Rob and Nick came over from Ft Wayne for a long half day. Nick is dying to catch a steelhead and we are zero for 2 on trips. But, he did hook two fish today....one in dark water and one on gravel. Both were nice fish. Rob is "along for the ride" as he puts it. He and I talked about hunting in Alberta and maybe doing spring snows next year. Rob and I have a lot in common!
Well all that rain that's been holding out has finally come down the river. A good wash is was my lawn needed but I coulda done without the river gettin' messed up. I canceled Friday with Paul and Doc and looks like Robert is going to hold off for Sunday as well. Its coming down at a good pace now but we did get more rain today. I hope Monday works out. Next week starts to get busy and the wiggle room with reschedule disappears real quick.
I took Mitch to his baseball "draft"...or whatever they call it. It's a skills test that lasted several hours. I asked if RJ could give it whirl too but the cut off is 7 years old and he's only 5. Granted, he'd probably play better than most of the 7 and 8 year olds but rules is rules. Plus, the boss guy was really big and had red hair...kind of a fat viking looking dude with a Marine cut, so I didn't push the issue.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
March 11th, 2010....The D and BS
Dan and I hit The D for a few hours this morning. The water was coming up and going off though still fishable. I hooked one in a slot below gravel...I presume a female holding behind a redd that I couldn't see. Kinda surprised me so I punted after a few head shakes. I saw some newly worked gravel and one occupied redd but little activity in the way of traffic. 45.5 degree water.
We headed down to BS dam and slid in line. Dan with a two-hander showing off with a big 'Truder. I was feeling the urge to assimilate into the crowd and grabbed Dan's drift rod out of the back seat of his truck. I think it was a Cabela's blank, green Fish Eagle II that he rolled up in his signature pinkish red thread and used remnants of other corks to make this bizarre fucked up looking handle that was ill shaped and peculiar but oddly comfortable in the hand. t didn't take long and I was into a fish on a #6 chart/orange nuke. I kicked it's ass...a smallish female winter-run in great shape. As I let her go I said,"What a nice looking fish" a toothless hillibilly nearby followed me up with,"It'd be a lot nicer if it was on a fuckin' stringer". And with that gem of wisdom in our collective thoughts, I let her go.
Shortly thereafter I picked up another fish in the same tank right in front of a big rock. This spot is notorious to Dan and I because the majority of those guys that live down there never fish it. It's draped in line anyway so you can feel the line and then you get jacked by a fish that's laying in the hydraulic just upstream of the BFR. I landed it in the same place and one of the regulars, a good guy says to me, "Man...you don't play em at all do you?"....alluding to the fact that I usually get them handled before they handle me. I said,"Nope, I like to kick their ass and move on".
About 10 minutes later I nailed a big male that beat the crap out of me for a few minutes but then I had him on a rail coming in. He stopped just long enough to get fouled up in a bunch of line refuse and bent my hook out on a rock. These hooks are TMC 105 knock offs...not ever sure what they are....Daiichi maybe. They seem to bend a little more readily but the price is worth the gamble I guess. Adios Mr. Steel. I also landed two nice clean Redhorse Suckers....so technically I was the "hi rod" for the time I was there. Dan was sure to point that out to some of the nay saying, fly fishing guide haters down there. I can handle myself with the drift rod...been a while but it was good to give it whirl again.
We headed down to BS dam and slid in line. Dan with a two-hander showing off with a big 'Truder. I was feeling the urge to assimilate into the crowd and grabbed Dan's drift rod out of the back seat of his truck. I think it was a Cabela's blank, green Fish Eagle II that he rolled up in his signature pinkish red thread and used remnants of other corks to make this bizarre fucked up looking handle that was ill shaped and peculiar but oddly comfortable in the hand. t didn't take long and I was into a fish on a #6 chart/orange nuke. I kicked it's ass...a smallish female winter-run in great shape. As I let her go I said,"What a nice looking fish" a toothless hillibilly nearby followed me up with,"It'd be a lot nicer if it was on a fuckin' stringer". And with that gem of wisdom in our collective thoughts, I let her go.
