Looking For Lead In All The Wrong Places

Fishing Buddy Charles, forever after referred to as FBC, called me yesterday to go hunting for lead. Not quite sure what he was up to, I went along. Actually we rode in my truck down to one of the busy streets here in town. We parked, got out and started walking the street slowly looking for wheel weights that had come off unsuspecting folks' cars. There were a lot of bare spots, but there were places especially near traffic lights that were a bonanza for us. In about an hour-and-a-half we filled a one-pound coffee can with weights and pieces of weights of all sizes. The mother lode was near the dumpster by the tire place (We should have looked there first!).

All our time was not spent looking for lead, though. We seemed to squeeze in a few fish stories that no one else would ever believe, and we found a couple of ponds that are downtown but can't be seen from the street. When it gets a little warmer we're going to check them out. Still bragging about the size lead weight we'd found, we stopped for a milk shake and puttered on home. I didn't give it much thought after that.

Well, today FBC came over and said, "Let's make an anchor for your kayak." Yes, I had traded my canoe, BOB, for two kayaks. So I followed him around the corner to his house where he'd already buried a soda can in the ground. Suspended by a pair of vise grips was an eye bolt that had various nuts and 'wings' attached to it. It was then bent out of shape so it wouldn't slip out under a strain. In another coffee can sitting on the ground were the weights we'd scavenged from the street. Around this can FBC built a fire. This was to be a melter, not a smelter.

Since it took a while for the fire to get hot enough to do its job, we stood around the fire warming ourselves and reliving yesterday's lead hunt. Finally FBC figured it was time. With a huge pair of well-worn and charred channel locks, he lifted the can from the fire and brought it over to the buried soda can. Gingerly he poured the molten lead into the can, filling it almost to the top. The excess he poured into a mold that made ingots. He pulled the extremely hot can from the ground to let it cool in the ambient temperature. While it cooled, he dropped the ingots in some water so I could inspect them (It gave me something to do with my hands for a while.)

After peeling off the remnants of the soda can, I had a brand new 9-pound kayak anchor! The only investments we had in it were our time, some scrap lumber used for firewood, an eye bolt and a soda can that had been scavenged from the trash. Now I'll have to buy some line (rope for you lubbers) and put a cleat on the kayak. FBC suggested I tie it around my leg in a hangman's noose. Very funny.

If you're wondering why I'm telling you all this, it's because there is a multitude of things to do to get ready for warmer fishing weather that doesn't involve cleaning and reloading reels. My favorite is hanging out with FBC. The anchor was just icing on the cake.