Back Home Again In Indiana

I felt the need to float the kayak Friday afternoon but had little time since Judy wanted me to take her shopping. The nearest pit of size is one that some folks call Crystal Lake. It is inside the city of Terre Haute at the NE corner of North 3rd Street (US 41) and Ft. Harrison Road. It was a gravel pit once but filled with water. In the old days, kids from Garfield swam there day and night in the summer. It is about 40 feet deep at the north end and is shallow enough to wade at the south. Spoonbill catfish have been seen there but one of the fishermen told me it is not legal to catch them. I don't fish but I'm thinking about starting. A man and 3 sons were leaving as I arrived and they were excited at a monster fish they had seen but failed to hook. From the description, it must have been a gar.

Crystal Lake is long enough for me to get a workout and I did but I wanted to try to figure out how to handle the kayak a little better. I tried turning and back paddling and then had something of a break-through. I figured out that if I leaned far forward and put the paddle in far forward as I could reach and then brought the paddle to the back, I would make a far better turn than I had been making with multiple short hard strokes on one side. I'll work on this more later.

These young fishermen were having no luck but didn't seem to mind on this fine warm day.