Back from Louisiana. Not quite what I was expecting.

[Mike S.]

I got home from LA last night.  The trip was not at all what I was expecting it to be.  We drove for 2 days each way, and spent lots of money.  Here's what happened.

Day 1:  We went right to the lake on the first morning.  I learned that it is quite hard to fish with a 77 year old man who really can't handle his boat anymore.  The lake is FULL of stumps, so they have "boat roads" that are cut and marked with white poles sticking up above the water.  They are marked red and green like any other navigational buoy is.  He had a hard time keeping the boat between them.  We get to the spot that dad wanted to fish, and the wind kicks up.  Then, the trolling motor was running backwards.  Then, the tm wouldn't turn but half of the radius that it should.  He then drops the anchor, and there we sit.  Not fun casting at the same area for hours and not getting bit. 
  When we got home, I loaded my wife and kids into the van and showed them my childhood home, school, lake, hangouts, and the river that I loved fishing.  It was awesome for me.  Amazing how the area has grown.

Day 2:  A coolant leak has developed in our van, I now need a new radiator.  I took the van to a shop first thing in the morning, after the guy says I'll have it back that evening.  Well, he ordered the wrong radiator, so I didn't get the van back until the afternoon of day 3.  I fixed all the problems with my God father's boat.  He is old, so the tm was hooked to the battery backwards, and needed a new cable end on the positive side.  He had a new fish finder installed up front, and the cable for the transducer was zip tied so tight that the tm couldn't turn the way it should.  I fixed that.  His front light wasn't working.  The dealer he had install the fish finder messed up his wiring, and didn't crimp the ends on it when they tried to fix it.  Done.  Still no fishing.

Day 3:  Out on the lake at 8 a.m.!!!  We go to a spot where they had done well this time of year before.  I'm excited.  We get there, and he beaches the boat and says now we can fish both sides of the peninsula.  WTF???  I'm mad at this point.  I get a bite on a spinnerbait.  That's it.  We head across the lake to the area we lived on.  We get right behind the old house, and he ties us to a tree.  There we sit.  Unbelievable.  I finally hook and land a bass!  Nothing big, but a bass.  That is the extent of the fish catching.  Bummer.  We get home, and I get the van back.  We then head to the Sabine River to catch some stripers.  The dam is scheduled to open at 5, but it doesn't.  They only bite when the dam opens and the river comes up.  I call, and they changed the time from 5 to 8.  So, needless to say, I caught no striper.  I did get some sweet pics of them from the bridge above, which you can't fish from, or near.  You can see the huge school from 60 feet above or better.

Day 4:  We run over to Ft. Polk, to show my kids around the Army base, where I spent a lot of time as a kid.  Upon driving, I notice the van is shifting funny.  When I had the radiator done, he broke the lines to my transmission cooler, and replaced them with rubber lines.  I check the fluid, way low.  I head to Autozone, buy fluid, and start to fill it.  Look underneath, and the fluid is running out of the trans dipstick tube.  Needless to say, I spent 6 hours at a trans shop waiting for them to fix me up so I can drive home the next morning.  No fishing.  I'm livid at this point and everyone fights all day long.

  What a trip.  But, I at least got to see my god father again before he goes.

[Redbone]

Yikes!  That sounds like something that would happen to me!  Just remember... It could always be worse!

[LAPORTE]

It sure is funny how stripers and carp look the same from above.... lol   I wish you had a better time wacken them

DL 

[Skulley]

I'll bet that southern home cooking just can't be beat.  Did you have any of that genu-wine cajun grub??        How about some Louisiana gumbo??         How about some poboys or jambalaya??  Now I'm getting hungry. 


BD                                 

[Mike S.]

Oh yeah, my godmother is a wonderful cook.  Just so happens, though, my mother is too.  She still makes all the southern food here that we enjoyed down there.  If you are interested, BigDog, I'll get you her Louisiana gumbo recipe.

[Skulley]

You bet!!!  I'll bet it's good too.  The best!!!  DK has got to get an emoticon that drools.  Nothing like genu-wine Louisiana gumbo.     


BD                       

[Mike S.]

You bet!!!  I'll bet it's good too.  The best!!!  DK has got to get an emoticon that drools.  Nothing like genu-wine Louisiana gumbo.     


BD                       

I'll get it from her, and I'll either post it, or PM it to you.  Everybody likes food, maybe Dan should put a food board up, as well as a drooling emoticon.

[fiker]

Sorry to hear of your vacations that pretty much wasn't. 

Perhaps you could sell the story?  You could market it as National Lamthingy Fishing Trip.   By now, Chevy Chase might pass for the old man, and you could be Rusty.