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| Mouser and Huffey Family; bellies full and ready to fish! |
We decided to take advantage of the calm day to explore the
Chain O’Lakes and do a little fishing.
Our resort has a few boats to rent, so we went in on a pontoon boat for
the day ($250 for the day including gas), made sure we had life-jackets for
everyone (also provided by the resort), grabbed our fishing gear, bait, snacks,
water bottles, sunblock, and headed out on the water.
Captain Tom was at the wheel, and although he wasn’t an experienced boater, he
did his homework, talked to a few locals, and we had an enjoyable time, cruising around from lake the
lake, searching for “the fishing spot” and enjoying the day. It could have been a tad bit warmer, but with
the sunshine and little to no wind, it was comfortable.
The lakes were smaller, but because they were connected by
many channels, we had a lot of water to explore.
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| This loon let us get close enough for a quick photo. |
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| The water was very calm. It was a great day! |
We had decided to do the full experience and eat at one of
the local restaurants on one of the lakes.
Braywood was recommended to be the best burgers in town, so we decided to check them out. The food was great and the waitress was very kind, giving us fishing tips and fishing locations to check out. It was a fun experience to
boat up to the restaurant, do our best to tie off the boat, eat lunch, and then
head back out to try our luck with the fish.
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| Braywood had a beach area, yard games and a playground for the kids to play. |
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| The kids didn't want to leave the beach area. |
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| Elliot enjoyed eating snacks and cruising around in the water. |
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| Some of the boat houses were pretty impressive. |
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| This one was my favorite! |
Only the guys got fishing licenses, so we ladies didn’t fish, but we helped the
kids with their poles and after many giggles, lost bobbers (I think Derrick lost 3) and many “the one
that got away stories”, Sara caught the first fish while trolling Tom’s lure
behind the boat in one of the channels.
It wasn’t large enough to keep, so we moved on down the lake
to check out the spots we were told were great areas to fish (per the waitress
at the restaurant) and soon found ourselves back at “the spot” trying to break
the rules and fish in the channel, since that was the only place we had even
come close to getting fish. No bites
were had, our anchor wasn't catching, so the guys finally gave up and moved on. But not before Derrick almost tossed Tom off
the boat while trying to maneuver in the narrow channel when some boaters were also moving through. We were
definitely happy that we didn’t know anyone, as we looked pretty silly at
times, trying to figure out how things worked and where to go.
We headed over to another lake and fit in between two other
boats, fishing along the shore. Tom and
Derrick ended up catching fish (Tom with his lucky lure and Derrick with his 3
worm hook line) and those were both keepers.
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| Tom, and his first catch of the day "Jeremy" |
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| Derrick with his keeper, "Dinner" |
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| Good sized Walleye |
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| Eli was a great little boater and even fell asleep. |
The kids were getting restless and we had a little bit of a
drive back, so we decided to call it a day and head back to our condo. It was a great day on the water.
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| Me and Little Eli |
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5 minutes before this photo, Elliot was screaming and trying to pry his jacket off like the incredible hulk.
Poor guy was exhausted! |
