First Snow this Winter 2008

I still remember how excited I was when I first saw/touched snow in 2005. This Thursday, the first snow came at around 8:00 pm with strong wind…like a snow storm! Well, I was lucky that I was in my apartment at that time, not around some lakes or fishing ponds. Hahahahahahaha…! As a matter of fact, I did think about going fishing in that afternoon.

To be honest, I was not as excited as I used to be! Instead, I was even worried about my car at that time. Poor Connie…sorry to make you stay outside in the snowing day!

Beneath the light pole, the Christmas decoration has already been hung, telling people: holiday season is coming. Get ready to feed, store some more fat, and go spend all your money in the mall. Well, too bad! I do not have any plans for shopping this winter, even during Thanksgiving sales.
Looking out from my window, I saw cars and roads are covered with some snow. I guess it's going to be very cold this winter. Hope there will be still some warm days so that I can go out for fishing sometimes. Hahahaha…!

Well, Well, Well! Dreams come true! This Sunday happened to be a little warm. Yoshiki and I decided to go fishing in the afternoon. Yoshiki got two bass and I got a fat bass around 35 centimeters. And by the way, we seemed to come to a conclusion: the person who drives on the fishing day always catches less fish.

What the heck!

常相思、催心肝

親愛なる君へ :

不知道黑寶還記得我嗎？
在他眼裡，是否還在等待看到我出現在巷口？
他是否，還雀躍地要我帶他去散步？

黑寶是我一手照顧到大的 : 第一次驅蟲、第一次打預防針、第一次撞倒腳縫了18針、第一次學會坐下、第一次學會「握手」...！黑寶是一隻很接近純種的台灣土狗：他的鐮刀尾及舌斑清楚地揭露他高貴的種性！台灣土狗只認定一個唯一主人 ;

我仍然記得赴美之前把他送到苗栗鄉下的那一刻，他也許還是不解，為什麼我坐在開走的車子裡，很久...很久...很久...都不回來！！！

還記得有一次把他放出去玩，他玩瘋了，我也不管，索性我就騎車去飆給他追！想不到他一路狂跑，一路跟我到健康路尾。等到回到家，卻看到他腳上的肉墊，已經磨掉一大塊，還懸在那裡！我那時就很感動，不是台灣土狗，絕不可能有這種體力、爆發力、以及忠心！

老實說，看到他現在在這麼寬廣的生活環境下生活，我很為他高興！但一想起他已經被去勢，心裡免不了一陣不捨！若是我不用赴美，可以好好照顧他，我一定讓他擁有下一代，承繼他優良的血統！

最近在釣魚時，我老是想起黑寶。我想，若是黑寶可以跟我去釣魚，他一定會很開心，我也會很開心！

閉門造車的時間到了？!

親愛なる君へ :

我已經不將思念放在心底，觸不到指尖那端，感動只能將傷口割得越深！深秋，風越吹越涼，我也只能越縮越小，包覆已撕裂的心！

下禮拜要交的課程設計，我花了五個小時設計了這個封面！私下覺得，很有日本的感覺！若是把標題拿掉，妳會覺得是賣魚、還是賣魚餌？呵呵！照片拍攝時間為10月21日；我用近物對焦拍出來的特寫：德克薩斯釣組上鉤的鱸魚、配上色彩斑斕的湖面背景！然後再以微風修飾（注意看，釣餌的尾巴有風吹的線條處理）、加上黑色鏡頭捕捉！

天氣越來越冷，我『呆』在湖邊的時間越來越少，照片裡的陽光也越來越難看到！前幾天去，岸邊已經很少綠色的葉子！幾場驟雨和風，湖面滿是落葉和枯木；鏡面般如畫的靜逸，不復得見！

我很想找到一處可以靜靜坐著，沒有冷風吹得到的地方下竿，然後在靜靜地等、發呆也好、思考也好！但是實在很難，到處都是冷的讓我無法容身！--我只好猜想，這種天氣我都不願出門，魚更不會出來覓食了！回公寓喝咖啡寫功課吧！

要是我會畫漫畫，我會畫一隻正在湖底打盹的鱸魚：它也許還一面嘲笑我 --「這麼冷還出來釣魚，你頭殼壞去喔！」..........笑

快感→6℃低溫急送

親愛なる君へ :

