Sunday, December 26, 2010

Glacier National Park 2011 Calendar available!

I have finished the Glacier National Park Calendar and have finished product ready to ship.

Here is what the calendar looks like.



To order you need to go to my website a page has been created to purchase.

CaptJim Panorama Calendar

Capt Jim

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Christmas Day and all is quiet! Hope everyone is having a wonderful Holiday!!

Here is some seasons greetings photos!!





Have a Merry Everyone!!

Capt Jim

Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Thought I would share a couple of my favorite Christmas Songs!!

Yingle Bells



I yust go nuts at Christmas...




And One about Alaska and halibut!!




Capt Jim Lucas
(Professor)

Monday, December 20, 2010

Cassiar RIP - December 20th, 2010

Cassiar was laid to rest today at Yes Bay in Alaska - He had a long and wonderful life and will be held in our hearts for a long time! He was named after the Cassiar Highway that runs through Canada and Alaska, one of the most beautiful highways in North America...RIP

Here are a few pictures from better times...







Capt Jim Lucas
(Professor)

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Another great SE Alaska Video



Enjoy,

Jim

New Plans for 2011 and beyond!!

This is my new project for the rest of the winter - make plans to find the trailer and then build my tiny house on it next winter!!



Well I now have some finalized plans for the remainder of this winter season and then next winter season. I will start seriously shopping for the proper trailer this winter and get it bought, and start working on the design for the remainder of the winter. After Alaska next year I will be building my TINY HOUSE on the trailer….and then be ready to see the world!!

Mine will be a little different as I will NOT sleep in a loft, so it will be on one level and it MUST have a full bath with shower, fresh water storage with a boat pressure water system plus room for grey and black water storage and also room to add a generator at some point. I like the gas fireplace for heat and of course it will be air conditioned, more than likely with a nice window unit….except for the AC and some electrical outlets for appliances and hot water heater the remainder of the house will operate like a boat on 12 or 24 volt….with a couple batteries and maybe a solar panel for charging and a charger hooked to the generator or of course shore power if I am in a campground…

How about watching one be built!



And another great view...




Wish me luck - I think it will be fun and perfect for my upcoming lifestyle change! Who knows may even figure out a way to make some money at it!! Seems popular as I do more research!!

Jim

Thursday, December 9, 2010

SE Alaska

I found this blog and video that is really all about SE Alaska and the Tongass National Forest where Yes Bay Lodge is located.

Enjoy it and if you want to read about it and get more information go here

Captain Robs Postcard from Alaska!

Here is the video!



Enjoy...stay tuned for constant updates! Book the dates for your Alaska Adventure soon!!

www.yesbay.com


Captain Jim
(Professor)

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Nice to find out you didn't screw up!!

Sometimes you wonder how well you did as a parent and it is really nice to find out, you must have done something correct!!

Took a trip down to West Palm Beach area to see my stepson. We had been "estranged" since the "War of the Roses" with his mother, far too long and I should never have let it happen, but we both decided to put that behind us and move forward.

Needless to say I am one proud Papa! The kid finished a dual major college degree from Stetson University and now has a great job, owns a very nice home and a beautiful boat (31 foot Jupiter), spends his spare time doing a bunch of fishing and diving, quite an accomplished spear fisherman as well as a great fisherman (Wonder where that came from??). Somehow has remained single, but has a wonderful close knit group of good friends, including a very nice girlfriend.

So, it all turned out well, I had a great time we got to visit and bring each other up to speed on what we have been up to for the past 10 or so years and we managed to avoid all the past pain we inflicted on each other....

I arrive in time to help get the boat loaded and we headed out Saturday evening to watch the Palm Beach Christmas Boat parade. Did some grillin and chilling rafted up with a couple other of his friends boats, good music, a couple cocktails, some good food and a real nice boat parade.

Will on the right with his good buddy Brian on the boat.



Some friends on their boats with the grill fired up!



A few of the boat parade boats!





Sunday morning we worked on some boat repairs, then loaded up and went out for the afternoon fishing...not much was biting and the weather didn't cooperate, but a good time was had by all and we managed to find enough fish for a decent dinner. So the grill was fired up and Will showed off his cooking skills!



The we spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the hot tub, after washing the boat and all the fishing gear.



So, a great time was had by all and I can honestly say the kid has done alright and I am happy to know that even this old asshole can sometimes get something right and even admit that his mother may have had something to do with it as well!!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful winter and my wishes are extended for a Joyous and Wonderful Holiday Season for everyone!!

More Christmas wishes later!

Capt Jim Lucas
(Professor)

Saturday, November 27, 2010

2011 Yes Bay Lodge Guide Staff!

The season planning begins early, right after the end of the previous season we start shopping for our guides for the upcoming season. Of course we have our mainstays, guides who return year after year...and to that we supplement with new guides who we hope will return for a number of years, depending on their home lifestyle and other obligations.

This year we are excited with both our returning guides and some really great new guides. As usual we had a tremendous response from our solicitations, making it very difficult to choose, we had over 60 applicants for what looks to be 5 positions.

First our returning guides!

Of course we must have Slice Captain Jim Bernard who returns for his 18th season at Yes Bay!



And Slammer Dan Colander returns for his 12th year!



And of course I will be returning for my 5th year!



And the season would not be the same without Kicker (Ron Chimenti) - although his return is still a little questionable due to some licensing problems, but there will be a spot for old Kicker!



Batman (Capt David Noble) Returns for his third season!



And Captain (Yea Yea) Al Bermitz returns for his 2nd season!



And now our new guides for 2011!

Captain Mike Locklear!



