Klickitat Booked

I just booked my trip to the Klickitat for late August with Brian.  I've caught about a dozen to two dozen wild fish on the Brule and a few Loopers on the North Shore but as my buddy Pete says "they're not steelhead unless they taste salt".  Well here's my shot - which per my latest video project couldn't come quickly enough

Here's my time lapsing project of what my days have been like.

Fun with Video

I've been a little slow in posting, especially since I've been on a fly/lure making rampage.  But besides that, I got a GoPro for Christmas (from myself).  I took some great video at my parents over Christmas bird hunting but couldn't edit it with my basic software because of the HD quality.  So I got Pinnacale at Best Buy ($130) and put this little piece together.  It still isn't coming through quality wise like I want.  It is much crisper on my PC then loaded through the web - anyway let me know what you think.

http://vimeo.com/35351074
(Can you get Vimeo links to show up like YouTube??)

As part of the software it came with a green screen.  I've never worked with one before so this is my Green Screen Try 1 with the boys

Birds and Big Flies

This is obviously a horrible time for fishing but that's fine - it's a great time to shoot birds and tie flies.  We had a good day last Friday shooting some birds in Pine City at Wings North.

I've also been tying some really big flies - I got some great foam heads from the We-Tie-It shop in Boulder Jct.  Asher helped me out.

Flambeau musky

Matt, Pete, Brian and I hit the Flambeau River east of Winter off Hwy 70 Saturday and Sunday.  We had planned on flyfishing most of the time but the wind came up and I wimped out after banging a 6/0 sailfish fly off my head a few times.  For the most part weather was good and as usual I should have taken more pictures.  We did manage some nice fish - and the motorbike worked great.

We had been fishing for a few hours not seeing a thing Saturday.  Matt and I switched over to gear as we came up to a big deep hole.  On about my 10th cast I had a good hit on a jerk bait but it was on the "jerk" part of the motion and I couldn't get tight for a good hook set.  We continued to fish for a while - getting more frustrated (I'm not that good of a musky fisherman yet).  I launched a cast into the trees and pissed off I reeled back in as fast I could.  Bang, this 33 incher comes out of no where and slams the Jimmy.  We got some nice pics but Pete thought it was better watching me still shaking from a great take.

Ten minutes later this 36 incher comes in and slams the Jimmy.  It got airborne and had a few good head shakes.  Right away we thought it was a bigger fish but it was still fun.  Notice the lack of pectoral fins?

Sunday we fished a stretch just up river.  The first half by Nine Mile Creek looks great and it was good to float different water.  The fish were right where we expected them to be but a little more cautious.  Pete had a really good follow and I missed a nice fish on the same "jerk" portion but after Pete inspected the hooks we later determined that cheap hooks hitting rocks for 2 days can really dull a lure.

Brian did manage a nice pike on the fly (which we are lobbying for Pete Jr. to be named).  Too bad I didn't mange a better picture.





Overall we managed 3 muskies in the boat, 2 missed takes and saw another 3.  I have fished this stretch of river 4 times and managed a musky every time.  It was a great weekend and a good getaway for all of us - a fantastic way to finish up the year.

The Musky Box

I also wanted to do a quick post of the new and improved Musky Box.  My new fly box from Hayward Fly Shop arrived with some new flies - and along with my existing collection creates a very impressive (and expensive) arsenal.  I'm really good at buying fishing gear, now I just need to get more fish in the boat.  Pete is not going to be happy about this.  He thinks paying $30 for a fly is ridiculous.  His idea was to tie a song-bird to a treble-hook.  That advice would have been helpful had it come before the fall migration south.

That box is over 18 inches long.

Pheasant hunt 10-22-11

Matt and I took a few people pheasant hunting Saturday at Rice Creek Preserve in Little Falls, MN.  I was excited because it meant I could live-fire my newly won shotgun (Browning Silver).  Prior to that I had just been pointing in the dinning room.

The good news is the gun shot (it fired correctly).  I had taken it apart and put it back together which after my last experience can prove a little challenging.

Here is some good footage of Matt swatting a bird while we went to posting positions.

It total we "harvested" 41 birds and it was a lot of fun.  Sure it's a preserve but shooting is the fun part.

Mississippi

Bob, Mike and I fished the Mississippi from Ellison Park down to Nashua Ave Friday. A big cold front just went through that we hoped it didn't affect the fishing too badly. It was slow however, and all fish came on a Murdich minnow (green) with a sink-tip. Bob fished a deer hair popper the whole time with no takers, and all the fish we got on the Murdich minnow were slow presentations. Fish were congregated in slower, deeper water, and you could see the takes in 3-4 feet of water which was fun. We did manage some nice fish -



Forgive the glasses - they were SierraTradingPost.com closeouts.

I also showcased the boat fly patch - thanks Brian.

Lastly, when I got home I was very happy to see a refridgerator ready to go for the Wisconsin vs. Nebraska game.  Thank you dear.



That is a lot of cheese and Leinenkugels