By LOREN BROOKS
“Fishing is the best way to tackle the day.”
I got a thank you note from Doug Turner this week. I was looking at some photographs I had taken, in the days when anglers were launching their boats at Overton Beach. Here is a photo dated February 16, 2009 which I sent to Doug for Christmas. Doug and I were fishing in a 14 foot Boston Whaler on that occasion, catching striper near the weather station.
We called it a weather station. It was a floating platform with a device mounted on the platform that measured the wind and temperature.
The Boston Whaler which is a little pricey if purchased brand new, was far from being a new boat back in 2009. It was manufactured in 1956. From the dings in the deck, I suspect this boat was used by the previous owner for SCUBA diving.
I had put the word out to my local marine dealer in Salt Lake City, that I wanted to buy a used Boston Whaler. One day I got a call from Don at Robinson Marine, claiming that he had a beat up Whaler, which he would let me have for $100.00.
It was sitting on the cement in their boat yard. It took four men to lift it up and slide it into the bed of my pickup truck.
I restored the Whaler which at one point became a yard ornament in front of our home at Fun & Sun Trailer Park. Some of you anglers probably remember it was painted yellow and sometimes called the “banana boat.”
My grandson Scotty has that boat to this day, and it still provides a safe trip out on the lake. It is unsinkable.
The long gone weather station has lots of memories for me and others who would fish the “meadows” or the bay just west of marker 19.
One day, years ago, Mike Nielsen and my daughter Carolyn Nielsen, were trolling for striper, just south of the old weather station, when Mike lost a rod and reel. The rod and reel belonged to Boyd Brown.
Boyd and Linda Brown were living at Robbin’s Nest and he always left his rod in my boat, since we were fishing buddies. The rod was jerked from Mike’s hand, by a big fish and went flying out the back of the boat into the lake.
I wonder about that rod and the big fish that took it away from him. Maybe that rod is just laying out there where the weather station use to float and be a marker for all of us anglers. “Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers.”
The reel was $150.00. Mike coughed up the money and Boyd bought a new reel.
Fishing was really good this week for most anglers. Wayne’s boat caught 16 striper and one nice sized large-mouth bass. Doug’s boat caught 9 crappie and 13 striper.
John and Tom had a big day catching some dinner plate crappie and some stripers. In fact, Pat Brown witnessed a big crappie caught by John and claimed, “hey – that’s my crappie”.
Bryce and his guys caught 22 stripers. Roy and his guys in a pontoon boat, caught eight.
I saw a picture of a large-mouth caught by Dan, which is posted on the bulletin board at Fun & Sun. It was not weighed but looked like something over 5 pounds. I’ll get a copy for a another story sometime soon.
