Costigan Lake News - Our 2005 Trip Day 6

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Costigan Lake - June 11 to 18, 2005

Thursday, June 16th

Only two boats went out this morning as Gene, George, Pat and Vic embarked on a road trip to the Wheeler River.  More about that in a bit.  Greg, Richard and Tim crewed one boat while Brad and Matt were in the other.

Tim had his boating skills tested as he maneuvered to get Greg and I unhooked from a snag.  As it turned out we were both snagged on the same log!  Greg, using his brute strength, busted his Rhino rod while trying to free his hook.  Amazingly, he was only a little pissed off; Tim figured those anger management courses were really working for him.

However, it just wasn't Greg's day.  While attempting to release a big jack, he hooked his finger deep, which got more than a little exciting when the jack got out of the net!  Tim couldn't stand to the sight of Greg hooked like that, and just about bowled me over as he ran to the bow of the boat.  I wanted to amputate but Greg declined.  In the end we did manage to remove it without major surgery.

Today was roast day so Greg prepared it early:  He seasoned it, wrapped it in saran wrap, then foil, then wet newspaper and then more foil.  A bed of coals was prepared in the pit we had dug the day before, then Greg buried the package in coals and covered it with half a barrel we had salvaged.

After six hours in the pit, that roast was delicious, seasoned to perfection and you could cut with a fork. I had been skeptical about the saran wrap, but that was the key. It sealed in the juices and made the roast moist and tender!

Vic had heard stories that there was good walleye fishing at the Wheeler River which is west of Key Lake Mine. That's why the boys decided to check it out, so off they went on a field trip. Pat was happy because he finally got to ride in a "smoking" truck. At one point though, Pat felt a little hot ... like a hot flash! George thought it was PMS, but it turns out Pat had hit the seat heater button by mistake. So it wasn't PMS, Pat was just being a bitch. And Pat and George had a strategy for getting pee breaks. They made Gene drink as much beer as they did so he'd have to stop too.

After a few hours of exploring though, the ultimate verdict was that there would be no trip to the Wheeler in the future. It seems that every rock the Degenhardt boys had picked growing up had been hauled all the way to the Wheeler road and dumped there. Gene's truck took a beating and it was determined hauling boats up that road would be a nightmare.

		It was determined that George needs to take lessons from Brad in food preparation. At least Brad generally checks for lice first! When the boys got back from the road trip they were hungry, and went for the salami sausage someone had brought along. It had been left on the table all week and there was a family of maggots living in the heel of the sausage! The boys made their sandwiches anyway, pretending they were auditioning for Fear Factor.
		It's a good thing Pat's in management. He was able to come up with just the right name for the island we camp on; FREEBIRD ILAND, which he wrote on a life ring (another salvaged item). It looked great! Pat must have been hooked on phonics as a kid though, because he forgot the "s" in island, so he added it in. FREEBIRD IsLAND! Thank God for speel check is all I can say.
		Because George was such a good fireman we had no dry wood left so Gene, Vic and George embarked on another mission. The expedition found a couple of dead trees across the lake standing close to shore, so they felled them into the lake and towed the firewood back to camp behind Gene's boat. I see a potential career opportunity in the salvage business for them. Why, Vic even resembles Relic! Love those Beachcombers!
		My Grandma always said idle hands are truly the devils playthings. So true. This was obvious as some of us hung around camp in the afternoon with not much to do, so we can say the devil made us do it! An effigy of Matt (who had become known as "Matt the @$&%") was created to illustrate how Matt looked after fishing hard for a day. Unfortunately, the pictures don't do it the justice it so richly deserved!

In the nightly smear card game Gene had to come to our rescue as Vic had won four straight games! On a bright note I finally won a game too, which proves that luck can still prevail over skill. Brad tried to interrupt the smear game when he asked Tim to stitch his finger. Brad must have missed that Boy Scout meeting about knife safety. Tim just told him to go to Pinehouse, he was busy playing cards. Thankfully someone was able to find Brad a band-aid as the smearfest continued.