Tag: fishing

June 6, 2023 – Success, After Several Years of Effort

June 6, 2023 /

If you spend time in the woods, you hear about things that are interesting or unique. And being in the woods, they can be difficult to nearly impossible to find. This is particularly true in western Oregon where there is a patchwork of private timberland, US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management parcels.

The reason being is that road numbers can change depending on who owns the road, signs often get vandalized as well. We have little to no cell phone coverage and GPS coverage is even compromised due to tall trees and land obstructions. Add to that, some companies believe that access is by permission only and gate roads. So you can start out on a public road only to be blocked by a gate.

What I am saying is that it is difficult to get paper directions and it is no guarantee to use electronic directions. So, if you don’t know where you are going you will be hard pressed to get there. About ten years ago, we went on a trek to find ‘Valley of the Giants‘. It is a long story, but we would not have made it but for talking with some people that we met out in the woods who drove us there.

Memorial Day, I finally made it to South Lake. It started two years ago I was hunting and I saw a sign for the lake. I tried to find it when I was driving around. I assumed that it if I followed the main road, I would get there only to be blocked by a gate. I tried several different side roads to be blocked by impassible road conditions. But, as I talked with people it seemed everyone knew how to get there.

When we had our first real nice weekend in May, I tried to go there using Waze. I tried two different approaches that were blocked with snow. I talked with my neighbor a few weeks later and he said that all the roads were snow free. So now it wasn’t an adventure it was a mission.

When we got there we found a real gem. It is called a dispersed camping area but it really means that there is an outhouse and a some roughly marked camping sites. It does not have things like running water or tables at the sites, but it is also free. I didn’t even know that such things existed. Even the super remote BLM sites are ten dollars a night.

This being a holiday weekend, it was somewhat crowded. I talked to some people that had some car problems (two flat tires, not a good place to happen). I offered them what I could which was a can of Fix-a-Flat and they indicated that there was probably 30 people camping over the weekend.

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife stocks this lake. This often times makes the endeavor easier because the fish are used to being fed and are not wiley of many natural hazards. It also makes it a little more guilt free, it is the purpose of these fish to get caught. We fished for five hours or so and caught a few fish. We also lost some fish and we had a lot of strikes. It was fun.

I think the most amazing part of the day was a pair of bald eagles chasing each other around and helping themselves to fish in the lake. I blew my mind to hear the feathers fluttering as they attacked the water. I don’t know of any comparison of the sound other than a swooshing dive bomb.

End Your Programming Routine: South Lake has a sister called, you guessed it North Lake. I have heard that it is smaller and more remote. I have also heard that as a result the fish are bigger. Now, this is my next quest. Not only with my summer projects, I have fishing on the brain. I hope that I can find time to get some of both in. I love the adventure, I love the fact that we caught some fish and it is good family time too.

May 4, 2023 – Adventure Has to Have a Risk Component

May 4, 2023 /

I have alluded to this recently that I have been babysitting occasionally. Again, I am not going to get into the whys. What is important is that what does a nearly fifty year old man do to entertain a five year old girl? I certainly don’t want to play with dolls for an extended period of time nor do I want either of us sitting in front of the TV all day. My answer is go on an adventure.

Now, would it be an adventure if the result was guaranteed? The answer has to be no. We had nice weather and my mind has wandered to get out fishing somewhere. I know enough that hunkering down all day with a five year old is not going to work. My plan was to find this lake I had never been to, fish for thirty minutes (or more if possible) and then head back home. It sounds like Win-Win to me.

I have listened to Meateater and talking about getting kids out into the outdoors. Clearly you want to have a good experience to build on. That means that if you only spend thirty minutes out fishing, then it is an investment in the future. You want to slowly build kids into the activity, not cause them to dread it. This is why I picked a destination that I had never been to. The adventure was really finding it and testing it out, not hauling out a good catch.

Friday, we had a temperature in the upper eighties. Saturday, the day of my trip we were expecting high seventies. Mind you, Monday of that week the high temperature was 47 degrees. So, we just barely left winter this weekend. I knew the risk of encountering snow was high if the elevation got high enough. But again, this was an adventure.

As we started climbing in elevation, I started noticing that the ferns were all matted down. This was a sign that they had been compressed with weight. So, I started to get the sense that we were going to find snow. Within another minute, I started to see snow on the side of the road. Another minute and then there were ruts in the road. Finally, I saw that the tracks that I was following stopped and so did I.

I was hoping that this was just a shady spot, so I hiked up around the bend to see what it looked like. It was snow as far as I could see and the road was still climbing. I learned my lesson years ago that a vehicle can get stuck and with it, comes a long walk. A five year old, a dog and no cell service was a risk too high for me to chance. I made the call to turn around. There was another route to take, but it was another hour around. So, I thought that I would try it.

It turned out that about ten miles up the second route there was too much snow as well. So, we had to bag it for the day. I headed back toward home. This wasn’t quite the trip that I had hoped for, but I packed snacks and turned on the DVD player in the car and so it allowed for about a four hour car ride to seem bearable for all of us.