今天攝氏6度ㄝ！我有沒有瘋掉啊！這麼冷魚怎麼還會出來啊！？

嘿嘿！什麼叫「大師」？！什麼叫「高手」啊？！

就是平凡中見神奇，寒風中還能中魚啊………哈哈哈哈！

說實在，我真的只是拋個一兩竿，看看魚訊如何！冷風直吹，湖水溫度冷及刺骨，我本來也不抱希望！但心裡想，就是再冷，魚也要吃東西吧！所以還是專心地試試看……….哇哈哈哈！不到二十分鐘，果然中魚！

不把釣餌拋出去，不知道到底會不會中魚！但是不去試，你永遠不會知道！
這隻兔子真的不曉得是怎麼掛在那裡的！我也不想去碰，只是覺得可憐！要把它埋了嗎？還是………?唉，如果是美國人打獵的捕獲，應該要帶走啊！？夭壽喔………!

My First Sunfish-Redear

Well, well, well…what is this little sucker? It's a kind of sunfish--redear. Today I used double-rig drop shotting…hahahahaha…

Yoshiki said it's kind of a "greedy" rigging set. What the heck…!

As long as it catches fish, it's a good rigging set.

I know…Yoshiki's bass was bigger than my redear. But I was still very excited about catching different kinds of fishes…hahahaha!!!

Hey…Hey…! Wasn't it kind of too easy to catch a bass?

See………..I got another one! Call me "bass pro."

Texas Rig vs. Drop Shot Rig

Which rig works better in Hawthorn Park, Texas rig or drop shot rig?

From the two-day experiment, it seemed that drop-shot rig won this battle. I got one on a Texas rig yesterday, but caught 4 on a drop shot rig this afternoon.
(Time: 2 Hours for each day. 5:00pm ~ 7:00pm)

The Texas rig really has it advantage that it seldom got hung up or snagged in the water. Just like Yoshiki said: "it comes back whether it hooks a fish or not." However, it was really difficult for me to detect the bites since there was a bullet weight between me and the bait. In addition, I did not get bites very often even though I followed suggestions from experts. I even lost two fishes because of being too late to set the hook.
~~Texas rig can be used almost everywhere and in any season,

but it is a very different rig set to master.~~

Today's first one: Isn't she big and beautiful?

Drop shot rig, on the contrary, is a "productive" rigging set which usually catches fish "efficiently." I easily detected every bite from bass, sometimes from bluegills (I guess). The only shortcoming are (1) light line may break after catching several fish and (2) line twist. Today, basses seemed to be attracted by my wacky worm very much. I should have caught 5 actually. But in the last one, the bass got my lure and escaped. I hope she feels it tasty…hahahahahaha!!!

Well, I tried to imagine what she was thinking:

"What…!!!This is not a real worm...Damn!!!"

This one pulled really hard…almost cut my worm in half! ^_^

多情之秋

親愛なる君へ :

開始微微涼爽、陣陣涼風的秋天，我和康妮四處地尋找釣點！一到有水的地方，免不了要拋個幾竿，看看魚訊如何！？有時候會著迷於紅黃相接的湖景，忘了手裡的釣竿、魚線那端的誘餌，被魚拖著游啊游地，才猛然警醒：喔---中魚了呀！！

我美麗的康妮! ^_^
怪不得我「雲深不知處」，是因「身在此山中」啊！

『秋收』：有種歡愉氣氛、飽滿的感覺！靜靜地眺望湖面令一端飄落的枯葉，耳邊似乎響起攸遠長鳴的牧童笛聲！人說秋天的另一層意義為「肅殺」，此時，倒是全然不在心上！不過，我也似乎警惕了一下自己：我是在這秋涼之天迫不及待地降世的。平和安詳的我的心，是不是還隱藏著一絲絲冷血殺氣！？

Bloomington的早晨很是冷，像極了台灣的冬天，空氣中可以嗅到一丁點冷冷的濕氣！朝陽初昇的湖面上，看不出色彩斑斕的秋天森林！

看看我身後，湖面接連野林區延伸到天際的另一個平面！我這哪裡是來釣魚的，欣賞風景也就飽了吧！？也許，鱸魚就是靠這種風景躲過我那天的雙餌攻勢！

不過我也沒白來：抓到一隻陸龜！很漂亮的龜殼，蠻可愛的！我最後還是把他放走了，雖然我蠻想留下來養在家裡的！呵呵...

