Tag Archives: Kayaking

A Fishing Trip Full of Unwanted Surprises

30 Wednesday Sep 2026

Posted by in Fishing, Kayaking, Life, Retirement, Uncategorized, Weather

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Rick and I arrived at the launch before the sun had even decided it was time to get out of bed. It was still dark enough that I had to use my little pin light to load the kayak.

It was around 55 degrees, which is pretty darn cool for me. I know there are people who think 55 degrees is perfect fishing weather, but I’m not one of those people. My problem with wearing a jacket is that I know what’s going to happen. The temperature will eventually climb high enough that I’ll want to take it off, and then I have to find somewhere to store it.

Kayak storage is a precious commodity. There’s only so much room for fishing rods, tackle, food, drinks, and all the other stuff I have convinced myself I absolutely need.

So, I decided to take my jacket off and put it back in my truck. Unfortunately, I had already put my truck keys in my dry bag.

That put a little wrinkle in my plan.

I decided to just put the jacket behind my seat and deal with it later.

Rick wanted to paddle about a mile and a half downstream to what we call the “second waterfall” to start his fishing expedition. It’s one of two spillways that drain from a settling pond created by the coal mining company that owns the land.

I had a different plan.

I wanted to fish on the other side of the bridge near the launch site because I had a brand-new topwater lure I was anxious to try.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I had changed all of my fishing lines to braided line with a five-to-seven-foot fluorocarbon leader. I use a double Uni knot to join the two different lines together.

The double Uni knot works great on a spinning reel because the eyelets on those rods are fairly large. Unfortunately, baitcasting rods have much smaller eyelets, and the knot has a tendency to get hung up when it passes through them.

My new topwater lure was attached to one of my baitcasting reels.

On my very first cast, I noticed the knot hitting the eyelet at the end of the rod. I immediately thought, “This could become a problem.”

Then, on that same first cast, a fish boiled up at the lure but didn’t actually take it.

My heart jumped.

Fish on the first cast? Well, sort of.

I cast back toward the same general area, hoping I could convince the fish to give me another chance. The sound of my lure hitting the water just inches from my kayak told me something had gone terribly wrong.

I knew immediately what had happened.

The reel had backlashed.

And not just a little.

I had created a bird’s nest that probably could have provided shelter for an entire family of birds.

I took the topwater lure off that rod and grabbed another baitcasting combo. I swapped the lure over and made another cast.

When I reeled it in, something didn’t feel right. It was unusually difficult to turn the handle. I made a few adjustments to the drag and cast the lure back out.

Almost immediately, a fish came flying out of the water and grabbed it.

Finally!

I set the hook and started reeling.

Except the more I turned the handle, the harder it became to turn.

Within a couple of seconds, the reel completely stopped working.

Apparently, my fishing equipment had decided it was going to participate in the adventure too.

I laid the rod down in the kayak, grabbed the fishing line with my hands and started pulling the fish in manually.

I could tell it was a good-sized fish because every time it dove toward deeper water, the line dug into my hands.

Eventually, I got the fish close enough to see it.

That’s when I noticed something else.

The lure wasn’t in the fish’s mouth.

It was hooked in the side of the fish just beyond the gills.

I managed to get the fish close enough to lip it, pulled it into the kayak and removed the hook.

The fish weighed nearly three pounds.

I was pretty happy about that.

After releasing the fish, I changed out the broken baitcasting reel for a spare and put the topwater lure on it.

The very next cast, another fish grabbed the lure.

It jumped completely out of the water, apparently just to make sure I knew it had been hooked.

At that point, I was thinking this might turn into one of those days where I caught a multitude of fish.

That didn’t happen.

That was the last fish I caught on the topwater lure.

I ended the day with three fish total—two on the topwater lure and one on a plastic worm.

The wind eventually picked up, making it difficult to keep the kayak in one place. Anyone who has fished from a kayak knows that once the wind gets strong enough, you stop fishing and start operating a very inefficient watercraft.

I fished until nearly 11:00 a.m. and then started making my way back toward the launch.

I arrived around 11:45 and beached the kayak. As I was getting into my truck to start loading everything, I saw Rick paddle his way toward the launch.

He told me he had caught seven or eight fish.

Seven or eight.

I had caught three.

And the really irritating part was that Rick hadn’t spent the morning fighting backlashes, replacing reels, or wrestling with fishing equipment that appeared to be plotting against him.

I was a little jealous, to say the least.

But the excitement wasn’t over.

Not even close.

