Monday, May 11, 2015

New Grill

My GF and I picked up our new grill right from the Weber Grill plant in Palatine, IL. When we were checking out grills, we both fell in love with the Gourmet Spirit series of Weber Grills. You will see why later in the pictures. My GF had a family hook up on Weber Grills, so, after a quick phone call we were able to save a few bucks, and pick up our grill the following week.


We got the grill back to the house, and staged on the deck. I had planned to put it together right away, but the lake was just calling my name. So, I set up my 5 wt and stepped out of the backyard, and fished for a short while. The crappie bite was hot, and I was also able to hook up with a few decent small bass. The small bass that I caught all had some size. They were eating very well.


Right when I finished my short outing, I was all set to set up the grill. Nope! Received a phone call from my GF, and she needed to be picked up, because, she locked her keys in her trunk at Home Depot. After picking her up, bringing her to get her spare key at her parents, we were back at the house, and I was finally ready to get building.


After a late night setting up the grill, it's finally finished. I brought the grill outside and it looked picture perfect with the lake in the background. Now that it was all finished, and I had the day off, I grabbed my fly rod and went fishing.


The grill has 3 burners, and a cast iron grate. I'm a big fan of cast iron pans, and I fell in love with the cast iron grates. I've always grilled on the regular steel grates, but I figured this would be a nice change.


The center grate is removable.


...and it comes with a cast iron griddle. They also sell other accessories that fit the center separately, like a wok, pizza stone, and a searing grate.


I look forward to sharing my grilling adventures!

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Happy Mothers Day

I just want to wish my mom, a Happy Mothers Day. I'm cooking today, so, I hope that everything turns out just as good as all of the amazing food that she makes.
Me, my Mom, and my Sister.


And a Happy Mothers Day to all of the Mothers out there!

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

High Water Floating

Recently, I was invited out to float the Fox River with Kurt from a Tight Loop magazine and Sean from Rushing Waters. I was pretty excited and nervous at the same time. I was excited, because, I have never fished from a drift boat before, and I was just thinking of all of the knowledge I could gain from these two experienced fly anglers. I was nervous, because, having never been in a drift boat before meant, I didn't know how to row a drift boat, and I was well aware of the new guy rule when it came to rowing. I should also mention, I was scared of everyone seeing my non-tight looped casting abilities.


The weather looked picture perfect, but man, was that wind howling! There were some storms that passed a few days prior to our float, so, the water levels were up about 2 feet, if I remember correctly. We were all in search of smallies, the occasional pike, and maybe even a surprise musky...but we weren't holding our breath.


With the high water there were quite a few flooded areas. This is where the carp were all feasting and soaking up the sun, and we even spotted a few pike in spawning mode. We switched our tactics and tried sight fishing for these golden behemoths, but were not able to find any takers.


The fishing was tough, and 1 smallie was boated all day by Kurt. He hooked up with it on a very nice cast underneath a bridge. The smallie was right where it should have been.

All in all it was a great time. There were a bunch of laughs, a few beers, ciders, and doughnuts. Another "THANK YOU" goes out to Kurt and Sean! Thank you, for not making me row on such a windy day, giving me the front of the boat, and teaching me proper drift boat etiquette on poach casting. Haha

I owe you guys big, next time!