Fishing

Let's start a new subject, something a little more cheery that West Nile disease, changing weather patterns and the wildlife's reaction to it.

I have noticed that the weather here in Colorado is turning chilly earlier than usual. Estes Park (right next to Rocky Mountain National Forest, home of the highest elevated paved highway in North America) has already had snow. Not much but three inches in September is highly unusual to say the least and downright scary to flatlander vacationers. The highs during the day are in the low 80s when it should be in the 90s (I'm not complaining). At night, it is getting down below 50, normally in the mid 60s. At the higher elevations (where some of my favorite fishing holes are located), it's getting close to freezing at night. Again, highly unsual.

Now I'm not saying that animals are smarter than humans, but I've seen flocks of migratory geese flying over already, and goose season doesn't open for another two months. Squirrels are stocking up for the winter. Bears are bulking up (numerous sighting in the suburban areas), and foxes, coyotes, and the list goes on and on. I have Barr Lake State Wildlife Area about five miles from me and the rangers I've talked to there are saying that the animals are all showing signs of preparing for winter, putting on their winter coats months in advance and storing food. I've often wondered, just how does a squirrel know where they have stored all their food? Do they mark the location? Remember? Or is it just hit and miss?

I'm wondering just how these changing patterns will effect the wildlife and the hunting seasons. Will the lakes freeze over early? Will the fish have time to acclimate? Answer one question and three more pop up. Get my drift? Now an early snow will wreck havoc with the local driving population, as summer new-comers won't have time to adjust to driving in snow and on ice (4-wheel drive doesn't mean 4-wheel stop, basic lesson #1. Got it?). Will an early ice-over mean the fish will be hungry for lack of food? How many will survive till spring and melt-out? Questions, questions, questions and no answers. Like my Daddy once told me, weather prediction is 90% guesswork and 10% flipping a coin. The odds are in the forecasters favor to get it right once in a while, if they are lucky.

Now we've always had bear sightings in the suburbs but the number has increased this year. Driving just ten miles from Golden (home of Coors brewery), I saw a bear cub, minus momma, dart across the road and disappear toward the forest in Clear Creek Canyon. There have been mountain lions reported very close to populated areas (since when did mountain lions migrate to populated areas?). Our Bighorn sheep herds are bulking up for winter and have fewer newborns with them. Now, I've heard that some animal species will reduce their successful matings in preparation for a severe winter, but don't know for sure. Just something I saw on a science program.

I realize that this subject has little to do with fresh water fishing and probably should be posted elsewhere but a severe winter kill effects all of us, and I like my trout grilled outdoors, with a salad, garlic bread and corn-on-the-cob. Yum, yum.

Any comments?

John, you are one step ahead of me. Only, you've taken a broader look at things.

My question is this: How do drought conditions affect the fishes behavior and overall luck with fishing?

According to the weatherman, if it weren't for the vast improvements in irrigation, we'd be facing another "dust bowl" right about now. We haven't had this little rain for several decades.

-- DrownedDesertRat --


Click here for your local weather report.

 
Hey johnincolorado,

According to guests on the early am talkshow coast to coast with george noory, we're headed for big time climate changes with ice age like contitions when combined with an big-time increase in volcanic eruptions (soot and grey overs) activity may knock temps down or waaaaaaay down. Before the last ice-age, there were many years were one years there were floods and the next drought.

Interesting stuff, I listen at 2am going to my fishing landing! ha ha

JapanRon

  Robert Felix wrote a book called "Not by Fire but by Ice" in which he presents a damn good argument for a coming ice age. So far, his predictions are coming true, weatherwise. I'm sure our elected officials in Washington, i.e. President George W. Bush and associates, already have read the report by his scientific advisors are has made plans to survive, in secret. Isn't that always the case? We, the unimportant people, are left to fend for ourselves while they use our tax dollars to insure their survival.
Here it is Sept 7th and I've switched from shorts to my winter-time lounging clothes, flannel. That, in itself, tells me something.
I haven't disected a wooly earthworm yet to read its entrails but I'm sure of what it'd tell me -- bundle up 'cause it's gonna get cold.

