Time to get back to "real life"

And another week's worth of unplugged bliss has come to an end, and now it's time to get back to the real world. If not for my Blackberry, I would've been completely isolated from life as I know it for the duration of my annual fishing expedition. I took my laptop with me, but I never felt the urge to even take it out of the bag. Now that is a real vacation!

We caught a ton of Bluegill, Crappie, Bass (Largemouth and Spotted) and Northern Pike but we failed to boat any Smallmouth Bass or Walleye, two species that we were looking forward to catching.

The lake (Diamond Lake in Cassopolis, Michigan) was excellent and my father-in-law couldn't get over how clear the water was. Seeing the bottom in water 15 feet deep is strange for someone used to fishing in the muddy, man-made lakes of central Ohio where you're lucky to see the bottom in 1 foot of water.

This year's "fish-of-the-week" goes to my father-in-law who boated (with the help of my expert net and hook removal skills) this spectacular 36" Northern Pike.