CONDOR AT LAKE POWELL

In addition to a great day of fishing I saw one of these at Powell. A giant condor flew over us in Padre Bay while we stopped to fish one last time. HUGE bird. Very cool to see. I have never seen one of those before.

DECEMBER BASS AT LAKE POWELL

What a day of fishing. Got to go out with Keith and Bryan, winners of the biggest tourney of the year at Powell last October. A little chilly starting out at 7 am in 25 degrees but it got colder from there. 50 plus mile per hour boat ride up the lake with wind chill but it was worth it. Caught approx. 10 large mouth bass including this 2lb 14oz toad and 3 stripers all of which were probably 3 lbs a piece. All together we caught about 30 fish between us. Catch and release of course. On the downside I developed a bad case of bass elbow. I will have to talk to the Leadville Legend about it. I am quite sure she has plenty of experience with tennis elbow.

THE GENTS AT THE MANCAVE

World Headquarters rocked yesterday. It was my pleasure to host The Gents. To all you little kiddies who weren't around in the 60's, they were a band from Utah County that entered and won a national battle of the bands contest. The band members were Craig Rollins, Lance Robert, Mike Ostler, Barry Jensen and Kevin Rollins. It was a huge deal. They were featured in the Sept. edition of life magazine. I tried to put the link for the page of the magazine in here but of course that would require an elementary school level knowledge of the internet and I couldn't do it. But anyway 80% of the band showed up and jammed through a few tunes. Blows me away when four guys who haven't played together for at least a decade can sit down and start blasting out Crossroads at a really decent level. Four GREAT musicians. Loved hearing them play and just as much enjoyed seeing some old friends. I pretty much grew up with these guys and later became the roadie for one of their later iterations named Copperfield which launched my meteoric rise to roadie for the Osmonds. Really great hearing Craig playing my favorite Clapton Rainbow strat replica. The man can play a guitar. I figured it out that he has been playing guitar for about 44 years. I can't wait to see how good I am when I am a hundred and one.

DANCING WITH THE STARS

So today I get a call out of the blue from Donny who says he wants to see me immediately. Of course being in construction I think we have a water leak or some other disaster going on. Anyway, I hurry over to his house. What happened next just totally blew me away. He wants to give me the FREAKING MIRROR BALL TROPHY. The one and only Dancing with the Stars trophy. He said he simply could not have won it without my helping him with all the technical moves that were so hard for him to learn. He is seriously a little left footed but he TRIES hard. He really does. Well or course I didn't take it in spite of him pretty much begging me. I said, Donny, you know and I know that I was responsible for you winning this but your wife and kids will never understand. You need to keep the trophy here. Keep it here. He finally relinquished but ask me if I would at least let him have his picture taken with me and the trophy. What the hell, OK.
CONGRATULATIONS DONNY YOU DESERVED THIS SO MUCH. GREAT JOB!!!

LAKE POWELL THANKSGIVING BASS

Had a banner trip to Powell over the Thanksgiving Holiday. Fishing was excellent. Everyone caught fish every day with the last day ending as one of the best we have had. G Man even caught a crappie and a walleye, whose fins gave a little bit back to him drawing blood. Cassidy caught the big fish of the trip with this 3.1 pounder. Fantastic weekend with great weather albeit a little on the chilly side. Great to have almost the whole family there. Hayley and JT were absent due to flu like symptoms and photo engagements. Since G Man actually caught a fish, we are not going to make him fish with Shannon's pink reel anymore. He gets to use a big boy reel from now on.

SHEEP JONES

I am bidding a remodel of Steve Young's old Park City home for some great people from Kansas City and while in the home I saw this art work that I absolutely love. The artist is a lady by the name of Sheep Jones, ( probably the coolest artist name I have ever heard). Go to her website and check it out. It's of course:
http://www.sheepjones.com/

HENRY DAVID THOREAU ON FISHING

"MANY MEN GO FISHING ALL THEIR LIVES WITHOUT KNOWING THAT IT NOT FISH THEY ARE AFTER."
Henry David Thoreau. Love the quote but I am not after fish, I am after BASS. I want to do a tee shirt that says BASS Everything else is just a fish.

TROY LEE DESIGNS HAT

Check out the new Troy Lee Designs Legacy hat. This one has 3 Cassidy's on it. Maybe a rare one, who knows. It is product code # 2210-0205. Get em while they're hot. Pretty cool.

