Greetings and welcome!
It is a beautiful May day outside. There is a nice blue sky, not too much wind, and it is up to 70 degrees.
On my trip to town this morning there was evidence to the spring springing all over the place. The cherries are getting their blossoms, the aspen leaves are out, the marsh marigolds are in bloom in a plentiful way, and there were even people out cutting grass for the first time. Everywhere you look there is a new sprout, bud, or flower. Cool stuff.
On the downside of it, Sunday brought the first gnats, and I got the first wood tick that the cat hadn’t worn in and brought to me. Neither are very bad and they are still localized.
They probably didn’t like it much when it went down to 28 degrees last night. What the heck.. last night I was burning oak in the wood stove to stay warm, to day it is 70 and sunny. Blame it on La Nina and clear skies.
The weekend was about as expected. Saturday was a drizzly day. It added up about as expected, but it stayed drizzly longer that I thought it would. The wind added to the chill, and so did the cold nights.
People that rafting by Kosir’s had a blast. The river was running at about 16, and there were some classic smashes, wipeouts, and swims. It was a fun place to be around with everyone in such a good mood after a great day on the river.
Anyone up for some more good news? I have been watching the NYMEX like I always do when the speculators run up the gas and oil markets. What goes up must come down, and now it is time. At the peak of the run-up, gas on the NYMEX hit $3.43 on May 1st. Today the same NYMEX RBOB* gas is selling a 2.93, a full 50 cents lower. Most of that came in the last 6 trading sessions.(*click on the Charts link next to the month)
That happened mostly because a report released last week showed big weakness in demand and a glut of on-shore oil and gas. That prompted a lot of selling and profit taking.
So far gas has come down 17 cents locally, but there is continued downward pressure on prices. Crivitz is under $4 now, and here in Silver Cliff it is $3.99.
Based on the Nymex price plus a 75 cent spread for taxes, distribution and retailing, gas should eventually hit $3.70. As you go farther out in months prices fall farther. Maybe we won’t have $5 or $6 gas ruining everyone’s Memorial Day weekend after all.
I haven’t been to Crivitz in quite a while, mostly because of high gas prices. A lot has changed. The little place across from Mc D’s is now a nice little hot dog and ice cream place called Phat Daddy’s. They have the Vienna Beef dogs and Italian Beef, ice cream, and all sorts of stuff. It is fixed up very nice, and they even have a deck outside with picnic tables for visitors. It is a sharp little place and I hope that they do well.
The old Crivitz Bakery is now a tavern called Cold Stone Pub ( or something like that). I don’t have a lot of details because I only caught it out of the corner of my eye as I was heading north from the stoplight.
If you are not fishing today you probably should be. The high pressure over us isn’t favorable, but other things are. Last week when I went to Wausaukee the 40 mile round trip brought 4 swerves to miss snapping turtles crossing the road to lay eggs. That is one of my secret signals that the bass and panfishing should be prime. It is all about the water temperature.
Today is also a full moon. That brings the peak prime time for the solunar cycle, and I am a believer. The one that convinced me was a morning that I went out expecting a major peak at about 9:30am. From 7-9:30 I didn’t catch boo. Same bait, same spot, same everything, yielded 4 or 5 nice bass in the next hour, including a couple of huge ones that got marks carved in the floor of the Jon boat where the record fish get marked. It was like someone flipped a switch. It hasn’t always been that cut and dried since, but I do try to fish the majors and peak times.
Now I am looking at this mountain of work in front of me, both inside and out, looking at what I just wrote, and let the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other shoulder giving advice bit off of cartoons begin… (Devil- Whaddya a chump? Go fishin’! The fish are snappin’ and it’s 70 degrees out..) (Angel- I have to work)
It looks like decent week in weather ahead, but..
Tomorrow should hit 60 and bring a slight chance for a sprinkle. That chance continues until Thursday night. Thursday should get close to 70. Friday the clouds part and low 70s should make it a bluebird day.
Saturday and the weekend we have a storm headed this way. The GFS shows it as a moderate strength storm (1,000mb), but never shows us getting more than a tenth of an inch per 6 hour frame, except Saturday night, when it shows up to 1/4 inch between midnight and 6am.
The NWS forecast has us for a cloudy and upper 60s day for Saturday. Saturday night and Sunday they are looking for showers and storms with a 40 and 50% chance.
Rafting will be great this weekend with warm temperatures and high water. The Peshtigo was at about +17″ when it peaked over the weekend. It is falling, but not very fast. It is down to +14″, and the slope of the graph is pretty gradual, so the water should still be great for the weekend. A guess? Between +8 and +12 for Saturday.
Well I am going to go climb that mountain of work before the devil voice wins and I go fishing. Maybe tomorrow.
Have a good week and thank you for visiting!
RJB
Have a good week and thank you for visiting!
RJB