT Prime Rib Dinner Steve made to kick the trip off! (Dave)

The Barbee Chain is a series of 7 lakes connected with narrow channels and has more traffic, houses, and people on it, than most urban centers. But we still like going there even though it is horribly over fished. My folks have a cabin there, and we get to use their pontoon boat Absolutely! Just being out on the water and relaxing is worth it.

This year was hot, uppers 80s to lower 90s, all weekend, and the water was low. Down at least 8 to 10 inches from this time last year. Water clarity was bad, worse than usual, and the clearest lake was all but off limits due to dredging. That said, the goal each year is to relax, get away from work, spend quality time with our wives, and do a little fishing. This year the fishing was extra tough. To say the least. When you start stacking up the time of year, hot weather, and low water, the fishing is going to be rough. Had fishing been on our minds at the time, we’d have gotten married in the spring.

Diane and the Mighty Blue Gill

Red wigglers are always a hit with the Blue Gill. But we also brought along a few dozen crickets and picked up some minnows. The red wigglers were the best bait for what we were fishing for this year. Like in the past though, the main goal was to relax and put the girls on fish, not necessarily catch big fish, just catch fish. Since we couldn’t get to one of the better spots on Kuhn Lake due to channel dredging we went to the far end of Irish Lake and anchored about 40 feet from the lily pads. Almost felt sorry for that guy dragging the dredge pipe the lenght of the entire lake with that little boat… almost.

Immediately the girls started plucking little blue gill out from under the boat in about 6 feet of water. They weren’t even casting, just dropping their lines over the edge and watching the fish come for the worms. LOL… And I was right in there with them!

Largemouth Bass

I decided that I didn’t want to try to fish over the top of them, and after catching a little perch on a worm I switched over to a 4″ perch stick bait and started casting over the opposite side of the boat in to deeper water. I had been seeing bait fish boil out of the water every 5 or 10 minutes so I figured that there had to be something a bit larger over there eating. On about the 15th cast I caught this small largemouth bass.

And that was it. Not another hit the rest of the time we spent fishing. Fortunately we also brought my go fast boat and we were able to spend some incredibly stressful time zipping around Big Barbee pulling the girls around on a tube.

That was worth the price of admission! Fortunately that Friday afternoon, Big Barbee wasn’t littered with boats, skiers, jet ski’s, etc. Saturday was a different story though. Not sure who had more fun. The girls getting whipped and bounced around on the tube, or us in the boat laughing hysterically at the girls getting whipped and bounced aroung on the tube.

There was no shortage of food and “beverages”… as usual. Prime Rib ala Steve, Beer Battered Canadian Walleye, and fresh Brats and Italian Sausages grilled over a wood fire. YUM! Almost forgot… the first year we did fire roasted King Crab Legs! Speaking of Walleye, you know you are planning on poor fishing when you go to the lake in Indiana, but bring fish you caught in Canada with you for dinner.

On a final note, those of you that don’t take your wive’s fishing with you are really missing out. You don’t have to go out and fish hard and make them miserable. Take the time to make sure they catch fish, any fish, and relax for a weekend of casual fishing. You won’t regret it.