WOW WHAT IS GOING ON HERE

So guess who's pregnant now. What a surprise last night. Yea, I am going to be a Grandpa again. Ell's kids are very excited to have some cousins. And he/she is going to be born in April, a very good month. I just pray to God that the kid is a better bass fisherman than G Man. But I am a little disappointed in Griffin. I told him he could marry her but I didn't think he was going to have sex with her. He didn't ask me that or I would have said no.

THE LEADVILLE LEGEND IS PREGNANT

EXTRA EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT THE LEADVILLE LEGEND IS PREGNANT. The legend will live on. Hoping it's a little legend. Lisle part Deux, the Sequel. Congrats to Lisle and to Christian on the successful impregnation.

JERRY IRWIN AT LAKE POWELL

CRICKY, look what I found swimming a couple hundred yards off shore today in Wahweap Bay. I had just landed at 2.5 lb bucketmouth and was heading off to a new spot when I spotted this guy. He was not going in the right direction either. I tried to get him to turn around but snakes don't herd well. Anyway I thought, WWSID,What would Steve Irwin do. But I wasn't about to grab it by the tail so I did the next best thing. I took it into about 2 feet of water, said, Nice meeting you, and cast him to the bank. He was a little cold but he should have warmed back up fairly quickly, it was 103 here today and I can't wait for my headache to go away.

THE NEW OPERATOR?

I needed to hire a new operator for my trackhoe so I put an ad in the newspaper under help wanted. The first person to call was a guy named Donald, so I told him to come out and we would give him a try. He met me at the jobsite and I told him to dig a hole and I would come back and check on him. Well, when I got back he was completely asleep at the controls. Either that or he was praying that I would hire him. He had a great personality and said he was a great dancer and would be happy to entertain the guys during lunch hours but he just didn't cut it and spent way too much time texting instead of working. I sent him down the road kickin horse turds. Sorry Donald.

WHAT CAN I SAY

I really don't think there is any comment required for this photo other than I don't know what I think is funnier, Cassidy or the look of pride and satisfaction on Ellery's face. What I do know is that Nicole is going to be watching her cosmetics a little closer to see if anything is missing.

NEED HELP IDENTIFYING THIS PERSON

The kids were going through our box of old photos and found this one. We have no idea who it is. We would appreciate any help you can give in putting a name to this face. Thanks.

SHANNON'S BIRTHDAY BASS

Griffin and I caught these fatties in honor of Shannon's birthday. I can't recall the last time that we caught a small bass. They are all about the same size and getting bigger. I am sure as the smallmouth get active we will start catching some smaller fish, but not yet. The water is still pretty cold. We need to gain 10 degrees in most areas before it will really get good. But what a ball. G Man set his record for personal best with that 3.8 pounder.

I'VE GOT A FAT BASS

Fished last Friday, Sat, and Sun. at Powell. Friday was pretty good fishing at my top secret spot.Can't wait to get back.

KVD WINS THE CLASSIC

Kevin Van Dam is the GOAT in my book and he just won the Bassmaster Classic again for the third time with an incredible showing. WOW, I love it and I am sure he doesn't mind being 500 thousand dollars richer either.

NICE BASS

Got back to Powell last weekend and had some pretty fun days out on the lake with G Man. Fishing has picked up a little but the quality of the fish has picked up a lot, as you can see from the photos. Water temp is getting close to 50 as was the air temps. Looking forward to 60 degree water for sure. DON'T FORGET TO SET YOUR TIVOS FOR THE BASSMASTER CLASSIC THIS WEEKEND. STARTS SAT AT 8 AM ON ESPN 2. BIGGEST TOURNEY OF THE YEAR. WINNER GETS 500 THOUSAND DOLLARS. You will notice that I am wearing my lucky KVD hat in these photos. Hope he wins this thing.

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.