07-24-2013, 07:04 PM
I don't know how many of you were around last time this happened, but some will remember the trip I had to take in October of 2011.
I was diagnosed with Graves Disease, and my treatment was to take a pill of Radioactive Iodine that would kill my thyroid. This would effectively give me Hypothyroidism, but this is a more manageable and less potentially-deadly condition.
When you take a Radioactive Iodine pill, you cannot be around adults for 3 days and kids for about 5 days. There is a potential risk of radiation exposure problems.
What does a man do when he can't work or be around his family for 5 days? He fishes.
SO, I took this radioactive pill and hit Lake Mead for ten days (to make sure it was totally safe to be around the kids when I came back). I fished and camped and had a grand old time.
But it didn't work. The radiation pill did not effectively shut down my thyroid, and I was recently administered a SECOND dose of this crazy radiation pill. This time much stronger.
I had to leave the family again, so this time I chose to go to Lake Havasu, AZ and camp/fish my way through this radiation treatment.
I set out to the Doctors office on Monday, July 8th 2013, with boat in-tow. Took my radiation bomb, and hit the road to AZ.
I found my beach camp spot and settled in for a week of fishing.
The first day there, I caught my Personal Best bluegill while drop-shotting a piece of a nightcrawler. This bad boy weighed a solid pound.
[inline "havasu (71).JPG"]
That night, I went out cat-fishing. Caught my first-ever flathead catfish, at about 8 pounds.
[inline "havasu (73).JPG"]
and also caught my personal best channel catfish, 13 pounds.
[inline "havasu (83).JPG"]
After that, I was hooked on the cat-fishing. I really only went bass fihsing one time out there, in the middle of the afternoon. I spent all my nights staying up late targeting those ten+ pound cats that were swimming everywhere. I never did get up early for a day of bass fishing.
When I did go out for bass though, I nailed a few nice ones with a squarebill.
[inline "havasu (64).JPG"]
[inline "havasu (65).JPG"]
[inline "havasu (66).JPG"]
The bluegill fishing at Havasu is just unreal. I must have caught over 50 fish every time I went looking for them off the rocky walls, and was able to catch enough to use as bait every night just off the beach where I was camping.
I even caught an odd hybrid, I'm thinking it was a bluegill/green sunfish hybrid.
[inline "havasu (67).JPG"]
I continued to catch a few huge catfish every night. Aside from a random 3 pound flathead that I caught, it seemed like every cat was near or over ten pounds.
[inline "havasu (145).JPG"]
Once it was safe to be around my radioactive presence, Erawk drove out and met me for a couple days of fishing. We forgot the camera his first night out, but I got another ten pound channel, and the 3 pound flathead.
He was bummed after not getting a fish that night, so we went back at it the second night, and after losing what had to be a 10 to 15 pound fish, he finally landed his first flathead ever, and it was a monster. Easily the biggest fish of the trip.
[inline "havasu (173).JPG"]
I ended the trip sight-fishing a nice channel right near the docks. I was cool to watch him swim up and suck the bait in. This was the smallest channel cat I caught the entire trip.
[inline "havasu (188).JPG"]
Needless to say, it was an epic trip. The Heat was unbearable, and the lightning was enough to make you mess yourself, but I had a ton of fun. Can't wait to hit that place in the spring!
[signature]
I was diagnosed with Graves Disease, and my treatment was to take a pill of Radioactive Iodine that would kill my thyroid. This would effectively give me Hypothyroidism, but this is a more manageable and less potentially-deadly condition.
When you take a Radioactive Iodine pill, you cannot be around adults for 3 days and kids for about 5 days. There is a potential risk of radiation exposure problems.
What does a man do when he can't work or be around his family for 5 days? He fishes.
SO, I took this radioactive pill and hit Lake Mead for ten days (to make sure it was totally safe to be around the kids when I came back). I fished and camped and had a grand old time.
But it didn't work. The radiation pill did not effectively shut down my thyroid, and I was recently administered a SECOND dose of this crazy radiation pill. This time much stronger.
I had to leave the family again, so this time I chose to go to Lake Havasu, AZ and camp/fish my way through this radiation treatment.
I set out to the Doctors office on Monday, July 8th 2013, with boat in-tow. Took my radiation bomb, and hit the road to AZ.
I found my beach camp spot and settled in for a week of fishing.
The first day there, I caught my Personal Best bluegill while drop-shotting a piece of a nightcrawler. This bad boy weighed a solid pound.
[inline "havasu (71).JPG"]
That night, I went out cat-fishing. Caught my first-ever flathead catfish, at about 8 pounds.
[inline "havasu (73).JPG"]
and also caught my personal best channel catfish, 13 pounds.
[inline "havasu (83).JPG"]
After that, I was hooked on the cat-fishing. I really only went bass fihsing one time out there, in the middle of the afternoon. I spent all my nights staying up late targeting those ten+ pound cats that were swimming everywhere. I never did get up early for a day of bass fishing.
When I did go out for bass though, I nailed a few nice ones with a squarebill.
[inline "havasu (64).JPG"]
[inline "havasu (65).JPG"]
[inline "havasu (66).JPG"]
The bluegill fishing at Havasu is just unreal. I must have caught over 50 fish every time I went looking for them off the rocky walls, and was able to catch enough to use as bait every night just off the beach where I was camping.
I even caught an odd hybrid, I'm thinking it was a bluegill/green sunfish hybrid.
[inline "havasu (67).JPG"]
I continued to catch a few huge catfish every night. Aside from a random 3 pound flathead that I caught, it seemed like every cat was near or over ten pounds.
[inline "havasu (145).JPG"]
Once it was safe to be around my radioactive presence, Erawk drove out and met me for a couple days of fishing. We forgot the camera his first night out, but I got another ten pound channel, and the 3 pound flathead.
He was bummed after not getting a fish that night, so we went back at it the second night, and after losing what had to be a 10 to 15 pound fish, he finally landed his first flathead ever, and it was a monster. Easily the biggest fish of the trip.
[inline "havasu (173).JPG"]
I ended the trip sight-fishing a nice channel right near the docks. I was cool to watch him swim up and suck the bait in. This was the smallest channel cat I caught the entire trip.
[inline "havasu (188).JPG"]
Needless to say, it was an epic trip. The Heat was unbearable, and the lightning was enough to make you mess yourself, but I had a ton of fun. Can't wait to hit that place in the spring!
[signature]