Birthday Gift

It was my 32th birthday. I was not actually intended to think about it since it indicates my growing age! As usual, I did not want to hold any party or some celebration gathering. But I still got a fantastic gift!

Thanks for Yoshiki…he might make me a bass-pro by this rod!!! ^_^ Hahahahaha!!!

Look at this skinny beauty. It's a 6 feet long fishing rod with a spinning reel combo. And PLEASE pay attention to its brand: Daiwa! Hey…Hey…! It's one of the most famous fishing brand from Japan. It has very light weight, very flexible rod tip, and a strong backbone. What do these features tell you? That's right…it's very suitable for long fishing time and for drop shot!

Guess what!? I caught 4 bass this afternoon within 2 hours. Well, it was a little chilly out there around the Burns Lake which might affected the activity of bass. Otherwise, I guess I could catch more by this rod……….(TOO Proud!!!)

By the way, thanks for all those who care about me and remember me. I am especially happy that my students still remember me and they even wrote their blessing in their blogs. I read those article and I was very touched.

Now I am a happy fisherman and also a happy teacher!!!

法蘭克的打漁歌

親愛なる君へ :

實際上來說，今年生日我就滿32歲了！生日，每人誕生時就可以輕易擁有！但是重生，卻要經歷痛苦、掙扎、和許多未知的考驗，才能在來年，慶祝自己，成熟了一歲 （廣宏一：http://www.styleblog.com.tw/style_b/article.aspx?name=bukuly&no=10600）！

從小到現在，有很多事情、觀念，都好像已經被設計好了！你要努力讀書、要有個穩定的工作、要娶妻、生子、安安分分地過一輩子！學校教育教給我的，也大概是這樣！但沒有人，也沒有教科書教我怎麼生活快樂，怎麼活出自己，怎麼面對生命的危機，怎麼過一個屬於自己的、有意義的人生！？

拿到第一張罰單，好像會以為「此生的紀錄從此勾上黑點」；被老闆數落幾句，感覺快要接近「無業、路邊捆報紙睡覺的遊民」；選到不適合自己的人結婚，還得背著專情的包袱，死咬著牙硬撐下去！！！

活到這般歲數，每天聽人講『應該』：你應該要努力工作！你應該要待人親切！你應該要樂觀處事！-----要我說：去他的『應該』！我做了一輩子的好好先生，是時候活出我自己了！

最近釣魚前我都會聽五佰的『心愛的再會啦』！感覺好像我的打漁歌！呵呵！雖然不是在海上釣魚，卻也有討海人的豪情、愛情、和悲情！
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
心愛的再會啦
作詞：伍佰作曲：伍佰

海上的 船螺聲已經響起
對你猶原情綿綿
今日要來離開
心愛的 不甘看你珠淚滴
在我不在的日子
你著保重自己
異鄉啊 總有坎坷路要行
我袂寂寞 有你在我的心肝
男兒啊 立志他鄉為生活
和妳團圓 在我成功的時
最後的 船螺聲又再響起
猶原不甘來離開
手牽著心愛的再會啦
啊~啊~啊~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
啊~啊~啊~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Early Fall Fat Bass/破戒

任 性 自 在

It has been a long time that I have not felt the pulling so strong and long lasting. What a beautiful big bass! I guess she was just fooling around after eating her night meal or something! I caught this beauty while thinking about going back because it was about 6:00 pm. I just let my jighead and shaky worm sit there and I only slightly twitched the rod tip from time to time. Suddenly, I felt quick pulling in the water. I immediately set the hook and reeled the line back. Waaaahahahaha…there she is ...

Look at her belly…she is fat.

I don't remember how much bass I have already caught so far. In the very beginning, I took every picture of the fish I caught. But now, only those big ones motivate me to take pictures.

