June 11-13
Life has a way of keeping people apart but it can't steal thoughts and memories of times shared. Dan Small and Dick met in the sixth grade when Dick moved from the City of Buffalo, NY to Harris Hill and the Clarence Central School District and immediately became good friends. They shared many of the same interests in hunting, fishing, shooting, academics and even often the same girl friends (though not at the same time, Dan points out!) as well other common buddies. The military, through a Navy ROTC scholarship took Dick west to the University of Idaho and then off to active duty for 11 years around the globe. Dan's number did not come up and he went on paths that took him to France for studies and then ultimately to his return to make his love of the outdoors his livelihood as his readers know. Dick and Dan kept in touch infrequently over the years but thoughts of shared memories kept the embers of friendship warm. In 1999 Dick went on a week-long fishing trip with his nephew Lance, a pediatric dentist near Chicago, to a YMCA Camp located in northern Wisconsin and they contacted Dan and stopped by to see him and Shivani for a few hours on the way back to the Chicago area. Friendship was refreshed and Dick started longing for the opportunity to share some time in the field or fishing with Dan once again.
It took Dick's retirement and this RV trip to Alaska to allow it to happen. I called Dan as Pat and I were planning the trip and worked with Dan to find an open spot in his busy calendar. We settled on June 10 [^] 13. June 10 happened to be Pat's birthday so after our late afternoon arrival at Badger Campground only a few minutes from Dan's home, we took Dan and Shivani out for dinner to celebrate Pat's birthday and our getting together after so many years. It was great just seeing my old buddy and Dan offered up his plan to show me some Wisconsin fishing. His plans had been modified by the loss of his camping trailer and truck in an accident only a few weeks prior so our plans were to go more local instead of going to a campground in northeastern Wisconsin.
Saturday June 11 was a windy Wisconsin day, but that was not to deter us from going out. We took off with Dan's boat to Beaver Dam Lake, where we tested the waters for 5 or so hours with a wide variety of different surface and diving lures to no avail. The choppy waters would not yield to our desires and the fish either stayed down or chose to ignore whatever we offered them. But as you may have guessed just being out together and catching up on each other was results enough, although Dan was surprised at us getting skunked. That evening over dinner at Dan's with our wives we planned the next day.
The Milwaukee River became our haunt on Sunday morning and we worked the low water feverishly to try and locate the nice bass and/or northerns that Dan had found there in other visits. Dick hooked into a large and strong something that took off upstream with his line but shook loose without showing itself. We'd like to think it was a nice northern! Dan caught what seemed like it would be a very nice bass based on the heft on his rod but to his surprise instead landed an 18-inch channel catfish! This was the first time Dan had known of a channel cat to be caught in that section of the Milwaukee River. Dan also finally landed and released one small 10 or 11-inch bass to finish out the catch for the day. The combination of quite low water and the heat were offered up as excuses for the day but again any day fishing beats most any other type of day! The afternoon was spent taking Pat on a delightful trip to Lake Winnebago where we met Dee Dexter, a business associate of Dan, on her 32-foot sailboat. We enjoyed an afternoon of sailing and friendship. The weather was perfect for sailing and we watched dozens of fishing boats returning to port to record their catches in a walleye festival. Delightful afternoon. We topped it off with a brief visit to another friend of Dan's named Jeff Kahlow. I have to describe Jeff as the Mad Hatter and an extreme extrovert with a friendly smile. Jeff's place is a licensed menagerie of animals and birds in loving care. But, Jeff's passion is making foam hats for special events and in every form imaginable and some I couldn't imagine. He had made them for President Bush, Ted Nugent, Tiger Woods, and the governors of Minnesota and Wisconsin, as well as for individuals just for fun. A sample of them includes, walleye, pike, pheasant, automobiles, and many many more. As a surprise at an Outdoor Wisconsin banquet, Jeff even presented Dan with a coat that has about a dozen of Wisconsin's fish and animals on it. You can see more of Jeff's zany hats on his website, www.bigguyhats.com.
Monday, June 13 was a big day with Dan playing a lead role in promotion of the Rock River Coalition annual Send Your Legislator Down The River Day, held this year at the newly aquired Harnischfeger Park. Before going to the park, Dick and Dan took an early morning try for muskies in a local lake but with minimal success. Dan did get one "follow" up to the boat, while the weather again cooperated with a beautiful morning and near glassy calm waters. We relocated our RV from the park near Dan's to the Harnischfeger Park, arriving just as a localized and very windy thunderstorm hit the area. We tried our first "brat" (This is Wisconsin slang for "bratwurst," a delicious sausage of German origin, made locally and grilled or boiled for summer picnics and at tailgate parties.) at the picnic supper included as part of the event. Then Pat and Dick joined the entourage in a five mile canoe trip down the Rock River. The trip was peaceful and included about twenty canoes and 7 or 8 legislators from both the local and state level and a rep from one federal congressional office. Everyone had a good time and although it had been a long time since we had done any canoeing we survived the trip with only sore muscles and one blister.
We said good-bye to Dan and Shivani as it was getting dark and Dan presented Dick with one of his Filet King fish-cleaning boards and also loaned him a nice salmon-weight spinning rod and reel to use in Alaska. Many thanks to Dan and Shivani for showing us a wonderful time. We hope that we can reciprocate sometime in the next year or two back in Pennsylvania on some of the local trout streams.