I use a simple paracord latching system to secure my kayak to my truck. I hook one end to one side of the truck, run the cord through the handle on one side of the kayak, pull it over my fishing rods, run it through the handle on the other side and connect it to the other side of the truck. Then I cinch everything down tight.

I’ve used this system for years and never had a problem.

Until this day.

About halfway home, I heard a loud thump.

I immediately looked in the rearview mirror.

I didn’t see my camera pole.

My first thought was that it had somehow come loose and fallen off the truck.

I pulled over in someone’s yard and jumped out to see what was going on.

That’s when I discovered something slightly more important than my missing camera pole.

My kayak was gone too.

The thump I had heard wasn’t my camera pole hitting the road.

It was my kayak bouncing off the bed of my truck and landing on the pavement.

Apparently, my kayak had decided it had enough of being transported and wanted to see the world on its own.

I jumped back into the truck, looked around to make sure nobody was coming and quickly turned around.

It didn’t take long to find my kayak.

It was partly in the middle of the road and partly in someone’s front yard.

I pulled over across the road, got out and immediately noticed something else.

My fishing rods were nowhere to be found.

They had apparently decided to go on their own adventure too.

I grabbed the kayak, dragged it across the road and managed to get it loaded back onto the truck.

I turned on my emergency flashers and started walking down the road looking for my missing equipment.

Eventually, I found all five of my rods scattered along the side of the road.

I was extremely lucky.

There was no one directly behind me when the kayak decided to disembark.

Had someone been following closely, this story could have ended with me explaining to an insurance company why my kayak decided to attack somebody’s vehicle.

When I got home, I unloaded everything from the kayak so I could turn it over and inspect the damage.

Other than some scuff marks where it had hit the pavement, the kayak actually looked to be in pretty good shape.

Of the five rods that went flying, two sustained some damage to the eyelets. I’ll have to make some adjustments to them before I can use those rods again.

After looking over the tie-down system, I think I figured out what happened.

When I pulled the paracord tight, the knot apparently worked its way through the cam. Once that happened, the rope loosened and the kayak was free to make its great escape.

I’ve made what I hope is a simple correction.

I’ve added a second knot to the line so that if the first knot somehow works its way through the cam again, the second knot will catch it.

At least that’s how it works in theory.

And as I’ve learned from this particular fishing trip, theory and actual fishing don’t always have a lot in common.

I went fishing expecting to catch some fish.

Instead, I caught three fish, broke a reel, created a bird’s nest, damaged two fishing rods and watched my kayak take itself for a ride down the highway.

Rick caught seven or eight fish.

I’m pretty sure he had the better day.

But I did get home with my kayak.

So I guess there’s that.

Trying a New Approach at Fishing

28 Monday Sep 2026

Posted by in Fishing, Kayaking, Life, Uncategorized

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I had a lengthy text conversation with one of my fishing buddies recently. He’s the one who seems to average about 10 fish every time he goes fishing.

I, on the other hand, average around two.

So naturally, I listen very carefully when he starts talking about fishing.

He has told me about a couple of plastic worms that he uses. In fact, he has made some personal modifications to one of them. He’s even told me exactly what he has done and has given me a couple to try.

I’ve caught most of my fish on “his” worm.

That should probably tell you something.

I’ve been fishing since I was a little kid. My dad would take me to my granddad’s pond, where we fished for catfish. Our fishing technique was pretty advanced back then. We put some bait on a hook, attached a bobber to the line, and threw it in the water.

When the bobber went under, I pulled on the line.

And if everything went according to plan, I caught a catfish.

Pretty complicated stuff.

I didn’t start fishing for bass until I was an adult. The company I worked for had an annual fishing tournament on Good Friday, and I was fortunate enough to fish with several different people who had their own boats.

Eventually, I had the opportunity to buy my own boat. I purchased a 16-foot fish-and-ski with a 90-horsepower motor. I kept that boat for several years until the cost of maintaining it started becoming more than I wanted to spend. Eventually, I sold it.

During the years I owned that boat, I probably made 50 or 60 fishing trips.

And I didn’t catch many fish.

Looking back, I’m pretty sure I know why.

I mainly used crankbaits. I never really used plastic worms because I had no idea how to properly fish one.

I remember one of our Good Friday tournaments before I bought my boat. I was fishing with a coworker who actually lived on the lake where the tournament was being held. I watched what he was doing, used the same plastic worm he was using and proceeded to catch absolutely nothing.

He won the tournament.

Apparently, the worm wasn’t the problem.

The idiot holding the fishing rod was.

Fast-forward to 2018.

I drove about six hours to a friend’s house and purchased her kayak. She needed the money, and I needed a kayak. It seemed like a pretty good arrangement.

