FISH CATCHING TRAVEL
Knockin Tail Lures by My Coast Outdoors
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1,699 P0sts
When I started this 13 years ago, give or take a year, I never envisioned it would be what it turned into or last as long as it has. Over the years it has gone from for the fun of it, to hard core fishing and writing, to what it is today, simply a labor of love. I admit to periods of burn out and flat-out apathy. But along the way there has been some awesome adventures, some big fish, and great friends. As I sit here on a beautiful Colorado morning dreaming of what is next I can only marvel the blog has lasted this long. So a real big thanks to all of you, what comes next who knows, but it will always involve my love of the sport.
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On my third trip north the sheep finally appeared, or I got a little better at figuring it out. It was puzzling they were not down where they often are in the winter but there is a difference. There is a ton of snow at the bottom of this area but if you look at the pic below, it is a lot sparser farther up, funny after all the snow we have had. This is around 9,000 feet give or take a couple of hundred.
This is parked beside the road. Do you see them? Just wanted to give you a sense of how far away they are.
On getting to the general area, which is a 5 mile stretch, I saw 4 way up so went on to the end of the ridges and turned around. One thing I had learned in the past is it is possible to not see them going one way but then then turn around and they stick out like a sore thumb. And that is what happened. They were on the second bench at the base of that rock face.
And there they are. This shot was with the lens full out from the same spot as the one above.
And today I learned the most important indicator, areas on the ridges with little snow with something growing there they like to eat. So instead of close to the road they are about midway up the rocks (Funny when you consider a mountain a “rock”.) where you could see little open patches.
This girl was way up there, love it when they outline themselves like that.
It is so hard to get that great focus shooting that far away with a long lens out a truck window. It would be so easy to remedy that by getting out the tripod. But the problem, it is on a curvy 2 lane highway with no place to pull off. It is nice when they cooperate and are in a good place for that but dang animals, they are not concerned with my issues.
Not a mature ram in sight.
This girl was in a different place. Actually saw them in 3 places today.
She was on the same terrain as the others. Initially did not see her but her yearling, who it seemed she was watching over, had a big white butt and stuck out like a sore thumb. Not sure what they are feeding on, but the places had a “color” just a little different than the rest of the mountains. And like always it was just good to see them, not sure if the rams are ganging up but if I was guessing and I am they have and headed up. The weather is going to be fairly nice so they may just all disappear soon.
And on a seperate random note took a drive yesterday to a different area hoping to see some elk and stuck out. (Nice to have a cool drive on the way to pick up milk.) The potential is there but it may have simply been timing. Then when I dropped in on happy hour 2 of my friends saw a couple of bunches right down the road. You just never know.
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The Wade Right Fishing Belt and the new Madre Sling.
For all your wading needs.
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The big bucks are showing the wear and tear of the rut. What were some nice racks have really declined and the bucks are feeling it.
You can tell they are recovering. This guy had a rough rut. Not only missing stuff on his left look at the split in his ear.
This guy was right next to the other one. He busted his rack all up this fall. And now they are hanging with each other so no hard feelings.
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While my focus on fishing has drastically evolved, I still peruse the boats for sale in Texas and Colorado on almost a daily basis. I often make fun of the ads and folks’ description of their boat for sale. But today I saw an ad that says it all about where fishing is going.
I have long ranted on the rising cost of fishing in all areas, and the trend that implies that somehow spending big money means success could not be further from the truth. The result is fishing on a march to becoming a rich man’s game. The marketing nonsense that it takes a $4oo reel and $3oo rod to catch 15″ trout and that it somehow makes you all that is ridiculous. And I worry the affect it has on young kids who are not from rich entitled families and know that what is now depicted as “real” fishing by the industry is not in their future. So, with that said here is what set me off this morning as I looked at boats for sale:
2022 SCB R24 450R – $145,000.
Are you kidding me! A used 2-year-old boat for $145,000 is insane. Now it is a top of the line boat for sure and I can sort of understand (Barely) maybe a tournament fisherman or guide wanting the best ride, but this is just over the top. Kind of reminds me of the online memes making fun of the guy with a $100k bass boat trying to win $100 bucks in his local club tournament.
It makes me sad thinking about kids who love to fish and this is the picture portrayed to them as normal. It is not normal. Some of the best fishermen I have known over the last 50 years neither boat size nor equipment brands motivated them. I hate the implication that the jon boat guy fishing a Zebco is any less of a fisherman than the “fishing shirt” crowd. The monitorization of the fishing business, which has intensified tenfold the last 20 years with the internet, has been both good and bad for the sport.
Nor do I get off the hook. My 16.8 Champ with a Black Max would do 72 miles an hour 40 years ago. And man oh man when the new stuff came out I jumped right on the band wagon. Money was not an issue; I did not have any but still found a way to buy in. And of course I have the shirt, in fact dozens of them. So to all the kids out their keep dreaming, but it has nothing to do with the stuff, it is all about love of the sport. Sorry it has gotten so expensive.
(Sorry if this is somewhat disjointed but hope you get the general point.)
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The Other End of the Spectrum
I guess I had heard of Temu but after seeing their ads on the Super Bowl I decided to take a look and see if they have fishing stuff. And boy do they. Stuff was dirt cheap compared to stores. So what is the problem?
From Time Magazine: But the company—the U.S. offshoot of Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo—is also starting to develop a reputation for undelivered packages, mysterious charges, incorrect orders, and unresponsive customer service. Temu has already been subject to more than 30 complaints to the Better Business Bureau, and has a BBB customer rating of less than 1.5 stars. (Note: according to online sources there are now more than 100.)
What I saw on the site was stuff so cheap it was worrisome. Additional complaints are things did not look like they did on the site or were inferior. So what to make of it? Check it out for yourself. For me I have decided to not shop there for the problems above plus 3 other reasons. First it is a Chinese company and I try to buy American as much as I can. And second, I try to support our small fishing businesses. Last, some of the products looked like there might be some patent infringement issues, a common Chinese rip off. So buyer beware.
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The weather has really settled down and looks like no “real” snow in the forecast. It has been getting to 40 most days and it looks like that pattern will continue, maybe until the Boss gets here in 11 days. As I will miss her birthday we will be celebrating it somewhere cool the week she is here. Then back to Texas and I am really looking forward to finishing the rigging on the Lund and getting back on the lake. With the high water the fishing should be off the chain and I can get the rest of the engine hours broke in. Hope you all have a great week. So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
