BRS1
08-21-2002, 09:56 AM
Headed up from Albuquerque on Thursday to meet up with EXNJ in CO Springs to have him run interference through Denver and show me the shortcut from the Springs to Denver.
Was running about an hour late, but so was he. We met up and quickly got back on the road after a Carls Jr. break. Pretty smooth running the back way and we missed the really bad Denver rush hour traffic.
Arrived at the Wheels command post around 21:00 hours and found a camp site after realizing that Wheels had mysteriously moved the command post from Whiskey to Sagebrush. This was to keep the enemy from infiltrating camp and learning any true walleye secrets.
Not knowing anyone and being very shy, I proceeded directly into command central and introduced myself with only my screen name keeping my identity safe for the moment. Muleskinner, BigJohn, Tom, Wheels, Jason, BrianCO had already gotten a headstart on the strategy meeting for Friday. After a very short period of formalities the true initiations began. There were more tall tales and trash talking going on that truth serum had to be sought.
After being the first to break protocol it was the end of the evening and we headed for our respective sites. Being the first one to be given a hard time for the light appetite and breakfast beverages, it was lights out for everyone at 0:30.
5:15 came way too early and with no shade cover in Big Red, I staggered out of the back and started to fumble around for something to get the tree bark out of my mouth. EXNJ and I headed to Curleys for ice and bait and made it onto the water smoothly. BTW if anyone that was at Glendo last weekend thinks that launching was difficult, don't ever come to NM.
Wheels had filled me in on some local tips (they figured I wasn't a big threat to their home turf). It was very different from what I was reading about the bite so I figured it was a snow job or these guys new what they were doing and didn't tell anyone:). We headed out and I had to try my program of Reef Runners and boards with the secret from Jason on one board. First fish hit on the Wheels/Jason weapon. Soon I was pulling two and by Saturday all 3 rotating one board to see if bigger fish wanted another meal. Friday about 10 AM the wind began to blow and EXNJ had to see if his boys had blown out of camp. EXNJ wanted to get his boys on the boat for a while in the afternoon so I agreed and we rounded them up after about an hour and headed back out. The wind was now blowing from 3 directions between 15 and 40 mph. The boat was being pushed down lake with no power crossways in the waves at about 2.5 mph. We would be able to track for about 5 minutes and then the wind would switch, and with tight quarters, it was getting difficult. 2 of the boys had taken up camp in the front of the boat and the third looked like he would be reaching for the sides soon. It was time to call it a day and head in.
14:00 hours we returned to the Wheels command post and shortly after many others followed. The wind was blowing so hard at this point visibility was down to about 30 feet,,,, if you could open your eyes. The Saturday strategy meeting started early and entailed more of the tall tales and trash talking most strategy meetings include with nothing being resolved as to who had caught what (we had two fish). Most of the numbers had been sanded off my license plate when we decided to make the very short trip to town and set up a temporary base camp at Roosters (local food chain) to wait out the wind storm. BigJohn, Tom, Wheels, Jason, EXNJ and crew, and myself were able to overtake the local crowd for a spot at the rail. The cribbage board quickly came down after a few off the cuff comments about certain individuals card playing prowess. Needless to say BigJohn schooled me on the ins and outs of cribbage. I'm just glad it was a friendly game :)!
Returning to base camp at 19:00 hours after a Roosterburger (that thing was huge) the wind was still relentless. The strategy meeting resumed and a deck of cards once again made it into the mix. We were in the Laramie Coach and more and more people started to file in. There were Cabela's catalogs to be had by all, most were just looking at the pictures. Kooser and Steve?? made their way over with a milk can meal fit for a king and his court. The Roosterburger was weighing heavy, but we had to try some of the food, it was awesome.
My first experience with the card game 31 and a roll of quarters (glad it was only quarters). I am still not sure of the strategy, but I am sure that you must have a savvy partner who knows subtle and not so subtle table talk. The goal, best I could tell, is to be able to destroy the person trying to win.
