Check One More Off the List

Today I finished one more important thing on Steve's list, one of the last things he did that night before he passed away he came to my house and got a hospital bed pull up bar, he had told me earlier that his old neighbors that had moved to Cleveland Ga. He carried it home and put it in the front of his storage building. Today me and Sue (Steve's mother in law) carried it to them and got it setup for them. I know Steve had a lot on his mind those last hours but even then he was still doing things for his friends. It felt good to get this checked off of the list. There are many lessons I have learned from Steve, he was a giver even until the end.

This Has Been The Longest Month

One more day in January 2012, this was a challenge to try to blog everyday for a month. The day I started I had no idea where this month was gonna go and what it had in store for me and my friend Steve Leblanc. As it comes to a close tomorrow I can tell you it has been one of the toughest months that I have ever seen. This month and the events from it will surely shape the year to come and many more.

More Pictures from Steve's Memorial by the Lake

Today I worked on getting my taxes ready to give my good friend Ellen, also my CPA. I also had a great conversation about a pontoon I am going to take a look at this week. Went so Steve's and cleaned up some this afternoon. Still hard to believe we won't be going fishing anymore. We fished in his honor yesterday and it will be a day I will never forget.

Steve's Memorial at the Lake

Had a really good day, Steve's Memorial at the lake went really well. Lots of people came, everybody met other friends of Steve's, lots of us fished and lots of Bream and one Bass were caught. I will post some pics of the fish later. Hope everybody is having a great weekend.

Steve LeBlanc and Jack "GarMan" Barnett

Steve LeBlanc and Jack " GarMan" Barnett, gone but not forgotten.
I Subbed at the high school today! Drove over to Gainesville to help GarMan Jacks wife after that, just got back home. Had a suprise at Jacks, I went down to his office to see what lures he had made up, there in the corner was a Gar Jack he custom made for me before he passed, :( I don't know when he made it but there it was, he passed on Dec 15th.

Memorial Service for Steve tomorrow at the lake at First Baptist Church in Winder on Hwy 11, 2:00, we will have a short memorial service then we are going to fish in honor of Steve. If you need directions or more info call me 678-227-1466.
Steve was catching a grasshopper for bait in this pic.

Steve's Memorial

Searched 84 gigs of photos today looking for pics of Steve, made finding Waldo look like a walk in the park. I did actually find some though, made a dvd to play at the memorial at Wal Mart, guess what, they had ads at the end before it looped again! The memorial went great, we had 2 singers lined up one to open and one to close the ceremony. Well Amazing Grace was the song both of them picked, hmmmm, makes you think, 10,000 songs out there and they both come up with the same one. There were several people there from Steve's past, Buddy Saunders being one of them. He spoke, I spoke, Tommy and Brandon spoke, Mark Giles, Larry Sauls. Jackie and Tori sang Amazing Grace. I Want to thank Mrs. Harbin and the FFA Officers fom coming and also all the other friends of mine and Steve's for coming out in the bad weather. Remember the next memorial is at the 1st Baptist Church of Winder at 2:00 on Saturday. Bring your fishing pole and lets catch a few fish in memory of a great friend!

A Day of Fishing

So the day started out at 5:30 scraping ice off the van windshield. 36 peachy degrees, driving through the darkness watching alertly for deer, just got my other van put back together after a deer whacked it for $3200. 6:26 pulled in the Madison Chick-Fil-A, they don't open till 6:30 so I chill looking in the window waiting for the door to open so I can get a biscuit and some un-sweet tea.
Back in the van and on the road, as I near the Eatonton City Limits sign the sun is peering through the fog to my left in the Pecan Grove, it is so stately in the morning light with its long rows of tall trees and the mist around them. I journey on, no time for a picture in fear of being late for my dock appointment. The temp is down to 33 as I press on toward the lake. I top the hill over the lake and there is a massive fog bank, the temp drops even lower to 31. I roll into the dock minutes later 7:27, right on time, I slip and slide down to the dock, climb aboard the boat and there it is, ice again, didn't we start this journey scraping ice, I finishing scraping the boat seat and off we go!!! Fishing, I Love It! We fished all day, some catfish here, some catfish there, after the fog burned of it was a beautiful sunny day! We had a great time enjoying the camaraderie of doing something me and Jonathon both love to do. Next time you have a chance go fishing, take a buddy or go alone, it can be so relaxing, and remember catching fish is only half the fun, the rest is in the journey.

