I can just about see the hay rack floatin off the running gear... :lol: :lol: :lol: That's some funny stuff, Al. I never once been in a boat fishing, but we used to gig fish from a flat bottom home made boat and a white gas lantern (reflecting off a bent sheet of tin) at night. Hadn't done that since I was 13, 14 or so.
The boat launch and the hay wagon
We were young men in boys bodies and having young boys minds. We worked on the farm like men doing all the same things our dad did only many times it was a struggle to keep up with dad.
So how it came about that the youngest son of my dads youngest brother came to spend some time on the farm with us? I sure don't know how that ever came about because my dad and his younger brother never got along, like oil and water.
Any way the son was the same age as I was. He went to a big city school that had a swiming pool and a team he was on and was fairly good. They also lived close enough to farm country his family had a small farm tractor (JD model L) and equpment they had a big truck garden selling produce all summer in a side yard.
He also belonged to the 4H in the area so at fair time he did many things there like back 2 wheel trailers around a course then a 4 wheel wagon too.
He had just got a ribbon the week before he came to our place for his skillin backing a 4 wheel wagon.
Then one day we had an early morning down pour so the haying was done for the day. We decided to go fishing with an old steel row boat our aunt and uncle (different ones on my moms side)had given us when they bought a new Alum one.
We loaded the boat on a hay rack on a wagon we also used to haul grain with so the deck was not fastened to the running gear. We went to a lake about 5 miles away that is deep and cold, has small mouth bass, rainbow trout and the normal assortment of pan fish.
I wasn't about to let my fancy dandy cousin think he was the only one who could back a 4 wheel wagon. So Instead of pulling up to the launch unloading the boat I backed into the water which gets deep fast like 10 feet deep 3 feet off the bank. the boat started floating then the hay rack started floating away too. I was really glad my cousin was a real good swimer too as by the time we finally got the hay rack on the running gear and out of the water the boat had drifted out a long way.
He swam out and got the boat so we could go fish.
I don't remember if we caught any fish or not that day. I do know we didn't keep the secret from dad we had floated the hay rack. He met us when we came back and said I hope you had a good time getting the hay rack back on the running gear. Seems we sat it on so it was to far back and it would have been a mess with a load of hay on it when the front tiped up for the under balanced deck.
Carl died in March with cancer of the pancrest. He was living his dream on the shores of lake Huron hunting and fishing all the area around and had made a name as a small mouth fishing guide.
Al
So how it came about that the youngest son of my dads youngest brother came to spend some time on the farm with us? I sure don't know how that ever came about because my dad and his younger brother never got along, like oil and water.
Any way the son was the same age as I was. He went to a big city school that had a swiming pool and a team he was on and was fairly good. They also lived close enough to farm country his family had a small farm tractor (JD model L) and equpment they had a big truck garden selling produce all summer in a side yard.
He also belonged to the 4H in the area so at fair time he did many things there like back 2 wheel trailers around a course then a 4 wheel wagon too.
He had just got a ribbon the week before he came to our place for his skillin backing a 4 wheel wagon.
Then one day we had an early morning down pour so the haying was done for the day. We decided to go fishing with an old steel row boat our aunt and uncle (different ones on my moms side)had given us when they bought a new Alum one.
We loaded the boat on a hay rack on a wagon we also used to haul grain with so the deck was not fastened to the running gear. We went to a lake about 5 miles away that is deep and cold, has small mouth bass, rainbow trout and the normal assortment of pan fish.
I wasn't about to let my fancy dandy cousin think he was the only one who could back a 4 wheel wagon. So Instead of pulling up to the launch unloading the boat I backed into the water which gets deep fast like 10 feet deep 3 feet off the bank. the boat started floating then the hay rack started floating away too. I was really glad my cousin was a real good swimer too as by the time we finally got the hay rack on the running gear and out of the water the boat had drifted out a long way.
He swam out and got the boat so we could go fish.
I don't remember if we caught any fish or not that day. I do know we didn't keep the secret from dad we had floated the hay rack. He met us when we came back and said I hope you had a good time getting the hay rack back on the running gear. Seems we sat it on so it was to far back and it would have been a mess with a load of hay on it when the front tiped up for the under balanced deck.
Carl died in March with cancer of the pancrest. He was living his dream on the shores of lake Huron hunting and fishing all the area around and had made a name as a small mouth fishing guide.
Al1 - 3 of 3 Posts
Today looking back on it I find it funny too. Back then I first was worried the hay rack would sink and I would get a trip to the wood shed for a hide tanning so it wasn't so funny then.
We only had the boat because my aunt and uncle couldn't get any thing on it in trade and know one seemed to want to buy a heavy steel boat with out a trailer. We made rafts to float the farm pond out of cedar we cut out of the swamp. It was still floating in the pond 25 years ago which would have made it 19 years old. Next time I am up there I'll have to see if the raft is still there.
Al
We only had the boat because my aunt and uncle couldn't get any thing on it in trade and know one seemed to want to buy a heavy steel boat with out a trailer. We made rafts to float the farm pond out of cedar we cut out of the swamp. It was still floating in the pond 25 years ago which would have made it 19 years old. Next time I am up there I'll have to see if the raft is still there.
Al1 - 3 of 3 Posts
