Wrapping Up

Giving Second life to a woodland warrior.

“Dude, did you get that gun dipped?!”  My good friend and shooting aficionado, Levi McGee exclaimed one evening as I pulled out a transformed old friend from its case.

Owning your own gun is something special.  A bond develops quickly, the way your retriever bonds with your soul, rainy morning after a rainy morning in sulfur odored swamps.   You know its feel, its touch, how to settle on the bead for that absolute perfect shot.  Your gun travels and if they could talk, would be able to relay the details and truths about what really happened that day in the woods.  While some guns are meant for sitting in a cabinet except for a few weekends per year, others, were built to be workhorses, built for every 4 A.M. wake up call, built to be your companion in the worst of conditions.  However, they are not invisible and the weathering a gun receives despite how well you clean it after every hunt, still will take its toll.

Rainy days are my favorite to turkey hunt.  I despise being soaked but it is worth the trip considering for some reason in nasty weather, the gobblers get active and more receptive.  That being said, my Remington 870 has seen its fair share of tough days in the weather.  From the outside, the blueing is fading and the wooden stock shows its age.  Although I purchased it used, I still want to protect my gun for as long as possible.  Making it look  sharp is also an aspect which has laid heavy on my mind.  

Purchasing a new camouflage plastic stock and re-bluing the gun would run me a bit of a bill at this point, and as a young man almost out of college, I need to pinch pennies where ever I can.   The thought of camouflage taping my gun has passed my mind many times, however, the last time I used cloth tape on my gun, it seemed to trap moisture rather than wick it away.   

John Hinde from Mossy Oak Graphics recommended I try some of his camouflage tape on my gun.  The high definition pattern on a durable adhesive tape looked as if it might solve the problem with moisture on the gun.   

Obtaining a role of tape, the transformation began.  

The tape has a strong adhesive adhering to the gun’s surface with ease.

From just a few feet away, this gun looks as if it has been dipped.  I do not think ducks, geese, deer or turkey will be seeing this at all.  If I were really picky, I would go buy a completely matching camo suit.

Mossy Oak Graphic Tape has given my gun a new look, feel, and layer of protection.  I worry less about taking it on bad weather hunts.  But while it may look different, the soul of the gun is still dead on.

Check out all their great products here, http://www.mossyoakgraphics.com/

God Bless, Pass The Ammo Bag.

PWL

Alaskan-esk Adventure

 Brown trout are a predatory fish known especially for their aggressive behavior and ferocity at the end of monofilament.  Yet, the giant brown trout were not alone, there were two predators hunting each other.  I hunting them, and they hunting my lures.  The semi murky green tinted water gave benefited both parties – the element of stealth.   Overcast skies set the stage for a showdown between two dominate creatures.  This wasn’t Alaska, this was Upstate NewYork.

Angrily huffing from the south, the warm wind three miles inland at my home had turned near evil.  Standing along a public fishing bridge on Sodus Bay, I chatted with other fishermen and women trying to fill their buckets with perch and blue gill.  The lady I was talking with tried to light a cigarette in the wind – the southern breeze did not make us feel fine.   Seeing white caps on the bay was a near surprise after the seeming never ending winter and ice cap over the water.   Yet, as the wind cut through our clothing, the desire to try and catch a perch diminished, but not my desire to continue fishing.  

Trading in my light weight perch rod for my heavier spine Ugly Stick, I threw on my waders and lugged myself through the mud and briars to the shore of Lake Ontario with a handful of spoons.   This time of year, mid to late April, the annual creek and river run of the giant brown trout and steel head are swimming back to the lakes.   These fish which normally make their home residence in depths in excess of 100 feet, can be caught in as little as two feet of water.

The stark contrast of the lake compared to the bay confirmed my decision to change target species.  Dead calm, nary a ripple, and overcast clouds.  My first two casts resulted in lost fish, less than twenty yards from the shoreline.  This felt like a page right out of an Alaskan adventure

Tearing open my tackle pack pondering over every possible presentation scenario taking into consideration all conditions.  

1. Consider the color of the water:  If the water were clear, a larger spoon might spook the fish.  Considering the low visibility, I looked for brighter colored lures.
2. Overcast: The fish will not be as spooky.  A bigger lure could work fine.
3. No Chop: Although the color of the water gives the fish less visibility, would the dead calm water and a larger lure spook the fish?  