Life has a way of keeping people apart but it can't steal thoughts and memories of times shared. Dan Small and Dick met in the sixth grade when Dick moved from the City of Buffalo, NY to Harris Hill and the Clarence Central School District and immediately became good friends. They shared many of the same interests in hunting, fishing, shooting, academics and even often the same girl friends (though not at the same time, Dan points out!) as well other common buddies. The military, through a Navy ROTC scholarship took Dick west to the University of Idaho and then off to active duty for 11 years around the globe. Dan's number did not come up and he went on paths that took him to France for studies and then ultimately to his return to make his love of the outdoors his livelihood as his readers know. Dick and Dan kept in touch infrequently over the years but thoughts of shared memories kept the embers of friendship warm. In 1999 Dick went on a week-long fishing trip with his nephew Lance, a pediatric dentist near Chicago, to a YMCA Camp located in northern Wisconsin and they contacted Dan and stopped by to see him and Shivani for a few hours on the way back to the Chicago area. Friendship was refreshed and Dick started longing for the opportunity to share some time in the field or fishing with Dan once again.
It took Dick's retirement and this RV trip to Alaska to allow it to happen. I called Dan as Pat and I were planning the trip and worked with Dan to find an open spot in his busy calendar. We settled on June 10 [^] 13. June 10 happened to be Pat's birthday so after our late afternoon arrival at Badger Campground only a few minutes from Dan's home, we took Dan and Shivani out for dinner to celebrate Pat's birthday and our getting together after so many years. It was great just seeing my old buddy and Dan offered up his plan to show me some Wisconsin fishing. His plans had been modified by the loss of his camping trailer and truck in an accident only a few weeks prior so our plans were to go more local instead of going to a campground in northeastern Wisconsin.
Saturday June 11 was a windy Wisconsin day, but that was not to deter us from going out. We took off with Dan's boat to Beaver Dam Lake, where we tested the waters for 5 or so hours with a wide variety of different surface and diving lures to no avail. The choppy waters would not yield to our desires and the fish either stayed down or chose to ignore whatever we offered them. But as you may have guessed just being out together and catching up on each other was results enough, although Dan was surprised at us getting skunked. That evening over dinner at Dan's with our wives we planned the next day.
The Milwaukee River became our haunt on Sunday morning and we worked the low water feverishly to try and locate the nice bass and/or northerns that Dan had found there in other visits. Dick hooked into a large and strong something that took off upstream with his line but shook loose without showing itself. We'd like to think it was a nice northern! Dan caught what seemed like it would be a very nice bass based on the heft on his rod but to his surprise instead landed an 18-inch channel catfish! This was the first time Dan had known of a channel cat to be caught in that section of the Milwaukee River. Dan also finally landed and released one small 10 or 11-inch bass to finish out the catch for the day. The combination of quite low water and the heat were offered up as excuses for the day but again any day fishing beats most any other type of day! The afternoon was spent taking Pat on a delightful trip to Lake Winnebago where we met Dee Dexter, a business associate of Dan, on her 32-foot sailboat. We enjoyed an afternoon of sailing and friendship. The weather was perfect for sailing and we watched dozens of fishing boats returning to port to record their catches in a walleye festival. Delightful afternoon. We topped it off with a brief visit to another friend of Dan's named Jeff Kahlow. I have to describe Jeff as the Mad Hatter and an extreme extrovert with a friendly smile. Jeff's place is a licensed menagerie of animals and birds in loving care. But, Jeff's passion is making foam hats for special events and in every form imaginable and some I couldn't imagine. He had made them for President Bush, Ted Nugent, Tiger Woods, and the governors of Minnesota and Wisconsin, as well as for individuals just for fun. A sample of them includes, walleye, pike, pheasant, automobiles, and many many more. As a surprise at an Outdoor Wisconsin banquet, Jeff even presented Dan with a coat that has about a dozen of Wisconsin's fish and animals on it. You can see more of Jeff's zany hats on his website, www.bigguyhats.com.
Monday, June 13 was a big day with Dan playing a lead role in promotion of the Rock River Coalition annual Send Your Legislator Down The River Day, held this year at the newly aquired Harnischfeger Park. Before going to the park, Dick and Dan took an early morning try for muskies in a local lake but with minimal success. Dan did get one "follow" up to the boat, while the weather again cooperated with a beautiful morning and near glassy calm waters. We relocated our RV from the park near Dan's to the Harnischfeger Park, arriving just as a localized and very windy thunderstorm hit the area. We tried our first "brat" (This is Wisconsin slang for "bratwurst," a delicious sausage of German origin, made locally and grilled or boiled for summer picnics and at tailgate parties.) at the picnic supper included as part of the event. Then Pat and Dick joined the entourage in a five mile canoe trip down the Rock River. The trip was peaceful and included about twenty canoes and 7 or 8 legislators from both the local and state level and a rep from one federal congressional office. Everyone had a good time and although it had been a long time since we had done any canoeing we survived the trip with only sore muscles and one blister.
We said good-bye to Dan and Shivani as it was getting dark and Dan presented Dick with one of his Filet King fish-cleaning boards and also loaned him a nice salmon-weight spinning rod and reel to use in Alaska. Many thanks to Dan and Shivani for showing us a wonderful time. We hope that we can reciprocate sometime in the next year or two back in Pennsylvania on some of the local trout streams.
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