I say that adventure has to have risks because otherwise it is an outing. Now, probably to a five year old adventure/outing are semantics. I didn’t even realize the context until I was explaining that we were heading back home. I didn’t mean to have a philosophical conversation in my head but that is how it turned out.

The day wasn’t a total bust. I learned that some new roads existed and renewed my desire to go back to the lake and get my pole in the water. I built a campfire when we got home and we made smores and popcorn over the fire. I survived another full day watching a child and I think that she had fun.

End Your Programming Routine: I have tried to find this lake twice. Once, I was blocked by a gate and now this time I was stopped by snow. I am going to get there. I enjoyed my day regardless of the outcome. Isn’t that the most important thing? The purpose was to entertain, get out of the house, enjoy some warm spring weather and be home safely. It just leaves next time to find the lake.

October 4, 2021 – Let the Pictures Speak

October 4, 2021 /

This was my view when I woke up yesterday morning. You are looking at Mt. Thielson in central Oregon. As I said on Friday, I was going fishing last weekend with my family. Because of Covid, because of everything that went on this summer, because of some philosophical differences I have with my wife, this was the first and probably only family campout of the year.

Nearly everything was perfect, nearly. The only thing that wasn’t great was the fishing but it was OK in that we caught some fish. The weather was in the mid-seventies, the lows were above the freezing. The wind was light and the company was nice.

A little bit about my philosophical differences with my wife. We both enjoyed camping when we met. It is just that her idea was a camp ground that required showers and bathrooms with running water. I would say that I am not entirely opposed to that concept but there are so many beautiful and new experiences that we could do that are limited by that criteria. Over the years our necessities grew as well and required a trailer or second vehicle to haul everything that I get burned out just packing.

I suspect that at some point, there will be an RV in our future. With that, there are definitely more creature comforts and hopefully less packing to get out the door. I would also like an RV from the standpoint that it makes it easier to enjoy some of these places like I was this weekend without the constraints of running water required.

My goal this time was to be light and agile. I did bring some extra stuff like my hunting pack (just in case) and camp chairs (and the dog which was easier than finding someone to watch her). We only brought no cook or freeze dried meals which made cleanup easier and cooking faster, so we could spend more time fishing.

You can see my biggest freshwater fish I think that I have ever caught. I measured it at 16″. That is on the dinner menu tonight. That was the only fish I caught. Unfortunately, my son didn’t catch a fish. I think all told, our party caught around twelve in the duration of the trip from Thursday to Sunday. Not great when you consider the limit of (5×3)4 + (2*5)2 = 80 possible. But hey, I said my favorite kind of fishing was the one I was doing, and that is the truth.

End Your Programming Routine: As I said on Friday, I have passed up too many opportunities to spend time with my family because I have been ‘too busy’. I suspect that if I was not a single parent and not blocked it on the calendar, I probably would have found an excuse to miss this one as well. I am very happy that I made the effort to make part of the trip even though it was a lot of work. I hope that I can get my act together so that this will happen again in the future.

October 1, 2021 – It is Opening Weekend of Deer Season and I am Going Fishing

October 1, 2021 /

Let’s hope that caps the week of food with more food. When I was a kid, I was so excited for opening weekend of deer season. When I was a teenager, I used to dream of when I was older, I could spend more time in the woods. Now that I am here, I hope to get out once in the season. This isn’t going to be the weekend for hunting but I will spend some time with my family fishing.

I talked about this a few weeks ago when I was talking about the decline of the outdoorsman. While my dad didn’t spend months straight in the woods, we did split hunting and fishing about equally. He always has owned a boat and we would go out at least once a year. He would take a fishing trip with his friends usually around Father’s Day. We used to go salmon fishing as kids. So, I like fishing too.

Since my dad has retired, we have been applying for draw tags in eastern Oregon. We get them about every three years. Since we won last year, this year we didn’t and decided to go fishing instead. I have applied every year for the last ten years. But I have only gone one time even though we have gotten tags three times. We did get his rifle sighted in last Friday however.

When I left my job in South Carolina, I moved back to Oregon and joined the company that my dad had worked his entire career. I remember talking with my uncle and he said “That’s great. Now you can have lunch together every day.” I remember feeling a little guilty that I barely saw him, let alone had lunch. And to some degree, I carry some of that guilt today. We live about twenty minutes apart and yet it will frequently be months in-between talking.

I do believe that the quote “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” applies here. But I can’t help and think that there isn’t something slightly wrong with me. If I get truly personal, I am overwhelmed by the size and volume of my wife’s family and when I am not in that I want my personal space.

The events over the last six weeks have definitely had an impact on me. I have seen my parents aging, I have seen the slight decline in physical ability and I know that the horizon is in view. It definitely has gotten me thinking about trying to spend more quality time while I have the chance to do it and I need to be more aware of the signs of decline.

My brother, dad and uncle left yesterday. Me being a single parent right now, I couldn’t swing the time off, I was hoping to leave tonight. but my kids have to play pep band at the football game tonight. So, we will have to settle for Saturday and Sunday. We didn’t do any family camping this year and I have never gone with my kids and without my wife but I am really looking forward to it.