  In my humble opinion, and from information gathered from Colorado's DOW, the fish are stressed out, putting them off their feed and changing their mating patterns. Meaning -- less fish. Also, stress from sudden dropping in water levels makes them more susceptable to disease and other fishy ailments that can wipe out entire schools, or an entire lake in a matter of weeks. Then, you add in a complete, early freeze-over, and you have no fish at all.
As a so-called "water" engineer once told me, "Do you want to fish, or eat?" in response to lowering the water level for irrigation demands. What I wanted to tell him, but didn't, if I fish, I eat (grilled fish, yum,yum).
The downside to an semi-end to a drought, the flash floods. After our Hayman Fire last year, there wass no stopping the rapid run-off. A hay bale just doesn't stop a lot of water. The ground is glazed from the heat (like glass) and can't absorb anything. During the last few heavy rains we've had, the run-off (silt, dirt, burnt logs, rocks, etc) has turned one of our once-premiere lakes in to something like used coffee grounds. The dead fish are numerous, like sand in a bottle, including a few lake trout that would make any man proud to hold up.
I don't want to be a doomsayer but things are only going to get worse, and the finger-pointing will begin in ernest. One proven point is this: politicians would rather be part of the problem than part of the solution.
I'm going to be doing a lot more driving in the next month, checking out different lakes and reservoirs as to conditions, especially water levels. I might even drown a worm or toss some metal while I'm at it. I don't think my research will yield anything cheerful to future fishing. I'd be interested in being kept informed as to water conditions in your area also, DrownedDesertRat.
One item I failed to mention. Dam engineers are using the low water levels as an excuse to drain the water down all the way to make repairs or improvements. Okay, but how are they going to refill it? By relying on a PMS strickened Mother Nature? Now that's counting on a lot. We have a former excellent fishery called Lake Antero that the state engineers did exactly that. It was three years ago and it is still just a small puddle, the last time I looked. Let Mother Nature do it? That equates to letting a wife pick out your shorts, you never know what you'll get.

well well well, looks who is rocking the boat today,

there is some interesting reading here Mead lake faced a similar disaster not to long ago. It wasnt untill it was just about to late that they realized that only natural suroundings around the lake will filter the mountain run offs.

mead lake fased the mining industry wich about killed off the entire lake. now the residents around the lake who need the lake to survive have placed a moritoriun on development around the lake.

speaking of globle worming and ice ages, the natural cycle of ice ages is regulated by the earths core tempitures. It can last form 5000 to 20000 years. there are a couple things that cause the cooling of the earths core. one is a natural disaster such as a comet that has a tempature of -250 degrees celcious, (most do because they frequent the outer regions of space.) the problem with comets is when they strike they release gasses from its core along with gasses for the earths core. most are toxic. so its not the freezing you have to wory about it is the release of them gasses.

the other is a natural cooling caused by the waters of the planet. as the water level raises even though it increases presure on the core it cools the mantle wich in turn creates a global weather change. (cooling) as the waters refreeze on the polar caps and the glasures move down the water levels receid from the oceans. when this happens the sun reheats the mantle and the cycle starts all over again.

so if you ask me which one is comming, I will just say yes it is comming. how fast is it comming, I will just have to say have we climaxed yet? are all the glasers melted yet?

untill they do the huricanes will increase in number and stronger in intencity, tornados will increase in numbers and the seasons for such storms will increase in lenth.

as to how fish handle the droughts, well when the water levels are low from the lack of rains, they fall way short of the much needed oxigen the fish need to survive. when you add silt and ash from burning forest it is just like you or I inhaling smoke from a burning building. no way arund it so you just sufficate. as dose the fish.

the wildest part about an ice age is as the glasures melted in my life time, a number of things turned up, a wooly mamath, human carcuses. what is amazing about is that man along side of wild life lived along side and on top of these glaisers, they must have in order to be caught in its freeze.

I supost it is posible that you could go to sleep one night and wake up with 6 feet of snow on your roof in the morning. and if you got a couple months of that kind of weather the snow would probably still be there till the middle of may or june, reducing our summers to just about that of alaska. I think it is about 45-50 days.




Dave
Your Message Board Administrator





Wage war on natural desasters, not humans !

Hadn't heard that one about the cooling of the earth's core before, Dave. Interesting. I'm not inviting an ice age to decend upon us but then, we don't have any choice, do we? Now, if all the lakes and rivers freeze over, how do the fish survive until thaw time?

I'm not really trying to rock the boat, so to speak, but am just hypothesizing and asking questions. I am concerned about the state of fishing, in general and in trout in particular (my grilling fish of choice). Here it is the second week of September and I'm already into my flannel jogging suit (no, I don't jog. Too much like exercise) when I should be thinking of turning on the swamp cooler, not the heater. Okay, so I've been known to rustle a few branches and startle the wildlife. The term is sh** disturber (old Navy term) and a label I wear with pride and distinction. But if you don't have the answers, ask questions.