At first, I only fished occasionally, and I didn’t have much luck catching anything. I was still stuck on a couple of crankbaits simply because I had caught a few fish on them.

Then I was talking to my wife’s cousin’s husband, and he started telling me about some different things I could try. One of them was, you guessed it, a plastic worm.

He told me what he was using and how he was using it.

The next time I went fishing, I caught a fish on a plastic worm.

So, naturally, I did what any intelligent fisherman would do.

I kept using that same worm.

And I caught several more fish.

Unfortunately, toward the end of that fishing season, I broke my foot. For the next 18 months, I spent most of my time sitting in a recliner and wasn’t able to do any fishing.

But once I was able to get back on the water, things started changing.

Last year, it is safe to say that I caught more fish in that one year than I had caught in my entire life. I was getting out at least once a week when the weather permitted, and I started experimenting with different colors and types of plastic worms.

Apparently, the fish didn’t get the memo that I wasn’t supposed to be good at this.

I’ve started keeping a record of how many fish I catch and how much they weigh. I just wish I had started doing that last year.

As of today, I’ve caught 31 bass weighing a total of 38 pounds.

That’s an average of just over 1.2 pounds per fish.

Of course, my fishing buddy would probably look at those numbers and wonder if I’m fishing in a bathtub.

But I’m making progress.

The funny thing is that people, myself included, tend to put way too much emphasis on catching fish.

Don’t get me wrong. I love catching a fish. There is still something pretty exciting about feeling that tug on the line, setting the hook and watching a big bass come to the surface.

And yes, I would love to catch a five-pound bass.

I’d probably tell everybody about it.

I’d probably tell people who don’t even fish about it.

But catching fish isn’t really the reason I go.

The real reason is the solitude.

There is something about sitting in a kayak in the middle of a creek or river with nobody else around for what seems like miles. No traffic. No phone calls. No television. No lawnmowers. Just me, the water and whatever wildlife happens to show up.

Sometimes I catch fish.

Sometimes I don’t.

Sometimes I spend several hours throwing a worm into the same general area and wondering if the fish are laughing at me.

But I’m still out there.

And that’s what matters.

Last night, I spent several hours getting my fishing gear ready. I put new line on my reels and added a five-foot fluorocarbon leader to each one, just like my fishing buddy does.

Now we’ll see if all this new line and fancy leader material actually increases my chances of catching fish.

Of course, there’s still one variable I haven’t been able to replace.

The guy holding the fishing rod.

I guess we’ll see how he does.

What’s in my Kayak

18 Friday Sep 2026

Posted by in Family, Fishing, Kayaking, Life, Nature, Retirement, Uncategorized, Weight Loss

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As I’ve written about so many times, I love to fish.

I have a 12-foot Wilderness Systems kayak that I bought from a dear friend. It has become my little fishing machine, although I’m not sure the fish are nearly as impressed with it as I am.

I found the kayak on Facebook Marketplace when I was looking for one. The only problem was that my friend lived in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Nearly six hours from my house.

Surely, I could have found a kayak closer to home. But my friend was going through a difficult situation. Her husband had taken off and drained her bank account, and she desperately needed the money. I bought the kayak for $700, even though it was worth more than $1,500.

So I made the nearly six-hour drive to Knoxville.

Six hours there. Six hours back.

But I saved over $800.

I’m not sure if that qualifies as a bargain or just an excuse to spend twelve hours in my truck.

The most expensive piece of equipment on my kayak is my Garmin Striker Vivid 7cv fish finder.

Has it helped me catch more fish?

Probably not.

But it does tell me the water temperature, my direction of travel, water depth, sunken structures, and whether there are fish underneath me. It also tells me how fast I’m paddling.

And that’s probably the funniest feature on the entire thing.

I’m pretty sure I could get out and walk faster than I’m paddling.

The fish finder can show me the 37 fish directly underneath my kayak.

What it can’t tell me is why those 37 fish are ignoring everything I throw at them.

I also made myself a fishing crate out of a milk crate. It holds my soft plastics, hooks, weights, and crankbaits. It sits behind me, making everything easy to reach.

It’s even easier to get to now that I’ve lost all my weight.

There was a time when reaching behind me required some planning.

Now I can reach things without wondering if I’m going to flip the kayak.

I carry four rods and reels with me. None of them are what you would call professional equipment. I don’t think I’ve paid more than $100 for any of them.

I have always believed that you can catch just as many fish with a cheap setup as with an expensive one.

Of course, I have absolutely no scientific evidence to support this theory.

It’s just what I tell myself when I’m standing in the fishing aisle looking at a $300 rod.

