Night fishing on Boone Lake

It had been a long time since I had done much fishing aside from trout fishing.  As a kid I spent countless nights on the banks of rivers and lakes around Gastonia, NC fishing for catfish with my parents.  I have many fond childhood memories of those nights.  Then while serving in the US Navy during the mid to late 1990s I was stationed in Norfolk, VA.  I was lucky enough to have my sister and brother-in-law living close by.  My brother-in-law and I fished the coastal waters of VA and NC every chance we got.

So in hopes of allowing my own children to create some of those childhood memories of their own, my wife and I decided to plan a night fishing trip with the kids.  We took the three oldest of our children, leaving our youngest with my wife's parents and headed to Boone Lake after I got off of work Friday evening.

The TWRA, Johnson City Parks and Recreation and other donors have built a very nice fishing pier on Boone Lake at Wing Deer Park in Johnson City.  I don,t know the exact length but I would say it is several hundred yards long and runs from the park, under Bristol Highway to the TWRA boat access.  In the center is a very nice and quite large gazeebo.

We got to the lake around 7:00 PM and set up under the bridge.  We fished there for a couple of hours with little success.  Jordan and Colton did catch several bluegill while wondering up and down the pier.  As dark approached, the people that had been fishing in the gazeebo headed out so we decided to move into it.  There was a little rain coming so it all worked out for the best. 

Things didn't pick up until around 10:30 or so.  I wouldn't exactly say that we had a hot night of fishing but did have fun.  We wound up catching one small catfish, about 12 inches long and three striped bass, each about 10 - 12 inches long.  Everyone seemed to have a great time, even Misty, who didn't fish.  I definately think we will have to do it again sometime soon.  It may not be as much fun as kayaking but it was good to get out with most all of our kids. 

⇒ Click here for an album of pictures from the trip. ⇒ Click here for a slideshow of pictures from the trip.

Above the pictures from the trip and a slideshow of those pictures.

Kodak Easyshare Sport C123

Let me start by saying what I was looking for in a camera.  I wanted a camera that would obviously take above average photos, was waterproof, compact, yet buttons were easy to get to with wet cold fingers, had the ability to do video and was not too expensive.  The expensive part was the most critical for me.  There are plenty of cameras out there that I looked at online and in stores that met all of the above but were a little too pricey for me.  Price was such a major concern for me due to the fact that where this camera will be primarily used there is a better than average chance of it getting lost at the bottom of a river or lake.  I would much rather spend a little less on a camera and have to replace it due to loss than have to replace one that cost several hundred dollars.

That being said so far this camera has worked out very well for me.  The camera in question is the Kodak Easyshare Sport C123.  This camera was bought for me as a birthday present from my wife so that I could have a camera other than my cell phone while kayaking, fishing and doing whatever else we might do while outdoors. 

The camera came in the package with a standard wrist strap, USB cable, 2 AA batteries and user manual.  Unfortunately it did not come with a SD card or a floating wrist strap as some did.  I picked up a 4 GB Sandisk SD card for about $12 along with the camera and plan to get one of the floating wrist straps at some point.  Here are some of the specifications for the camera from the Kodak website:

Effective Pixels - 12MP (4026 x 3026)
Zoom - 5X Advanced Digital
Display - 2.4 in. 112K TFT color LCD
Dimensions - 3.6W x 2.6H x 1.2D
Weight - 6.2 oz with batteries and SD card

You can find the full specifications on the Kodak site at the link above.

The first time the camera was used was by my wife on our kayaking trip last week.  We were on the water for about 6 - 7 hours and over 180 pictures were taken.  The camera performed remarkably with no problems at all.  The pictures turned out great and some can be seen in my Kayaking Photo Album.  I was very impressed with how well the camera took action photos.  Several pictures my wife took of Jordan fly fishing caught the rod in motion with no blur or anything.  She also snapped a picture of some geese taking flight that looked like they just froze in midair. 

The camera buttons were very easy to get to even with my larger hands.  There are not a lot of buttons on the camera to push which is a bonus in my opinion, especially how this camera is used.  It was easy to use and the menus were not over loaded with too many features to make them hard to get around in. 

The LCD stayed clear all day even with the heat of the sun and cold temperatures of the water.  It was also very easy to make out the display in the glare of the sun.  I was very impressed by this as most electronics like cell phones and such are next to impossible to read in the glaring sun.

The camera didn't spend a huge amount of time in the water but it was splashed several times and hanging from my wife's PFD it was submersed a few times when she got out of the kayak.  I also intentionally dipped it a couple of times just to see how it would react.  It never appeared to get any water or condensation into the camera itself.

One thing of note that the camera does that I have yet to try out is take underwater pictures.  There is a mode just for this.  I have read a few things online about this mode that says it works quite well.  Although we never used this option it does take pictures looking into the water quite well for not having a polarized lens. 

The only draw back that I found to the camera was the battery life.  As I said earlier the trip lasted about 6 - 7 hours and a little over 180 pictures were taken.  By the end the battery meter was showing half way.  this was with turning the camera off and on quite often.  I am sure that uses quite a bit of battery life so I will have to try it some time with just leaving it on the entire trip.

Overall I am very pleased with this camera.  At a price of about $70 it is well worth every penny.  There are better out there I am sure but at a much higher cost.  I would highly recommend this camera to anyone who is looking for one with uses much like my own.

Trip down for my birthday

My wife asked me what I wanted for my birthday so I told her that all I wanted was two things.  The first was a new waterproof camera to take kayaking with me and for her to go down with me and Jordan.  So Saturday morning we set out from our normal put in below Siam Bridge.  Jordan and I were doing a little fishing as normal and Misty was was just there to enjoy the float and take some pictures with my new camera.

We started out slow letting her get used to the kayak.  She had only been in the kayak once before at Watauga Lake and that was only for a few minutes.  She was nervous but settled in fairly quickly.

We made most of our normal stops to do some fishing and to let Misty put her feet on dry land a little.  For some reason I wasn't catching any trout at all.  In fact I didn't start catching any until about half way through the trip.  That was alright though because it gave me a little more time to spend helping Misty get used to the water and Jordan was catching plenty for the both of us.

I will say this about Jordan.  He has been using his fly rod a lot while we float the river here lately and has gotten very good with it.  It's impressive to see how good he has gotten in such a short amount of time.  That boy loves fishing!

We stopped about half way at Hunter Bridge for a quick lunch.  Jordan and I took a quick dip in the water to cool off.  We tried to get Misty to get in but she complained about it being being too cold.  That's a woman for ya!

We had a great day and I think Misty really enjoyed it.  I was glad that she decided to go down with us.  I had been trying to get her to go with us since we first started last summer.  She had a lot of fun with my new camera also.  She wound up taking over 180 pictures with it.  I will have to do a write up on the camera later on.

Overall Misty did real well on her first trip down Watauga River.  She never dumped the kayak a single time.  I can't wait until the next time she decides to make a float with us.  I might even have to get her fishing license and make her start fishing some. 

We finished up the trip getting out at the bridge in lover's lane.  It was a wonderful day on the water and I couldn't have asked for a better birthday present.

Siam Bridge To Lovers Lane