Oregon Fishing

Traveling for work can have positive side effects. My companions and I completed our tour of facilities in Washington, Oregon & Idaho early and had time to wet a line this afternoon.

The local fly shop in Boise, ID, Anglers, is an Orvis shop. John took great care of us and outfitted us with gear, flies, directions and tips on how to fish the Owyhee River in Eastern Oregon about an hour and a half northwest of Boise.



The river was low, the Browns were staging prior to spawning and the weather was beautiful. My co-workers were successful in landing some rainbows and I hooked up on four big browns but did not get one of them to the hand. I believe this is called LDC&R.

And my rule is - "no picture and you can't count it"

Joe with the first Rainbow

Mark was the king today with this nice Rainbow.

It was his first time flyfishing...I predict it won't be his last!

Owahee River

Needville Catamaran

I needed to get some data about how well these pontoon boats would perform. Lacking any flowing water, I took the opportunity to try stillwater first. Here I am on the bank of "Lake Evans" just outside my hometown. I thought if I went down at least I wouldn't have too far to swim to shore!

After getting used to the feel of the boat I pulled out the flyrod and started casting. I caught a few small bream and kept hearing some bigger fish surfacing near the shore.

I was able to locate some nice bass, bluegill and sunfish.

I'll be back!


Nice largemouth bass caught on a double bunny zonker:

This bluegill also took the DBZ:

This big green sunfish was fooled by a caddis fly :

Pontoon Boats

Well we finally did it! We have been talking about it for some time now and were convinced we had found the right pontoon boat -

The Trout Unlimited Colorado.

Cabela's had one for $450 and we saw them on E-Bay for $350 but Sam's Club in Conroe beat them both by a mile.

Paul got one for his birthday and got to try it out in the living room last Friday.




He said the fish weren't biting too good:




I finally broke down and took the trip to Conroe myself. I was sure that they would be sold out and after a quick search of the store I was unable to locate any boats. I was about to give up and turned the corner of an aisle and there was one boat left.

I put mine together in the yard.




Unlike my brother the "house fisherman" I had some luck with the "grass bass", "limb bream", and "porch perch".



I thought about trying for a "cat" fish but my loving wife reminded me that CJ our tabby likes to sharpen his claws on car tires and other items nearby. I thought I'd better keep the pontoons away from him for now......

San Antonio Nightlife

I've been in the Alamo City this week and even though there hasn't been any fishing to report on there was a trip to Cabela's in Buda.









We also went to a catfish restaurant called Clear Springs Cafe.

Great catfish and onion rings and good prices too. Be sure to try the Jalepeno Stingers.

I made a new friend....


I also saw another favorite destination at the intersection of loop 1604 and Hwy 281 - Sportsman's Warehouse.

Looks like another trip to SA is in order...

Custom Nets

My brother's birthday was the end of September and I suprised him with this net.
A co-worker of mine makes them and he put together not one but two beautifuly crafted nets of bird's-eye maple and walnut. Now all we need to do is put them to use. Look out fish...You don't have a chance now! Happy BD Bro!

Two Dogs To Go

During our evacuation from hurricane central, we had the pleasure of entertaining our two Australian Shepherds. They have no experience traveling but took to it with style. They enjoyed the AC and the romps through the property at the Feathered Horse Ranch .

Dixie - aka "the Evil Queen"

Zeke formerly known as "the Genius Dog"

Running From Rita

On Wednesday, September 21, 2005 on my return from Salt Lake City, Hurricane Rita (at that time a Cat 5 storm) was on course to hit the Gulf Coast of Texas at a point 50 miles due east of my house. We decided to leave town on Thursday morning and a "short" 16 hrs later arrived at our destination of Comfort Texas. It was a long trip and the storm turned north so shortly after we left we could have turned around and would have been fine. Too bad everyone else along the Gulf Coast was also trying to head west and there was no open roads or gasoline availabe to retreat back to home!

While stuck for three days in the Texas Hill country may be tough for some, I found that parts of Cypress Creek still had enough water to sustain the local perch and bass populations. These may have been the same fish I caught earlier in the year!




Perch and bass caught on a white Roostertail.





Fisherman's View - Texas Style



Bass on a black worm rigged "wacky worm" style.

Change of Season

It is still hot in Houston but the leaves along the Provo are already changing.


I saw a nice brown caught by a fellow fisherman and took this picture.



My time will come............

Albino Moose

I conducted a training class in Salt Lake City this week and got to talking hunting and fishing with the class. One of my co-workers sent me a picture of this moose that is near his district in central Idaho. If you click on the picture you can see a larger image.
Thanks Lynn!

Rocky Mountain National Park

You don't get to be a National Park unless you are pretty special.


Here are a few pictures I took while exploring in the park.



These elk got pretty close to my son Matt who was fishing in Morraine Park




This was one of the scenes you get from hiking into the back country.



There is a lot of wildlife to see in the park. Here are some examples:

Greenback Cutthroat

After hiking to the Loch I caught this beauty on a fly.

Cash Creek Cutthroat

Dan
You're killing me!

Upper Gibon YNP

Dan wrote:
"Small Brown on light tackle......"

Looks pretty big to me Dan!

Colorado Brown

Brother Dan sent this photo along to encourage everyone to attend the upcoming family reunion in Estes Park CO.

What more encouragement could you ask for?

We'll be there Dan!

Some Days You're the Windshield...

Some Days You're the Bug!

We all got up early - eager to get back to the Gorge. We had quite a surprise when we arrived. The rains of the previous evening had raised the level of the water and it was running fast and furious. There was so much sediment in the water I could have been at the Brazos or San Bernard rivers back home.

We tossed a couple of spinners but it was obvious that our fishing was over.











We had the gear and the licenses. We had the flies and the location...
Oh well it's just fishing!

It is a beautiful spot and I'm sure when the weather is right is a great place to fish.

You can't beat the folks at Shannon's - thanks again Jim!


Ken Lockwood - whoever you are - I SHALL RETURN!
DJWB

Ken Lockwood Gorge

After a nightmare trip from SLC to Philadelphia (via Phoenix) and making my presentation at the business meeting in Atlantic City, I'm ready for the long-awaited and much anticipated trip to KLG.

My traveling buddies and I called Shannons Fly and Tackle Shop in Califon, NJ and Jim promised to stay open until we arrived. The weather was threatening and we were only going to have a couple of hours to fish before dark.

We picked up some recommended dry flys (Sulphurs & Hendricksons).



These proved to be very similar to the naturals we saw in the area.



We decided to fish the open-access area in honor of J. L.'s decision to use his "pole" and worms. We stayed fairly close to the pickup as it was raining and threatening to get nasty. There were some T-storms in the area and we were concerned about lightning. We would save the restricted area for the next morning - hopeful for better weather.

I caught one small Brown on the white roostertail before we went to the motel to check in and that got us all pumped up. We saw some fish hitting the surface and were sure that we were in for a fun evening.

When we returned, it was raining pretty steady and the fish were down. I managed to catch one Rainbow on a green Wooly Bugger.






J. R. caught a smallmouth bass and J. L. did a long-distance catch & release on some form of aquatic life (trout).

We fished till nearly dark and decided to call it a night.

Better luck tomorrow???