FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

Knockin Tail Lures by My Coast Outdoors

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Tying Flies

Lets get this out first thing.  I am a terrible fly caster.  Second the flies I tie do not look like those fancy things on the internet.  But that aside after my last trip to the lake to fly fish out of the boat I actually had a little insight, tie a couple of bunny strip leeches with a heavier head and maybe that will work.

The first brown out of the lake in a while.

The big take away from this summer, your flies do not have to be pretty, good thing.  It still comes down to one thing first and foremost whether salt or fresh, catfish or trout, location, location, location.  If I could only cast, I might be dangerous.  Ugly or not they liked the leech and thank goodness it is an easy one to tie.  With Myasthenia Gravis close work with small stuff can be a hassle.

Look how different the look.

It is different fishing the lake with a fly rod, depth is a whole other consideration.  I am just driving the boat to the mouth were the creek comes and drifting out.  There are several grass beds and a great defined channel lip. S0 for now I can live with the results.  It is about to change around here, the crowds will be gone, and the fishing pressure drops to basically nothing. The hunters have arrived and are out scouting of the bow opener next week, that is  the current outdoor activity around here.

The best rainbow of the morning.

One thing that I learned the last couple of weeks is the need to really concentrate and make better casts.  After just changing fly lines it is still a little bit of a struggle especially out of the boat.  But would assume that comes with practice, and lots of fishing.

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Labor Day Drive

11,000 feet.

The plan was to head way up in the mountains at a lake known for nice brook trout.  It is a cool hike in and since it was Labor Day afternoon I thought most folks would be headed home but boy was I wrong.  There were 5 cars in the parking area so we called that off and just headed way up in the mountains.

A good one.

This area had a major fire about 20 years ago and there is lots of burnt trees but no real forest as it slowly repairs itself.   (See above.)  It is not the area I would expect to see big mule deer but shows what I know.  The Boss made the first spot of the one above.  While we watched him, she saw some horns sticking up.  Turns out there was 3 bucks, 2 were bedded down just watching us.

One of his buddies playing it cool.

Things are changing around here and as far as the backyard the deer are not back down here.  I did see a doe with twins farther up but after seeing these guys it is a clue where they are right now.  But one change the 2 tom turkeys that hung around all summer now have their first company.  A hen showed up and wandered around but after a couple days started hanging with the toms, then another 5 or 6 appeared so it is about to be turkey time around here.  And it won’t b long until the elk  and sheep start showing so bring on fall.  My favorite time here.

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Some Folks Will Eat Anything

Foraging at 11,000 feet.

Every year South Fork offers a couple of free foraging classes on both mushrooms and other stuff.  We went along and learned quite a big but for me still plenty to learn before I start eating stuff we pick ourselves.  But it was interesting and informative so will definitely take them both next year.

The group.

For me of course it was looking for sign, checking out the trails, and picking up bones.  While I may never hunt here food sources are excellent places to find stuff whether hunting or photographing.  There is lots of rose hip berries and on about any log or stump you could see the results.

Chipmunk party.

Folks picked lots of assorted stuff and were going to meet today to make things out of the finds.  One of the principals had a advanced degree in plants and we learned a lot about the woods in general.  Cool way to spend a morning.

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Flip Pallot

There are many reasons I started saltwater fishing, but most were trivial, Flip gets all the credit.  The music would start, the plane would circle the island and the fishing would begin.  With that The Walkers Cay Chronicles began, and I admit I was enthralled.  Never fly fished, much less caught snook, tarpon, bonefish, and a host of others but he drew me in.  From that point on I chased them all.  His style was one of a kind and he will be missed.

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HUH?  Guess we are the suckers.

This whole thing with Trump and colleges is stupid, but that aside there are some different views out there.  Discussing student loans with a PHD college professor we could not been any farther apart.  We did our part and until our one small one was paid no vacation, no new car, etc.  She was ok with not only the loans being forgiven and she also said it was no one’s business what you did with the money.  So, you can spend it on cars and vacations like some of my younger classmates did in law school, and then we should pay for it so they can be forgiven.  Well, sorry you pompous asshole, it is all of our business if you want the government to pay it back.  Real responsible.  Our party should realize this is the kind of bullshit stuff that got us beat.

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What a beautiful fish.

Monday morning I made a quick trip to the lake.  The brown above was the best of the morning but there was a happening, I lost a kokanee salmon.  While it jumped off the point is I found them and will give it a serious go tomorrow or the next day.  So the fishing remains good, so many places so little time.  The Boss is hiking 2 days a week with the hiking club so we remain active in the mountains.  Every day is different and our decision on coming here for retirement is a home run.  And with the rut starting there will be lots of pictures to come.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines