FISH CATCHING TRAVEL
Knockin Tail Lures by My CoastOutdoors
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Gunnison – GSO Fishing
Andy with a real one. (Sorry I borrowed this from their site but wanted folks to see your work. Could not downsize it but the size says it all!)
The real reason for our visit was to check out GSO Fishing. With trout streams, the river, and the great Blue Mesa Reservoir, there is plenty of fishing. But the lake is huge with plenty of lake trout, including some real monsters, a massive perch population which has no limits as they are invasive, kokanee salmon, plus brown and rainbow trout. It was on my fall schedule before the health thing but starting this spring after ice out I will be a regular visitor. And here are their real resources for anyone who wants to learn and fish the lake,
GSO Fishing – Premium Tackle & Guided Fishing Trips
And Facebook – be sure to check them out and friend them for their excellent shares.
Tackle, guides, eBooks, seminars, just to name a few of their resources. They share real information you can use, including on the water teaching. In my years of fishing, they are one of the best resources I have found. Extensive truthful reports, they could not lay it out any better for anyone who wants to fish the lake. And after meeting the family at the store in Gunnison it confirmed what I suspected, just a good family doing it the right way. I could not recommend them any higher.
If you ever wanted to try for a giant lake trout, they have them, but like all big fish of any species they are not guaranteed but for the fisherman who is willing to have a go at it Andy and his guides will do their best. But that is not all, the pup lakers are everywhere, trout are a common catch, and perch catches into the hundreds are not uncommon. Whether an experienced fisherman or just want to take the kids out for a fish catching good time give them a call, you will not be disappointed.
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Black Canyon
Though the park is mostly closed for the winter, much less still dealing with the aftermath of the big fire this fall we wanted to take a look at the canyon while we were in the area. Suffice to say it is something.
Black Canyon National Park.
The history is varied and the one exploratory expedition in the 1800’s ended when the party gave it up as to dangerous and walked out. It is one deep canyon.
Hard to capture how big it is.
There is plenty more to see and we will be back this summer to get a full picture of just how amazing it is.
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Wildlife
The wildlife viewing has been spotty at best, and the weather has not been helping. It got to the high 50’s while we were up and back and we saw very little. As I write this it is in the high 50’s and partly cloudy at the house. The snow is almost completely gone, and the real big game animals have no real incentive to come all the way down to winter grounds. But with some snow possible this weekend there is always hope. But we keep our eyes open with the binos and camera handy just in case.
This guy was hanging with a bunch of does.
These were the only elk we saw on the way home. They were way out on a ridge.
These guys are a perfect example of this years difference. They should have long been ganged up with the rest of their local herd and at their winter grounds. But as you can see not a flake in sight. Love the climate deniers, this is not supposed to be Colorado at the end of December.
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Elk Elk and More Elk
We made a little drive yesterday down to Navajo Lake up to Durango and back. One of the big elk herds in this area is outside of Pagosa Springs. Of course, during our multiple visits to that area before locating to South Fork we saw elk on our drives but just never connected with the herd on their winter migration. But when we got outside of Pagosa on the way back there was the herd.
They were everywhere. It was an easy 100+.
They stretched for at least a half a mile with a bunch on the other side of the highway.
Other than one scraggly bull with spike antlers, it was all cows.
Nice and fat ready for winter.
It is such a pleasure to watch them. You can tell there is safety in numbers.
Suffice to say they drew a crowd and slowed the highway to a standstill.
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I happened to glance out the window in the kitchen to the backyard and thought that looked a little suspicious, and it was.
Can you see him?
Out came the binos and suspicion confirmed. It is a good one.
A big 6. Why it is hard to walk anywhere near a window in our house without looking out, you never know.
The bucks are resting now all over the neighborhood. It has been an extended rut and they are getting tired of fighting and chasing. I first saw this big boy at around 2:00 and after we were out of the house for 3 hours he was still bedded down there. Hard work being a big guy.
And speaking of the backyard while I was finishing this the turkeys were running wild; 2 big bucks crossed outside the windows and a bunch of does are feeding on the hillside. Looking out the front windows there are deer and turkeys everywhere. The mountain got 4 or 5 inches of snow with more to come tonight, hopefully. When they get active like they are right now you can bet something is coming.
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Hope everyone had a great Christmas. After literally decades we spent Christmas together at the house doing nothing. The Boss worked her rear end off for the benefit of others and her hard work paid off as we settled into full-fledged retirement.
We are starting to plan our travel for the year and there has been one change; Patagonia has not worked out due to plane issues that could not be resolved. The current plan, the Boss is going to Portugal in April for a 8 day hike while I will be headed to Arkansas for 2 weeks of striper and other stuff on Lake Norfork, my old stomping grounds. Then in September it is Minnesota and the Red River. Home of the giant channel catfish it has always intrigued me so reservations made. Those are just the highlights and since I have been given a second chance at life this is just a start. So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
