Day 34 - Stop Thief!

There's nothing I hate more than someone stealing my killie trap at the boat ramp.  I left it there yesterday full of killies and I was planning on fishing with them today.  Guess what?  Gone!  Stolen.  I think it was probably kids out there playing and pulling up lines but it is still very frustrating when I pre-plan my fishing trips and get thwarted by a mischievous act like this.

It was rainy, windy and drippy all day long.  Yuck.  I didn't know what to do with myself for the better part of the day.  I wound up getting the crab line in order - a project that I was not looking forward to.  It's always a messy job.  And sometimes smelly.  Luckily, I had the whole thing frozen in the garage freezer and it didn't decompose at all since last season.  I just had to take all the chewed on chicken bones off and replace them with new ones - about 60 of them.

Later in the day I was a bit bored and instead of vegging out in front of the TV I decided to take a ride down to the boat ramp area and look for some ducks or geese to chase around.  There weren't any BUT. . . as I was rummaging around I found something that looked like an old rusted wire trap.  I think it was a squirrel trap that someone had just discarded and left it in front of the garbage pale in the park.  Well, after inspecting it I noticed it was broken.  However, maybe there was some way to fix it or at least make it semi functional again.  I took it home and cleaned off all this moss and crap that was attached to it.  Then I looked around my garage for parts that may make this trap useful again.  I found an old crab trap that was made of wire frame.  I took one of the frames from it and was able to make a trap door for the squirrel trap.  I added a bungee cord and there ya have it - a new (to me) squirrel trap. 

I replaced one of my plastic lid traps with this one and used some string and a fishing pole to set the spring for the trap door.  Baited with a peanut butter pretzel, we'll have to see if this contraption works.  I was also thinking about putting some fish guts or bones in it at night to see if it would attract a coon or possum.  If I could get a larger animal like that, I think that would justify getting something like a hamburger in the market as trade in value.  Ha!

As far as food goes, the fluke and rice and salad greens have been sustaining me just fine.  I think I have enough for the rest of the week - maybe I'll have to fish one more time before the end in order to have a solid supply.