Well it’s just the end of January of 2012  and I feel that we need to get on State Parks and the Department of Wildlife so that they can get their stuff together to improve the condition of the water at Eagle Valley Reservoir.  For the past few years both of these State Agencies have managed to fall on their respective faces when it came to maintaining the water at Eagle Valley Reservoir which is located 20 miles east of Pioche, NV.  To the be sure, Nevada Division of State parks has done their job in taking care of the campground but collectively they have really failed when it comes to the water.  Parks maintains that the water is not their job and all I have to say to them is that the water is an important part of the Park and that these two agencies must work together during these tough economic times to maintain the entire park.

Aireators were installed in the Reservoir quite a few years back.  These pumped air into the Reservoir in three different locations in the water with a pump station which was located on the dam.  Big Fish Boat Rentals started renting boats out at Eagle Valley Reservoir in 1999 and as I remember the water was very clear and many people commented on the beauty of the water.  I am not sure but it seems to me that State Parks and Wildlife asked to borrow my pontoon boat in 2004 so that they could pull up the air lines in the water to inspect them.  Air Leaks were developing and they talked about fixing them.  Nothing was done and the leaks worsened and I began to notice that the quality of the water was going downhill ad the aireators were operational for less and less time.  The two state agencies did make some temporary repairs  to the lines but they did not last.

In 2005 the weeds came into the Reservoir so bad that shore fishing was almost impossible and the Park Supervisor at the time cleaned out the weeds around the dock and in the day use area so people could fish off of the shore.  He did this twice.

The last two years we have had a new park supervisor who has done nothing with the weeds saying that it is not his job. Apparently he is just too lazy to do anything about the situation.  There is a direct correlation between the advent of the weeds and the aireators not working.  We need a more ambitious Park Supervisor and the aireators working. We need to call Nevada Division of State Parks at 702-486-5126 and the Nevada Department of Wildlife at 702-486-5127.

We need to get these state agencies working together to get the park back where it was in the past.  It can be done.  We need to push.

There is no doubt that there is a problem with the quality of the water in Eagle Valley Reservoir.  I have been renting out the boats at the reservoir for thirteen years and I have heard that the part of the park which has the campsites, showers, fish cleaning station and dock is the responsibility of the Nevada Division of State Parks.  The water, including the fish, the aerators and the measurement of the ammount of water entering and leaving the reservoir is in the charge of the Nevada Department of Wildlife.  The status of the Reservoirs’ water is in awful shape.  The aerators are not functional and the weed growth has made shore fishing nearly impossible.  Reguardless of responsibility, it should be noted that my business is up because of the weed growth.  When you can’t fish from shore you either bring a boat or you rent one from Big Fish Boat Rentals.  These weeds are in fact advantageous to our business but make the water look trashey and one of my sustomers commented that he would not let his dog swim in it.  In the long run this lack of maintenence is bad for everyones’ business.

Nevada Division of State Parks usually gets all of the heat over this poor situation when in reality it is not their responsibility.  In the past when the weed growth has occured, the previous supervisor for the Nevada Division of State Parks has taken  it upon himself to clean out the weeds in the area of the boat docks and the harbor.  He got a crew of prisioners from our local Honor Camp and with the use of rakes with ropes tied on them and old bed springs managed to clean out the weeds in the dock, harbor and day use areas.  No real money involved, just a supervisor and the people from the prison.  The present supervisor who has done some really great work in the park just refuses to have anything to do with the weed situation.  I don’t know if he is lazy or has a bevy of bureaucratic excuses in his desk drawer.  In any case the weeds remain.  I commented in a previous entry in my blog that these two state agencies, Parks and Wildlife could not get together to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  This still stands.  The previous park supervisor from Nevada Division of State Parks who did clean up the weeds seemed to have the drive and empathy for the park which may have qualified him to not be termed a bureaucrat which in my book is a plus for a state supervisor.  The present supervisor is all bureaucrat and does not seem to see the entire picture.  Both parts of the park, the water and the campsites are infact the Park in its entireity.  One is dependant upon the other and it is important that both parts of the park deserve equal care.  The previous park supervisor saw that Wildlife was not doing their job and he immediately jumped in and picked up the slack.  Apparently the present supervisor does not see the forest for the trees.  It’s a sad situation for all involved but to be sure the people who suffer the most are the people who pay to use the park.  Possibly the state employees will understand when the public votes against their unions.  I really doubt that they will.  For sure you and I will understand and support the present revolt against public employees and their benefits.

