Every year about this time, I get nervous every time I see the marine forecast.  I know that we are just
pushing that envelope a bit with Mother Nature to try to get that one last day in....and this year was no
exception!   We, along with several of our friends, spent a very nervous late Sunday, Monday and Tuesday
checking and rechecking our lines, as Lake Erie was pushing 14+ foot waves behind gale force winds.
Fortunately, we came thru with no damage, and only the remaining question is, how did one of my nets
that was laying along the port rail, ended up in the water on the starboard side.....hmmm!

I generally try to keep the boat in long enough to take advantage of the 3 day Columbus weekend (last
year was flat all 3 days!), but yesterday morning I took a look at the forecast for the week, the falling temps
and winds and decided that maybe it  "was time".   A quick call to my friend Marty for some assistance,
and we had her out of the water for the season.   And today, I talked to the place we store her and managed
to put her to bed before the afternoon rains came..... the saddest day of the year for boaters.....


                           

But, despite the very up and down fishing this year, we had another great year!   We had some really great
people on board again, and the regular crew was as fun as usual.  Throw in the trips up north, and to 
Lake Ontario, and I guess I really have nothing to complain about......    Well, maybe just one thing: We
need to learn how to master the art of a successful Day 2 in these tournaments!

In the shameless "plug" section, this was our first year running exclusively Okuma Convector reels and
Blue Diamond rods, which were awesome!  This was our third year with Power Pro Braided line on some 
of our setups, and in 2009 we added a couple of Okuma setups with braid for our big slide divers.  I liked
those so much I hardly ran our wire rigs!

We also changed over our mono and flourocarbon to feature all GAMMA line, which also was great!  (Note:
If anyone is interested in further information about GAMMA and a discount for on-line orders, drop me an email).  
And finally, last but not least, we were added to the Dreamweaver Lures Pro-staff in 2009, and can honestly tell
you that we liked the WD's and Super Slims so much that by the end of the year that's pretty much all we ran.

There's still some fishing left before winter sets in on the local tributaries...time to get those waders out....and
I'm sure there will be other items of interest along the way.    Feel free to stop back from time to time.

We SINCERELY APPRECIATE the business we had this year, and hope you all enjoyed your day(s) on the lake
with us.   Hopefully, we'll see you again soon!

John