AMANGIRI RESORT LAKE POWELL

Leaving Powell yesterday Shannon suggested we go out and take a peak at the new resort. There was an security gate that just happened to be open due to a car that had just entered so of course we followed and drove right to the entrance. It is about five miles down a dirt road off of highway 89. Pretty weird to follow a dirt road and end up at a place like this. A little bit outer worldly. We decided to take a look. The minute our feet hit the steps a girl appeared out of nowhere and I expected her to say, " Mr. Bond has been waiting for you. " Instead I asked her if there were any openings in housekeeping. Actually I asked if they were open and if they have a brochure. She was great. Said she actually dated a Jerry Anderson in high school down in Texas. Holy cow this place is amazing. It is like nothing I have ever seen. There are 34 suites. 6 with pools. And I mean pools. 46x20 foot private pools. Private sky terraces with day beds for star gazing at night or tanning during the day. Every spa treatment known to woman and some unknown. Budget suites start at 600 per night up to 3000 for the largest pool suite. We were given a cute little " See Ya'll " as we left and proceeded to dust the crap out of a couple arriving in a brand new spotless BMW M6 convert with the top down. They really need to pave the road.

LAKE POWELL BALLOONS AND BASS

It was our first trip to see the Lake Powell Balloon Festival. Probably thirty five balloons in the air. The best part was the balloon glow on Lake Powell Blvd. on Sat. night. All the balloons lined up down the blvd. and lit up. Cool event. The balloons in the morning are kind of a let down though because they don't launch in the same place. They launch all over town. Stupid idea. Anyway the fishing was ok. Caught quite a few on Friday, not so many on Sat. Found a boat for Kevin to buy, but it was knot for sail. And yes kids the castle still stands.

HALLOWEEN

The little Grandkid trick or treaters came by last night and did they look GREAT. Loved the little Jesse's and our Hippie was sooo cute. They got joined by Monet the Samba Girl and her Grandma Becky and let's not forget Lady Gaga or GaGa or GAAGA or whatever the hell a Lady GAGA is.

BULTACO RIDES AGAIN

Took the Born again Bultaco out to the top secret Little Moab test facility yesterday for some hot laps. Unbelievable, runs better than ever. What a BALL. Now I just need to learn to ride. I pretty much suck but had a blast, and it will come. Just takes some practice. I still can't believe that I even have it. Thanks again, Al and Annie.

VALENTINO ROSSI WORLD CHAMPION

Valentino won his 9th World Championship yesterday! He is certainly the Greatest of All Time in motorcycle road racing and what makes it even better is his personality. He always keeps it fun and lighthearted. After winning he was carrying around a rooster wearing a helmet with a big number 9 on a giant egg on his shirt. Don't know what the egg/rooster significance was but I am sure it meant something to him. What a Champion. And congratulations to Ben Spies for winning the World Superbike championship in his first attempt.

BULTACO REDUEX DUEX

Well many months have gone by since we had a seizure. Therapy complete, and it started on the FIRST kick. Well, really the second kick, but the first one was wimpy. Ran great, shifted great. Nice to have it back running again. Thanks to Roy for helping with all the technical stuff. Could not have done it without him. And once again thanks to Big Al and Annie Pulham for old 661. I love it.

LOVETT AND HIATT

Shannon and I went to Kingsbury last night to see Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt on stage together. What a show. Funny! Lovett killed me. He said he was called a folksinger for a long time. He said a folksinger was really anybody that couldn't afford a band. Then he said we weren't going to hear any " If I had a Hammer or Lips Sweeter than Wine tonight". His songs were great, Fat Babies, One Eyed Fiona, and his infidelity song, Keep It In Your Pantry. First time I have seen him live, what a talent and voice plus he rides motocross and has an MV Agusta. He could hang out here. And John Hiatt needs no introduction here. He recently made my Hall of Fame. He played so many of my favorites it was unbelievable and wailed on the acoustic guitar. It is bittersweet hearing someone play like that. Damn I wish I could play like him. Practice, practice, practice. Great night!!!

KEVIN VAN DAM THE BASSMASTER

Watched my DVRed recording of the Angler of the Year finals and guess who won again. KEVIN VAN DAM my own personal Bass Hero. He is now a 5 time Angler of the Year. And he does it with style and class. Seems like alot of the other top anglers have started resorting to phony post-catch screaming tantrums in order to cop a camera shot. It really seems contrived and is getting really old. KVD lets his rod and reel do the talking and is always the man to beat. If I ever find a magic bottle with a genie in it I am going to wish for a day on the lake with KVD. GREAT JOB KEVIN. I HOPE YOU WIN 5 MORE.

ACE'S ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME

Everyone has there own special taste in music and musicians and I am no different. Shannon thinks that for the most part I only like artists with screwed up voices. They aren't screwed up to me and they seem to me to be the best song writers. What if they tried to get their starts on American Idol and Simon told someone like Neil Young that he had no voice and he should be driving a fork lift. Most of the prolific songwriters say that they don't know where the songs come from, they just come to them. WOW, I am still waiting. Anyway, I have just created my own Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. These people are my favorites. They are the ones that I listen to most of the time. More will be added, and when I figure out how to put music on this blog I will post a sample of some of my favorite hits from these artists. These folks are songwriters and in my estimation the best of the best. Pete Townshend, Neil Young, Jimmy Buffett, Tom Petty, John Mellencamp, Mark Knopfler, John Hiatt, Bruce Springsteen and Sheryl Crow