I ain't complaining, but...

[Al Agnew]

Last summer out in Montana, the river was in great shape all summer, and we were there most of the summer, but...we had a big project, putting a new patio and new deck on the house.  Mary and I did the deck ourselves, and it took well over a month; a month of very little fishing.  I told Mary that I didn't want another summer to go by like that one, that I hoped we were done with big projects.  After all, I'm turning 70 this year.

So this summer started out being okay...no new projects were planned.  But...we had started thinking about selling our Missouri house, and replacing it with something smaller and with less outside work to be done; I was tired of weeding a big yard with a water garden and lots of flower beds.  And we were both tired of having to do a lot of housecleaning and the repair work that comes with a house.  We had built this house back in 1991, and it was starting to suffer the little problems that a 30 year old house always shows.  We weren't really serious about it...until we mentioned to our nephew and his wife, who live nearby, that we were thinking about selling it.  They immediately said they'd buy it in a heartbeat if they could afford it, and in fact were wanting to sell their house right away.  Well, we agreed quickly upon a price, and suddenly Mary and I were looking at having to move out of the house by the end of the summer.  At first, we thought about enlarging our little off grid cabin on the Meramec and moving out there.  We even drew up plans for an enlarged living room, second bedroom, and second bath, along with a two car garage.  But it was contingent upon being able to get electricity to it.  We had plans to come off the neighbor's campground with the electric line; it was the nearest electric supply, and would only entail about a quarter mile of a cleared powerline swath through the woods, mostly on our own land.  But the campground people, who had at first said they had no problem with it, kept dragging their feet on signing the agreement, until it was obvious that they weren't going to let us do it.  So that meant somehow getting a line down the lane to the cabin from the highway, which entailed a mile and a half across two other owners' land...which was just too expensive.  So we realized we had to find a place to buy, and find it fast.

This was all happening in June.  I stumbled across a place on Zillow, out in Crawford County, about 10 miles from the Meramec and five miles outside of town.  10 acres, near the end of a dead end road with several other houses along the road in but no really close neighbors.  We looked at the house.  At first glance it looked good.  But we had a home inspector check it out...there were a lot of problems.  So we backed out of the deal, and went back to looking.

We had hired a friend to be our buyer's agent on that house, and when it fell through, he had an idea.  A few years previously, he had told us about a house on the Meramec near St. Clair that was going to come on the market.  We had been interested in it then, but then the owners decided not to sell.  Our friend, who knew one of the owners (it was a family that owned it and used it as a vacation place) called him and asked him if they were ready to sell.  He said he hadn't thought much about it, but that they might be.

Long story short, we lucked into the place, which is on a bluff overlooking the river and has a good chunk of acreage and river frontage.  Bought it at the end of June.  We didn't have to move out of our old house until August, so we decided to spend July in Montana.

Now...I hadn't fished much in June because we were house hunting and starting to pack stuff up for the move.  And when we got out to Montana, the river was still high and muddy from the record flood a few weeks previously, as were most other streams in the area.  So I didn't fish in Montana but a couple times near the end of July, and then it was time to get back to MO and finish packing.  The move went okay; we hired a moving company but still carted a lot of stuff out ourselves.  And the problem with the new place was that it was two stories, with the lower level just a four car garage and a LONG flight of narrow stairs up to the living space on the upper level.  I carried about 75 boxes of stuff up that flight of stairs (11.5 feet from lower floor to upper floor), storing them all along the walls.  By the time the movers got the furniture up (and our sofa wouldn't even fit up the stairs), it was obvious that we needed to do something different.  So...we drew up plans to finish the lower level as our main living space, and turn the upper level to office and studio space.  Found a builder, and we're scheduled to get the "remodel" done this fall.  We've spent the last couple weeks making the upstairs livable until the downstairs is finished, and now we have to start shopping for appliances and flooring and fixtures and such.

So...another summer almost gone, and not much fishing.  I haven't fished but one morning since we got back from Montana.  This will end up being a record for the least fishing I've ever done in a summer. And once again I'm saying, NO MORE BIG PROJECTS--after this one. 

[Ham]

Never say never. Life is tricky that way. I used to think I really fish more once things slowed down a little. Things only seemed to speed up. Maybe when I retire in a few years. 

 

[Al Agnew]

14 hours ago, Ham said:

Never say never. Life is tricky that way. I used to think I really fish more once things slowed down a little. Things only seemed to speed up. Maybe when I retire in a few years. 

 

Heck, I'm mostly retired, and even without the big projects, I'm busier now than when I was still painting 5 days a week.  And the older you get, the faster the days go by.

[FishnDave]

29 minutes ago, Al Agnew said:

And the older you get, the faster the days go by.

Truth.  

[Smalliebigs]

Good luck with the new house, I saw it on google and you have a very cool location their in St Clair. Honestly though I have very little sympathy for you on your lack of fishing as I have been trying to navigate kids, school, work and loved ones dying a not so slow death from Cancer coming back and have little to no time to fish. Every time I go somewhere it seems as though there are YouTube ego strokers already there filming themselves freaking out over a 17 inch creek bass they just caught. 
 

I have no problems admitting I am thoroughly jealous of anyone that has actual time to go fishing but, someday my life will change and I’ll be back out there like I used to be…..if the creeks and streams haven’t been screwed by then.

[Flysmallie]

5 hours ago, Smalliebigs said:

Every time I go somewhere it seems as though there are YouTube ego strokers already there filming themselves freaking out over a 17 inch creek bass they just caught. 
 

I have no problems admitting I am thoroughly jealous of anyone that has actual time to go fishing but, someday my life will change and I’ll be back out there like I used to be…..if the creeks and streams haven’t been screwed by then.

Those egos must just be a thing around the bigger cities. I rarely see anyone filming anything when I'm out and about. And I never see any of those videos but I don't hang around YT much. 

Just moved my youngest into the university. Maybe I'll start me one of those YT channels. Won't see me on there freaking out over a 17 inch fish though. I can't catch anything over 14 inches anymore. 

 

 

[Greasy B]

6 hours ago, Smalliebigs said:

Good luck with the new house, I saw it on google and you have a very cool location their in St Clair. Honestly though I have very little sympathy for you on your lack of fishing as I have been trying to navigate kids, school, work and loved ones dying a not so slow death from Cancer coming back and have little to no time to fish. Every time I go somewhere it seems as though there are YouTube ego strokers already there filming themselves freaking out over a 17 inch creek bass they just caught. 
 

I have no problems admitting I am thoroughly jealous of anyone that has actual time to go fishing but, someday my life will change and I’ll be back out there like I used to be…..if the creeks and streams haven’t been screwed by then.

I feel your pain brother. Don’t worry, the creeks will still be there, they will be screwed but they’ve always been screwed. You, Al and the rest of us who have been sidetracked will be able find the paradise we’ve always loved. 
Mike,

[Hawg]

One nice long float will make all seem much better.

[jdmidwest]

This summer has been all jacked up for me.  One decent trip to the 11 pt in July after the 4th.  Looking forward to fall, boats need some exercise.  And I need some relief from work and other things.

[Al Agnew]

3 hours ago, Hawg said:

One nice long float will make all seem much better.

Well, it helped, anyway.  Did one of my favorites today.  Fishing was slow, but the river was moving well and I didn't have to work as hard as I usually do on this 14 mile float in late summer.  Never saw a single person until a hundred yards above the take-out.  Kinda embarrassed about that, though...I'd just broken off my lure in a weedbed, and said, out loud, a very naughty word.  And then saw the guy sitting quietly on the bank.