|
When I saw Bri pull up riding what appeared to be a rusty old lawn-mower on steroids, I thought for sure this was going to turn into the Cedar River 2000 trip, with no chance of ever leaving. This was to be the 2nd annual Lake Vermillion Fishing Trip. Doug and I drove to Cedar Rapids to pick up Brian, then stopped in Osage to pick up his boat on the way to Northern Minnesota. You can't go to Osage without taking a look at the Cedar River, especially when it is flooded. That seems to be a general rule we've followed for over a decade now. |
 |
| One thing that was learned while scoping the flood this year is that a two-ton vehicle sinks fairly easily into a muddy river bank. Definitely the low point in the Rover's life... being pulled out of a river by "rusty" and a poly rope.
The pictures don't do the the situation too much justice as they were obviously taken after the Rover had been pulled to safety. Actually I'm surprised the camera could even focus through the fog of mosquitoes. One place you don't want to be stuck is in hip-high weeds next to a flooded river in early summer wearing shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. |
|
We did eventually make it to Vermillion, where we camped for 5 nights. The fishing was less than spectacular, but the food was good. Doug's friend from high school, Brett, cooks up a mean feast (below). That's the one highlight of Vermillion... regardless of how much the fishing sucks, the food is always spectacular, and plentiful.
|
|  | |
 | "The next person that puts a scoop of beans on my plate gets a treble hook in their sleeping bag"
 |
|
| Now, you may expect to see a bunch of fish-portraits, but I remind you again of the dismal state of fishing on this trip. Of course we did finally find the right location and bait on the last night of the last day, and with very little bait left. The one highlight was Brian hauling in this nice sized smallmouth and a few more slightly smaller ones. I remember that day well. Brian fishing in the stern, Matt fishing in the bow (back and front, respectively, for you land-lubbers), both fishing with leeches. Brian getting bite after bite, pulling in smallie after smallie, and Matt watching. |  |
|
| I still haven't figured out how Brian was able to pull off that little magic trick. We did pull in a few more nice bass and a couple northerns, but no photographic evidence on those.
About mid-way throught the trip, Brian decided to pilot his boat through a shallow bay at full throttle. It never did quite go as fast again after shredding the propeller on a submerged boulder. If you look closely, you can see tears as he attempts to change props.
Better luck next year!
|  |
|