I’ve spent several hundred dollars on tackle over the last few years. I’m constantly researching what the fish might be biting, looking at new lures and trying to figure out what might work.

I also have a friend who catches a lot more fish than I do, so I pay close attention to what he uses.

There is a lot of truth to the old saying that it’s not the equipment—it’s the person using it.

Unfortunately, I’m beginning to suspect that might be my problem.

But there is one piece of equipment I take with me that is more important than anything else in my kayak, other than my paddle.

My Garmin InReach.

The place where I do most of my fishing has absolutely no cell service. If I run into a problem, I’m on my own unless I have another way to communicate.

There are no houses nearby. No convenient little convenience store where I can walk in and say, “Hey, can I borrow your phone?”

So far, I’ve been lucky and haven’t had any serious problems.

Well, except for the treble hook incident.

I was fishing with my daughter when I managed to get a treble hook lodged into my thumb.

And when I say lodged, I mean lodged.

We were only about a quarter of a mile from the launch, so I had to paddle back, load the kayak into the truck and head to the emergency room to have it removed.

Thank goodness my daughter was with me to help load my truck. I couldn’t have done it without her.

I didn’t have the InReach back then, but fortunately, I didn’t need it.

And just for the record, getting a treble hook stuck in your thumb does not qualify as a true emergency.

It may qualify as an emergency in your own mind, but apparently emergency responders have higher standards.

The Garmin InReach is a satellite communicator. It allows me to send and recieve text messages through satellites to people I have programmed into the device.

More importantly, if I ever have a real emergency, there is an SOS button that I can activate to contact emergency responders.

Hopefully, I will never have to push it.

Because apparently, pushing that little button can get expensive.

Depending on how I need to be rescued, the cost could be more than $20,000.

Twenty.

Thousand.

Dollars.

At that price, I hope the rescue includes a helicopter, a steak dinner and someone carrying my kayak back to the truck.

Fortunately, Garmin offers an insurance option that can cover the cost of a rescue. I believe it costs around $40 a year.

That’s a pretty small price to pay when you consider what a rescue could cost.

The monthly service itself is also relatively inexpensive. I believe I pay around $15 a month and get 10 free messages each month. If my wife responds to one of my messages, it costs about 10 cents per message.

I use the InReach three times on almost every fishing trip.

The first message is sent when I start my trip. I let my wife and kids know that I’m heading out.

The second message comes somewhere around the middle of the trip. Basically, it’s my way of saying, “I’m still alive.”

The third message goes out when I’m finished fishing and loading everything back into the truck.

My wife usually responds to each message so I know she received it.

All together, that’s about 30 cents per fishing trip.

That’s cheaper than most of the lures I lose.

And I lose a lot of lures.

For me, the InReach isn’t really about fishing.

It’s about peace of mind.

If you fish, hike, hunt, kayak, or do anything outdoors where cell service is sparse or nonexistent, I highly recommend having some kind of satellite communication device.

I know my wife worries about me when I go fishing by myself. I also know that she feels better knowing that she will hear from me throughout the trip.

And I feel better knowing that if something really does go wrong, I have a way to call for help.

Hopefully, I’ll never need the SOS button.

I’d much rather continue sending my three little messages, catching a few fish, losing a few lures and occasionally getting a hook stuck in something that isn’t supposed to have a hook in it.

Preferably, that “something” will not be me.

Because as much as I love fishing, I really do like coming home afterward.

Catching Up, Slowing Down, and a Growing Family

07 Monday Sep 2026

Posted by in Cancer, Family, Fishing, Kayaking, Leukemia, Life, Twins

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I’m behind on my WP blog reading. It’s been a rough couple of days with this fatigue. I’ve been doing pretty well with the dizziness, but between this extreme heat we’re having and the fatigue, life has slowed down to a crawl. I haven’t been doing much more than sleeping my life away.

Right now, I’m waiting on my phone to charge enough to last through the night so I can use it for my alarm in the morning. I’m going to try to go to bed early tonight, so once I’m done catching up, I’m calling it a night regardless of how much charge is left. 4 a.m. will come early, and I need to be up and moving so I can make it to Bible study by 6 a.m. Apparently, my body and I have different opinions about what constitutes a reasonable bedtime.

Because it’s been so hot, even in my garage, when I am awake, I’ve usually got my Kindle out, and I’m reading. I’ve started reading one of my favorite authors, John Grisham, again. I’ve read just about every book he’s written. I took inventory the other day and discovered I only have ten more books to read before I’ll be completely caught up.

