Hayward Attraction

Those of you who have visited Hayward, WI, will know of the "National Fishing Museum" and its giant musky model. After years of driving by and smirking at the thought of this possible tourist trap, we finally spent $6.50 each and visited the place. Enclosed you will see Kathie, me, and David Curry in the jaws of the beast. There are also shots of our guests, David and Donna, and another of Kathie and me in front of a similarly giant walleye, with the musky in the background.

It turns out that the museum has some interesting features. There are lots of giant fish models all through a park-like area. Most of the local fish species of interest are represented. Then there is an actual museum building filled with several collections of antique and newer items, including artificial baits sorted by type (flys, spoons, plugs, etc.), reels sorted by type (fly, casting, spinning, open-face, closed-faced, etc.), rods, boat motors of all vintages, fishing club patches, and others. There are also numerous mounted fish, some of them record-setting, and there are displays of individuals who have contributed in some way to the sport of fishing. (One of these is Iowa's Tom Bedell--the photo being of a much younger Tom Bedell, I must say--recognized for the contributions he made to preserving the Berkeley fishing company, now Pure Fishing, and helping to start related charitable causes.) Frankly, we enjoyed ourselves and had a number of laughs in the process.

Unfortunately, David and Donna head back to Iowa today. We very much enjoyed their visit and will miss them until the next time we are together. We played numerous games of "Hand and Foot", including trying out some rule variations we found on the web. We ate perhaps too well. We tried our hand at fishing and are just beginning to get a handle on how to work the lake--nothing serious to report yet, however. We played many games of pinball. We have begun to visit about Italy and the possibility of traveling to see David and Donna in Florence while they are there--maybe in October. In short, we have been having fun.

More later!