For sure, fall is the most beautiful time of the year at the Reservoir.  The changing colors of the trees and the wonderful smell of fall air.  Yes there is a difference in the smell of the air when fall approaches.  I destinctly remember driving my truck, loaded with wood out of the State Line Burn and as I was coming down the hill the difference in the aroma of the outside air  suddenly hit me.  I immediately realized that fall was upon us and I had to get my butt in gear in  order to get enough wood cut to meet the demand of my Las Vegas customers.  You see when fall approaches, winter is not far behind and the roads become impassable in the winter making it much more difficult to get firewood to sell in Vegas.

As I drive by the Reservoir with my truck load of wood, I can see that my pontoon boat is rented and my customers are fishing right off Copper Point.  It is a beautiful sight with the blue top of the pontoon in stark contrast with the greenish water.  I usually wave to my customers as I drive down the road toward the dock.  As I get closer to the dock I can see a few people fishing off the dock and usually one or more of them recognize my red ford diesel truck and wave.  As I wave back to them I really realize how fortunate that I am to be where I am.  Taking into consideration that just about twelve years ago I was mired down running a bar in Vegas.  I was legally drunk most of the time and all I did was sit in the bar talking to the other drunks about nothing.  I have no idea what changed my way of thinking but one day I started talking about renting boats at Eagle Valley Reservoir.  It only took me about two years to get sober and buy an old trailer and one boat and tell my future wife that we were headed to Eagle Valley.  We had kept our travel trailer at Eagle Valley Resort for a couple of years and she had heard me talking about the boat rental business for way too many years.  I really don’t think that she believed me until we got to Panaca with our sixty foot trailer one day before Christmas.

We were unable to get the gas hooked up or the water turned on until after Christmas, but we did have power.  Also the trailer had a wood burning stove in it.  I had a chainsaw and had cut firewood previously for sale.  We went out and cut some wood and at least we wre warm for Christmas.  That winter I managed to borrow another boat and in the Spring Big Fish Boat Rentals was born.  In time we aquired more boats and I started a firewood business delivering wood to Vegas. We have been very fortunate in life since I stopped drinking right before we came to Panaca.  Quiting drinking alcohol and being happy and successful in the boat rental and firewood business is not a coincidence; rather it is a fact of life.

The reason that I wrote about the origination of Big Fish Boat Rentals was to remind myself how Cherry and I got started in business.  Along those lines I felt it necessary to take a break from discussing how Nevada Division of State Parks and Nevada Department of Wildlife have made a mess out of the water at Eagle Valley Reservoir.  I will be back with a vengance and more information on the continuing saga of the illegal sale of firewood and the mismanagement of the Reservoir by these two state agencies.

Big Fish Boat Rentals has been renting boats at Eagle Valley Reservoir for the past twelve years and over that period of time we have noticed many changes in the Reservoir.  I am going to comment about the water, that is, the actual Reservoir itself.  Horsethief Gulch is the Nevada State Park which is within one hundred yard of the water.  Horsethief and its’ facilities are kept up very well by the Nevada Division of State Parks.  On the other hand the actual Reservoir itself has diminished.  By diminished I mean that the quality of the water and the upkeep of the Reservoir has gone down hill.  For example when I began renting boats there were three or four aireators in the water which pumped oxygen into the water.  The main thought that I had about the aireators was that the fish seemed to be attracted to them.  People who rented boats from us could always anchor over the aireators and they were sure to catch fish.  Over the years the aireators developed leaks in the lines and for some reason were not maintained by either the Nevada Department of Wildlife or the Nevada Division of State Parks.  Either or both State Agencies would borrow my pontoon boat and fish the air lines to the surface and lay them across the rails on the pontoon and then repair them temporarily and release them to the bottom of the reservoir.  Both of the State Agencis were involved in this process and one year they built a new pump house for the air lines and possibly installed a new pump.  I remember hearing people from both agencies saying that the repairs were going to be made permenant within the next year.  This never happened and eventually the pump stopped and the quality of the water turned green and full of crap.  It was relatively clear when the aireators were operational.  Permenance never came to the repairs and now we have no aireators.

