Blood Knot Magazine: The Blogger Issue

The latest Blood Knot fly fishing e-magazine is out, click HERE.  I submitted a post from last June about heading back to Bristol Bay.  You'll also find several interesting posts from other Angels, as well as a wide array of other fishing bloggers.  A great way to break up your day!

Intersecting the Trajectory.

      After months of sporadic writing, I just finished a story about saving Bristol Bay.  With that behind me, the River at 34,000 cfs, and Philomath's Mary's River experiencing the greatest flood on record, we did what any steelhead fisherman in possession of a shotgun would do...went duck hunting.

      These winter days, I must admit, I'm enjoying sleeping in.  Our young pup, Kada, in complete agreeance, cuddling up to one another unaware of the time and unconcerned with agendas.  She stretches out along my side, snores into my neck, and we blissfully doze the early morning hours away.  When my alarm chimed at 4:30 this morning, I thought there must be some mistake.  Kada half opened one eye then rested her head back on the pillow, she clearly wasn't interested in stirring this early.

      As the coffee brewed, I dressed in warm clothes and forced the pup out of bed.  The clock struck five, the Crumpster, Kada, and I walked out the front door carrying shotguns, waders, and decoys into the pitch black morning and blinding rain.

     Pulling our hats down and hood up, we cautiously walked through the farmer's field, slipping through the mud and splashing water from the accumulating puddles.  Greeting our buddy whose excitement buzzed electric as he began spilling stories of ducks flying overhead already, woke us from our early morning daze.   After setting out a couple dozen decoys, we huddled in the blind squinting through the rain to watch the farm gulley rapidly turn into a large lake.

     Having spent most of my limited waterfowl career believing ducks and geese were like winter steelhead, I basically expect nothing.  The well known formula is simple: put in your time, accumulate knowledge, and eventually timing places the creatures within your orbit.

    Shortly into the early morning, with rain pouring off our hats, my heart began racing as massive flocks of ducks and geese sailed over our heads.  It was like sitting on a runway, except we weren't hunting 747s.   The first players turned at one of our calls, circled over head, cupped their wings, then drifted in amongst our spread.  We jumped up emptying our guns within seconds. 

    As the clock struck five this evening, we left in the downpouring rain walking back through the muddy field carrying three limits of mallards and widgeons combined, two geese, and a young dog who had made her first retrieves.  Seems like we're on the right track.

Panoramic view of our blind and spread.

Looking through the blind at our spread.

Judith O'Keefe: Flats Fishing in the Joulter Cays

Judith O’Keefe has fished many places; saltwater, freshwater, rivers, streams, lakes, oceans, you name it, she’s done it. But for a longtime fisher(woman) like herself, a trip to the Bahamas for some bonefishing made her feel like a child on a grade-school field trip again.

Judith O'Keefe photo.

When you imagine your first Bahamas bonefish trip you probably envision a well appointed lodge on Andros Island or perhaps Grand Bahama, with knowledgeable, patient guides, and schools of bonefish that provide just enough of a challenge. Not a chance.  It’s more like an hour boat ride and you’re dropped off on a remote cay with a Scott STS, 7-weight rod, a decent assortment of flies, a tent, and a cooler with ice, beer, and a little food. Hopefully, the ice and I would last eight days. Yep, that would be my introduction to the world of bonefishing, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.....Read the rest of Judith's post HERE on Filson Life.

Judith is hosting a trip on April 20-25, to Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas. This is a prime time bonefishing trip, to a top lodge, at an affordable price. This trip is geared towards, but not limited to, first timers or those that have had limited flats fishing experience.  For more information, contact Fish Head Expeditions at Jerry@fishheadexpeditions.com or 503-539-1451.

PDXMas Tree Eco-Cycling to Benefit Oregon's Wild Fish

This just in from Alan Moore over at Trout Unlimited:

Portland Fans of Wild Salmon and Steelhead:

As seen on OPB's Ecotrope . . . Give the gift that keeps on giving, in tasty green slime. Drop your spent Christmas tree at Northwest Fly Fishing Outfitters (10910 NE Halsey, Portland - just off 84E) on Saturday Jan 7 or Jan 14 from 10 - 4. No fakes, flocking or tinsel please (trees or otherwise), and please do remove the ornaments. Intrepid volunteers from Trout Unlimited will gather the trees and transport them to off-mainstem habitat project sites on the North Coast, where their addition (under the watchful eye of project managers) provides both refuge for baby coho, steelhead and cutthroat (among others) and kickstarts an incredible bio-process that provides nourishment up and down the food chain. And it's not just fish - everything from bugs to beavers to newts to native plants all get a little bio-boost from the introduction of some decomposing yuletide cheer.