He just came out with his latest book, and he already has another one scheduled to be published in 2028. Yep, I’ve already got that one on my “to read” list, too. I may be tired, but apparently I’m still organized enough to plan my reading schedule several years in advance.

My wife, my twin girls, and I also met up with my son’s future in-laws. My son wanted to use today’s holiday as an opportunity for all of us to finally meet. We had a great time getting to know them. They may be a little higher class than what we’re used to, but they are really nice people and were incredibly easy to talk to. I’m hoping we’ll have more opportunities to get together before—and even after—my son’s wedding.

Oh, by the way, my son is getting engaged next week.

They’ve already set the wedding date for sometime in March of next year. So, that makes two.

My daughter, who got engaged a few months ago, will be getting married in June, and my son will be getting married in March. That means we’ll only have one more to get married off.

At this point, I’m not sure when that will happen, but we’re not in any big hurry. I’m pretty sure my daughter isn’t either.

I do have a fishing date planned for this Wednesday. It may take me a little longer to get to my fishing hole because of this fatigue, but I’ve got it on my calendar anyway. Sometimes you just have to put something on the calendar and hope your body gets the memo.

So, I guess we’ve officially entered the “planning weddings” phase of life. Between that, Bible study, reading, fishing, trying to stay cool, and trying to convince my body that sleeping all day isn’t actually a hobby, plenty is going on around here.

I just wish I had a little more energy to actually participate in it.

Listen to What Your Body is Telling You.

30 Sunday Aug 2026

Posted by in Cancer, Kayaking, Leukemia, Life, Uncategorized

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I was reminded of that today while reading a blog post I follow. Hazel reminded me that no matter what I’m doing, I need to listen to what my body is telling me. Sometimes we have a tendency to push through things, thinking we’ll be okay. Other times, our bodies have a way of making it very clear that we need to slow down.

Mine has been doing a pretty good job of getting my attention lately.

I started a new medication for my CML last Thursday. I’m taking two tablets, 40 mg each. I’m supposed to take them on an empty stomach, with no food for two hours before and at least one hour after taking them. I took them at bedtime both Thursday and Friday.

Friday night was rough.

I had a very restless night and finally decided to get out of bed around 3 a.m.—or at least I attempted to.

I sat up and immediately became dizzy. I sat there for a few minutes and waited for it to pass. When I finally stood up, the dizziness returned, and I nearly hit the floor. I grabbed the wall to keep myself upright and waited another couple of minutes before attempting to move.

Eventually, I made it to the den and collapsed into my recliner. I was exhausted. I felt like I had absolutely nothing left in the tank.

I tried going back to sleep, but I couldn’t get comfortable. I decided I would read for a while, but, of course, my glasses were in the bedroom.

I really, really didn’t want to get back up.

I knew what was probably going to happen.

Sure enough, when I stood up, the dizziness hit again. I nearly fell backward into the recliner. I grabbed hold of something and waited for it to subside. After a minute or so, I was able to make my way to the bedroom, retrieve my glasses and return to the den.

By the time I got back to my chair, I was wondering if I had enough energy to make the trip again if I had forgotten something.

Around 5 a.m., I finally decided I needed to find out exactly what might be going on. I made my way to the kitchen and retrieved the medication information packet that came with the prescription.

I started reading through the list of possible side effects.

Number three was dizziness and feeling faint.

Bingo.

Unfortunately, there was nothing listed specifically about fatigue. Later, I learned that fatigue is a side effect associated with many cancer medications, so apparently I managed to get a two-for-one special.

Dizziness and fatigue.

Just what I was hoping for.

I texted the guys in our Saturday morning Bible study group and told them not to expect me. I explained that I believed I was experiencing side effects from the new medication and that I simply wasn’t feeling well.

I spent most of the rest of the day in my recliner, getting up only when I absolutely had to.

I slept a little better Saturday night, but I’m still dealing with the fatigue and dizziness when I stand. Because of that, I didn’t go to church this morning either. Thankfully, I was able to watch the service on YouTube.

I had been thinking about going fishing Monday.

I’ve changed my mind.

At this point, I seriously doubt I’ll feel up to it. And honestly, I don’t think getting into a kayak while I’m dizzy is exactly what my doctor would recommend. Besides, I’m pretty sure the fish would take advantage of the situation and laugh at me.

I don’t have any appointments until Tuesday morning Bible study, and I’m really hoping I’ll be feeling better by then.

I’m also not taking any more of this medication until I speak with my oncologist on Monday. I want to talk with him about what happened and see what my options are. Maybe there is a way to adjust the dosage so that the medication can still do what it’s supposed to do without making me feel like I’m one wrong step away from becoming a human tumbleweed.