I was never able to really determine who was really responsible for the quality of the water because one agency would say that the other was responsible.  I also noted weed growth increased in the Reservoir.  The boat launch area and the harbor are overrun with weeds which got into the props and impellors on the boat motors.  About six years ago the Nevada Division of State Parks Supervisor got a crew from the local prison and thy threw out grappling hooks in the harbor and drug the weeds to shore.  They actually cleaned out the entire harbor and day use shore fishing area.  They also cleaned the weeds out of the slips in the boat dock.  The weed have come back over the last two years and Nevada Division of State Parks has come up with the most unique beaucratic excuses that I have ever heard.  It’s not our job to clean out the weeds was one of the first ones that I heard.  A retired Metro Police Officer from Vegas got the response that they could not clean out the weeds by dragging them to shore because they would break off and then they would spread.  The entire Reservoir is covered anyway.  These two State agencies, State Parks and State Wildlife can’t get together to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  This is a crime.  Surely one would think that they could work together for the general good, but apparently not.  Of course the money excuse always comes into play.  It does not cost any money to get the prisioners to do the work.  This is a prime example of a lazy Park Supervisor.  It is so frustrating to watch.  Our tax dollars not working is really difficult to observe.  Yet Nevada Division of State Parks can sell firewood and take the monies and put them in a slush fund for some incidentals in the park, but they can’t do anything to restore the quality of the water. They put workers in the private sector out of work and then misuse the monies.  It is no wonder that there is a revoulution in the private sector to cut the salaries and benefits of public employees.  They have brought this down on themselves.

This lack of attention to the Reservoir has cut revenues in Lincoln County and of course sales taxes are down.  Taxes go down and the public employees’ wages go down.  Why don’t they get it.  We can only hope for a more ambitious Dept of Wildlife and State Parks.  I doubt that this will happen in my lifetime.

We have just finished the Eagle Valley Reservoir $50,000 Fishing Tournament in which one tagged fish worth $50,000 is planted in either Eagle Valley Reservoir or Echo Dam Reservoir and an additional forty tagged fish are planted which are worth $100 each.  The contest runs from 7AM April 30th until Noon on May 1st.  This year the wind was blowing 30-40MPH and the temps were in the 20 to 40 degree range.  It was miserable.  Actually it was very sad because of the fact that so many people rented boasts and cabins in advance for the event and the weather just screwed the whole thing up.  But to the credit of the sportsmen and fishermen, they showed and they fished.  The guys who rented my pontoon boat actually were shivering when they got off the boat on Saturday afternoon and they came prepared.  It was not a fun deal and to top off the entire event, no one caught even one tagged fish.  Just the luck of the draw.  Nevada Division of State Parks helped to put on the wevent and did a great job with it and as usual they had the campground and all of its facillities in tip top shape.  They do a great job being State Parks and taking care of our lands and camping areas.

Why in the hell does the Nevada Division of State Parks have to be in the firewood business when they have plenty to do with taking care of the Parks and the people who visit them.  There is no reason for them to be in the business of selling firewood when there are many small businesses in Lincoln and Clark counties who sell firewood.  The ridiculous statement  by the Administrator of State Parks saying that they “provide” firewood for donations so that the visitor to the Park won’t cut down any of the trees in the park for firewood use, is an old and antiquated statement.  In the first place the sign in the park which in posted over the firewood simply says  “$4 Thanks”.  There is no mention of donation nor is there any mention of where the monies go.  As far as the people cutting down trees in the Parks for firewood, people just don’t do it any more for two reasons: first, most people respect their Parks and if they don’t their neighbor who is watching them does; secondly, I think that the new penalty for cutting down a tree in a state or federal park is 2 years in the electric chair, that’s a stopper.

There is one very big reason that the State should not be in the wood business:  it is obviously unethical for the

State to be in competition with small businesses who pay taxes to the State which allows them and their families to live a good life.  Should they be taking business (Money) away from the families of the taxpayers who are in the firewood business?  This is an obvious no brainer “NO”.  We, the firewood cutters, need the other taxpayers to call or email Nevada Division of State Parks and tell them to stop selling wood in the Parks.   The Administrators email is  dmorrow@parks.nv.gov  A short note to him would help us in our fight to keep the government out of our business.  Thanks

I have been writing about Nevada State Parks and how they mistreated two of their concessionaires in Spring Valley State Park three years ago.  Specifically, they threw out two concessions from the park with less than 30 days notice.  One was Big Fish boat Rentals and Firewood and the other was a cattle grazing concession.  Big Fish had been there for 7 years and I’m not sure how long the cattle people had been there but I’m pretty sure that they were there at least 5 years.  The cattle grazing concession paid Parks $11,000 per year and Big Fish paid around $2,000 and  provided campground hosts and 24hr security and information for the Park.  In the case of Big Fish we were give a letter of excellence of service and in the next sentence were told that our contract would not be renewed.