I remember a drought in California, I lived in Santa Clara County, and would go fishing in the Delta (near Sacramento). Because of the drought, more salt water would penetrate the Delta and drive the fresh water fish further upstream. That meant changing tactics, from fresh water to salt water, and heavier lines. While Colorado isn't close to the ocean (thank God for small favors), we don't need to worry about such things. However, a drought and early cold does effect fishing in other ways, and that's what I'm getting at, in a round-about way (by the scenic and intellectual route). I may not be the smartest man on the planet, far from it, but am equipped with an overabundance of curiosity (call it being nosy if you want, that's gotten me in trouble before and my nose bent a couple of times).

I do know that the next could-be, maybe, slight-chance of a really near-earth collision with a comet will come in about 60 years, according to NASA. So, I'm not going to worry about that, yet. Sixty years means a lot of fishing before the shear mass of the comet could effect the lunar orbit and change the tides (sci-fi stuff meant for another board). So, until that happenss and I hope I'm not around when it happens, I'm going to concern myself with the effects of an early snow on fishing. Supposedly, one of the upsides to an early freeze is the fish don't have time to stock up on body fat (they could ask my ex-mother-in-law, she has that down to a fine science) and will be extremely hungry when a jig is dropped through the ice. That's good. Down side -- most won't survive the winter and will be counted as winter-kill come Spring.I'd rather see these fine, line-straining, fighting SOBs end up on a grill in the dead of winter than simply roll over and die. And no, they don't have tiny Xs on their eyes when they do.

Keep up the good work as moderator, Dave. It's interesting to read your posts and discussing different aspects of fishing and pending doom with you.

Hey guys, I'm sorry to hear about changing from shorts to jackets and stuff, but here in SoCal, we are still fighting these lil heat waves. So far there is no effect on the fishing. Thank God.


Bass are toys. Gills and Trout are food.
There is a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore looking like an Idiot
Fast, Free Registration Tell them TubeN2 sent ya
Search From this siteClick Here
Current Moon Phase Tide Reports

Pike's Peak getting three inches of snow, in September? That's a first. Mt. Evans Road (the highest paved road in North American) being closed because of adverse weather conditions (snow and ice) is another first for Colorado. I'm seeing a bad-d-d-d-d-d-d winter coming on. Moving to SoCal for the winter wouldn't be such a bad idea, if it wasn't for the high gas prices.

Yeah the gas prices suck here but they are worse in AZ where my dad, Tube Dude lives. Good news though for us here in SoCal about lots of snow in the Rockies. Our major water supply comes from the Colorado River. Thanks for the heads up on the weather report.


Bass are toys. Gills and Trout are food.
There is a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore looking like an Idiot
Fast, Free Registration Tell them TubeN2 sent ya
Search From this siteClick Here
Current Moon Phase Tide Reports

well John I am a firm beliver in that the waters are not always calm when we are out fishing.

many a day I have gone out with clear skys, and no rain in the forcast and had a storm blow up apon me with out notice.

as to boat rockers, I beleive we dont have enough of them. just like on the calm seas, we need boat rockers to remind us of potencial stoms on the horizen.

as for asteroids we had one pass by earth this year at half the distance of the moons orbit. now that's what I call a close call. this one was only the size of a football feild. there is another one that is supostedly comming in the year 2014, they say not to wory just yet because there are many factors at play in the solar system that can change the cource. this one is about the size of the one that hit out in arizona or new mexico. cant remember the state, they made a big park out of it. I am sure you will remember which one it is. the cooling affect is much like the dropping of an ice cube in to your wisky and tonic.

as for cooling of the core, (sory about that,) it is realy the crust just above the mantle that changes in tempiture the. just like in the water there is a thermal line where the water tempitures stay prety much the same tempirure year round. in the crust we have the same thing. but as the ocian levels rize so dose that thermal layer untill the point where it triggers the change in the atmosphere.

the rocking of the boat thing I was refering to (I thought you were getting on to the topic of man and his influence on the climate.) what we have done is created a green house affect by releasing gasses in to the atmosphere that keep it worm. we should have been a lot further in to the ice age fromation than we are now. sientest have layers of history in the glacers and on polar caps and in the layers of earth sediment. what they dont know is percisely our effect will have on the climate.

as to what the fish do during an ice age has had me speculating for hours on many a day. for me the nearest conclusion that I can come up with is that they die all together. even during an ice age there is conciderable amount of run off of melting glasures creating links from rivers to ponds to inland fresh water seas like those of the great lakes. In my speculations, I asume that with these links fish are able to migrate south as the water ways open. those that dont move die from the sear preaser if not the cold. as the ice shelves thaw and receed back to the caps the fish follow the flow to the very edges of the flows of melting glasers as they can get. ocuping as much of the waters area as posible.

alaska would serve as a perifect example of what nature has instore for an ice age.

another thing that an ice age has an affect on is desserts. as the sea levels drop the air around the deserts cool and they become butiful agricultureal areas much the same as our green belts now.