Was A Busy Day!

Got a lot done today, trimmed some giant bushes back at Steve's today, got the picture printed for the memorial, this is the pic we chose, we cropped it some. Packed up all his clothes this evening. Me and Steve shared a common disease, we never threw away anything that someone else could use, we both had buildings full of stuff to prove it. I aim to see that everything he left is used somewhere somehow. Kind of like a weird code we had I guess. Some would call us hoarders and we are but we were more, we would get things to people who could use or need them. I can tell you that I am not ready for this memorial on Thursday, gonna run away tomorrow with my friend Jonathon Herndon and fish for the day try to get a little better grip on things. Thank you all for praying for us through all of this.

Blackhorse Custom Rods

Can't wait for my new custom rod to come in! The first one I am getting is the Twisted Cat Edition Rod. I also plan on ordering a heavy duty rod from them soon. I am excited to try out the Twisted Cat Rod. If you want more information on their Custom Catfish Rods or any of their other awesome Custom Rods check out their site at Blackhorse Custom Rods. I will be posting pics as soon as it gets here!!!

Superbowl

I heard some people talking about a superbowl today, so that is like an extra big bait tank right?

Nasty Weather Again Today

Hangin out at the house today, not much going on, weather outside is dreary. Lazy day, I had plans of going out to catch a few bream and crappie this afternoon but the weather is just too nasty, cold, wet, dreary :( was hoping for a little sunshine to fish by, maybe tomorrow.
SHARK TANK!!! Just finished watching shark tank, my favorite show, I know you thought it would be a fishing show, love the art of the deal, My favorite person on the show is Robert Herjavec, he seems to be the most honest and real! We watch it on Hulu when we don't get to see it on Friday Night.
I did call about 20 friends of Steve's today and tell them about his memorials this week, also tried to schedule a therapy day for me to go fish with Lake Oconee Catfish Guide Jonathon Herndon. I could use a good day on the water before the memorial on Thursday. I am just dealing one day at a time right now.

Fishing Trip Rained Out!

Well My Fishing Trip I Had Planned For Today Got Rained Out! Been planning a fishing trip to Nickajack Lake with my buddy Jason Wells for months, we knew the weather this time of year can be very unpredictable but we planned anyway. Well as the date approached the weather was even crazier than usual. Really cold then warm fronts pushing in, tornado warnings today. You know I will fish in just about any weather but sometimes it is just better to live to fish another day. We will start planning another trip soon and hope we can catch better weather for the next one. May try to do a day this week on Lake Sinclair if I can hook up with my buddy Jonathon Herndon. I need to get a little fishing in and unwind.

Glad It's Friday!!!

Really been a long week, so tired I don't know where to start, finally got Steve's obituary sent to the papers, got the memorials set up, unloaded my last truck at the temp job :) bout to call it a day, hopefully getting a call in the morning to go to Tennessee fishing :)

Long Day Again!

Long day! The Chili Cook Off was a success!!! Nother truck to unload in the mornin' last one, thats the one I been looking for :)

Steven John LeBlanc

Chili Challenge Tomorrow, shaved off the beard today, left the crazy mustache though, getting the times for the memorials for Steve setup and wrote the obituary today, if the times I asked for are approved I will put the obituary in the Barrow County News Sunday. Here is what it says:

Steven John LeBlanc, age 51, passed away Thursday, January 5, 2012. He was born in Waterbury Connecticut, the son of Richard Joseph LeBlanc, Sr. and Sandra Mae LeBlanc. Steve also locally known as “Mr. Fix It” was in the construction and remodeling business. He never met a stranger and everyone he worked for loved him and gave him great referrals. He was an avid fisherman and rock collector, he loved the outdoors. Often if a lake he was fishing had rocks around it he was torn between looking for rocks and catching fish. Steve was preceded in death by his mother and his brother Timothy J. Leblanc. He is survived by his father, his brother Richard J. LeBlanc, Jr., his in-laws Billy J. and Sue Wall of Winder, his wife Sheryl Wall of Jefferson, and many friends. A Memorial for Steve will be held at Lawson Funeral Home on January 24, 2012 at 7:00 pm and there will also be one at the First Baptist Church of Winder on January 26, 2012, at 5:00 pm

Wiped Out!!!