I’ve spent a lot of years dealing with CML and everything that comes with it. I know how important it is to take the medication and follow the treatment plan.

But I’m also learning that following the plan doesn’t mean ignoring what my body is telling me.

Sometimes you have to stop, pay attention and say, “Something isn’t right.”

That’s where I am right now.

So, for the moment, I’m going to listen to my body, stay in my recliner, and let my oncologist help me figure out what comes next.

Maybe the fishing rod can wait a few more days.

The fish aren’t going anywhere.

Well… at least I hope they aren’t.

Maybe My Fishing Days Aren’t Over After All

28 Friday Aug 2026

Posted by in Fishing, Kayaking, Life, Nature, Uncategorized

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After my back started giving me issues a few months ago—and especially after dealing with the pain following one of my attempts to go fishing—I had pretty much decided that my fishing days were coming to an end.

I just couldn’t sit in a kayak for more than a couple of hours before my back reminded me I was no longer 25.

Apparently, my back has a better memory than I do.

After spending some time with my therapist, we talked about some possible solutions. One of those was trying a different type of fishing seat that might provide more support for my lower back.

That sounded like a great idea, except for one small problem: finding a seat that would actually fit my kayak.

After more than a month of research, I finally purchased one that I thought would work. I was hoping it would give my back the support it needed and, perhaps, give me a few more fishing hours before my body decided it had enough.

I received the seat about two weeks ago, but between my wife and my doctor’s appointments and my daughter being in the hospital, I hadn’t had a chance to take it out on its maiden voyage.

There was another problem, too.

If I was going to try it out, I needed to go by myself.

Normally, I would invite my fishing buddy to go with me. But I had no idea how long I would actually be able to stay on the water. The last thing I wanted was for him to drive all the way out there, get comfortable, unpack everything, and start fishing, only for me to announce an hour later, “Well, boys and girls, my back has spoken. We’re going home.”

I knew if he went with me, he would want to spend the day on the water. And honestly, I couldn’t promise him that I could make it through the day.

So, I went by myself.

I didn’t leave nearly as early as I would have if my buddy had gone with me. Normally, we’re on the road around 5:30 in the morning. This time, it was nearly 7:00 when I finally hit the road.

I figured if my back was going to ruin my fishing trip, I might as well let it sleep a little later first.

I arrived at the creek around 7:45 and was at my first fishing hole by about 8:30.

I knew almost immediately that the new seat was going to give me more support. The real question was whether it would give me enough support to actually stay out there for a few hours.

I fished for several hours and, while I did start to feel a little fatigued, it was nothing I couldn’t handle. That alone felt like a pretty big victory.

I finally left my fishing spot around 11:30 and made it back to the launch a little after noon.

My back was a little stiff, but that was about it.

And that was a whole lot better than it had been a few weeks earlier.

In fact, I consider the trip a success. I didn’t have to call anybody to come rescue me, I didn’t have to paddle back using only my arms because my back had gone on strike, and I actually got to fish for several hours.

That’s a win in my book.

I also finished my last session of an eight-week round of physical therapy on Monday. The therapy definitely helped, but now I have to wonder: Was I able to stay out fishing longer because of the therapy, because of the new seat, or because of both?

Truth be known, it was probably a combination of the two.

And I’ll take it as a win either way.

Now, before anyone gets excited and thinks I’m going back to spending all day on the water, let me stop you right there.

I’m not.

I’ve learned that I need to listen to what my back is telling me. Ignoring it usually ends with me regretting my life choices somewhere between the kayak and the truck.

So, I’ve decided that 11:30 will be my new fishing curfew.

If my buddy wants to stay longer, that’s perfectly fine.

He can stay.

He can fish until dark if he wants.

He can catch all the fish.

He can even catch the big one that I would have caught if I had stayed.

I’m going home at 11:30.

Because apparently, I’ve reached the age where my fishing buddy isn’t the one who decides when we leave.

My back does.

And believe me, that thing has no problem telling me when it’s time to go.

So maybe my fishing days aren’t over after all.

I just have a new fishing partner.

His name is Lower Back.

He’s not very good company; he complains constantly, and he never helps paddle.

But he always knows when it’s time to go home.

Progress Isn’t Always a Straight Line (Especially with My Back)

06 Thursday Aug 2026

Posted by in Family, Fishing, Kayaking, Nature, Uncategorized

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Twice a week for the past five weeks, I’ve been going to physical therapy for my back. I’ll admit that when I first started, I didn’t think therapy would do much good for fused vertebrae and a bulging disc. I figured it was something I would just have to live with. Much to my surprise, though, therapy has been more beneficial than I ever expected.