親愛なる君へ :

到了這個秋天，我在美國也有三年了！好像昨天才搭上飛機到達這個美洲大陸，我還揉著惺忪的睡眼看看這夢想中的國家！拿著釣竿，我一面釣魚，一面抽著蘋果味道的雪茄煙！已經戒了快一年的菸，今天下午破戒了！雖然沒有怎麼吸進去，但聞著煙草味，真的有種放鬆的感覺！

我不是想抽菸才去買的，是覺得好像很久沒有一個人跟香菸說說話的感覺！

今天下午天氣很是宜人！突然想起，我們...很久沒有一起散散步了！

Lab Administrator

Yeah, I come back to work in the language lab. Now I am in charge of this technology classroom. Well, what’s the title…?! Oh, they call me Lab Administrator (quoted from http://www1.indstate.edu/lll/faculty_staff.html).

Sounds cool, doesn’t it? But basically, I sit there and do my homework all the time. There is not much stuff to be taken care of in this lab.
The hardware and software of the computers in the lab have been updated this semester. Finally, we have Office 2007 version installed in the computers…

God bless us!
Somehow I still feel a little bit lonely here. Two years ago, when Tama, Sherry, Sean, and Yoshiki were all employees here, we had a nice time working together. I missed the time we went to the German Beer festival at the end of the semester. It was the “friendship” that made me active and energetic.
PS: The logo above belongs to LLL Department, Indiana State University. http://www1.indstate.edu/lll/

Monroe Lake 釣遊

任性自在的人生親愛なる君へ :

好像又回到小時候去大舅的魚塭玩，坐在竹筏上釣魚的感覺！不同的是，這次是在美國（印第安那最大的湖），而且是自己開船！剛開始還覺得有點怕怕的，要是翻船掉到水裡，我自己到還會游泳，由樹可能就難說了！！！......（笑）

那天水色還算清澈，就是風有點大，天氣陰陰的，但不像會下雨的樣子！本想著到這麼大的水庫釣魚，怎麼著都得中一隻大尾的吧！沒想到四個小時下來，由樹掛零，我釣到一條小不拉嘰的條紋鱸魚（striped bass）!

風景雖不錯，但釣不到魚的心情，卻總是興奮不起來！不知道日後回台灣有沒有這種地方釣魚！？要是真有錢，我還真想買一條船，每個禮拜都去釣魚！

這裡租一艘釣魚船算是不貴的：四小時加油錢和稅金一共是80元美金！

這隻小不點不小心咬到我的餌！唉！放你一命吧，小心一點吧，別被其他大魚吃掉，也別再咬錯餌啦！......（爽）

PhD Candidate & Celebration by Fishing

Fishing & Studies: GO~ In Your Own Ways

Passing the oral defense, I earned my PhD candidacy this afternoon. To celebrate, I went fishing in Hawthorn Park, not having too much excitement at all. Well, then, it might not be so appropriate to use the word "celebrate." Maybe "reward" is more suitable for my intention.

I got two largemouth bass today, reaching my 37. The water level was pretty low so that I did not get many bites. The fish I caught seemed to come and say congratulations to me. Five years ago, I never thought of coming to the United States, earn a PhD candidacy, and fish black bass.

Life is magic!

The Burns Lake really looked like a giant mirror. The cloud seemed to come out from the lake and float on the surface. Somehow I felt like reaching my finger to the cloud, grasping it in my hand or making it into another shape.

The scenery must have come from God's work which echoed to Chinese sentences in my mind: 「此景只應天上有，此生能有幾回映？」I am not saying that I will die soon or something. It's just a fact that I may not have another opportunity to come back here once I graduate from ISU. I really want to hold every happy moment in my heart.
Why do I start to like lure fishing? Well, it's really interesting to me. It takes energy, patience, experiences, knowledge, and wit to fish (sometimes a little good luck). And most importantly, fishing gives me a time to think and reflect, talking to myself or to the nature. It is tranquil, but "thrilling" as well. You never know when and how the fish will bite the bait. All the patience pays off at the moment of "GOT IT."

