Pond Hippo, Tough Fishing, Getting Healthy???

Ever watch an infomercial and just want to order stuff because the idea just seems so genius? Sooo many As Seen On TV items out there that I have always dreamed of owning..... Anyhow here is the ultimate infomercial type item for small pond owners with chronic duckweed: The Pond Hippo.

Here is the kicker though, this baby actually works! Its not magic, doesnt solve all your problems, has some limitations, and requires some effort, BUT we successfully used it today for our trial run and were sort of impressed with what this contraption can do. It sucks up duckweed and algae very good and deposits it right into these neat filtration bags. We filled up several bags with 100's of pounds of duckweed and algae in just a few hours today.

For folks who live in coves and are the recipients of all the lakes floating junk this would work perfect to suck up leaves, watermeal, algae, duckweed, etc. Up to 2 inch solids and it also sucks down big tadpoles, frogs, and other unfortunate items who got a little to close to our experiments today.

Also for small ponds with chronic duckweed and watermeal this contraption will work great. We didnt have any help from the wind today so we had to use our duckweed boom to bring the duckweed to the pump, but strategically timed and placed pond hippoes will work awesome! I will be selling them online shortly and also if anyone out there with the right application wants to get their pond hippoed just shoot me an email or give me a call.

Moving on, we had the toughest fishing bite of the year last night. We took 9 high school boys from Morton AC Church and their Bible Class teacher fishing last night and we actually had to work very hard for the few fish we caught.

We had to catch fish too, because that was what was on the menu for dinner! We squeeked out some hybrid striped bass, some bluegill, and a couple small catfish (enough to eat) but the fish just seemed like their mouths were sewn shut. Even though the fishing was bad we still had a great evening playing in the water and cooking fresh fish and mushrooms for dinner:

The rest of the week was spent working on some cool spawning bed projects. We shot thousands of pounds of pea gravel into strategic spawning areas to help produce lots of baby fish. For those non fish people reading the blog, we basically set up these lakes with several honeymoon suites with soft sheets, scented candles, romantic music, and full blown nurseries all geared for making and raising lots of fish. Here are some pics of the process:

Last bit of exciting news is that I have started a program to get my body and back healthy again. I have worked out a deal with Benningfield Chiropractic (exchanging some tiger muskies and such) to fix my lower back, get me back in shape, and teach me what to eat and what not to eat. Back in 2002 I was extremely active and athletic. Swam a couple miles a week, played volleyball one night a week, basketball one night a week, and worked 50 hours of construction every week. I ate about 10,000 calories a day and weighed 205 lbs. Since then I got married, changed careers, had 3 kids, and haven't excercised or really done any sort of physical activity at all. Instead of swinging a hammer and climbing on roofs I sit behind a desk or in a boat. Instead of playing sports after work, I come home and sit in my chair with 3 kids climbing all over me. Pretty big lifestyle change and now 8 years later I have a bad lower back and weigh 280 lbs.

So Dr. Bob is fixing my back, Dr. Chad is teaching me nutrition, and Amy is my personal trainer. I asked her if it was normal to be out of breath during my initial evaluation??? I think the process of everything is going to take about 10 weeks. I will keep updated as yet another form of accountability on making the lifestyle change. I find out on Monday if Casey's pork tenderloin and white frosted cookies will be on my new diet........