HomeblogsDave Lefebre – Happy New Year – Fish Hard to believe another year has gone by already. We had a good holiday season with family over Christmas and New Years. Christmas day was a little strange because there was no snow on the ground. We spent half of the day traveling to Anne’s Mom’s house and then to my Mom’s house after spending the morning at home with just the kids and Gramps. We enjoy watching the kids get excited, Mitchell is 9 now, so he’s just starting to get enthusiastic about “giving†and not just “gettingâ€. They had a little Christmas store inside his school where the kids could buy things and get them wrapped, so Smiley took advantage of it. He got me a pair of sandals for Florida and a few other things. I haven’t been fishing in about two weeks now, and the last time I went was on the creek for Steelhead…blah. I caught 9 fish that day, but other than the scenery, it is boring to me. I only go once a year if that. The only good thing about not fishing lately is that my elbow seems to be healing quite a bit. I had some tendon problems starting this spring and then (ever so gracefully) I fell on the slimy boat ramp during the Potomac River event and chipped a bone in my elbow. Anyway, I’ve been doing some exercises to help my tendons, I had the bones checked and they seem to be healing nicely also. I’m starting to feel dramatically better lately, so maybe the lack of fishing is a blessing. I’m anxious to get the next season going, so pumped that I’m trying to talk Anne into heading down to Florida a week or two early, but that will never happen. Our first tournament is the FLW Tour on Lake Okeechobee on February 9th, always a good one for me. Problem: I’ve got all of my stuff piled in a small unheated garage, most of it in boxes and hard to get to. It will probably take me a week to get organized and ready to roll. My plan is to wait until the last minute, because that’s just how I always do it, lol. Usually I like to be on the ice every minute possible while I’m off, but this unseasonably warm, windy, and rainy season is not letting the ice form on our lakes, it is driving me absolutely crazy. You can’t do anything because there’s just enough ice that you can’t launch the boat, but not near enough to walk on. Looking at the extended forecast, I think there is a slight chance that we could get enough ice by mid-week, but I’m not counting on it, temps are supposed to be in the teens tonight and tomorrow night. All I need is 3 inches, a life vest, and a long rope! First ice is always the best time to be out there, but also the scariest sometimes. Keep me up to date on your fishing success through my Facebook page, nothing better than a good fish story on a boring fishless day! www.davelefebre.com