End Your Programming Routine: I don’t really care if we catch any fish although I think it is likely we will. The weather is supposed to be pleasant and I have a good time with that crew. The point of this is to spend some time together doing something we enjoy. It is looking like next weekend is out, but I am still going to get some time in the woods this season before it ends.

August 25, 2021 – My Favorite Kind of Fishing

August 25, 2021 /

I am going to talk about a subject that I don’t think I have ever talked about, fishing. When I was in my late teens, I thought that I wanted to try and go fishing once a month throughout the year. That ship has long sailed and this is the first time that I have actually gotten out in probably three years.

So, what is my favorite kind of fishing? The answer is the one that I can do. My first pole was one that my great grandfather gave to me. I still have it, but it has been retired since I have broken the tip multiple times. He died before I was born, my dad said that he was really excited about it and wanted me to have this fishing pole. I still have and use the Mitchell 300 that was put on it when I was about 6.

My first fish was pretty fuzzy but I was young somewhere around three. I remember running around that I got one on a family camping trip to Crescent Lake. As youth, we used to fish the summer salmon run at least once a year. There was also typically a Memorial day outing at Green Peter reservoir for kokanee. My dad usually caught more even though we were using the same rigging.

I have never drifted away from my love of fishing. I guess that you might say that I reprioritized other things above it. I always feel a little guilty about just leaving for a Saturday all day when there are always so many things to do. In my last job, I organized a ‘lunch time fishing’ outing to one of three close ponds (within 10 mins of the office). I would probably do it once a month when the weather was agreeable. I always said that anyone could do it, just say ‘I am doing this, this date, this time’ and go but no one ever did even though I usually got between 5-8 people every time I did it.

One of the activities that we did while my wife was in Texas was to go on a quick one hour (of) fishing trip. It was a pond that I used to go to when I was a kid from time to time. My brother and I could ride our bikes in about 15 minutes and get to it. The pond is stocked and heavily fished in the spring. I like to go when no one is there and I don’t care about keeping the fish, just the activity. It’s nice to catch a few sunfish just for fun.

We didn’t do it a lot, but every two or three years maybe my father-in-law and a few family or friends would take a rock fish/crab charter. Often, we would end the trip with a fish fry and crab boil with everyone from the family at the coast. Sometimes it was for Father’s Day or during birthday week. That night, it was a good get out and enjoy nature a little bit.

This was another activity that we did to bring a little more healing to us. Aside for the mosquito bites a few days later, it is definitely on the to-do again list.

End Your Programming Routine: There are a number of ponds and rivers within thirty minutes. There really isn’t a good excuse to not take an hour occasionally in the evenings. Like I said, I usually don’t plan to bring anything home. It is just some quiet time.

May 12, 2020 – Review: Hunt, Gather, Cook

May 12, 2020 /

Hunt, Gather, Cook: Finding the Forgotten Feast by Hank Shaw was the April book selection in the Left Coast Cellars Culinary Book Club. Unfortunately, the club has been on hiatus since mid-March but that doesn’t mean that the reading doesn’t go on.

Hank Shaw is an author, blogger, podcaster and general media person. His focus is about cooking with wild sourced ingredients. He tends to collaborate with others in this space like Steven Rinella. If you are into this sort of genre, then you probably already know about him and his contemporaries.

The book is organized into three sections. Section one is about foraging, section two is about fishing and section three is about hunting. Each chapter in the section is grouped by a theme such as wild berries. At the end of each chapter there are five or so recipes focusing on the type of ingredients the chapter is about.

This is one of those books that I would consider a gateway into the subject. There is no possible way that a person can safely learn everything about foraging by reading this. Every microclimate and region in the country could support it’s own botanist/mycologist/herbologist from the vast diversity that is present. There is no mention of mushrooms, which is probably a good thing. Instead the focus is on high value, low risk choices like seaweed and day lilies.

Another potential roadblock to successfully implementing ideas in this book are access, equipment and knowledge. For example, in my state there is no ‘season’ for rabbit hunting. It does require a license to do so. There is public land about ten miles away, but I have rarely seen a rabbit. I think that to really do this successfully, having a flushing dog would be the only viable option. Dogs are not allowed in the public land without a leash.

Instead of focusing all of my energy into why any of these ideas can’t be done I think the best use of this book is to read through it and look for things that can be done. Almost everything has a season to when it is available and or legal (including a lot of plants). Plan times to obtain these items as family activities. A family charter for bottom fish and crab is something I can do in my area. Then be prepared to feast when the trip is complete.

I enjoyed reading this book because it is about 25% technique, 25% cookbook and 50% inspiration. So, it is not a page turner but it does get the mind stimulated about the possibilities. Over the years, I have learned that it is much more enjoyable to pursue the activities rather than read about them. But I find that I can more easily find the time to learn and think than I can do. For that reason, it is exciting to think about that next fishing trip or making blackberry wine.