Catch Magazine

I was recently turned onto a new on-line magazine called Catch Magazine (www.catchmagazine.net). This is a great online magazine for the fly fishing fanatic. Brian O'Keefe has been around the world with the bug rod and camera turning out dozens and dozens of once-in-a-life-time stills and action shots. you guys will love it. Check it out right away! Tight Lines!

Bull Trout Trip III

It's about time! I've fished the Metolius 3 times but until today I had not landed a bull trout. past posts on my blog show that by this time of year I have caught well over 10 or 12 big fish but this year has been slow. This fish certainly gave me a run for my money. At first I was sure I was hung up on a rock, as that seemed to be the general outcome of every indicator dunk on the day so far. Even though rock hook-ups are extremely common out there, I always hang on to it for just a second or two longer to make sure there really isn't anything swimming on the other end. Well this rock started rolling up-stream ever so slowly, almost to the point that I thought the moving river was playing tricks on my eyes. Then came the bump - a head shake. Game on!!!! This dandy of a bull trout just seemed to do whatever I wanted it to and withing a minute I had him all the way in. As I began to work him over toward the bank to get the net, he must have noticed the water getting more shallow and suddenly came to life. Line started peeling off the reel as he headed for the stump snag. ALL the big bull trout know the stump snag and9 times out of 10 they head straight for it the minute they realize they are hooked. He managed to get himself down in the old roots of the submersed stump but not so much that I wasn't able to horse him on out. As soon as he was clear, he bolted for the bank. He hunkered way up in a cut bank and sat there for a minute until I began to work him again. I couldn't see him in there but he started moving up stream under the cut bank. My line kept catching on branches from bushes and I started to worry about how this could play out. All of a sudden Mr. Fish started thrashing at the bank. It was then that I noticed that, despite my best efforts, my leader had wrapped up on a branch and was holding the line tight. I was just about to drop my rod in the shallow water and run for the net, thinking that hook was going to pull free (always barbless on the Metolius) or the 6 lb line was going to break. Thank goodness for fluorocarbon! Just as I was about to go for the net, the fish attempted to shoot back out into the river current, breaking the twig that we were hung up on. Shortly thereafter I was able to get the basket of my extended-handled rubber net under his belly. He measured out at a long 28.75 inches and weighed in at about 8 lbs (maybe a little less - but not much!). It was a beautiful morning out there. It was all foggy and quiet, and I never even saw another person until I was driving home. I've included a short video clip of the fish and another picture. Enjoy, and Tight Lines!

September Campout

Here are Anson and I at a litte father-son camput we did up at Paulina Lake in September. It was pretty cold way up there in the caldera and Anson pulled his bag out of the tent to keep warm while Daddy made breakfast. We did not fish the lake due to the cold temperatures but we had a good time. Tight Lines!

Backing it on up a little

I wanted to go back to this past summer and post some photos from our trip to Costa Rica. Enjoy.Tight Lines!

A note on this little guy. From what I can tell, this is Mr. Nassau Grouper - a feistey little guy that hammered a stripped streamer fly as I cast from a rock outcropping just down the beach from our hotel. Although he was only about 13 inchs long, he was the best fish I landed the entire trip. My luck was pretty poor, but I was happy to get this one along with a couple other smaller reef fish. Check out the cool markings on his face! I later learned that this particular grouper, also known as a Tiger Fish, would have been excelent table fare. The guided trip I took was a fiasco to say the least, and although I can attribute some portion of that bad experience to my lack of experience kayak fishing, the majority of it goes to the guide and his lack of experience/preparation. Still a good learning experience and we did in fact hook up, so it wasnt that bad. Tight Lines!

1906...

...Was the year that the Springeild .30-06 cartridge was introduced and standaradized in the U.S. Army. It was the Army's go-to cartridge all the way up until the early 70's when the Winchester .308 replaced it. Although the Army no longer uses it, it remains the most popular big game hunting round in the U.S. today, and perhaps in the entire world.

Why does this matter? Well, to you it may not. But the Springfeild .30-06 cartridge is precisely the round my new Browning X-Bolt .30-06 huting rifle was made for. Sporting a new Leupold VX-II 3-9 x 40 scope, the rifle is perfect. Wow is all I can say about it. I love it and can't wait to use it more. I had it out for the first time today. Despite the vicious winds, firing it at the range was a blast. This is somewhat new to me so sighting it in to perfection will be a process, but one I look forward to. Yes! Happy hunting, and Tight Lines!

Bull Trout Trip III

Well, I'll tell you right off that there were no bull trout to speak of this trip. Not to worry though. There were some willing players. We both caught whitefish and we both caught a rainbow. As you can see, Dave's was a wee bit bigger than mine. A truley great fish! And we worked hard for those fish! The entire day was an adventure with the deep snow and awful driving conditions. We actually had to jump a snow bank that was blocking the road down to the hole where we caught the bows. Climbing back up out of there required chains. We got about half way up the initial climb out of the B99 hole when we started sliding down into the ditch. We had to back down, chain up and get a running start at it. We saw some of the usual big dogs out at Canyon Creek but couldn't elicit a strike. We had one attack a hooked whitie, which is always fun to watch. A fun day really. I don't get to fish with Dave all that often and it's always fun when I do, so thanks Dave. Let's pray that 09' see's some nice fish come to the net. Happy New Year, everyone. Tight Lines!

Bull Trout Trip II

Skunk0-rama for me - but Bret finally caught his first bull trout. It was sure a dandy. Too bad Bret couldn't kep a hold of it until we could snap a picture. Ol' butterfingers Freil! Tight Lines!