This evening Tanner and I walked from the cottage to Fowler's Marina and back. We left at around 2220 and returned exactly one hour later.
Crossing the pedestrian walkway over Leroy Island Bridge, we were both startled by a large THWACK just below us. Looking over the railing, I saw a splash and heard a nearby THA-WHAMP. I made out an object just breaking the bay's surface, and pressed the button on my headlamp for illumination.
There--a few yards north of the bridge--were two gargantuan fish, just barely finding room to squeeze in between the shallow bottom and the 23 degree air above. They were distanced nearly thirty feet from each other, however both were easily visible in a sweeping glance. The fish closest to me was probably 3 1/2 feet long. Conservatively I'll say that it was--without a doubt--a minimum of 3 feet long, given the normal magnification effect of a fish under water. And in this case the primordial creature was literally touching the surface, so forget about it.
The 3-plus footer and its fish-friend were too big for Walleye; I'm sure they were both Northern Pike.
Our quick tour of the grounds at Fowler's betrayed the day's ice fishermen, tracks visible from their weighed-down sleds which led from the road all the way to the boat ramp and out onto the ice between Leroy and Eagle Islands.
Lousy Lake Bluff Winter
The weather report for tonight consists of freezing rain transitioning into sleet. It has been a meager Winter here at Lake Bluff, never accumulating more than 4-5 inches of snow depth before the air warms up to melt it all away.
There is slightly more build up of the icy, granular, sleety stuff off the Bluff and away from the wind--Tanner and I noticed this in our nightly walk down the Back Beach Road, to the Logging Trail, briefly south through Teeple's Orchard, down Oak Lane, and back up toward the Bluff.
There is ice frozen on branches and brambles on the State land, the ground layer thin but such a consistency that I actually could have skied on it had I started out with that in mind. Perhaps tomorrow night.
There is slightly more build up of the icy, granular, sleety stuff off the Bluff and away from the wind--Tanner and I noticed this in our nightly walk down the Back Beach Road, to the Logging Trail, briefly south through Teeple's Orchard, down Oak Lane, and back up toward the Bluff.
There is ice frozen on branches and brambles on the State land, the ground layer thin but such a consistency that I actually could have skied on it had I started out with that in mind. Perhaps tomorrow night.
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