野生湖區

親愛なる君へ :

想起五佰唱的「美麗新世界」，眼前的景致，雖算不上美，但卻別有一番的「寧靜」！印第安那州有不少的野生打獵及釣魚的湖區，需要持有證照才可在此狩獵及釣魚！這類湖區，通常沒有露營劃分地、沒有游泳區、沒有觀光景點，只有在特定季節，才會有獵人或是釣客出沒！所以囉，污染很少，湖水清見底，草木茂盛！

比起公園裡面的湖，這裡算是非常「天然」的--天然ㄝ『尚好』！！！

所以囉，這裡的魚也比較不好釣，警覺性也高，我想，大概我看不到他們，但他們卻可以透過光線的折射看到釣客的影像吧！為了把湖底的魚騙上鉤，我用汲鉤頭加上軟蟲，沿著底層搜索！終於，讓我請上來一條！嘿嘿，野生的就是不一樣，拉力十足，差一點就讓它鑽進岩縫裡逃掉！！！…(得意中)

這尾大嘴鱸魚很漂亮，身材勻稱，體色完美！很想抓回去養，嘿嘿！

算一算，我最近這半個多月以來釣到三十多條鱸魚！從一開始的興奮，到現在稍有心得的成就感 ; 從每釣到一條都要拍張照片，到現在釣到時頂多玩一兩分鐘也就放掉了！

其實最有趣刺激的，是在中魚揚竿的那一刻！

那一天，我仍靜靜地在此地垂釣，妳會靜靜地陪我，拿水給我喝，和我說話，和我一起慶祝釣到一條大魚？有…...這麼一天嗎？

搖擺小魚-我搖、我搖、我使勁搖

親愛なる君へ :

剛剛才學會用硬式魚餌，在野地湖邊，我就用搖擺小魚成功補到一尾大嘴鱸！但那裡地勢太過險峻苛刻，湖裡雖然斷木殘枝眾多，有利魚群躲藏，但卻很可能讓我的魚餌掛底！那天最後一竿本來就要把那隻鱸魚拉上來了，沒想到讓它逃進浮木底下，我的魚餌也卡住了！弄了半天沒辦法，只有把線剪斷了！！！

有人說路亞釣魚是種幽雅的休閒運動，我與有同感！不必複雜的工具，一個隨身包加上釣竿，隨時可以成行，有水隨處可下竿！但不要把路亞當作是簡單的事情，水域、天氣、魚種、地形、地物，任何一個因素都可能決定當天的魚獲！該挑什麼魚餌、想進攻哪一個水層，都是可以說半天的學問！

玩，也要玩得有心得、動腦筋，這樣才有趣！
看看這隻大個頭，嘿嘿嘿，夠份量吧，拉力十足！所謂大餌釣大魚，說的一點也不錯！

在台灣要釣這麼大隻的淡水鱸魚恐怕不常見吧！看到我手上那個綠色護腕了吧，最近大概甩竿太過頻繁，也開始有點酸痛了！呵呵！

What a Wonderful Day for Fishing

Guess what! I got eight bass today.
I went to Hawthorn Park at around three this afternoon. I chose the left side as my first spot for today's fishing. It was raining at that time actually, but I did not care at all. Maybe it was because of the bad weather, I was the only one there in the beginning. Just right after my first throw, I got the first bass. Hahahahaha…Wooooooooooo…So cool!
By following the rules from reading the bass tips, I immediately changed into another spot and kept trying. And it was really a miracle: I got my second bass. I could not believe that I caught two bass within thirty minutes. I felt like winning a lottery or something.

Then I changed the lure since the previous one has already worn out. And I guess it was the bigger lure that enabled me to catch bigger bass: the third, fourth, and fifth ones.

The third bass: Isn't it big?!

What?! You want to buy this fish?! Five Hundred bucks...cause this is my fifth bass.
~What's going on here? The bass in the lake has not been fed for a week or what?!~ At around five thirty, if I remember correctly, Sharon, Alyssa, and Mayla came to join me. Wuhoooooooo…I really needed a break…cause I have been catching lots of fish!!! Hahahahahahaha…

To test whether the little shiny bead works, I used Alyssa's rod. The result shown that just remaining the original setting would be good enough. Bass seemed not to enjoy the little fluorescent bead. So I changed the lure and the hook. It was getting dark so I thought it might be a good idea to use jig heads. Hey..hey..hey..hey…It worked. I got my sixth, seventh, and eighth bass by the jig head and the long curly-tail worm.

Look at my happy face…I was a happy fisherman.