My first little red tackle box...............

When I was a little boy, (Isn't that a song?), I recieved this hand-me-down tackle box from my dad. He had used it for years and decided that he needed a larger box and it was time for me to have "my very own tackle box". It was a small, light green, metal box with no trays inside, so you just piled your fishing stuff in the box, which worked well for a kid, sort of. I remember that I thought that I had hit the fishing jackpot, my very own tackle box. Do you know what the first thing a kid does to his own, hand-me-down tackle box?  He paints it! So, I had a can of red spray paint that I had used on a small plastic model car and painted my first tackle box, red. My dad wasn't too happy about it, but he didn't say a word. I guess he thought that it was a sign of me valuing it, which was true.  

I carried it around to all of our secret fishing holes. The only problem was that everything inside turned into a tangled mess. I quickly learned, that I hated my first tackle box. It took 15 minutes to untangle the mess every time I wanted a lure, hook or what not. After a few years, I think that my father finally got tired of the frustration and bought me a new tackle box with "trays". It was a beautiful thing! I repurposed my "little red tackle box" to my new "little red paint box" to hold all my tube paints. It's amazing that the "little red tackle box" has traveled to all of my favorite lakes, rivers and bays and now it's used to paint all those lakes, rivers and bays! Funny how it connects the past with the future. I cherish it very much.....

Paddle over to my website, LeoLakes.com. I paint beautiful lake, river and bay decor maps. Folks are discovering that these decor maps are wonderfully unique gifts that become family heirlooms. Oh yeah, I hide things in the lake waters, such as a tiny mermaid/fish. Folks love to search for them. I call my maps, treasured maps because most folks have that special body of water that they treasure. My treasured maps make a great gifts for the fisherman, lake lover, or Lake house. 

As you can see, my maps make a great gift.   Click here www.LeoLakes.com for more information.

Just remember: "Life is short, get away from the big screen and get on a big stream".

A canoe trip down the Weeki Wachee......

Some of you may know that I do canvas lake maps for folks to hang in their home, office or lake house. One thing that I add to my maps is a tiny mermaid. Why did I start adding a tiny mermaid to LeoLakes Treasured Map? It all started with a canoe trip down a beautiful river in Florida named the Weeki Wachee. The waters are so, so crystal clear, you could see the bottom down 15 feet deep or more, which makes it very easy to spot manatees. The water temperature averages in the mid seventies year round and the canoe trip is approximately seven miles long and takes about 3 hours. Also, you go with the flow. I like going with the flow.  

                                                              

I began by paddling down the Weeki Wachee with the family. One thing that I did learn, my wife can barely paddle and my two daughters don't have a clue, which actually made the trip very fun. Two canoes and only one person that can paddle properly, now that’s an adventure! 

My immediate thought was, paddle faster. But it took awhile because I had to help the other canoe. "Miss Can’t Paddle At All" and "Mrs. Can Hardly Paddle", spent most of their time too close to the shoreline. It seemed to me that they were cleaning and inspecting every tree limp and collecting spiders on their clothing as most beginning paddlers do. Finally, after much struggle we made it to where the manatees hang-out.  It was so cool, two adults and one manatee calf. They are just chilling under the water and every once in a while they come up for air. This was nearly as good as seeing "Mermaids", which gave me an idea. I decided that it would be cool to add a tiny mermaid to my lake, river and bay maps. So, that's what I have done! In 2011, i started adding a tiny, little, happy mermaid to all my maps and the idea came on a canoe trip down the Weeki Wachee.

I have recieved much feedback since I started adding the tiny mermaid, and it has been a grand-slam. Folks just love to search for her in the waters of the map. What a great Outdoor Adventure back in 2011!  Remember "What’s in your woods, lake, river, or bay?" Get out and find out! LEO.

Check-out my website, www.Leolakes.com to see if we have your map. We have many popular lake maps such as the Lake Winnipesaukee, Great Sacandaga Lake, Lewis Smith Lake, Pickwick Lake, Greer's Ferry Lake, Lake Sidney Lanier, Lake Sinclair, Table Rock Lake, and Lake Wallenpaupack. Also, we paint custom maps and have personalized maps for that special someone. Leo Lakes Treasured maps, makes a great Gift the lake house, boater, fisherman, and lake lover.

What is a fiddler worm....?

What is a fiddler worm? I didn't know at the tender age of 10, but fiddler worms is what my dad and uncle told me and my cousin that we would be hunting. I thought, this must be a joke like the time they took us "snipe hunting" with a bag and a stick.......

Anyway, we were off in our red 57 Chevolet Station Wagon headed to somewhere near the Tennessee/Alabama line. 

The car finally stopped on a country road near a hill loaded with cedar trees. We all piled out of the wagon. I assumed that I would hear fiddle music but only heard birds. Thank God, I didn't hear "banjo music", if you know what I mean... 

My dad told us to look for rocks about the size of a dinner plate and about an 1" or 2" thick. I'm thinking  what do we do with rocks, dig for worms. The good thing, there were plenty of rocks about the size that he described, because cedar trees normally grow near limestone in thin soil, so there were plenty of rocks. We carried three or four rocks up the hill and I noticed that there were many cedar stumps about 2-3 inch in diameter and were sawed off about two feet from the ground. 

My dad said "Okay, its' time to fiddle up some worms".  "Grab a rock and bring it over to this cedar stump". "Now watch me". He took the rock and lifted on top of the stump and began moving it back and forth, kind of like you're playing a fiddle. Humm.....I'm thinking this is interesting.....is this a joke? 

After about 5 minutes of fiddling, worms began to appear all around the stump. It was amazing! They were everywhere, wiggling in the leaf litter. 

We begin to pick up the worms "like picking blackberries". We ended up with nearly a hundred fat, shiny, red worms. It wasn't long that we all piled back in the 57 Chevy and headed to our favorite fishing hole. Interestingly, we only went fiddle worm hunting, once. I think this was something that they must have done when they were a kid and thought that it would be cool for us to experience. I must say, it was a special time and I always remember fiddling for worms........ 

Hey, paddle over to my website, LeoLakes.com for a beautiful lake, river, or bay map by me. Folks are discovering that these decor maps are wonderfully unique gifts that become family heirlooms. Oh yeah, I hide things in the lake waters, such as a tiny mermaid/fish. Folks love to search for them. I call my maps, treasured maps because most folks have that special body of water that they treasure. My treasured maps make a great gifts for the fisherman, lake lover, or Lake house. 

As you can see, my maps make a great gift.  Click here www.LeoLakes.com for more information.