Things to do when the fish don't bite....Oscoda, Michigan

Got back a bit early from the annual fishing trip to the Au Sable River/Lake Huron area of upper lower Michigan....too little fish caught, too many cigars, too much beer/Drambuie, but all-in-all a decent time in the north country.

Thursday____

We arrived about 3 O'clock in the afternoon, and pulled in to our destination for the second straight year, the Blue Horizon Court...located at the beach on Lake Huron, just a few yards south of the mouth of the Au Sable River Bridge, and the Oscoda City Limits.  Bob, the owner, was in his office and we agreed on the same off  season rate as last year...$50 a night for the 3 nights, with an option to stay the 4th if we wanted...taking the same cabin, ajoining the office, as last year.

We unpacked and then headed to the local grocery to shore up our supplies....mainly beer, since we had already taken canned foods from both Nick's place as well as our basement....we would not need much extra food...a pound of breakfast sausage,  an equal amount of lean ground beef, along with butter, mustard, milk and salt.   A couple cases of beer would get us through the weekend, with plenty to spare.  No fishing on the first day...I cracked the bottle of Drambuie and fired up the first of a couple of torpedo cigars, and settled in to watch the World Series game #2...not much of a game, with San Francisco pounding the Rangers 9-0 and taking a 2-nothing lead in games.

Friday____

Up early, we talked with Bob and one of his workers about the fish and were they biting or not....Harrisville, some 13 miles north seemed to be where the Salmon were pooling.  First we headed to our usual first spot, the Foote Dam on the Au Sable, some 5 miles west of Oscoda.  A few guys were fishing in the rapids, but were having no luck...we shot a few photos and then headed towards Harrisville, taking the back roads around the perimeter of the old Wurtsmith Air Force Base...knowing the cold winters up in the neck of the woods, I was glad that I had not been stationed there after Vietnam, Rome, in upstate New York,  and Griffiss AFB was snowy and cold enough, I've talked to guys in our organization that were stationed here and in the UP at KI Sawyer, the weather was brutal, and the SAC Security Duty for AF Cops, was likewise.

We made it to Harrisville, but saw little action...and headed back to the cabin for lunch.  After fixing that we went the quarter mile where the river meets Lake Huron, and tried our luck, fishing mostly for Walleye, we caught a few, but nobody was having any luck with Salmon.  Friday evening, we hit the cigars, a shot or two of Drambuie, and watched the horror movie festivals on Turner Movie Classics, and AMC, some good old stuff, and some hokier movies as well.  We played some poker, with me winning the lions share of the $10 we invested between us...ended up drinking many beers to go with the Drambuie and cigars...

Saturday_____
Photos along the Au Sable from Foote Dam to Lake Huron...photo #3 is the mouth of the river at Lake Huron,
with a 4th looking from US Route 23 at the Sunday Sunrise over the Lake.

Waking up and feeling frankly like crap, we set around the cabin after breakfast and decided weather to try fishing at all...we ended up going to a antique and wood furniture place across the street...back to the cabin for lunch and I settled in for a day of football and baseball on the tube....in short, the fishing turned to bust, and no beer, cigars, for Saturday...I needed a break, and Nick may have been worse than me...sucks getting old!  We decided to say farewell to the Blue Horizon by Sunday morning.

Sunday____

Fixed our final meal at the cabin Sunday morning, watched an old Halloween Bela Lugosi movie, said our farewells to Bob and his dog, and headed back down US 23 towards Standish....stopping in Tawas for coffee at Burger King first.

100 miles later we were on the floor of the Soaring Eagle Casino near Mount Pleasant:

http://www.soaringeaglecasino.com/

Most of the "Indian" Casinos I visited on my RV runs over the 5 years after my retirement from the health department, we not up to snuff when compared to my trips to Vegas...the "Eagle" was a pleasant change.  Plenty of slots, a couple of good bars, and gaming tables that, while not equaling places like Goad Coast, were in abundance, the place was sharp, and a good visit.

I had no intention of playing any table games, and sat at the bar playing video KENO for about 2 hours..Nick meanwhile tried his luck at a Blackjack table, losing 30 or 40 bucks...before hitting the video of the same game at the bar, his winnings jumped up $150.  I told him to take his winnings and let's go...he had won enough to pay for his share of the cabin and supplies...but being the dumb ass he is, basically told me he knew what he was doing.  Turns out he didn't, and by the time I collected my $30 winnings from the KENO machine, Nick had lost his winnings, and ended up losing about what I had won....sorry about his luck, but I know that machines, and Blackjack nor Poker should be played on them, any winnings are just temporary, and his were indeed.

With 200 miles to go, we headed out and arrived back in Celina before 6:30pm....a day early, but with money left and sadly, no fish to show for it...next year, we may head south, the last 2 years, after a great 2008,  have not been that great fishing wise...but we still managed to have a decent time.

Epilogue____

It's probably best I got home early...seems Patricia came down with a nasty sinus infection that started yesterday morning(of course she would never complain to me)...that raged on through the night, she was at the doctor's office this morning, and will be off from school for a few days at least.

As for me, will take the new lawn mower to Coldwater for some work on the electric starter, still under warrenty, and tonight will head for church and kick the Dartball season off with a practice session and team organizational meeting.  Tomorrow is Election Day and I will do my part to throw the Obama supporting trash out with the rest of the garbage...hopefully "real change" will come, but even with a predicted GOP Landslide, I doubt much will.

Back Later>>>>

Photos from the Trip:  The one thing I enjoy doing when the fish aren't biting, along with the cigars and a good drink, is taking photos...of just about everything, as long as they are "point and shoot" type, and I don't have to think about what I'm shooting, and I have the 10 second mode....Cigar, Drambuie, specialty beers, and fishing...this year, for the 2nd straight year, the fishing was not quite as good....maybe time for a change of locations, wouldn't want things to get stale.  New Header Photo was taken on Friday with me at the Foote Dam, the rest throughout the weekend.