The new development is that State parks has just recently put out the cattle grazing for bid again in 2011.  Dave Morrow, the Administrator of Nevada State Parks has played his little “flip flop” game with real peoples’ lives.  When we were terminated I tried to find out why?  Never was a reason given.  Herein lies the stench of the BUREAUCRATS.  We will use them when we want to and get rid of them when we want to at our whim.  We don’t even have to give anyone a reason.  we do it because we can.  And of course they are dealing with little people who really don’t have any money or influence so…………that’s the way it is.  Wrong Mr Morrow.  It is not ethical to treat people this way.  These smalll businesses have families and children and should be given a fair shake.  You have not done this.  And when I suggested that you are unethically sellling firewood in the Park, you suggested that I talk to your lackey Park SuperVisor about starting a concession for firewood. That was an insult to me and my family.  We did nothing wrong to get thrown out of the Park after 7 years of excellent service (I still have the letter stating this)  I am going to continue writing about your disservice to the small business community and I am going to write to politicians who understand what you did.  Maybe they will throw you out of the Park, Mr Morrow.

On the fifth of March I sent a letter off to State Senator Dean Rhoads about the State’s sale of firewood in Spring Valley State Park.  I gave him the full information and the quotes from Dave Morrow’s emails to me concerning the States view of the sale of wood in the Park.  Incidentally, ever since Dave Morrow, The Director of State Parks, answered my original email and I quoted him in a few places, he has stopped conersing with me.  He had said in one of his early emails that the State never directly promoted donations for firewood in the Park; so, I sent a picture of the lock box directly over the State’s firewood in the Park with the following written on the box:  $4 Thank You.  I never got a reply out of him so I imagine that he has decided to shut up to me because I use his info against him.  Hell,  I’m probably such small potatoes that what I say or do makes no difference to the State.  But, for sure, I am not going to stop trying to make a difference.  What I really wanted to talk about in this particualar Blog is what is done with the monies from the wood donations.

I’m not sure if I explained to everyone that the donations do not go back into the State General Fund which pays for the wages and maintainence of the Park; rather, the Park supervisor collects this money in a”slush fund” which is to be used for incidentals  in the Park.  I’m not sure if the money from the donations was used for the cement blocks that were put up last fall at the entrance to Horsethief Gulch  or not.  Makes no difference, because you see they should not even be doing these cosmetic things in the park anyway.  What the hell are they thinking……Are they going to improve on the looks of Mother Nature..Not hardly, plus this sort of cosmetic build will only require maintainence down the line.  They are just spending money on stuff that will require the spending of more money on it in the future.  It stinks.  Last year they could have gotten the weeds out of the dock area.  The previous Park Supervisor, Pete, was confronted with the same weed situation and he got the Park backhoe and the Honor Camp Prisioners and got it cleaned up.  The present Park Supervisor, Ben did nothing and said that it was not his responsibility.  And maybe it was not, but he could have done something other than putting up cosmetic crap. Of course, the cosmetic crap, catches the eye of the people who count….the politicians and the upper echelons of the State Park people. I guess that we don’t count in these situations.  Hell all we do is pay the taxes that pay the wages.  This whole deal makes me sick to my gut.  Dealing with State People is tough, especially if you are used to running your own business and working 7 days a week.  Most of us would not have it any other way….Well, i’ve blogged on enough for this time but I’ll be back and that’s for Dam sure.  Take care until next time……..Dennis and Cherry

12 years ago my wife and I came to Lincoln County, Nevada with the intent of renting out boats and selling firewood.  I had previously worked in the gaming business and lived in Las Vegas for 40 years plus.  We had two boats and we rented them out of our home in Panaca for use at either Echo Canyon Reservoir or Eagle Valley Reservoir.  We made 2 highway signs ourselves and put them up and away we went.  Actually, in the first year the signs and word of mouth got us a few customers and a director of State Parks asked me if I wanted to put my boats at Eagle Valley Reservoir.  He also informed me that he wanted us (Big Fish Boat Rental and Firewood Co) to take over the sale of firewood in the Park as he wanted the State to stop its unsupervised sale of firewood in the Park.  The Park is Horsethief Gulch located at Eagle Valley Reservoir in Spring Valley State Park.  This was to be a  one year trial and then it would have to go to the bid process of State Parks.