Ice ages are not as bad as they are made out to be. man has lived through a good number of ice ages since our ocupaton on this planet. so as the snow and ice colects on the caps again and clame greater surface areas on the northern and sothern hemisphers the receding oceans open up lands that we once ocupied farmed and fished on. there are countles cities that are under water right now that 8-10 thousand years ago were well above the sea level. so for and ice age being a dooms day issue, in my view it is more of a clensing thing. I think of it as an ice shampoo.

all our land fills will turn in to pockets of coal.

the interisting part will be to me is what will hapen to land locked sea faring creatures during the ice age. as the waters recede we will have salt water lakes for some time till they are flushed out by the rains and melt offs.

I had the opertunity to fish in a man made pond for 20 years. this pond was created by the road commition when they were building a road near by. I was able to see the affects of what happened to the pond through the wet years and drout years. (3 acres and 20 feet at its deepest end) one year the pond water level dropped so low I could walk across the midle to get to the ogher side.

in this pond there were a number of fish verieties, gill - mostly stunted, crappie - few and far between, largemouth bass - most were 8 inches but two reched matmouth perportions, cat fish - all but the planted ones were stunted.

what I saw in this pond was that in the dry years there was a lot of die off, I saw that the fish became less active, I dont know if this had to do with less oxigen in the water or just a loss of apitite from the heat. the fish that did remain and did eat were the larger ones that had servived grew enormusly eating on the smaller less active fish. as the food supply dwindled they were more exceptable to strikeing lures they have seen 10,000 times before.

on the opisite side of the coin I saw near the same affect on the cold years the fish would prety much do the same thing. except in this senario the larger fish were the first to die off. they required more food and more oxigen to stay alive than the less active smaller fish. the harsh winter was a killer to the pond.

during the wet years fishing the pond was much harder. the 3 acre pond grew in to a 5 acre pond. the fish had a new ecosistem. we had a massive increase of the frog population, grond worms were more available. the tall grasses and shrubs provided areas for frylings to hide from preditors amounting in to another population explosion of stunted gills in the pond.

there is plenty of room here for boat rocking, you rock it one way and I will rock it the other,




Dave
Your Message Board Administrator





Wage war on natural desasters, not humans !

I would try my hand at "man and environment" but I don't know enough, yet, to talk intelligently about it but the time will come.

I tend to agree with some of your points, Dave. Not totally in agreement but close. You also made some points that I hadn't thought of.

One point I would like to make, is about garbage-dispensing outdoorsman; those who leave their trash for others. I sure wish there was an open season on them with no limit. I just returned from another bout with Cache La Poudre River (northwest of Ft. Collins) and what I saw just turned my stomach. Here's a prestine river running clear and clean and some a**hole has to leave his beer bottles on the bank. This while there's garbage can not fifty feet away. Yes, I picked them up and properly disposed of them. While I'm not an overly religious man, I consider the outdoors my church and want to keep it clean. I could get started on this subject but I'd have to take another Prozac.

On the positive side, by considering how Cache La Poudre Canyon was formed (it must have taken thousands of years), it's an open book as to what can happen with the next ice age. In my mind, I can see the canyon completely blocked with ice while the water upstream continued to form an even bigger lake. Note: did you know that eight rivers have their start in Colorado? Watch out when the ice melts, it'll flood all the way to the Kansas stateline, or what's left of it.

I do remember that comet that passed close to earth. The scary part? Scientists didn't detect it until it had already passed. What's the Hubble telescope for besides catching images of galaxies fifty million light years away? That's not going to hurt us, near earth objects are. And I'm willing to bet my pension that all the aspirin in the world wouldn't help that headache if one hit. Alien fish in the crater?