Wow, wiped out, started falling asleep as soon as I sat down at 6 pm, zzzzzzzzzz, bout to meditate a few minutes and hit the hay!!! :)

1-16-2012 My Day

Well I kicked off the day at 4:15, unloaded one truck, and stocked some aisles. Got a truckload of empty boxes to take to Steve's to help pack stuff up if they decide it is what they want to do. Went to visit Mark, he was a real long time friend of Steve's too. Had a long time friend Jimmy Garrett pass away Friday night, his funeral was today. I couldn't bring myself to go to the service, I decided to meet up with them at the graveside. I held it together and several people asked me about Steve there. Saw Tommy today, he is getting better. I really don't know what else to say today, most of the stuff with Steve's business are up in the air today. I hope I get better at this blogging thing, good thing I don't have any readers yet. :)

Peaceful Day

Taking it easy today, had lots of calls from Steve's friends checking to see if there was any news about the memorial. The friends Steve had all loved him so much and all of them are having such a hard time understanding all this. I finally found contact information for his brother tonight, I called him and gave him the news, we talked about their younger years and all the fishing they did with hooks and line and weights they found on the shores of Lake Lanier. I have a better understanding now of where Steve,s love of re-purposing things came from,at an early age he was recycling peoples lost hooks and line to fish with. While looking for his brothers contact information I saw lots of things that Steve wrote down over the years,interesting stuff. I am making a list of all the people I need to call when we get his memorial services arranged. Met with the preacher and we are all set whenever we get ready to have the memorial there, Steve wanted some of his ashes there at the lake he loved, his peaceful place.

Memorial Service for Steve

Hey Everbody, in case somebody missed my post about the Memorial for Steve, it is going to be this week or next, I will post it, the Crime Lab decided they needed to do an investigation. There was a brief article in the Barrow paper today saying a body was found in a local pond but authorities were not releasing identification until next of kin was notified. I did all that for them already. We will be having a Memorial at Lawson Funeral Home in Hoschton one evening and another at the lake so everybody can attend and say their farewells.

Gary Turner Trivia Fact

Gary Turner Trivia Fact: the movie Taxi was on this morning,years ago I drove several of the Taxi's, the blue beamer and some of the other cars across Los Angeles one day. I was moving Movie Prop cars from one storage yard to the other, it was fun, some of them still had damage and police tape hanging off them. I also drove several cars from other movies sets that day.

Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th, first off I want to say a special thanks to Artie Doughty, Lt. John Blocker and Hall County Sheriffs Office Dive Team and Search and Rescue Team. I know they had a hard day yesterday but it gave us a much needed closure. Also I want to thank all the friends who have offered support and Prayers. Please continue to pray for his family and friends. Sue, BJ, Sara, Tommy, Ricky, Mark, Crystal, Pruitt and many others are still trying to grasp our loss.
The memorial will not be for a little while, most likely end of next week or even the week after. I will post it on here as soon as I know.
Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Steve Leblanc Will Be Sorely Missed!

I don't really know what to say right now, after an agonizing long week of not knowing, the Hall County Sheriffs Office Dive Team and Search and Rescue Boat came to search the lake. After several hours they found Steve, Rev. John Talley walked up as I waited to see what they were going to do. We talked and waited, they began to do what they had to do and I left to notify Steve's family. I am going to try to arrange a memorial service for Sunday. If you would like to attend I will post the info here as soon as I get it scheduled. I lost a one of a kind friend today. Please pray for his family and friends. He is gone to a better place!

Getting Older?

