FISH CATCHING TRAVEL
Knockin Tail Lures by My Coast Outdoors
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11,600 Rocky Mountain Feet High
No motorized vehicles and we mean it.
The last couple of years I have driven by this closed Forest Service Road that looked perfect for a hike so today the Boss and I decided to give it a go. It started at 11,600 feet and on our walk, it dropped 400 feet when we turned around after exactly a mile. You always have to remember if you hike down it will be up on the way back. The air is just a little thin up there but that is part of it. The best part – not a soul in sight and in the couple of hours we hiked not a sound other than the birds.
The Forest Service has been closing these old logging roads to all motorized vehicles, with a gate or in this case trees across the road blocking access. They are working towards letting the land return to nature. One great program as America is loving our lands to death so anything to reduce wear and tear on the resource is a good thing.
We have all the required stuff to keep as safe as possible, from spray to compass, survival fire starter, space sleeping bags which weigh an ounce but will save your life, and a firearm. But the most important – water, half on the way-out then time to turn around. One thing you learn from being a paramedic and now the Boss as an ER PA, stuff happens. You here stuff like this all the time; It won’t happen to me, that happens to other folks, or it is no big deal, it will be fine, you hear it all while you are taking care of folks. No such thing as over prepared.
In our case walking these closed roads gives us the best chance to enjoy the mountains and maybe see some wildlife. We spend time looking at tracks, today clearly a bear track along with elk and mule deer. There are tons of mushrooms coming out right now, next year it will be the foraging class, as some looked delicious. Several today had just broken through the ground, as we are getting rain every evening then warm days. On our way home the air temp fell from 81 to 55 with cool rain. I was told about the monsoon season, and this would be it.
Almost started the bear spray extravaganza.
When we parked, we noticed this girl a little down the road so I took this picture. As we got the “stuff” ready for the hike she hoped the trail into the brush. As we made our way down the road she must have bedded down and we surprised her. She literally exploded out of the grass with a huge jump and off she went. Meanwhile the Boss had the bear spray out and was ready to go to war. It happened so fast she thought it might be a lion. This kind of encounter makes these mountains what they are; the great outdoors.
The Road Goes on Forever and the Party Never Ends.
Along the way we jumped 3 grouse who took off in that characteristic wing sounds. A little later we saw a nice buck who did not hear us coming and he bolted before I could get a picture. But who cares it was just as cool this time as the others. You can go to Yellowstone, Estes, RMNP, and others and see some great wildlife and get great pics, but those are habituated to humans and basically carry on with their business. These guys up here are hardcore wild and there is no waiting around.
One of the many high mountain lakes. Fish probably but you would have to seriously man up to find out.
After the hike we drove another 30 miles just to enjoy the scenery. Other than a couple of folks cutting fence posts and firewood there was no traffic. We had 2 does and a fawn cross the road. The does went up in the timber but the fawn was doing the mule deer hop down the road. But mom came back down and corralled her and off they went. A great ending to a fun day.
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Williams Creek is in beautiful surroundings.
As we were asked to lunch on Wednesday in Pagosa we got up early and went up to Williams Creek which I have fished several times from the bank. In fact in a stroke of luck one time I caught several Kokanee from the bank. So the plan today was the Boss was going to walk and then kayak and it was fishing for me.
Only fishing from the bank I had no clue how deep it was. It turned out to be in the 50’s in the deepest part. The goal was to catch Kokanee and not trout and in the short time I was there 3 jumped on. It could have been more, but a few jumped off and by time I found them it was time to head to town. The lake is fairly small which helps a lot. Hopefully will get to fish it this fall, a limit of 10 would be nice. The ones we kept ended up being fresh salmon dip. Well worth effort to catch them, give me another year and maybe I will know a little more than I do now.
But I did make one call and it has led to lots of bites no matter where I am fishing. I called the Boss and said look at Amazon with me and you will see the fish bites. They come in lots of styles but the ones I want are the pink strips in a shrimp and she picked them up at Academy. Kokanee love pink fire corn tipped lures and are big on smell. As filters feeders the triggering reason they bite is as varied as fishermen, but they sure do like them. Can’t wait to get back come this fall and catch more. And with a snagging season on them when they head up the creeks to spawn in the falls there is plenty to learn.
A Kokanee salmon. My current nemesis.
So for a short trip it was successful, especially on the plate. And it was the first time we transported the yak in the boat, which went just fine. Just have to remember to let a little air out so it does not explode over the pass. Sure is interesting here.
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The Wade Right Fishing Belt and the new Madre Sling.
For all your wading needs.
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The reason we did not stay longer is we were meeting a reader and his wife for lunch in Pagosa. Rick and Gayle are from LaGrange, since they were here he dropped me a note and wanted to meet us for lunch. They are great folks and we enjoyed chatting with them. Thanks, great meeting you.
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Guess what these are.
Just what is this?
I just could not figure it out until it dawned on me what they were for.
I just thought they were cool looking. You see these in the country in this part of Colorado. It just never occurred to me that this area grows lots of potato’s and these were the storage bins from the old days. It was a tough way to make a living but now north of here there are big potato farms. On one of our drives as we passed a storage facility with a semi next to it and the potatoes were flying out of the elevator. Who would have thought it was such a big potato area.
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This is actually the rainy season here in the high mountains and we are having rain most every afternoon. What makes it great is the temp drops into the 50’s and we have all the windows open. Along with that is small hail the last couple of afternoons. The real side effect is thunder, it thunders daily. Yesterday as it thundered the turkeys were gobbling behind the house.
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We have a couple of days before we head back to Texas. It has been a great time and if I get lucky it will be one more stretch here before closing out in Texas. Time to meet with the realator and really get serious about the house selling thing. Timing is everything. So I am sure there is plenty to do but fall is coming, the crowds will be gone, and the animals on the move. So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
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