As I drove through Ft. Collins, I watched all the dirt, gravel, busted asphalt and other miscellaneous debris being swept into the river. No wonder there are no fish as the river passes through town. Now that's criminal. A gravel company tried to get a permit to open a pit near Barr Lake State Wildlife Area (about ten minutes from Brighton) but the entire idea got shot down by the City Council (election time was close). If they had succeeded, it would have put a ton a day of dust into the lake, effectively killing most of the fish. When I finally got called to speak before the council, I had all of three minutes, I pointed out that the City Council had no authority to over ride a federal law, namely the Endangered Species Act. You see, we have about twenty nesting pair of Bald Eagles permanently established in that area. By killing the fish, they would be deprived of their secondary food supply, the first being ground squirrels. End of discussion, sit down and shut up. I don't know if my well-researched arguments swayed the council, but I'd like to think I did. Now the developers argument was that they would leave an open space about a quarter mile wide for the eagles to fly through to their hunting grounds. Gimme a break here, eagles don't read maps and observe no boundaries; they go where they want. Permit denied. Okay, so we won on that one (votes before cash). But there will be other times, developers have deep pockets and worship the all-mighty dollar.

Back to the Cache La Poudre River (how I love that place). I did manage to catch, and release, several rainbows, German Browns and something that swam like a fish, looked like a fish and even fought like a fish, but I couldn't identify it. They didn't want gold Kastmasters but silver, the small variety. Blue Fox even took one but Mepps wasn't on their menu. After about an hour of fun and thrills, I put away the fishing pole. Wouldn't you know it? That was the time the bigger ones (I'm talking 16" to 20") decided that the dinner bell had rang or were they just teasing me? Either way, it was fun watching them rise to the surface, grab a bug and slink back down into the depths. These aren't planters but natives.

Enough for one night. There's a thunder-boomer headed my way and I don't want my computer fried, again. Back tomorrow.

the garbage I was talking about was land fills.

and might I say welcome to the congrigation. I too beleive there should be a season on pig hunters and anglers and lets not forget to mention those tophoo loving peta poluters as well. I can understand an axident where a peice blows out and away in the wind, even something falling out of their pockeds, I find my self having to cary a bag in to the woods with a poker to pick up a bag full every time I go only to see twice as much the next time I go.

I was at a small city park just a little over a week ago. and what I saw was outragous. in a 2 acre area on the back entrance of the park looked just like a land fill. and I aint exagerating! I emeadiatly went streaght down to city hall and pitched a twich about the conditions. I was surprized that they sent some one out there emeadiatly to take care of the problem.




Dave
Your Message Board Administrator





Wage war on natural desasters, not humans !

hey there ddr, i hear what your sayin there, but one summer we had one like that too. everybody,s wells were goin down too.i was lucky we got a good river that runs way down under my house and in on a good vain.on my mt. but it was not normal fer us not to have good rain here too. the fishin wasn,t any good in my brook cause there wasn,t any water, but i believe, they came up the brook a ways and found no water and went back to the pond. i believe everythin is related by their weather, it has to cause that,s where they live grow and die. their in it all the time. the squirells i belive have just a certain area they live grow and die in just like the deer, and won,t leave it, so from way babies they learn their area just like our bacyard, and know it like the palmof their hands.paws. so they know where to put their supplies. probably cause momma did there too. animals instincts,are what keep them livin. and humans could take a lesson from them, and can also learn from them. by watchin lookin listenin to em. they have to go by weather and instincts, that,s all they got and it,s either they learn from their instincts or they die. that,s life, and if as many humans learned this in life, the better off they,d be, survival.instincts. the old are old because they did learn this, they teach the young, and that,s how theygitto be old.the cycle of life. to learn how to survive. from them, is the best teacher.but what i believe too is, i,ve also seen watched looked and listened, especialy the coyotes on my mountain, the close ties between the wilds then i,ve seen in humans too.the bonds between them, the ways they learn their young, the five sences they use, and just plain natures instincts that they sence somethin wrong, and go by it, is just amazin. they must know somethin. cause they have to learn together work together live love together. the fish even go to school. haha later
.