We set up our business in Horsethief Gulch in the area between the upper and lower campgrounds.  We rented out boats and sold firewood and the boat rental business was met with great approval by the campers.  It took about a year for the campers to get used to paying for their firewood as they only had to provide a small donation for all of the wood that they wanted in the past.  It was not unusual to see people with small pickup trucks loading up wood to take home for their own personal use for the State Park wood pile.  The following year we went to bid and we won the bid for 4 years.  We sold wood and rented out boats for the 4 years and at that time we recieved a letter in February State Parks as follows: (This is a quote from the lettter) Dear Dennis:  “As a valued partner in providing recreational service, Nevada State parks and the Spring Valley State Park wish to extend our appreciation for your dedication to excellence, as well as to inform you of the Division’s decision not to renew or pursue a commercial boating/firewood operation at this time. Once again, thank you for the service you have provided to many of our recreational users.”

Needless to say we were very surprised but honestly speaking because of the 911 tragedy in NYC liability insurance had been climbing to the point of making it impossible to turn a profit in our business.  you see the State of Nevada had such unusual requirements for insurance that they drove the price of insurance out of sight.  For instance, Big Fish Boat Rentals was required to provide liability insurance that covered the employees of the State of Nevada that worked at Eagle Valley Reservoir.  That combined with the terrorism threat had driven the cost of liability insurance totally out of sight.  When we started we paid $830 per year for our liability insurance and when we left it had risen to over $4,000 per year.  The cost of insurance combined with the fact that the boat dock was small and we could only use 4 slips made it very difficult to make any money.  So when the notice came in we were offered a spot down the road, one mile from the Reservoir by Eagle Valley Resort and we found that our boat rentals actually improved for a time.  But of course the Recession took care of that.

That year we sold firewood to the campers and found that other businesses in Lincoln County were also selling bagged firewood for use by the campers.  The supply of wood was totally adequate for the demand in the Park.  But the following year Nevada State parks began selling wood for donations in the Park,  the same unsupervised way that they did it before and with the same results.  The only difference was the fact that I found that the sales tax that I was paying the State quarterly was down by over 50%. Now the picture became clearer to me. Not only was the State selling firewood and not paying sales tax but they were in fact cutting our prices by more that one half.  People could walk up to the State wood pile and put a dollar in the can and walk away with the equivalent of $9 of our wood.  We did not have a chance.  The state took over the firewood business.

They are using our tax dollars to transport the wood and stock it as they did in the past.  Our tax dollars working directly against us.  If this is not unethical then I don’t know what is.  In November I wrote a letter to the Director of State Parks Dave Morrow outlining the situation to him. He replied to me in part ” Although providing firewood does not make money for parks, it certainly entices people to use the park and make return visits.”  That is a direct quote from Dave morrow Director of Nevada State Parks.  Isn’t that just great, tax dollars are lost which indirectly pay the state employees and they are taking monies away from the small businesses that hire workers in the State of Nevada.  These are workers who have families and are probably using the welfare system in Nevada now that they are out of work.  The whole thing stinks.

State parks is there to protect our valuable assets left to us by mother nature and they do a good job of it.  But they have no business stomping on small businesses.  The State needs to get out of the wood business again and let the system that has grown of small businesses take care of the firewood to the campers.

In another email Dave Morrow wrote me the following: “If you or others are interested in providing a similiar service (wood sales), we would certainly entertain a proposal with the understanding that service to our customers is our goal and therefore any such service must ensure that a supply of wood is available at all times and affordable.”  So Dave Morrow is telling me that the State wants to control the sale of firewood and that he is in charge.  Small Businesses have a life and they support families and in many case provide employment to others who support families.  We do not wish to be ruled by someone who apparently has no reguard for the small businessman.  One day we have a concession in the State Park and the next day we recieve a letter of commendation and termination.  We are in business because we are independant and to be pushed around by a State park’s Director who wants to take us back into the fold because we have found the way he is selling firewood is unethical, is not how we want to run our business.