One element of our North Oregon Coast work in recent years with our many wonderful partners (like our local watershed councils) has been a focus on restoring these off-mainstem baby fish "nurseries," which juvenile salmon, steelhead and cutthroat trout need to ride out storms, escape predators, and grow fat and happy on their rich nutrient systems before heading out to sea as smolts. Burley salmon and steelhead smolts have more of a tendency to come back as burley adults; skinny smolts have more of a tendency to end up prematurely dead. Studies show being prematurely dead reduces wild salmon and steelhead survival to adulthood and spawning success dramatically. Paying equal attention to a diversity of life stages and corresponding habitat needs across in our approach to conservation and habitat investments is something we can do now to maximize the benefit to fish.

With questions or to volunteer for a couple of hours on either Saturday, drop a note to Michael with Tualatin Valley TU: tvturestoration@gmail.com

Trees for Fish!

Serendipity

Chromer Wild Hen, Justin Crump photo

Serendipity ebbs and flows through my life and, when I'm paying attention, leads me into fascinating situations. I feel like it led me right to Dean.

My fly fishing steelhead mentor first encouraged me to reach out to Dean Finnerty years ago. He and Harry Lemire had joined Dean for a guided trip and they were not only pleased, but extremely impressed. When I called Dean, he eased my worries with genuine laughter and friendship. I was broke and looking for fish. That didn't even phase Dean. He handed me a few solid tips of areas to explore at the current low water, and helped my fellow angels and I get into some fishy water.

Since then, Dean, The Crumpster, and I have found ourselves linked in slight ways throughout the years and we always try to arrange a time to fish together. Although it took years, last week we finally connected for a day on the river. Seconds into our day, I realized that Dean's energy is directly connected to his deep love for the sport of fly fishing and the outdoors. And it's contagious.

For Dean's Side of the story, Read his blog HERE.

Dean in his element!  k8 photo

That is a pig hatchery steelhead, blinding white!  Dean Finnerty photo

Fighting the fish, Justin Crump photo

My first winter steelhead of the season, Justin Crump photo

Tradition.

The Smokehouse.

    Every year upon returning home from Alaska, I start thinking about when we will smoke our fish from the summer.  This is a tradition.  Returning each year to the bird farm of my buddy, Steve, we smoke the forty or fifty pounds of salmon we bring home from Alaska in the old smokehouse his grandfather built.

   This is quite the process and requires team work of all three of us to ensure its success.  We typically arrive the evening before smoking day and help prepare the secret brine.  We remove our fish from the vacuum bags, cut them into smaller pieces, then slip them into an age old crockpot for the night.

    Generally we rise early the day of smoking and prepare the racks to hold the fish.  This year we relied on our Tetris skills to position.  With a final layer of pepper, brown sugar, and a few jalapenos, we whisk them into the smokehouse.  Lighting charcoal sets the fire for a nice base and we then lay some old wood pieces on top.  This year we accidentally got the fire a bit hot right off the bat, but hey, it's not solid science.  Soon, we all wander into the nearby woods and Steve cuts down a small vine maple.  After cutting the maple into small pieces and placing two on the fire, it's time to head inside.

    We'll place a log on the fire, something funny in the dvd player, and maybe bust out the cribbage board.  We'll occupy ourselves checking on the smoker every hour or less.  Sometime in the fuzzy late evening we agree the salmon is complete and let the smoking fire die out.  In the morning the salmon will be cool, beautiful, and ready for packaging. 

The Salmon in the Brine.

One of the coolest trees with the smokehouse in the background.

Bringing in the racks to lay out the salmon.

Cutting down the vine maple for smoking

Making the tree into small logs

Lighting the fire for the smoking process

Taking a break.

The delicious finished product.

Faces of the Fleet

A great video by the men and women who commercially fish Bristol Bay:

Ladies Week at Andros South with Judith O'Keefe

The talented and legendary Judith O'Keefe will be hosting a trip to the Bahamas, specifically Andros South, for a group of six women.  January 28-February 4, 2012.  If you're looking for a winter break, (and honestly who isn't?) this is a fantastic opportunity to participate in a warm vacation with some great fishing and stellar instruction.  Judith knows fishing in the Bahamas!  For more information click HERE.

Judith O'Keefe with a Bahamas Bonefish.  Photo courtesy of Judith.

The Iridescent Sombrero

Somewhere between Alaska and Baja, my friend Matt Klara of Sexyloops and I lost our marbles, here is our collaboration.  The Iridescent Sombrero, Part 1:


110 degrees in the shade, but there wasn’t any shade. The mescal that someone had slipped into my water bottle simply added to the hallucinations caused by heat stroke. I kept casting at fish that weren't there until one of them really was there but it was wearing an iridescent sombrero and when it ate my hastily retrieved mullet fly, and took all I had - my line, my backing, and my soul - I passed out face first in the Sea of Cortez......Continue reading on Sexyloops HERE

k8 taylor photo