8 Inch Coho Salmon from Racine Harbor

Went fishing at Racine Harbor (Wisconsin) today with my friend Jim.  It was the first day we have fished for Salmon this season since early in the Spring.

I hooked this small 8 inch Coho Salmon with a spoon around 7:12 AM.  Poor little guy was hooked really good and while I released him, most likely will not survive.  I was actually very surprised to hook into a salmon this small this time of year!  He was just a baby.

Anyway, while we were there, we saw two king salmons and one coho salmon being caught.  Another fish got away from another angler.  This small salmon was the only fish we caught while there this morning.

You have to always watch out for ducks while fishing. They like swimming right in front of your fishing line! I photographed these two with my iPhone.

We left Racine and headed over to Lake Zurich to try our luck before calling it a day.  Jim was lucky to land a 13-1/2 inch Large Mouth Bass on a crank bait.  Based on its size, Jim released him back to the lake.

We head out again on Thursday!!

Grasshopper

You might find this strange, but for some reason, I have not seen an actual grasshopper in many years!  But today, I found this guy on the hood of my car!  Surprised, I just had to take a photo of it, so I used my iPhone 6s+ to capture this grasshopper.  The image has been cropped closer with Photoshop Elements 14.

Lots of Fish Caught At Lake Zurich

Went fishing with my friend Gayle this morning. Lots of Sunfish, one Perch and two Large Mouth Bass out of Lake Zurich.  Both bass were within legal size limits by Illinois Regulations.  Gayle caught one last sunfish but we watched as a large mouth bass chased it and ate it! So now the bass is on! But when bringing it in, she lost it just as I was waiting to net it. Still, it was interesting to see that fish swim quick to get away from the bass only to lose out in the end (both the fish and Gayle). We tossed back a bunch more sunfish than you see in the photo. Gayle brought these home.

The sunfish were biting on worms and Slim Jims. The small bass and perch were caught by Gayle on worms. I caught the larger bass on a crankbait.

Ark Encounter and Louisville Slugger

 

 

My wife and I went to visit the Ark Encounter in Williamsburg, KY over the weekend.  Wow... the Ark is huge!

For 40 days and 40 nights since its opening, the exhibit will open its doors until midnight.  We went early in the morning and then went to the Creation Museum in Petersburg, KY and then went back to the Ark for the evening to see the Ark during the sunset.

The next day, we decided to drive to Louisville, KY to visit Hillerich & Bradsby where the famed "Louisville Slugger" bats are made!  That was a lot of fun too, but you can't take any photos of the factory.

I encourage everyone to take a trip to see the Ark.  You can do the Ark and the Creation Museum in a single day if you start early.  From the Chicago area, I suggest 3 days... it takes 5 hours to travel there from the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago.  Travel the first day and go to Louisville KY and see the baseball bats and then relax.  Do the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum exhibits on the second day, and then travel back home on the third day.

Click here to see a YouTube video that has several news reports on the controversy surrounding the building of this Ark.

2016 Wisconsin State Fair

I attended the Wisconsin State Fair this morning in West Allis, Wisconsin.  This was the first state fair I have attended since going to one in California when I lived in San Diego in the late 1980's and early 1990's.  The Wisconsin State Fair had everything from animals to rides to food!

I got to see the cows, pigs, donkeys, sheep and even a pig race!  The pigs run through the course with oatmeal cookies as a treat when they complete the race.  They ran fast, but the potbelly pigs took their time getting through the race.

I got to see (and smell) the animals that were waiting in buildings for judging to begin.  It was pretty much what I expected of a state fair.

There were LOTS of food vendors at the fair!  I didn't eat much there, but I did have a Crabby Lobster Melt sandwich which was really good.

I think it's pretty much a tradition to have a Cream Puff if you go to the fair.  They make them there and you can see all the workers putting them together while you wait in line to purchase them.  While I am lactose intolerant, that didn't stop me from having one!  I just took two Lactaid pills to counteract the effects of the cream!  Worked great!

Overall it was a good state fair and I encourage you to go to one if you can!

Images taken with a Nikon D750 and Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 and an Apple iPhone 6s+.

First Time Cooking Basmati Rice

Years of cooking rice, but this is the first time I've ever cooked my own Basmati Rice!  It's a long grain rice that seems to have an aroma similar to Jasmine rice, but not quite as strong.  Being a longer grain rice, it is less sticky than regular long grain rice.  Short grain rice really tends to stick more, which I do not really like.  Costco had this 20 lb bag for $15.49.  You can see a photo of this kind of rice here.

I like how the bag has a zipper too!  There is an inner plastic bag that keeps the rice from coming in contact with the burlap bag.  Just use a metal paper binder clip to re-seal the plastic bag and then zip up the burlap bag!  Cool!

Today, I made Japanese Curry Chicken with potatoes and peas!  Any kind of curry tastes good with basmati rice!  I have eaten basmati rice for years since I go to Indian restaurants, but this is the first time I made my own.  I wonder how this will work out if I use it to make fried rice?

I found that using the same amount of water that I usually do for standard long grain rice is a bit too much for basmati rice.  I need to back off the water just a bit.  I recall most of the basmati rice I've had at restaurants tended to be less soft than mine.  Still, it wasn't a bad attempt on my first time out!

Next up... I have to learn to make my own Indian Butter Chicken and also Mutter Paneer!  Time to hit up YouTube for some recipes!