Doug’s retired

Hello friends, As time passes, a great many of my friends and family have retired or are very close. One man that has been in this column on a regular basis is Doug Cibulka who, when we were kids in Poynette, was a pal of mine and still is today.

On Jan. 3, Doug retired from a career as an operating room sterile technician for UW Hospital in Madison. On Jan. 6, Doug wasted no time and had his right knee replaced. For the last 80 days he has been working his butt off to recover as much as possible.

This week Doug got back on the outdoor saddle and went on a simple camping and fishing trip with me to some backwaters on the Mississippi River near Buffalo City. Our plan was to use my ATV and a trailer to get to a beautiful location and shore fish for perch where I have had good luck in the past. As usual, my golden retriever Red was with us.

Tuesday, March 25 High 51, Low 31

It would be a two-trip event to get man and gear to where we call home for the next 54 hours. I had zero cares as I was on the shores of the Mississippi River with a good buddy and my pup and ready to have fun. I think it is important to mention that for myself the only thing that I cared about was doing as little as possible. Between KAMO, NOAC, my job and my home I have been running hard.

Before we even built camp, I told Doug I was going to rig lines and begin our shore fishing operation, which is basically fishing off the bottom with either red worms or minnows for perch that are in this section of river to spawn. I would also like to mention that plenty of local fishermen hike in or take ATVs into this area to fish and there is a nearby trail that a lot of walkers enjoy. Over the days Red would be able to play with at least 25 different 'new friends.'

I think that I should mention something about Red. Her mother Ruby passed away in January. As many people witnessed, Red and Ruby participated in at least 20 hardcore wrestling matches a day and the loss of her mother has put Red in a funk. One example would be that no matter what brand I purchased, she quit eating dry dog food.

So most fishermen on this adventure are way more into catching than I am, at least on this trip. Over the course of three days anyone that watched our camp would think it was quite the social scene. What I mean by that is at least eight readers of this column recognized me and made a point of shooting the breeze with me and witnessing my 'I don't care about catching' attitude.

By dark Doug and I only had 3 perch and we entered the Eskimo mobile home for an evening of fine food and festivities.

Wednesday, March 26 High 57, Low 34

We were up 'somewhat' early and what a beautiful place to wake up. There is a pair of bald eagles taking turns sitting on a nest and thousands of ducks and geese enjoying spring. For about four hours we witnessed an incredible migration of an unimaginable number of ducks, geese and swans as they were headed north with a south wind pushing them. The ducks would fly the highest and the swans the lowest.

I watched my buddy shore fish with a challenging knee that is getting better. In this case, often he had to negotiate rocks and steep banks, but Dougy wanted perch fillets and, after a long winter in the house, he wanted to play.

As can be the case sometimes, we were not exactly on fire, as was the case for most fishermen. The water was very low and possibly the perch were about done spawning, but some fishermen that tried really hard were impressive.

The following day we were in no rush to go home. Red was eating dry dog food, and her new friends had made nature take its course and she was showing the first signs of coming into heat. Next spring I will get a pup from her.

While I must slave hunting and fishing for a living, Doug Cibulka gets to do whatever the heck he wants to do for the rest of his life!

Sunset