First before I get to getting older, there is no new news on Steve to update today.
I don't think about how old I am very often, I still think I am 20 sometimes but today I got a wake up call. I lost my mind and took this temp job for a few weeks unloading trucks. Well I got my butt kicked by a bunch of boxes today. So today's truck has 900 boxes, that is in itself was bad enough, they weighed 30 pounds each. Ok I know, 30 pounds no biggie right, at least not the first 100! But after an hour of they started feeling like they weighed 100 pounds each. It was like burnouts that would not end. So all I could think is that if these were all 30 pound catfish this would have been a ton more fun!!!!

Steve is Still Missing

Update on Steve - spoke with the Winder Police Dept. Investigator today, he assured me that they did pole the lake already and turned up nothing. Spoke via another friend to Habersham EMA who suggested Barrow EMA get a decomp dog taken to the lake. I called BCSO and they gave me the info to contact EMA tomorrow, I don't know what else to do right now. Praying we find something out one way or the other soon. Thank you for all your prayers and support during this trying time. Gary

Long Day!

Still trying to find out if Steve is in the lake in Winder. This is very nerve racking. Was a very nice day today, scattered showers, sunshine and then clouds again. Would have been the kind of day me and Steve would have hit City Pond or Wesley's Lake. I went and talked to a common friend of me and Steve's for several hours. We are both still in shock about this mess. Did he do it? If he did why? How long is it going to take to find out if he is in the lake or not?

Well that is my thoughts for the day, please hang in here with me, I will get back to fishing again soon I hope.

Gary "Gone Fishin" Turner

Saying Good Bye to Jack "GarMan" Barnett

We went to Jack "GarMan" Barnett's memorial service today. It was a good service, the chapel was full and had to bring in extra chairs, his daughter and granddaughter both had written about Jack and the preacher read the stories. They talked about living by the lake and about how Jack built the lake house board by board. They talked about how patient and understanding he could was.Him and Loise have been married for 66 years, wow. One story was about when they went fishing and ran out of gas, funny, me and Jack did that same thing one day when I was fishing with him and we had a guy tow us to his dock. Gar fishing with Garman was very fun, we would troll sometimes and others we would sitecast. Sometimes we would work the docks just like we were bass fishermen! One of the things I love most about gar fishing with Jack was he always said to be at his house by noon!!! Noon, we always fished the afternoons cause he said the gar didn't bite good in the mornings, I love going fishing at NOON!!!
I guess if there is a lesson for me in the passing of Jack it is this, do everything you can to make time to do things with people when you can, I can't tell you how many times Jack told me come up and we will go fishing!!! We did go many times but I should have made time to go more. I knew he was an older gentleman but I thought we had more time. The song "Cats in the Craddle" keeps coming back to me. I only wish we could have gone more. He was a very special friend to me and to a great person who will be sorely missed by all who knew him.

Steve LeBlanc is Missing!

My good friend and fishing buddy is still missing, he left a suicide note on Thursday morning very early. I got the call at 3 am, the police went where he said he was going, several items of his were found there, some on the bank and some in the water.
The police wrote it off as him running away because he was supposed to go to court on Thursday and didn't search in the lake. Friday morning some people from Ft. Yargo put in a boat and did some looking but didn't find anything. I went Friday afternoon and pulled trebles for several hours while Tommy and Sue checked the banks. Today I took the boat and me and Pruitt poled the bottom and pulled trebles. We didn't find anything and I am hoping we don't. I would rather him be far away than in this cold icy grave. He loved this lake and had fished here for over 30 years. I am looking for him because I want to put some closure on this and the authorities don't seem to care if he is in the lake or not. The police said he will come up eventually. :( Not a satisfactory answer for his family and friends. It is a very odd feeling looking for him in a lake we fished many times together. Thank you to all of my friends and family who have called and emailed to check on me and get updates on our progress.

Sad Day for Fishing!

It is a very Sad day for fishing :( 2 things, one my very good friend and fishing buddy Jack "GarMan" Barnett passed recently, he was a really great guy. I will miss him, we had such a blast fishing for Gar on Lanier over the years. A pic of us before one of our Gar fishing trips on Lake Lanier.