That doesn’t mean there haven’t been a few setbacks.

This week alone, my back decided to remind me that it’s still in charge of this relationship. Apparently, I only get voting rights.

After church on Sunday, my kids and I went out to eat. The restaurant seated us in a booth with one of the strangest backrests I’ve ever encountered. Whoever designed it must have based it on someone who had never actually sat down before.

Within a few minutes, I knew it wasn’t going to work. My back was getting more uncomfortable by the second, so I finally excused myself and headed out to my truck to do some stretching.

Apparently, seeing a grown man bent, twisted, and stretched out in a restaurant parking lot gets people’s attention. Several patrons stopped to ask if I needed medical assistance. I appreciated their concern, but thankfully, all I needed was for my back to quit throwing its little temper tantrum.

The very next day, I went fishing with my friend Rick. Before we launched, I warned him that I probably wouldn’t make it through a full day on the water. My plan was to fish until about 11:30 a.m., giving us roughly five hours before heading home.

Well…my back had already looked at my schedule and crossed that out.

By 10:30, it was screaming, “We’re done!” Loud enough that I didn’t feel the need to argue. I paddled back to the launch, unloaded my gear, and before loading my kayak into the truck, I stretched out flat on my back across the tailgate for about ten minutes.

If anyone drove by, they probably thought I was either taking a nap or waiting for the coroner. Thankfully, neither was true.

That little break settled my back down enough for me to finish loading everything. Rick finally made it back around noon. He was fortunate I’d taken those few minutes to recover because otherwise he would have been loading all of his gear by himself. As much as I enjoy fishing with him, I was ready to get home and put some heat on my back.

When I told my physical therapist about both incidents yesterday, she decided to extend my therapy for another couple of weeks. Her goal is to add some exercises specifically designed to help reduce the pain I experience while fishing.

Normally, I probably would have complained about having to continue therapy longer than expected. But in this case, I’ll let it slide. After all, if a few more therapy sessions help me spend a few more hours fishing, that’s a trade I’m willing to make.

She also suggested replacing the seat in my kayak with one that offers better lumbar support. I’ve already started looking at a few options, and I’m planning to show her what I’ve found during tomorrow’s appointment. Who knew shopping for kayak seats would become part of my medical treatment?

If there’s one thing this experience has taught me, it’s that progress isn’t always a straight line. There are good days and bad days, victories and setbacks. But each week I’m seeing small improvements that remind me I’m moving in the right direction.

My back may still think it’s the boss, but physical therapy is slowly teaching it that it’s about to lose some of its authority.

My Mouth Has Declared a Revolt

30 Thursday Jul 2026

Posted by in Amateur Radio, Cancer, Diabetic, Disability, Family, Fishing, Kayaking, Leukemia, Life

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I believe I’ve mentioned this a couple of times before, but I have a love/hate relationship with doctors. When it comes to dentists, though, it’s a little different—I absolutely despise dentistry. Don’t get me wrong, I love my dentist, but I hate everything about going to see him.

I know how important it is to take care of my teeth. I’ve also been told—although I’m not sure how much truth there is to it—that having CML can affect your dental health. Whether that’s the culprit or not, my teeth seem determined to keep my dentist in business.

About two weeks ago, I noticed what I thought was a missing filling. I already had an appointment scheduled to have my teeth cleaned, so I called the office to see if they could replace the filling during the same visit. When I got there, my dentist took one look and informed me that it wasn’t a missing filling at all—it was a broken tooth. That meant scheduling yet another appointment to get it fixed.

Then, last Friday, while I was out fishing with my daughter, I bit into a peanut butter cracker and heard that dreaded little crunch. Sure enough, I had managed to break another tooth. Because apparently my teeth have a flair for dramatic timing, this one was on the opposite side of my mouth… and my appointment to fix the first tooth was the following Tuesday.

On Monday morning, I called the dentist’s office to let them know I’d added another broken tooth to my collection. I figured if they were already going to be working in my mouth, they might as well fix both while they had me in the chair.

I’ve been going to the same dentist for more than forty years, so we’ve developed a pretty good rapport. Naturally, his first question was whether I’d been eating rocks again.

Before long, he had both sides of my jaw full of the magic juice that makes you feel like your face is sliding off your skull. He drilled both teeth and fitted them with temporary crowns.

About an hour after I got home, the numbness started to wear off. The right side of my mouth seemed perfectly fine, but the left side was a completely different story. I’m not sure why, but even two days later it’s still pretty sore.

