FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

Knockin Tail Lures by My Coast Outdoors

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A Great Drive

It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day and boy did it turn out that way.

If this is not a great way to start your day, I do not know what is.

And we did not get that far out of town when we spotted a couple of nice elk bulls on a hillside.  It was a harbinger of things to come.

A little damage on one side.  It has been a long rut, but things are quieting down now.

Hanging with his bro.  With the rut basically over the boys will be hanging with the boys and the girls with the girls for the rest of the winter.

Sorry for the quality but they were way the heck out there.  There were 3 bulls together.  A changing of the season.

Then we hit the jackpot.  The elk have begun to gather and head to their wintering grounds.  With this crazy weather they are just starting to come down but in this case, there were at least a 100 scattered on a high hillside.

Without the 600 lens we could not get these.  They may not be the best, but you get what you get.  We just love seeing them.  There was one small bull, the rest were cows.

Bedded down and still watching us even though we were a long way from them.  Still a little touchy as the season just closed.

And the day would not be complete without a nice Bighorn Ram.

He was with his buddy.

His buddy was no slouch.  They are so much bigger than they look far away.  Up close they are solid.

One majestic creature.

This smaller guy crossed the road right in front of us as we watched the others stopping 10 foot in front of the truck and acted surprised when he saw us.

The girls were just napping in the sun.

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And To Top The Day Off

The lakes are frozen, and the ice fishing is beginning, the river is nothing but icebergs so the only place that has any open water is a small creek close to the house.  It runs fairly fast and though shallow it has a few fish, so I decided to take a quick look.

A beautiful rainbow.

I took the Tenkara, which I love to fish in small streams and a couple of nymphs, with a 2lb fluorocarbon leader.  There is barely a foot if that in most places so stealth and invisibility is key.  I can tell I am a little out of practice as I missed one, had another chase which I am not sure if he hit or not, and caught 2.  The only problem with that is the other one was really small and when I flipped it out it jumped off the hook and nose-dived into a snow drift never to be seen again.  Oops.

So for a quick trip it gave me hope for tomorrow.  It was late when starting and it got cold fast and then I lost the only other nymph I had with me.  Tomorrow morning will tie some and get organized as it has been while since fishing the Tenkara.  But when it was all said and done what a cool way to end the day, high mountain stream, snow, and not a soul in sight.  It does not get any better than a day in the Rockies.

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Bass –  FFS

You all know how I feel about forward-facing sonar (FFS) and tournament fishing.  Sitting on your couch watching TV some kid watching his TV with head down is just plain stupid and boring.  So, I just turn it off immediately.  Do not get me wrong I have no problem with guides or pleasure anglers using it, but it has taken away the “find them and figure it out” aspect of tournament fishing.  (As I have said for years this nonsense you have to have a $100k boat, $20K in electronics, $500 rods and reels is not only bullshit it gives kids coming up a false idea that is what a fisherman is.  That is not conducive to growth of the sport and in the end it leads to nothing more a sport full of “entitled rich kids.”  It is why some high school clubs have banned it to make if fair.”

There are folks who feel like me, including some of the old hands on the trail.  So in response BASS has limited FFS to 5 of the 9 tournaments on the Elite series.   What will be interesting is what affect it has on some of the guys who spend their time staring at a screen, instead of actually having to “figure” it out.  But it is not the only change coming.

A number of tournaments in Alabama have now been cancelled due to the accident when an MLF boat collided with a striper guide resulting in the death of 3 folks.  Over the years the tournament crowd has come to think they own the water to the detriment of the guys who live there and fish it regularly.   Speeding, cutting people off, blocking ramps, it happens every tournament.  And sponsors are finally realizing their potential for liability.  Boats running 70 mph+ is not safe, end of story.  If you are a sponsor or put on a tournament you better have a ton of liability insurance, or you are gambling with your financial well-being.  More changes are coming; we will just have to wait and see what comes of it.

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What a day.  The temp hit 62 degrees and according to the forecast we might see a few flurries on Christmas day but other than that it will remain warm.  The jet stream is above us and there is no real winter in sight.  It is great for the Boss and her hiking club but we desperately need the snow.  The economy is based on snow, the skiing, hiking, ATV, snowmobiling then the fish and floating from the runoff each summer.  We attended a fund raiser for one of our new friends who is ill and the owner of the bar says the local business folks are getting worried.  But there is plenty of winter to come so not time to panic yet.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines