Sentry 1330 combination safe.  Good shape and everything in working order.  I just bought a bigger safe, but Have been using this one for 20 years.

I'm selling on Craigslist for $75. but if any of you guys are interested, I'll give it to you for $50.

https://sandiego.craigslist.org/esd/for/d/santee-sentry-1330-fireproof-safe-combo/7843010532.html

Decided I needed to get the boat out and have it run.  It's been months since I last got it out.

Plan was a quick run to the BIG RED grounds and back by noon to get to all of my work meetings (Teams meetings thankfully).

Cool morning and a little breezy, but really nice out there.  I get to my little rockpiles and see nothing on the sonar... I mean nothing!

I tried dropping and moving to a dozen spots.  All I did was pick one here and one there.  Everything was small, but I kept my 10 and released the rest. 

Pretty much Bosco Hell.









I also caught a few Half-Banded, Green striped, and Bank Perch. 

I was still going to look for a big red when I looked up to see a thousand terns diving!  I shot over and they were surrounding me.  I think the baits were like 2-4" chovie, but couldn't get an eyeball what they were grabbing.



Only bummer was not even mackerel were on them.  Absolutely nothing, but I tried for a few hours anyway.

Oh well, what a terrible start to my rockfish season, but I did hear the fishing was crap the last few weeks, even for bottom fish.

Anyway, it still felt great to get the boat out and I got home for my first meeting with 5 minutes to spare!  LOL

Drink 160 proof homemade moonshine the night before...

By the time I woke up, I just needed the energy to muster getting to Home Depot to get 50 2x4's.  My shoulder hated it and I reeked of booze, but mission accomplished, I guess. 

I do plan on fishing on Monday at some point though.  (They're still catching Lightning Trout at Santee Lakes!)

So this thing is going to be serious.  Already went through the plans with my buddy and he's going to overbuild.

Only allowed 120 square feet without a permit, so we're fitting the space available with an 8'x14'.  Going to be made like a house with full insulation, two 3'x3' windows, Double Door, 36" steel door, and overhead storage.  Going to be about 11' tall, so like a legit shed. 

I got all of the wood ordered, but I had to buy the 2x4's separate since Lowe's didn't have 92-1/4" studs we were looking for.  (In order to make things easier and quicker to have lumber in the exact size we need)



I'll update this thread as progress moved forward.  I think we'll be starting it on Friday when the truck arrives with the rest of the wood, windows and doors.

I have three well-seasoned 36" lay flat lobster hoops.  I've been upgrading so if any of you guys want them, just reply here. 

I went to a heavier version and 8-legged car port.  With my bum shoulder, I took everything really slow but finally got the boat back under cover and safe from the tree pollen pods.  LOL

Old


New

Every year there is a bunch, but I chased 4 out of my garage yesterday and we found 3 tails of lizards inside the house.  Having 5 cats, I'm not sure if any of them made it but I suspect they did.

Well, my granddaughter is going down with us to the DATD tomorrow.  There's nothing I need to buy, but I plan on perusing the used tackle lot for anything special for the right deal.

Otherwise, it will be fun taking Lydia on the boat tours.  Going to be a bit chilly, but Hopefully I run into a few of you guys down there.

Cheers!

Been finishing up the honey do lists. I'll post Pics in the next few days, but a heavy dose of fishing is coming soon.

Well, this is Bat Ray Flavored...



Still.... I think I can make it work!

I don't think I can afford the Surgey again with my PPO insurance, especially since they say they can't tell me that it will ever get back to 80%.  Problem is they fixed it once so a refixing will be much more difficult.

I'm just going to deal with the pain, but I did see the X-Ray of my right shoulder I had fixed in 2007 (This was the exact time I rolled down to MB and met Steve, Phong, etc)

This shoulder has only 2 anchors.  <y other shoulder has 5 anchors in it.  Ugh.

Last year's garden was a little disappointing.  I had a bumper crop in cucumbers, peppers and Zucchini, but terrible for tomatoes (My favorite)

I decided to change locations of a few of the plants and with that tried to also figure out a way to get the most out of my vining plants.

I put in a 7' arch between my raised planters and mage some raised "Potatoe Planters"





I planted:  Asparagus, Red skin & Yukon potatoes, Cherry and Beefsteak Tomatoes, Green Beans, Crooked Neck Squash, Egg Plant, Red Bells, Sugar Snap Peas, Burpless cukes and Pickle cukes, Onions, Carrots Strawberries and Basil.  That's all I can think of at the moment.  LOL
'
Let's see your gardens!

I'm finally done with the house projects and then I pull the trigger on the yard.  Getting 15 yards of DG in.  One big one is to make the pad for my fossil museum (Shed)!

I can't believe how much stuff I had to move but they start on Monday.  Also had so much junk that I called in a junk removal guy.  Just trying to get the yard ready for the summer!

I've been wanting my own fossil museum for a long time now, so I'm excited to get the ball rolling.

I decided to try a new recipe for smoking.  The guys in the NW call it Coho Candy.  I decided to try it with the trout.

Soaked in a 50/50 Soy Sauce/Teriyaki combo for 12 hours.



Dried with a paper towel and put in the fridge for another 2 hours to dry a little more.

No other seasonings, but went straight on the smoker with heavy applewood smoke for 2.5 hours.



Pulled them and proceeded to brush them with 100% pure Maple Syrup.



Let it cool in the fridge and then immediately pulled and vacuum sealed them.



I took some into work and it was a 100% approval rate, even with the non-fish eaters!  They said it tasted more like bacon and never would have guessed it was fish.

Success!

Today was a totally different day than yesterday!  Cold, Windy, Misting....  Definitely trout weather!

Got home from work and went straight down to the lakes.  This time the west road was closed which really chaps my hide.

Went to a lake that wasn't stocked too many times, but has had a big stocking of Lightning Trout.

Pretty instantaneously I get bit but lose it because I was way too far from my rod.

Next cast and I'm on!



Caught another one right after and decided to throw out a tube jig to maybe get an active one.  I get slammed and totally thought I had a nice trout...  but nope...  Still, my first bass of the year!



Of course, I also had to get a Pond Chicken....

Third Cat



The bites started to slow down, but I did manage my 4th whisker trout of the trip.



No trout unfortunately, but It was a fine 3 hours of soaking baits.

Bright sun and warm out, but I needed a break.  I ran down trying for one of the leftover Lightning Trout.
Road on the west side was open today, so I went to my go to spot....

Inflated some fat Nightcrawlers and went big!

Only soaked for 2 hours before I had to get home.

One bite!

One Pond Chicken....



So this is what Jeremy feels like when leaving after a fishing session....


LOL 

I have two trips pretty much in the works this year.  Washington for Halibut and NJ/PA (family visit) for typical lake critters and maybe some Fluke, Weakfish and Blues in the bays.  I'm going to try and squeeze a third in since my employment will be at an end here in June.  I guess if I find a job beforehand, then the trips will be the big 0 instead. lol

I know there are people all over the country now and they are still fishing.  Would love to read about any cool stories you may have had recently.

Tim went out and got a new tattoo....

So busy getting my shoulder tested that I didn't think I would be able to get another lobster season in before it closed.  Shaun's boat had motor issues so I was prepping my boat.  I saw the forecast and realized I wouldn't be anywhere in the inlet due to the winds and pretty big swells.

Boat was all ready and Shaun calls to say he fixed his boat and let's just take his since we have less to worry about with the seas.  That and I just got back from the Sx consultation and wound up getting a cortisone shot in my arm for the moment instead and was told to take it easy today.  Shaun was going to be the puller and I the captain of his boat it seemed.  He was totally fine and we brought all of the frozen stuff we had in our freezers including a marlin carcass, BFT parts, Rockfish, Macks, Trout and anchovie.



To our surprise, it was PACKED out there!  I wasn't expecting a crowd, but it looked like the Lobster opener and not the last day of the season fishing.

In any case, we set our 10 and gave it a 2-hour soak.  We had to have all nets pulled by 11:59, so it was a limited time to fish.  That and it gets dark pretty late...



First string and we caught 44 with 9 keepers.  We also picked up a few nasty Danger Noodles!  Much different when they fall out of the net and into the boat by your feet and the lobster.



We ended up pulling 3 sets in the time we had.  Each time their were less bugs, but more morays!





Finally we got it done at 11:52pm and called it the night.  Not huge numbers, but had an otherwise really good night.







Freezer is stocked and so is my belly tonight after a tasty lobster dinner!



Well, what a great way to end the lobster season but it was really tough waking up in the morning after a couple of hours of sleep to get into some meetings.  I'm ready to pass out right now.

Thanks for reading and please keep posting as I appreciate seeing the stories since running the site is pretty pricey. Cheers!