Family and Hobbies DO mix...

Parked comfortably at a campsite.

Two years ago we took a vacation on Lake Temagami where we live.  Why go away when you are already in the most beautiful place around?  We packed up the family on one of our houseboats at our family houseboat rentals business.  We headed to Cross Lake and found a nice secluded campsite and started to relax.

Yes, I had an work to do while out there, but it was fun work.  That was the first year I had decided to start a small web series on fishing in the area.  We're almost finished cutting all the footage we took that summer, and it has been a fun ride.  So fun we videoed more episodes this summer...

Video work is one of my hobbies, of which I have many.  It only seemed fitting that one hobby should fit into another hobby, fishing.  Thus was born Fish Temagami.  It has allowed me to work with one of teens in my youth group closely who has also taken a liking to video work.  I'm sure you'll hear much about our work on the blog over time...  Or my frustrations when he goes off to school next year and leaves me to work on my own.

Abby enjoying the wonders going by.

This episode was taken on a rainy day.  I tell you, a houseboat was perfect that day, allowing us to fish comfortably with our (at the time) 9 month old.  We had fun playing with the bass, and even had a fish fry with some of the ones we caught that day and the day previous.

One of my other passions is food...  You'll get rambling on that too, including recipes.  This episode features my favorite fish recipe.  I love a side dish of a mix of potatoes, bacon, and onion.  I boil the potatoes first, usually making extra the day before for supper.  Then slice them, add a medium to large onion, and bacon, as much as my wife will allow...  :)  

For the fish I use a premade coating called Fish Crisp.  I mix the original recipe with some of their Jamaican Jerk recipe for a nice coating with a bit of zip.  You can add the Jamaican Jerk to taste.  I also make my own tartar sauce using Miracle Whip, green relish, and a bit of lemon juice (or concentrate).  To make the meal complete, I let my wife pick a healthy vegetable to balance it all out.  The trick with fish is to make sure your oil is fairly hot.  Some people prefer butter.  I use oil for a higher temperature.  You want to get the fish fried faster rather than sitting in the oil soaking it up as it slowly cooks away.

While the trip was very productive in terms of work on my hobby, it was even more enjoyable spending that time bonding with my family in a beautiful nature setting while blending several of my passions together.  I am so thankful to have a supportive family, and one that enjoys at least some of my passions.

Below are a couple links to the fish coating I mentioned in case you have a hard time finding it.  The original recipe I use all the time.  They don't have the Jamaican Jerk listed, but I would imagine Cajun will give a good kick too.  If you are like me, and don't like it too hot, you may want to mix the two for a milder spicy coating.  I've used it on walleye, smallmouth bass, and lake trout all with tasty success.