Captain Jeff Bortz



Captain John Pfeiffer



Captain Myron Jemison



And finally Captain Sean Falconer - who I don't have a picture of yet, but will soon and I will add it to this list!

You can go to the guides page on the Yes Bay website and click on their picture to read a little bit more about all of our guides for 2011.

Go here: http://yesbay.com/YBL2011guides.htm

And as usual Sean (Harvester) Roberts and Colin (The General) Mc Crossin, will more than likely be around during the busy time in late August and early September, depending on our bookings!

Stay Tuned for more off-season happenings around Yes Bay Lodge in SE Alaska!

Capt Jim Lucas
(Professor)

Monday, November 22, 2010

November 22nd

Saturday evening I went with a photography club to take some pictures of the downtown Tampa Skyline, a group of about 10 met behind Tampa General Hospital and here are a couple of the pictures I took.

First in color...



Second one in Black and White



And now something a little different...a combination of color and black and white!



I have recently done a total rebuild of this site and my main website. I have also worked pretty extensively updating the Yes Bay site, for better search engine performance, and I added links to pages with the pictures for the 2010 season. Guides for next year are all almost hired, final notifications will be done before the end of this week. We have a great group of candidates and will as usual have a fantastic set of guides for the 2011 season.

Lodge is booking nicely, so make sure you make your reservations soon.

Capt Jim Lucas
(Professor)

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Flash Mob at the Ohio Union 5/3/2010 - The Ohio State University

A friend shared this with me on FB and I just had to repost here, this is now my all time favorite Flash Mob video from good old Ohio State! Go Buckeye's!!




More to come later today with lots getting done around here. Rebuilt website and blog for both myself and the Lodge, will finalize the hiring of next years guides this coming week and finish up some marketing items.

Capt Jim

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Wonderful Ohio

The fall colors are brilliant and I am having some great fun with friends and family...

here are a couple pictures taken a day or so ago...







More to come later as I am shooting again today!!

Jim

Sunday, October 3, 2010

The home trip adventure continues.

Spent a couple days touring around Glacier National Park in Montana and the photographic opportunities have been amazing.

Here are few I have processed so far (Out of nearly 1000 shots)











Hope you are enjoying the show, there are plenty more which I will be posting in the coming days...leave for Ohio tomorrow morning early for a long day of traveling to visit family.

Jim

Thursday, September 30, 2010

End of 2010 Season and Adventure Trip Home!

Well the very successful 2010 season at Yes Bay ended and we quickly buttoned up the Lodge, moved all the boats to town and got things squared away for a brand new season next year, make plans now to join me for an Alaska fishing vacation!

As usual I plan a wonderful trip home and this year is no exception. I left the Lodge a few days earlier than planned because we were expecting bad weather and we got it, while I was in the hotel in Ketchikan, the winds blew well over 60 knots with gusts as high as 100 in some places. Oh and also driving rain, so going in to town a little early was a wise decision. I left Ketchikan on the 25th and arrived at a buddies in Kalispell Montana on the 26th - On the 27th we headed down to the Bison Range National Park and then went to see some old mining ghost towns. Then we headed for a full tour of most of Glacier National Park. The weather is perfect with clear blue skies and warm temperatures, perfect for picture taking!!

Here are a few from the trip...

First a prelude to the bad weather in Ketchikan



An Antelope at the Bison Range



And another antelope.



A distant buffalo, they were not very cooperative...although I have a funny one I will post in the next day or so - stay tuned.



This one is a little better...



Self Portrait in a saloon in the old ghost town of Bannack.



A squirrel in Glacier National Park.



Some Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep in Glacier National Park.





A beautiful scene in Glacier National Park.



Some of the fall colors...





Stay tuned for more photos of my trip home...I took a ton and will be posting more everyday or so...

Hope everyone is well...

Capt Jim

Sunday, September 19, 2010

September 19th - SEASON ENDS WITH FISH!

Our last guests leave tomorrow and only 2 boats fished today with guests, the weather was clear and sunny but we had a bit of wind today, so it was a little rough out there, but the fishing remained very good.

Limits of nice 10 plus pound Silver Salmon before lunch, only Slammers boat went out in the afternoon and they managed a nice halibut and a couple nice King Salmon. My boat decided they had enough fish for their 4 days of fishing - nearly 300 pounds of finished fillets! A total of 48 salmon, 3 halibuts and a couple yelloweye snapper thrown in for good measure!

Here are today's catch pictures - Stay tuned for the Silver Salmon Derby Winners!!







All in all a tremendous season at Yes Bay Lodge in SE Alaska, the entire crew and staff at Yes Bay would like to Thank each and every one of our customers for making this one of the best seasons ever!

Make plans to join us next year - prime dates are already booking up...so make you reservations soon!!

Thanks

Captain Jim Lucas
(Professor)

Saturday, September 18, 2010

September 18th - It just doesn't get any better than this!

The high pressure system we have been sitting under continues to hold, with super clear skies, light winds and warm temperatures!! So unlike September in Alaska, the only thing that is like Alaska is the fishing...the silver run is in full swing and has been for several weeks, the fish keep getting bigger and bigger and the bite is strong and steady with all boats getting their limit well before lunch...then off hunting halibut, snapper and some kings...this is fishing the Yes Bay way. Best time of the year to visit Yes Bay Lodge!!

Why haven't more people discovered this time of year at Yes Bay??

On with today's catch pictures!!












Great fishing at Yes Bay Lodge in SE Alaska!!

Captain Jim Lucas
(Professor)

BTW - Look for Salmon Derby results on tomorrows blog - last day of customer fishing is tomorrow!! Season ends with still a bunch of fish around to catch! Sign up for September next year and maybe we'll stay open later!! Or just fill the Lodge right up to the end.