Saturday morning fishin' at a new place

We tried a new place Saturday morning. Call it a "Fishing Expedition" 😆. Below is a Google map of the place, called Horner Recreation Park.

The park looked like it had been updated at some point compared to the pictures and comments I saw on google maps. The lake itself was really nice. There were a lot of open spaces to fish from the bank. 

Unfortunately, we didn't have a whole lotta luck. We did see a lot small fish near the banks, and it looked like bass were coming up to the banks to feed on little minnows.

Caught a few on the plastic worm. But the fish really weren't biting that much. I think this place sees a lot of fishing poles. As we were leaving, a lot of people had come to fish. 

I'd try this place again sometime. Maybe we can try some different lures or a different strategy. Although there is a good chance this place is fished out.

Thursday afternoon fishin' session

The fishing journal for today...we hit our normal pond close to home. These little guys were biting our Rebel Crawfish lures. 

The plastic worms today were getting bites, but it seems like the fish were only nibbling today on plastic. As always we had a lot of fun.

Above is a big lunker! 😆 You can see compared to the lure just how little some of the fish in this pond really are.

The sun is starting to go down earlier, and the fall weather is in the air. Tonight it is cool and crisp as I write this post. I have a couple of new spots we may try this weekend. More to come!

They keep getting bigger

On Monday I headed back out to the pond with the 'Lil Shaka. Remember this is the pond I scouted out the previous week. It was an enjoyable afternoon.  The weather was more like early fall weather.  Still hot, but more of a dryer heat.  There was also a nice breeze at times that kept us comfortable.

Good news is that we were catching bass! Almost every bass was caught on plastic worms.  'Lil Shaka caught one bass that is not pictured on a Rebel Craw ultra-light crankbait.  Unfortunately, I was not able to get a picture of that bass because it popped off the treble hook and hopped back in the pond. LoL!  I told my son it is not the first or last fish you will catch like that.  We will catch him again.

Also, from the name of the title in this micro-blog post, the size of the bass I am pulling out of this pond are getting bigger!  Look at this HOG! I don't have a scale but he/she is probably around 3-4 pounds.  Lot's of fun and we will be having a lot of fun this fall!

Check out this video of our fishing day.  It was a lot of fun and 'Lil Shaka got his first experiences catching bass as well as seeing a big bass being caught by the ShakaOG!

Scouted out a new place to fish

Last Friday after work I took a little time to scout out a new fishing hole that the 'Lil Shaka and I could fish at from time to time. The good news is that this pond has some nice bass! 

All my luck was with plastic worms. I caught four bass that day. The picture above was the biggest one of the day. This place should end up being a fun place for us to go!

Opening Night for NFL 9-10-20

It is opening night for the NFL and I did some smoked ribs for the occasion. I am looking forward to this NFL Season more than other years just because of the current Covid climate that we are in.

My guy Rodney Harrison who I believe is one of the best NFL analysts out there today is getting me pumped up for this one.

The Charcoal Snake Method...

They are smoking great!

After the were taken off the smoker...

Candied Up with BBQ Sauce...

The Finished Product! LET'S GO!

Here was the smoking schedule for this one:

11:30 built the charcoal snake method in Weber Kettle

11:40 cleaned aluminum container and soaked wood chips for the smoke

11:53 got the charcoal fired up

12:16 charcoal fired up and started up on the charcoal snake the snake...ribs all situated and positioned. We are a GO!

5:21 moved ribs to gas grill after smoke, basically warming on gas grill offset heat. I applied BBQ sauce to the ribs...all candied up!

6:52 now, there are two coats of BBQ candy on these bad boys! Looking good for the opening of the NFL 2020 season!

Thoughts After Eating

Well what can I say. I've tried for a long time to create "candied ribs". This is the first time that I actually created that nice candy coating on the ribs. How? Well now that I've done it once successfully I think it really has to do with time. The ribs are really not cooking anymore and are just in a warming situation on the grill. You apply the barbecue sauce and create a nice thin coating. I did this twice in a two hour time span... It takes time to create that candy coating! You know you are successful when you eat the ribs and they taste like you're eating candy bacon.

