Keuka Lake 2008, Week 2

Another great week at Keuka. We had our usual mix of weather but managed to get in a good range of activities, including some hardcore track work down in Hammondsport (Jacob is on a rigorous fitness program this summer), some golf in Hornell, the usual array of watersports, and some fishing (and eating of fish).

Julie's dad Jerry and step-mom are off to Maine for about 10 days on a harbor cruise, but Jerry managed to put in a lot of time working with both boys on scout merit badges, and we even brought up a neighbor boy or half a day to work on small boat sailing merit badge. Here they are working on some knots.

We heard from a friend that their motorboat might be submerging, so the boys took it upon themselves to row down the lake a half mile or so to check out the situation and possibly do some bailing. Turns out things weren't as bad as we suspected.

Matthew has a new interest in fishing this year and is working on his fishing merit badge. This is good as I'm the only adult that has a passion for fishing and I need some successors to carry the torch (Jacob is already into fishing). Around the cottages we catch a wide range of pan fish, bass, and now quite a bit of catfish. My strategy is to snorkel around to see what's what and where the fish are hanging out, and this year I was surprised to see no less than 8 decent sized (10-14") catfish within 20 yards of our dock. Matthew managed to stalk one of these and bring it, which provided a great opportunity to teach him how to clean and skin catfish for cooking.

He needed some help (catfish are hard to skin!) but did a great job, and it tasted great. We cooked it in a foil pack on the grill with some bacon and seasoning.

The water was very flat for a few days allowing us to spend more time on skis and wakeboards. Jacob is learning the ropes on his own with the wakeboard as none of us have any experience, but he's picking it up quickly and starting to learn a few tricks.

Julie continues her mastery of the slalom ski, putting the rest of us to shame.

I'm generally happy just to get up on a single ski, though it has become easier over the years (I only managed to get up for the first time about 7 years ago) and am unable to lay out like Julie and her brothers. Still, I have fun as long as my stamina lasts.

Speaking of fishing, the boys and I are heading out on the boat right now to try and land some lake trout. Unfortunately there are now sawbellies (live minnow bait) available on the lake right now so we are forced to try some new techniques with artificial lures, so I'm not sure if we will bring anything home. Hopefully I'll have some pictures to show.