\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0It’s time for a lifestyle change.\u00a0 Something had to give.\u00a0 So, here we go.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 This has been a different summer.\u00a0 It has been hot but not for extended periods, but for the most part it has been really humid and overcast.\u00a0 Not as windy.\u00a0 Weird.\u00a0 The Dragon Lady & I have tried to figure out when & where to go fishing but it just hadn’t happened.\u00a0 And swimming, I had yet to go swimming.\u00a0 People, it is mid-July.\u00a0 No Gage Artesian Beach and No climbing into Tammy’s little backyard blue swimming pool.\u00a0 I tried but it was too cold.\u00a0 I’m tough and she is tougher and guess what….she hadn’t swam in it either.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0This summer has just been different.\u00a0 Her schedule, my schedule, the weather, just enough livestock to cause issues, family deals, work deals, whatthehellever.\u00a0 Nobody’s fault.\u00a0 Just, dang!!!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Finally, summer is kind of starting to come together.\u00a0 On Wednesday night, as I was tearing up a high $ pickup, Tammy got a text from a fishing guide that he had an opening on Friday at 1:30.\u00a0 She was scared to ask me but as soon as she did, I quickly and loudly replied “WE ARE GOING!!!!\u00a0 I need a break from this $h!t and so do you!”\u00a0 So we did.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 We went to Keystone Lake and caught Paddlefish.\u00a0 Neither of us had caught a paddlefish before. Well, sonofafemaledog, we dang sure have now.\u00a0 If you have book face, you’ve seen the pics.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0When we got on the boat, I asked the guide, “Dude, what’s our odds of actually catching one of these things?”\u00a0 He scoffed, looked me square in the eye and said, “100% or you don’t pay.\u00a0 And trust\u00a0 me, you are going to catch one.”\u00a0 \u00a0Okay, let’s go.\u00a0 And go we did.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Here’s the scoop on this paddlefish adventure.\u00a0 These fish are members of the shark family.\u00a0 They are old.\u00a0 They never stop swimming.\u00a0 EVER.\u00a0 They swim side to side.\u00a0 AND they only eat plankton.\u00a0 You don’t use bait or a lure.\u00a0 You have to snag them.\u00a0 There have been numerous state records caught out of Keystone the past two years.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 These two brothers have figured out how to use LiveScope and can find them.\u00a0 It’s almost a cross of hunting and fishing when chasing these fish.\u00a0 It is bad ass.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 No, we didn’t keep or clean any.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 First, we went on a Friday.\u00a0 And the Ok Wildlife Dept. doesn’t let you keep a paddlefish on Friday or Monday.\u00a0 Two, I have eaten paddlefish on two different occasions.\u00a0 I was fine not keeping any.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Do they fight?\u00a0 \u00a0Oh hells to the yeah!!\u00a0 \u00a0Like some German\/Irish\/Catholic brothers!\u00a0 \u00a0You better have your shit together when you snag one.\u00a0 You might catch one in the gills, the side, the top or oh hell, the tail.\u00a0 The fight is on if you snag one in the tail.\u00a0 In the side, you now have to fight a big fish going side to side while trying to bring it in sideways.\u00a0 Not exactly aerodynamic.\u00a0 Kind of like roping a Volkswagen.\u00a0 And they don’t die.\u00a0 This guide has only lost one in the past two years and that was because a kid awkwardly dropped it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Back in 2013, Tammy and I caught some big sailfish off the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica.\u00a0 This was different.\u00a0 Probably funner.\u00a0 Holding a 118.8#er in order to take a damn pic while it was trying to flop.\u00a0 OH SNAP!!!\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0I had a buddy ask what it cost.\u00a0 I told him “$600 for the first 3 people and $125 for every person after that.”\u00a0 At least that was our rate.\u00a0 He said, “Damn!\u00a0 That’s high.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0My reply, “NOPE!”\u00a0<\/p>\n
I got on the boat at 1:30.\u00a0 We caught fish.\u00a0 I got off the boat at 5:30 after catching big fish.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn’t own the boat.\u00a0 I didn’t have the technology to find these fish.\u00a0 I didn’t own the poles.\u00a0 I didn’t have to fuel the boat, unload the boat, load the boat, store the boat, pay insurance on the boat or make the appointment.\u00a0 And most importantly, I DID NOT HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE OF HOW TO CATCH THESE BIG BASTARDS.\u00a0 I was happy.\u00a0 Tammy was happy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Basically, this was cheap!!!!\u00a0 \u00a0Knowledge and the tools to succeed are damn neart priceless!!\u00a0 And that is not the only way this paddlefish fishing trip ties to the goat world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Back to that little backyard blue swimming pool.\u00a0 I now realize that I am a paddlefish when I am in that thing.\u00a0 I have to keep swimming.\u00a0 It feels good.\u00a0 My hip feels better.\u00a0 I don’t feel as old.\u00a0 I just keep swimming in circles.\u00a0 Sometimes change directions.\u00a0 \u00a0No general direction or speed.\u00a0 It feels good.\u00a0 I feel alive.\u00a0 Yet, here is the difference.\u00a0 If you see me stop swimming……well…..<\/p>\n
…you better hope that chlorine pill is working.\u00a0 \u00a0I don’t care if it is a stock tank, pond, lake, river, stream or pool.\u00a0 \u00a0 At some point, once immersed, I am going to stop swimming and just go “Aaaahhhh, that feels good.\u00a0 And warmer.”\u00a0 \u00a0AND you are a blatant liar if you aren’t the same.\u00a0 We’ve all pissed in the water.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Fishing and swimming.\u00a0 Dang, I need to figure out how to do this year round.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0It’s time for a lifestyle change.\u00a0 Something had to give.\u00a0 So, here we go.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 This has been a different summer.\u00a0 It has been hot but not for extended periods, but for the most part it has been really humid and overcast.\u00a0 Not as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4449"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4449"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4450,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4449\/revisions\/4450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kellnlivestock.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}