Scrounging up a larger blue and silver Lil Cleo™ and a small rainbow colored stick-bait, the two lures sat in my hands as the fibers of my brain player judge and jury weighing the pros and cons of each.   The Cleo gave extra weight and distance to my casts.  Extra flash and extra distance, a deadly combination, I snapped it to my swivel.

When you aren’t expecting it, having a giant Lake Ontario Brown trout follow your lure to your feet can be near erie.  Standing up to my hips in the water, the colors and sheer power of each tail flick of the predatory fish could be seen as it swam dangerously close to my legs  And In that split second instant of closeness, it seemed like our eyes met- two creatures- two hunters- one understanding.

Dear Corona Beer, I Found My Beach.

Letting curiosity play the guide, the long shoreline looked like a giant playground.  Standing on a rock in four feet of water, I wondered aloud if this were really ten minutes from where I had grown up or if it were Alaska.  

Three fish in less than ten minutes later, I sat on a small secluded section of the beach.   The overcast skies began receding, the bite slowed to a sluggish pace.  My dinner lay still on its carrying stick.  The slow lapping of the water on the rocks was music.  I’d found my beach.  

My First of two ten plus pound fish.

 

Observations On Catching High Pressure Trout

Within every sportsman and woman lies the desire to seek wild places- to seek what is unseen.  There also lies within each of us to re-discover the aloof persona of the ancient trappers and hunters who first transversed the contours of the newly discovered world.  

In attempts to seek the wild places, we tread along the dangerous line between adventure and loneliness.   This line can often take the form of 3x fly tippet.

Whether or not you are fishing after tradition, adventure, or for food, trout fishing in the winter and early spring time is near ritualistic for many individuals.  With many states hosting strong stocking programs, the put-and-take allow many fishermen and women the chance at a different species of fish than they are used to chasing.  For some, it is as if they are getting a chance to fish pristine alpine meadows high in the Rockies- it may be the closest they ever get.

Opening day of trout season brings the masses to the creek and river sides, even if the waters are dangerously high and running with more power than a team of Clydesdales.   The most popular way it seems to catch these early spring fish are the classic giant bobber, hook and earthworm.  Although often scoffed at by fly-fishing purists, it is hard to scoff at anyone who pulls out a 19 inch native brown trout through muddy waters.  Regardless of your fishing orientation, after a few weeks of being hammered by the masses, it is no surprise, the fish become shy.

A decent catch. This guy recently got engaged.

A few ideas.

I am by no means an expert, but through trial, error and observation, have learned a few things over the years.

Move from big holes:

Like in life, anything worth catching requires a little searching.  Through observation, many of the early springtime crowds focus on the easy to reach holes.  Granted, these tend to also be where the stocking occurs, however, hiking above or below the most fished holes, not even all that far, can result in less pressured pockets of water.  Seems obvious but you would be amazed at the number of people I never see even 50 yards above a main hole.

One of my favorite childhood tributaries running off of Lake Ontario  was a popular place for local anglers chasing big brown trout and steelhead.  My best friend grew up directly across the street from the biggest and deepest hole on the creek.  Yes, we always did well in that giant pool.  Yet when the heat of the day would come, and everyone and their mother would line the banks, we would head down stream through neighbors backyards, jumping trash piles running past the occasional dog.  Beyond the easiest pool we found untouched pools and we did quite well floating sponge through the small rapid which dumped into a seeming abyss lined by stone on the far bank and a large undercut bank on the right.  We never saw another person on that hole.

Throwing it back to the old days. Growing up was a blast. Throw in a good sized steelhead and we felt like mountain men.

Moving from the main hole not 100 yards from everyone else, one of my good friends caught a rare native brookie.

Pay closer attention to the hatch and natural insects:

With the majority of anglers using the trusty  worm, bobber and sinker- changing your approach can yield results.  Even if you do not fly-fish, take a closer look at the bugs and minnows traversing the waters.  even with spinning gear, you can “match the hatch” so to say, giving the fish a different presentation may be a key to your success.  Even with spinning gear, I have caught plenty of fish floating a beaded wooly booger down the current.

Target native fish populations:

Native populations?  What I mean is, target the creeks which hold naturally reproducing fish, not stocked populations.  This is by far much more difficult however, there tends to be less crowds and thus less pressured fish.  Targeting native fish requires even closer attention to detail.  From lure and bait size, to knot neatness, presentation and approach to the stream all play into catching native fish.  

A beautiful native brown fell to a wooly bugger in a run at the bottom of a rock slide.

Find a deep pool, drop a line, set the hook hard!

PWL.