23:00 hours and the cards were now soaked in some form of beverage. Once again, I was the first to break protocol and headed for Big Red. The Gatorade that was had before retiring for the evening (thanks Jason) was not the best choice. 04:00 hours and I was making sure camp was secure by scaring off creatures in the night with some noise making.
Saturday 05:30 and we were ready and rarin' to go,,,,,,,,,,NOT. Wheels had missed his target for the evening and woke up staring at the ceiling from the floor of the Laramie Coach. Most of us feel it was a rival camp that had tried kidnapping him in the middle of the night, but his trusty sidekick Jason fought them off.
Everyone hit the water and EXNJ had intercepted some communications as to where some fish had been targeted. We began working the area and quickly had picked up 2 fish up to 23". Both fish were very healthy and look like they had spent many hours at Roosters. With the tips from Wheels and Jason we felt obligated to bring them over. Soon we were all getting bit. EXNJ had to roust camp again and get the boys organized for the day. I wanted to get some new blood in the boat and after unloading EXNJ got on the radio looking for a new partner. Golden had an extra and I headed over to pick up JohnF.
John and I quickly resumed the pattern, now being run by many. We picked up fish and continued to rotate our fourth board bait to make sure we were not locked in. Wheels and Jason had turned me onto the winning crank, a Matzuo. Thank you both for the heads up. Soon John and I were pulling Matzuo's on all four boards in fluorescent colors. Speed was very important also, we were pulling the Matzuos at about 1.2-1.5 GPS speed.
Late afternoon came and John and I were stuck at about 7 fish. This was good considering what we were hearing on the box. Anywhere from 2(Eric) to 7-9 fish were the reports. We were determined to get a limit for the day. John politely reminded me at this point that we would have had 10 fish had I not lost 2 next to the boat and knocked his off trying to net it :(. Wheels was heading in for the day just as we needed his assistance,,,,,,, we had a double. We were able to land both fish with the Beckman Magnum Walleye on board. John was very impressed with the netability and lack of hookup in the bag.
Three more fish came on the next two passes and we called it a day by around 18:00. John very graciously offered to help load my boat and I sent him up in search of Big Red. It was taking longer than usual and I had been concerned because of the louder than usual noise in the morning from the engine and the fluctuating volt meter. Sure enough, the engine didn't crank and the alternator was dead. John acquired a jump and we go the boat on, just in front of BrianCO. He thought it was his wife with his Big Red truck, I thought "Who the heck is loading on my trailer??".
We headed up the ramp and Big Red was running rough with no juice (electronic tranny). I made it back to John's campsite and I unloaded him and the fish and said I would be right back to help with the cleaning. Tried to get into town to find some help, no luck. Big Red died in the middle of Glendo and I had to get a jump again to get back to camp. No juice meant second gear in the tranny so it was slow going with the Pro V. Muleskinner and others were having a Chevy roast when I returned.
John had cleaned all of our fish and made our contribution to the fish fry. Wheels, Kooser, Neal, and the rest of the cooks get my compliments on the best fish fry I have ever been to. At this point there was nothing more to do than to eat fish and join the post fry strategy meeting. Today was the ultimate day of tall tale telling and there was a core group that made it far longer than the lanterns could. We sat and swapped stories long into the night.
Kooser was determined to help me get Big Red ready for the next day. He brought over his generator and Wheels and his battery charger. We hooked up both chargers to the generator and ran it long into the night when most would have wanted to be sleeping. THANK YOU AGAIN. Sunday morning came and the thought of using the little juice I had left to launch did cross my mind, but then the reality of calling work and telling them I had car trouble was not going to be sold easy when they new I was fishing.
Made it to Castle Rock on the juice from the generators and bought two new batteries to make the rest of the solo 650 mile journey with no air conditioning or radio. At least I hadn't had the use of any facilities since Thursday.
Thanks again to all of the great people from Walleye Central, it really is the best board on the net.
PS: Let me know when anyone wants to make a NM eye trip. I will make sure all goes well.