Shortly thereafter I picked up another fish in the same tank right in front of a big rock. This spot is notorious to Dan and I because the majority of those guys that live down there never fish it. It's draped in line anyway so you can feel the line and then you get jacked by a fish that's laying in the hydraulic just upstream of the BFR. I landed it in the same place and one of the regulars, a good guy says to me, "Man...you don't play em at all do you?"....alluding to the fact that I usually get them handled before they handle me. I said,"Nope, I like to kick their ass and move on".
About 10 minutes later I nailed a big male that beat the crap out of me for a few minutes but then I had him on a rail coming in. He stopped just long enough to get fouled up in a bunch of line refuse and bent my hook out on a rock. These hooks are TMC 105 knock offs...not ever sure what they are....Daiichi maybe. They seem to bend a little more readily but the price is worth the gamble I guess. Adios Mr. Steel. I also landed two nice clean Redhorse Suckers....so technically I was the "hi rod" for the time I was there. Dan was sure to point that out to some of the nay saying, fly fishing guide haters down there. I can handle myself with the drift rod...been a while but it was good to give it whirl again.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Sunday March 7th, 2010 - Quick Drift
I was able to race off to the river and meet Josh Lantz for a quickie evening drift. By the time I hiked in to catch up with Josh he had hooked two fresh chromers and had his ass handed to him. That's a great way to beat the cabin fever. It's game on now and there is no looking back. I have a feeling this is going to be one of those springs when guys will say,"Damn, I sure wish I'd have given you a call two weeks ago".
Saturday 3/6/10 Burning Gas in The Chicken Cow
Dan and I took Dustan's Chicken Cow up and down the Joe for half a day today. The river looks about as good as I've ever seen it. Water temp was hovering around 45.5 which is amazing. Really looking forward to fishing the Joe this spring...unless we get a blow out of course. We hooked nothing but it was nice to get out and do some scouting.
I also spent about a half hour photographing the two Traveling Decoys from the Duck Hunter's Boat Page that were carved by the late Lee Harker. The decoys are destined to be given to Lee's grandson Blake in a couple weeks. A Bluebill and giant Black Duck...these two blocks traveled all over North America since October...its really neat to read the journals and read the signatures on the bottom. I do it every year....neat stuff.
I also spent about a half hour photographing the two Traveling Decoys from the Duck Hunter's Boat Page that were carved by the late Lee Harker. The decoys are destined to be given to Lee's grandson Blake in a couple weeks. A Bluebill and giant Black Duck...these two blocks traveled all over North America since October...its really neat to read the journals and read the signatures on the bottom. I do it every year....neat stuff.
Jay's Column: Last of The Mohican Players........
Who’s that crazy man in the street?
Published: Friday, March 5, 2010 8:39 AM CST
Like lots of kids back in the 70s, my brother and I as well as a few friends tended to try and reenact TV shows and movies we had seen.
There were westerns and war movies and of course films about the frontiersmen and their struggle with the Native Americans. We didn’t realize it at the time, but we were honing our outdoor skills while we were playing cowboys and Indians in Charlie Creek Valley out the back door.
Published: Friday, March 5, 2010 8:39 AM CST
Like lots of kids back in the 70s, my brother and I as well as a few friends tended to try and reenact TV shows and movies we had seen.
There were westerns and war movies and of course films about the frontiersmen and their struggle with the Native Americans. We didn’t realize it at the time, but we were honing our outdoor skills while we were playing cowboys and Indians in Charlie Creek Valley out the back door.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Crumy weather...
This weather pattern is hardly fit for a steelhead or a goose to eat. I'm ready for some action!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
State of things....
Well, the weather people were wrong again on the long range and fairly inaccurate on the long range. Looks like the big warm ups we were supposed to get fizzled out. Not terrible temps but not the big thaw I was expecting either. Goose hunting was fair at best yesterday. It's a shame that so many idiots thinks it's okay to hunt 3 or 4 times a year and jump hundreds of birds off a roost that several other parties are relying on for hunting success. 2 or 3 geese are harvested instead of dozens which ultimately is the goal of the managers that set these seasons. It probably doesn't help that every time we go the parties get larger and larger...more hunters to hide and more shots taken at the same birds.
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