Almost Holiday

The spring of 1990 was near the end of a difficult year for three elementary school principals. It was Paul’s first year at Washington. Couple that with Centennial school closing which packed Sheridan and Irving with record numbers of students. Don’s wife, Pat, who often made suggestions for Don’s mental health (and likely her own), suggested he take a fishing trip with some of his friends. After discussion with Paul and me, he decided Lake Shelbyville was the place to go for early season crappies.  The plan was to rent a boat when we arrived. Paul was the planner, and still is. He called the marina at Findlay; called area hotels and found a cheap one in Sullivan, IL about 15 miles north of the lake. When he asked about the rooms, he was told “Almost Hollriday”. We don't know the real name of the motel, but remember it by that name.

We met to plan the trip, but mostly we drank beer. We decided to bring some beer, snacks, and to eat at restaurants. Don said he would bring some whiskey. I said I’d bring beer and Southern Comfort.

We left Friday evening. No one knew how to get there and we were driving after a tough day at work. Navigating to Sullivan was done with maps and they were small scale maps. We stopped in Mt. Zion, south of Decatur for pizza, and the pizza was slow arriving. We got to Sullivan late and checked in the motel.

 “Ah, Meester O”Brian” they said when Paul told them who we were. The owners, Asian (likely Indian), lived at the hotel. The reception counter adjoined their kitchen. The ice maker in the lobby had a plant on it and a sign “ask for ice”. If we wanted ice, they had to go to the kitchen, break open a plastic ice cube tray and give us ice.  The lobby reeked of curry. One of us had to sleep on a rollout. Paul or Don graciously volunteered. We were so tired we went right to sleep, planning to leave by 6:00 am.

Navigating by guess and a small scale map, we located the Findlay Marina. It was located on a steep incline and it was a long walk down to boat rental place. The marina was like a small tackle store and a huge tank for minnows. They had just opened, as good crappie fishing wasn’t expected for several weeks. Just our luck, but we bought some minnows anyway and rented a boat.

Picture three guys in a small boat with boards for seats, a 6 hp tiller steer motor, only one person who knew how to drive the boat, a windy day, on an 11,000 acre lake none of us had ever seen before. Only Paul had fished from a boat. Don and I had no idea how to find crappies. In our hands this was a prescription for disaster.

Fortunately we located fish early in the day. Paul drove us to some stickup trees fighting the wind. Don was in the middle and I was in the front. Don at least knew how to row or paddle.

I had my rod and reel Connie had given me years ago. It was set up for bass fishing and had medium line and an ultra-light reel (Mitchell Garcia 308). I rigged up a jig at Paul’s direction. I couldn’t cast the little jig in the wind so I just dropped it over the edge. Although it was windy, we tied up to a tree and caught fish right away. This was terrific and I thought fishing with Paul was always going to be successful.

After a cold morning fishing we decided to go in for lunch. We drove to Findlay, and found the only restaurant within 15 miles. I had heard of Findlay in college. One of the guys I played cards with was from there. Every store in town (about 4 buildings) had encouragement for the local basketball team to go to state. (They lost that year, but eventually became the smallest school to win a state title).

After lunch we added bait, gas and headed out. Paul still drove, but the cove where we started stopped producing. Paul drove us to several other locations, but the fishing quit.  It rained for a while and Paul and Don dressed in rain gear. I only had a rain poncho and it kept blowing over my head.

We had to return the boat by 5:00 pm. Paul moved us over to a more sheltered area near some large cabin boats moored at the marina. We decided to fish there until the end of the day as we were close to the marina and it was around 4:30. (to be continued)