Brian
aka BRS1 (soon to be forgotten)
aka Mexico
aka The Mexican Connection
Was running about an hour late, but so was he. We met up and quickly got back on the road after a Carls Jr. break. Pretty smooth running the back way and we missed the really bad Denver rush hour traffic.
Arrived at the Wheels command post around 21:00 hours and found a camp site after realizing that Wheels had mysteriously moved the command post from Whiskey to Sagebrush. This was to keep the enemy from infiltrating camp and learning any true walleye secrets.
Not knowing anyone and being very shy, I proceeded directly into command central and introduced myself with only my screen name keeping my identity safe for the moment. Muleskinner, BigJohn, Tom, Wheels, Jason, BrianCO had already gotten a headstart on the strategy meeting for Friday. After a very short period of formalities the true initiations began. There were more tall tales and trash talking going on that truth serum had to be sought.
After being the first to break protocol it was the end of the evening and we headed for our respective sites. Being the first one to be given a hard time for the light appetite and breakfast beverages, it was lights out for everyone at 0:30.
5:15 came way too early and with no shade cover in Big Red, I staggered out of the back and started to fumble around for something to get the tree bark out of my mouth. EXNJ and I headed to Curleys for ice and bait and made it onto the water smoothly. BTW if anyone that was at Glendo last weekend thinks that launching was difficult, don't ever come to NM.
Wheels had filled me in on some local tips (they figured I wasn't a big threat to their home turf). It was very different from what I was reading about the bite so I figured it was a snow job or these guys new what they were doing and didn't tell anyone:). We headed out and I had to try my program of Reef Runners and boards with the secret from Jason on one board. First fish hit on the Wheels/Jason weapon. Soon I was pulling two and by Saturday all 3 rotating one board to see if bigger fish wanted another meal. Friday about 10 AM the wind began to blow and EXNJ had to see if his boys had blown out of camp. EXNJ wanted to get his boys on the boat for a while in the afternoon so I agreed and we rounded them up after about an hour and headed back out. The wind was now blowing from 3 directions between 15 and 40 mph. The boat was being pushed down lake with no power crossways in the waves at about 2.5 mph. We would be able to track for about 5 minutes and then the wind would switch, and with tight quarters, it was getting difficult. 2 of the boys had taken up camp in the front of the boat and the third looked like he would be reaching for the sides soon. It was time to call it a day and head in.
14:00 hours we returned to the Wheels command post and shortly after many others followed. The wind was blowing so hard at this point visibility was down to about 30 feet,,,, if you could open your eyes. The Saturday strategy meeting started early and entailed more of the tall tales and trash talking most strategy meetings include with nothing being resolved as to who had caught what (we had two fish). Most of the numbers had been sanded off my license plate when we decided to make the very short trip to town and set up a temporary base camp at Roosters (local food chain) to wait out the wind storm. BigJohn, Tom, Wheels, Jason, EXNJ and crew, and myself were able to overtake the local crowd for a spot at the rail. The cribbage board quickly came down after a few off the cuff comments about certain individuals card playing prowess. Needless to say BigJohn schooled me on the ins and outs of cribbage. I'm just glad it was a friendly game :)!
Returning to base camp at 19:00 hours after a Roosterburger (that thing was huge) the wind was still relentless. The strategy meeting resumed and a deck of cards once again made it into the mix. We were in the Laramie Coach and more and more people started to file in. There were Cabela's catalogs to be had by all, most were just looking at the pictures. Kooser and Steve?? made their way over with a milk can meal fit for a king and his court. The Roosterburger was weighing heavy, but we had to try some of the food, it was awesome.
My first experience with the card game 31 and a roll of quarters (glad it was only quarters). I am still not sure of the strategy, but I am sure that you must have a savvy partner who knows subtle and not so subtle table talk. The goal, best I could tell, is to be able to destroy the person trying to win.
