Steve came well equipped (insert your own joke here).
He had stocked up on all the equipment needed in the weeks before this trip and really did have everything for the job in hand. I'm sure that his boys will benefit from this during the summer - I hope so as it certainly did us proud.
(Note - Still chuckling)
Here we go!!
We're only a few hundred yards out and Sam and Steve are already setting up rods with diving plugs - ready to troll the bottom once we were across the lake.
Note the attention Kilroy gives to his driving - some may say he's nonchalant, however more on this later.
Steve geared up and ready for action. The most important piece of gear here is the lucky hat - it never fails.
This is one of the few moments during both our boat trips that Steve's feet were down on the deck. Never before have I seen such a laid-back fisherman. Steve's feet were up from this moment on until we got back to the shore - whether rigging the rods, threading lures, casting or reeling in Steve had his feet up. This man seriously enjoys his fishing.
(Still chuckling)
This is my rugged outdoor pose - it may need some work.
At this stage we were just getting to the perfect pike piece of lake (according to the guy from the boat rental place). Sam and Steve had now rigged everything and we were ready to start fishing. All that remained was for the boys to crack open a few Stellas and for Steve to get his feet up.
(Still chuckling)
I appear to have grown ears or horns - not sure which. Still at least Steve has an excuse for chuckling this time.
I know the weather looks bad, but it really was a nice day. Note that even though we are under way in the middle of a lake no jumpers are required.
By the time of this photo we were just approching the top of the lake and soon to start heading home. We had tried trolling and spinning and had managed to dredge a bit of weed but no real bites as yet.
Sam's driving was based on the "Drink Stella and Don't Look Where You Are Going" school of motoring. Apparently popular in Norway and Sweden this school hasn't caught on over here yet - but watch out Britain for when it does!
To be fair Sam was a safe helmsman - no problems when he was at the wheel. The same cannot be said for Kilroy. After having just told me "Nobody who knows what they are doing should ground the boat here" guess what Kilroy did?
Sam pointed out "I can see the bottom" and so Kilroy decided to plow it with our propeller. He just laughed. Steve kept his feet up, took a swig of his drink and chuckled. Sam craked open another Stella, and I pooped myself. I excuse myself on the grounds that I have wrecked one boat before and wasn't looking forward to the cost.
No worries though as by the time I had calmed down Kilroy just turned the key one last time and all of a sudden the engine started again. Off we went with no further problems (except the boat liked to turn right and didn't like going backwards from then on ;-)