Fishin' Session 9-9-20

After work, the 'Lil Shaka and I packed up a tackle box and some poles and rode our bikes out to our favorite pond. I still have not seen a bass in the pond. We have only caught Bluegill. 

I tried the following lures with no luck today. But I will not give up on these lures.

Some of the "Old Standby" lures (listed above) still worked though. We both caught a bunch of Bluegill tonight on plastic worms and the Rebel Crawfish. It was a good day to get out during the week with my son. We took a couple hours to enjoy the outdoors together.  More to come from the fishin' fools later on.

Labor Day 2020 Midday Practice Session

 

The 'Lil Shaka and I got a midday practice session in.  All I can tell you is that we continue to prepare, and continue to have fun doing so. We work hard and I am still on the path of teaching this little dude what the game is all about. I will continue to help him if he wants to continue down the path...

Today we were really focusing on what to do with an outside pitch. And, it just so happened that Papa Shaka was able to throw strikes on command! So I was challenging him with fastballs on the outside corner. I think it's one of the hardest pitches that young dudes have to get used to. You really just have to put the time in... And then eventually it becomes second nature to be able to take the ball the other way and go opposite field.

'Lil Shaka starts to fall season tomorrow with a league game. They are playing up again for the fall so they will be playing 13U. Additionally we will try to get in about three tournaments at 12U. The first tocoming weekend and is against a bunch of good teams. There is one team traveling in from Kentucky that is considered major. So, the team will have its work cut off for it and will find out very quickly how good we really are.

We stretched his arm out a little bit with some long toss, but we didn't get too crazy. He did a couple of throws from catcher in a second and to third... And then the final part of the practice was to work. He took a bucket of fly balls that I hit to him in the outfield. This is good for the psyche. And, it also helps to keep you in shape. I keep telling the 'Lil Shaka that you have to continue to "train the brain". When the body is uncomfortable, can you still do what you need to get done? Can you stay mentally tough? More to report on soon.

Sunday Morning Fishing Fun at the Pond

 

About 5-6 years ago I used to take my son to this pond which is not far from our home.  He actually caught his first fish at this pond when he was still attending daycare.  Fast forward to this morning, and he his 11 years old now.

About 5-6 years ago, we rolled up on the pond and all the fish were floating at the top near the banks.  Definitely the pond had experienced a fish kill.  I am not sure if it was on purpose or if something happened natually.  It was a sad day and my son who was very little at the time, was just as sad as I was.  It was kind of traumatic for a little one.

I always wondered if the fish would come back...Well, 5-6 years later I can tell you son and I had a blast because the fish were absolutely back in that pond, and they were hungry!  They hit almost everything we through at them.  Crawdad crankbaits, Roadrunners, and even 10 inch plastic worms were working on these Bluegill and Sunfish.

This place is pretty close to our home so we just took our bikes and put a tacklebox in a backpack.  Getting to wake up and do this with my son is the most special thing for me.

I have been fishing a lot over the last month or two with my son, and we are having a lot of fun.  I am even researching a 2 seater fishing kayak for us.  More to come as I will be posting more about our fishing adventures.

Double Shakas Bruddahs and Sistahs

 

Hello my fitness family.  Double Shakas to you!  I hope you all are having a great day.  Today was a nice morning workout.

I stayed on the HIIT train with 15 rounds of various movements.

Sprint on Treadmill

Kettlebell Swings

Step-Ups

Toe Taps

Then I moved into a couple of bodybuilding movements.

Dumbbell Military Press 4-5 sets

Barbell Shoulder Shrugs 4-5 sets

Today, not using heavy weights.  I am not in a crazy muscle-building mode right now.  I am just feeling the pump, and then moving on...pushing higher reps and just trying to feel the burn :)