23:00 hours and the cards were now soaked in some form of beverage. Once again, I was the first to break protocol and headed for Big Red. The Gatorade that was had before retiring for the evening (thanks Jason) was not the best choice. 04:00 hours and I was making sure camp was secure by scaring off creatures in the night with some noise making.
Saturday 05:30 and we were ready and rarin' to go,,,,,,,,,,NOT. Wheels had missed his target for the evening and woke up staring at the ceiling from the floor of the Laramie Coach. Most of us feel it was a rival camp that had tried kidnapping him in the middle of the night, but his trusty sidekick Jason fought them off.
Everyone hit the water and EXNJ had intercepted some communications as to where some fish had been targeted. We began working the area and quickly had picked up 2 fish up to 23". Both fish were very healthy and look like they had spent many hours at Roosters. With the tips from Wheels and Jason we felt obligated to bring them over. Soon we were all getting bit. EXNJ had to roust camp again and get the boys organized for the day. I wanted to get some new blood in the boat and after unloading EXNJ got on the radio looking for a new partner. Golden had an extra and I headed over to pick up JohnF.
John and I quickly resumed the pattern, now being run by many. We picked up fish and continued to rotate our fourth board bait to make sure we were not locked in. Wheels and Jason had turned me onto the winning crank, a Matzuo. Thank you both for the heads up. Soon John and I were pulling Matzuo's on all four boards in fluorescent colors. Speed was very important also, we were pulling the Matzuos at about 1.2-1.5 GPS speed.
Late afternoon came and John and I were stuck at about 7 fish. This was good considering what we were hearing on the box. Anywhere from 2(Eric) to 7-9 fish were the reports. We were determined to get a limit for the day. John politely reminded me at this point that we would have had 10 fish had I not lost 2 next to the boat and knocked his off trying to net it :(. Wheels was heading in for the day just as we needed his assistance,,,,,,, we had a double. We were able to land both fish with the Beckman Magnum Walleye on board. John was very impressed with the netability and lack of hookup in the bag.
Three more fish came on the next two passes and we called it a day by around 18:00. John very graciously offered to help load my boat and I sent him up in search of Big Red. It was taking longer than usual and I had been concerned because of the louder than usual noise in the morning from the engine and the fluctuating volt meter. Sure enough, the engine didn't crank and the alternator was dead. John acquired a jump and we go the boat on, just in front of BrianCO. He thought it was his wife with his Big Red truck, I thought "Who the heck is loading on my trailer??".
We headed up the ramp and Big Red was running rough with no juice (electronic tranny). I made it back to John's campsite and I unloaded him and the fish and said I would be right back to help with the cleaning. Tried to get into town to find some help, no luck. Big Red died in the middle of Glendo and I had to get a jump again to get back to camp. No juice meant second gear in the tranny so it was slow going with the Pro V. Muleskinner and others were having a Chevy roast when I returned.
John had cleaned all of our fish and made our contribution to the fish fry. Wheels, Kooser, Neal, and the rest of the cooks get my compliments on the best fish fry I have ever been to. At this point there was nothing more to do than to eat fish and join the post fry strategy meeting. Today was the ultimate day of tall tale telling and there was a core group that made it far longer than the lanterns could. We sat and swapped stories long into the night.
Kooser was determined to help me get Big Red ready for the next day. He brought over his generator and Wheels and his battery charger. We hooked up both chargers to the generator and ran it long into the night when most would have wanted to be sleeping. THANK YOU AGAIN. Sunday morning came and the thought of using the little juice I had left to launch did cross my mind, but then the reality of calling work and telling them I had car trouble was not going to be sold easy when they new I was fishing.
Made it to Castle Rock on the juice from the generators and bought two new batteries to make the rest of the solo 650 mile journey with no air conditioning or radio. At least I hadn't had the use of any facilities since Thursday.
Thanks again to all of the great people from Walleye Central, it really is the best board on the net.
PS: Let me know when anyone wants to make a NM eye trip. I will make sure all goes well.
Brian
aka BRS1 (soon to be forgotten)
aka Mexico
aka The Mexican Connection