Jack Harrison Barnett
Memorial services will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012, in the chapel of Gainesville First United Methodist Church for Mr. Jack Harrison Barnett, 84, of Gainesville,

The other sad thing today is that a very close friend and longtime fishing buddy has disappeared and he left a suicide note. I spent the afternoon helping to search for him at a lake we have fished together often. I hope that he is still alive somewhere but it is not looking good. I will continue to search the lake where he said he was going to do carry it out again tomorrow.
Please pray for their families in this hard time.

Sunny Afternoon in January!

Fish On!!!

FISH ON!!! Ok, they aren't big but they were fun to catch, it was a peachy 47 degrees with a slight breeze, I don't know how cold the water was but it was COLD! I fished 25 minutes, caught 4 bream, 1 crappie. :) It has been cold the last 2 days, morning temps of 23 and 15. Today it started out at 31 and got up to around 50. It was sunny this afternoon so I knew I had to drown a worm before it got dark. They were biting a little slow and were in around 4 - 5 feet of water.

Thoughts for the Upcoming Year 2012

What do I want out of 2012? Once upon a time I was involved in a think group that was led by Robert Allen and Mark Victor Hansen, you may have heard of them. Anyway one thing they always said was when setting a goal or a resolution always have a clear picture of what your end goal is and the work back from that. Well I have pondered what I want to happen this year for awhile. My end goal is to be guiding fishing trips. To have a product that I produce for the fishing industry. Last but not least to fish in several Catfishing Tournaments this year. Well there are my end goals now I need to spell out the steps it will take to make them happen. Taking Action!!! If you want to help me attain my goals or have a piece of my puzzle please let me know!!!
Gary "Gone Fishin" Turner

50 Fish to Catch Before You Die

Today is day 3 of my year of blogging about my fishing, well I worked all day today so no chance to fish. I did squeeze in a little time to read some in one of my fishing books. It is 50 Fish to Catch Before You Die by John Bailey. It is a good read, he talks about each fish and then has a story about each. Tonight I read about catching the line burning bonefish in the Bahamas. They are on my list of fish to catch before I die too! The pic is of April Vokey with a nice Bonefish she caught while fishing in the Bahamas.

What kind of catfish baits do I like?

Somebody asked me what I liked for catfish bait tonight on my facebook, so here is some of what I posted. For channels, the kitchen sink is the limit, pepperoni, marshmallows, ivory, camay, hot dogs, little smokies, small bream live or dead, liver of course, jerky, stink bait, the list goes on....

This is an article I wrote about my choice baits for big cats.
http://gonefishinclub.hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Catch-Big-Catfish-The-Best-Baits

They wanted to know what I thought about goldfish as a bait.
Gary Turner Ok so on the goldfish, here is what I do, at a pets mart or pet store, buy 50 or 100 small ones, lots may die, put them in a large tank outdoors, old bathtub, horse trough, old jacuzzi tub with the jets sealed up, raise them out to whatever size you need, they are usually 13 to 22 cents each. Check your state regulations on what is legal on public lakes and waterways.

1-2-2012 Windy Today

Hung out at the house today, the wind was blasting and had a chill to it. My buddy Steve came by and I asked him if he was gonna do any fishing today, he looked at me like I was crazy, guess that was a no! In my resolutions for 2012 I want fish more and to blog my fishing more. In 2012 I also hope to add to my list of species I have caught and my personal best catches.

Happy New Year Fishing on 1-1-2012

Happy New Year, went out to see if I could catch a 1-1-2012 fish. The fishing was a little crappie but I caught a few, mostly crappie, lol, he is camouflaged in this picture. 4 of us went and fished for maybe 45 minutes. It was a quick lite rain as we got started and gusty winds. I picked a little fishing hole near the house.
Armed with 2 20' Wonderpoles, 1 Zebco 22 combo and 14' Shooting Star Bream buster we baited with red wigglers and threw down on them!
The fish were mostly nibbling the baits but we still managed to hook a few. I was basically drifting with a 20' bream pole. I would set the float and the wind would work it across for me. We had a good time and caught fish, what more could you ask for on New Years Day!!!
“Tight lines and Squealin' Reels put a Smile on my face every time” Gary "Gone Fishin' Turner