$78 in gas
$21 in camping
$30 in food
$12 in launch fees

Ganging up on Al… priceless.

I was once again at the airport to pick up the infamous Al. As I approached the baggage claim, I reached for my sunglasses, adjusted the bill of my hat, and pulled the visor down to shield my eyes from the unbelievably bright blue shirt some guy was wearing 1/4 mile ahead of me. I pulled up to the pile of rods and gear bags where Al stubbornly held his footing, with one hand pointing to the exact spot my truck was expected to stop and then the other motioning to the bags I was expected to load. As he got into the cab, my first words were, “Nice Shirt”. His response… a silent greeting, consisting of one hand and a solitary digit.

Out on the lake in the boat the next day we spotted Lee Haskin a ways off in the distance fishing from his tube. As Seaman Al piloted the boat up along side him, Lee’s first words, “Nice Shirt”. Again, returned with the solo fingered salute.

After convincing Lee to throw his tube in the boat, we headed for the back of the lake where Al & I had been getting into fish all morning.

Shortly after we’d began fishing again, Lee from his tube, Al & I from the boat, Al hooks up with a nice fish. With karma in his favor for the shirt abuse, he lands a 12, errr, I mean 12 1/2 pounder! (more than twice the size of anything else we’d been getting).

Lee found a new species for us with his latest bull head pattern, later to be identified as a Sacramento Perch.

All in all it was a fantastic trip. For some laughs at Al, I mean with Al and some footage of a nice striper (not that common at the lake anymore), check out the video below. It should load in a matter of seconds and you’ll need to press the player’s play button to start it once loaded. The progress can be monitored in the players progress bar.

If it’s taking to long, you can click here to download direct. You’ll want your speakers turned on too.

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