Then this morning, while eating a bowl of Cheerios, I felt something strange. Sure enough, the temporary crown on my right side had come loose. It’s currently sitting on the table beside my recliner, patiently waiting for me to throw it in the trash.

I go back to the dentist on August 5th to have the permanent crowns installed, so I think I’m just going to wait. Knowing my luck, they’d put another temporary crown on, and I’d probably find a way to break that one too.

Have I mentioned lately just how much I despise going to the dentist?

At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if my dentist sends me a Christmas card thanking me for helping put one of his kids through college.

When Good Days Take Unexpected Turns

24 Friday Jul 2026

Posted by in Family, Fishing, Kayaking, Life, Nature, Twins, Uncategorized

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Tuesday was spent at the doctor’s office with my dad, following up on his broken nose. After examining him, the doctor decided not to do anything since he could still breathe through it without any difficulty. Dad actually broke his nose when he was a kid, so it was already a little crooked. I guess he’s had decades to get used to a nose that doesn’t point due north.

My plans to go fishing on Wednesday changed when my son called early that morning saying his air conditioner had quit working.

I haven’t had to do much HVAC work since I retired, so it took me a little longer than usual to diagnose the problem. It didn’t help that there were actually two problems. After several hours, two trips to the hardware store, a new thermostat, and a new capacitor, his air conditioner was finally back up and running. It felt good to know I hadn’t forgotten everything I learned after 32 years in the business.

My daughter told me on Sunday that she wanted to go fishing. Since she had a hair appointment on Thursday, she decided to spend the night and get an early start the next morning.

We fished for several hours before either of us had any luck. Her luck changed first when she hooked a big fish, but it got off before she could get it to the kayak. Then my luck changed when I finally landed one. Unfortunately, my good fortune lasted about five seconds.

As I was handling the fish, my phone slipped out of my pocket and disappeared into the lake, never to be seen again.

My daughter actually climbed out of her kayak and tried feeling around with her feet to find it, but it was gone. This is the second time my phone landed in the water, and you’d think after the first time I’d have learned my lesson. I have a phone tether on order now that should arrive tomorrow.

As the saying goes, a day late and a dollar short.

Needless to say, we called it a day and headed home.

After unloading the truck, I spent the next several hours at the phone store getting everything transferred to a new phone. It wasn’t exactly how I had planned to spend my afternoon, but at least I got to spend the morning on the water with my daughter.

I’d gladly trade a phone for memories like that… although I’d really prefer not to make it a habit.

A Morning on the Water and an Evening Under the Fireworks

05 Sunday Jul 2026

Posted by in Boy Scouts, Family, Fishing, Kayaking, Life, Photography, Retirement

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I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

I took advantage of the few hours I had available to go fishing Saturday morning. I didn’t invite my friend Rick on this trip because I wasn’t sure how long my back would hold up. Since the ablation, I haven’t been able to sit in my kayak for very long before the pain starts bothering me.

I launched on the river around 5:30 a.m., and by 10:30 I was ready to head back to the launch. I knew that if Rick had gone with me, he would have wanted to stay out all day, and I knew that just wasn’t going to be possible for me.

The other reason I went alone was that I didn’t want to have to track him down when I was ready to leave. Last week, I told him I planned to head home at 2:00 p.m. By 2:30, he still hadn’t made it back to the launch. I finally left without knowing where he was, and that made me feel pretty uncomfortable.

At least until my back gets better, I think my fishing trips will end around 11:30 each morning. That’s quite a change considering we normally stay on the water until around 4:00 p.m.

Saturday evening, we went to my in-laws’ house on the river. They invited us, along with eight couples from their Bible study group, over for a barbecue and the annual fireworks show put on by their next-door neighbor.

I was genuinely surprised by the quality of the fireworks. It looked like something you’d expect to see at a professional display. I started recording about ten minutes after the show began, and it continued for another ten minutes or so after I stopped. My arm finally gave out from holding my phone up for so long, so I had to call it quits.

https://youtu.be/hIVYBx3J-Q8

As you’ll see in the video, we were very close to where the fireworks were being launched. In fact, I think we may have been a little too close at times!

This was also the first time in about ten years that I was able to spend the Fourth of July at home. In years past, I was always away at Boy Scout summer camp. That meant leaving my wife at home with our two cats, who were terrified by the thunderous fireworks our neighbors set off every year.

It felt good to spend Independence Day with family, enjoy some great barbecue, watch an incredible fireworks display, and still squeeze in a few hours of fishing that morning. Even though my back limited my time on the water, it was still a day well spent.