Getting the boats ready for the summer season would not be much of a problem aside from two reasons one of which was unique to last year.  The first problem, which is yearly, is the fact that the boats and the motors are not new.  Thus, they require a bit of TLC and a lot of good maintainence.  My father told me years agoe that as far a he was concerned I would never make a decent mechanic and that my best choice in taking care of my trucks and boats was to change the oil in the motors regularly.  I have practiced his advice and have found that it works for me.  I have  a 1972 3/4 to Chevy PU which has over 400,000 miles on it.  I don’t even use it any more and it sits at a friend of mines’ house wasting away.  It has a 383cu inch Stroker in it with a 400 crank and developes around 350 horsepower.  I have been thinking about selling it??  Also a 1997 Ford F250 4 wheel drive Diesel with 328,000 miles on it.  And it tows my 20ft gooseneck to Vegas filled with firewood in the winter months.  Another old ford diesel with 210,000 miles on it.  I attribute the longevity of these vehicles, and they have been  used to the limit in the working sense of the word,  to preventivite maintainence………Changing the oil and lubricating the parts that need to be lubricated.  I change the transmission fluic every 35,000 miles.  The rear end fluid and I use Royal Purple every 100,000 miles.  The transfer case every 100K.  Iget Ujoints with zerks and grease them each time I change the oil in the vehicle.  I am not obsessive compulsive but I am understanding of the fact that these vehicles and motors make me money and I intend to care for them as they care for me and Cherry.

So, if you rent a boat from me and the motor quits or does not run  properly you can usually chalk it up to the fact that it was not from  lack of care; rather, it could be because of misuse by the person or persons who had the boat and motor before you.  This bring me to using and abusing equipment that does not belong to you.  By mistreating my equipment you are making it bad for the next fisherman who uses the boat and motor.  Also, you could be forcing me to raise the prices for using said equipment.  All this being said, I don’t expect you to “baby” my stuff, but I only ask you to treat it as if you were going to use it again tomorrow.  Of course, I do understand that “shit happens” and that the boats are there to be used and that they are getting “old” to say the least.

Now that I have all of that out of my system we can go on to getting the boats ready.  After all of the motors are taken in  to be “gone thru” at the shop I concertrate on the boats.  All of our boats are rivited except for the Pontoon.  I induvidually fill each boat with water and see if they have any rivit or seam leaks.  If they do, I mark the leaks and then empty the water, turn the boat over and using a high-grade silicon I calk the leaks and allow it to dry.  Then we turn the boats over again and fill them with water and check them again.  Most of the leaks in the boats are caused by “beaching the boats” ;  something which I don/t want you to do unless it is an emergency.  When the boat is beached it scraps on the rocks and sands of the silicon and it begins to leak again.  Please don’t beach the boats and if you must…….Please let me or on of the employees know.  After checking and repairing the leaks we clean the boats totally and then store them for the winter.

Well, I am sure that any people who happened to read Big Fishs’ Blog that is a part of the Big Fish Web Pages, will have wondered where the hell I have been for the last year.  I am going to make the explanation quick and simple…….got pneumonia,  took many many tests,  found that I had prostate cancer.  The Veterans Administration found the cancer and wanted to give me hormone therapy, radiation therapy, and some other thing that I did not understand.  I decided to get another opinion at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City, UT.  They advised me to have the prostate taken out. Went home and went to the Veterans in Las Vegas.  Told them what Huntsman said.  Veterans basically said do it our way or no way. Thanked the Veterans for finding the cancer and went back to Huntsman and had the dam thing out.  Cancer confined to prostate…….no radiation , no nothing…….cancer gone.  If any of you out there have been diagnoised with cancer…..you know the mental effects…….unbelievable.  I barely held the business together and did no writing, which I really missed. It’s like a new lease on life but there is no way they can get the word “CANCER” out of your mind.  Time, time and more time.  Keeping busy and realizing I am one of the luckiest persons alive.

During the lost summer of 2009 I managed to keep the business going but that was about the extent of it.  Very little maintainence and after I got out of the hospital and realized what little I had done for the business I was really upset with myself.  At any rate we have already sent the motors out to have them “gone thru” and we are putting new railings  and a new top on the pontoon.  And a bunch of other little stuff that was neglected while I sat around and felt sorry for myself.  We have been selling wood to Vegas since November and that has really helped in my recovery……working, doing something.  I am looking forward to the summer of 2010 so that I can communicate with the people that I know, my regular customers.

We have had a load of snow in January and the temps went down to 15 below zero in December.  Don who live in the Eagle Valley Resort Campground caught a 9lb 3oz German Brown ice fishing…WOW.  If any one deserves to catch that big trout it was Don.  Ever time that I drive by the Reservoir I would see him in a different spot drilling a new hole.  He really worked at it and it paid off.  Pat and John, the owners of Eagle Valley Resort are having the fish mounted and it will be displayed at the Resort .

Well, I’ll get back to all of you much sooner that the last time, God willing.  Take care and have a cold one for me………….Dennis