I’ve enjoyed fishing ever since I got my kayak. There was never a time where I was too busy to get otw. I had quiet a good work life balance. Sometimes during the day I would go down to the garage to tweak my fishing gear, or play with my recent toy - rod, reel, lures. It’s like being a kid, except without adult supervision.

Well. It was bound to happen at work that I eventually got a manager that, let’s not say anything, but just that I was working non stop. And so from august till now I’ve been mostly MIA here. Around that time I decided to get a Lee Production pot for lead melting. I was getting low on 3oz. sinkers and decided to make my own. The melter arrived, but I was so busy that I didn’t even have time to try it. I know many of the folks here don’t think there’s anything unusual about it, but that’s exactly the point of this post. It was an anomaly. Or an omen, whatever you want to call it, that as someone who really enjoys fishing and playing with anything fishing, that lead melter was sitting at the corner of the garage for months.

Last week things at work finally calmed down. Like from 9ft swell one day to lake conditions the next. I was so relieved. And I knew right away what I’ll do on the morning of thanksgiving. I would melt lead.

And so, my wife took the kids out early, and the sun rose in all its glory, and there was a perfect breeze just enough to blow the lead smell away, and I let my mind dive into the simple existence of a man with his toys in his garage, melting lead, and doing the repetitive casting operation. I loved every single moment of it. And I felt I found myself again after so many stressful months at work.

I don’t know if there’s a point to this story. My feeling is that many of the old timers in this community have probably been in a similar situation many times before. But for someone like me, who always had time for hobbies and enjoy the little good moments in between, I found the last months very unusual.

Before I forget, let me attach some pics. And if anyone has similar stories they want to share, then I’d love to hear from you

Am I the only one wondering what happened to Matt from Fisherman’s Life? He didn’t post in a few months. I hope he’s ok.

I have some stains on my kayak that I want to clean, and was trying acetone and paint brush thinner to remove them, but it didn’t help. Was wondering if folks have any recommendations.

The stains by the mirage drive are probably from my diving boots. I don’t think the other stains are from fish.

Thanks

It was the earliest wake-up and longest drive. But we just launched. Wind and swell nonexistent. Squiddy doo first. Wish us luck

For my Friday coffee I drove to LM and was surprised to see the entire parking lot (not just where the surfers park) totally reconfigured, and resurfaced. All black and white and lots of space. My initial instinct was - wow, so spacious, but less parking spaces.. Then an old man who works in a nearby store told me a computer redesigned the lot and it has 6 more parking spots.

One cannot post too many photos of Linda Mar. it’s too beautiful.
Dedicated to y'all good fellas who were stuck in the office today 

MSW was bought by Surfline and shortly after “integrated” (disappeared). No more long range forecasts … goodbye clean ad-free non-cluttered interface.

Any suggestions for swell, period, and surf height forecasts?