Lou

yessa i hear ya as fer as them not tellin us unimportant people too, but it still also goes back to survival, instincts.i guess they figure it,s our responsibility to survive and have things ready fer any occasion, but it is true, but they have a DUTY TO TELL US ALSO. but when have they really gave a damn about us anyways??? still, if they don,t tell us of whats goin on, we still have to survive.any which way but loose!! we can. family, might just have to learn to live together again,work and survive together again. ain,t that awful?? and my coyotes do?? wgat else do we got if we ain,t got family, friends, we can learn from nad help each other,live togehterwork together to survive. the old days, the old ways. that,s what i,ve always said. if we can watch our animals, they,ll tell us, so we go back to the basics, wood stoves, the ol good warm wool clothes rubber gear to keep the wet out, insulate the houses better, and stock up on our food.just like the squirells. haha. a friend of mine has one of those cellars they dug a good deep hole in the ground, lined it with rocks and smoke their meats. and put in there. veggies they can, guess that why i couldn,t throw my cannin jars out. haha instinct, well i keep sayin the old days the old ways. i do pitty those females that never learned how to do this stuff.cook from scratch without boxed stuff and microwaves. haha i learned from my ma, i know how to survive in any weather, and have the clothes to do it and the materials to use without electricity or gas. stock up, on our shells so,s we can hunt, and on the propane to git ya thru, or everythin wood. that,s why i like yard sales. haha later but even if we don,t like what them high monkey monks dowe still have to take care of us. it is our responsibility to take care of our own, and survive. cause when and if it boils down to this, it isn,t tax dollars that will save our ass, us, it,s our instincts. and stickin together cause nobody will have to give a damn about money, they,ll be none and we,ll be fightin fer what ours when it gits that bad anyways, with all the stuff their puttin in our air anyways. i have been sayin fer quite some time in thelast 10 years, this is whatit,s goin to boil down to, i been feelin it in my survival instincts never mind them idiots with books and tellin ya how to live, you go by your own insticnts. i do.,
.

Lou

 yessa there BAD HERE TOO, vermont, but anyways it,s awful funny they were high labor day, when everybody was doin their travelin, up tp 200 a gal. and now their down to 170"" figure that one?? what,s goin on there""
.

Lou

hey ther guy, well weve really gotten colder here in the last week and a half. down to 27 last nite. suppose to have a frost.last nite. haven,t noticed yet, haha didn,t want to open the door. haha cool in the house this mornin haha. also not enough coffee, haha anyways, from what i,m seein we,re gonna have a early winter long and a hole lotta snow. like gramp and i had back when i was a kid.i asked my girlfriend the other day how fer she went to school she said 12th grade i told her i went 3 miles and a half. haha how do ya like me now. haha i liked that one. haha i have to laugh, the kids now adays have a bus that take em. i remember havin to fight the snow banks down by the pond, wind a blusterin, and sinkin in and out of em to git there. haha well i think we,ll be goin back there.
.

Lou

  You sure nailed the subject there, Mary. What "they" fail to realize is that us unimportant folks are the ones who will survive while they are still trying to figure out what happened. DUH! Whatever did we do before politicians? For that matter, who invented politics? Take the SOB out back and hang him from the nearest tree.
Survival instincts, we all have them but in different ways and with different goals. As a retired cop once told me, don't relie on the police in an emergency. It is not the police's job to protect but to arrest for breaking the law. In fact, they can't arrest unless a crime has been committed (Homeland Security and the IRS are the exception). However, being prepared and being labeled a surivalist puts us on a "watch" list as potentially dangerous. I've been stopped by the Denver police, dragged out of my truck and handcuffed because I was carrying a .357 magnum, in plain sight. Why, I was asked? because the cops don't do their job so I will be carrying something that will make a car-jacker think twice. Now I'm on their list. Boo-hoo. Now that makes me very sad and upset. Gimme another Porzac.
Everyone has their own score card, how they keep track of just how successful they are. CEOs have their bank accounts, politicians by how much secret money they have stashed away, etc. Me, I check the score by seeing that I'm prepared for almost anything, short of a 50 megaton nuclear warhead, then that ruins everybody's day. Yes, I keep an ample supply of ammo for "all" my guns (notice I didn't call them weapons?), a full food supply and even backup charcoal for cooking. And don't forget the can opener. Yes, I can cook without a wife (don't have one). Can't seem to find that fourth one who doesn't mind getting out and roughing it for a week. Instead of being referred to as "selective" (which I prefer), I'm called a crusty old fart with eccentric habits. Okay, so I strayed off the subject.
As has happened throughout history, the ones who can survive on their own are the one's who will be around when the crisis is over. That would be those of us who can live off the land; either hunting or fishing.

HEY DAVE!! I HEAR YA THERE!! I,M GONNA TELL YA A STORY WHICH IS TRUE!WHICH ALL OF EM ARE ANYWAYS, HAHA I SCAT THE ==== OUT OF THESE DUDES ONCE. I WAS OUT SHOOTIN MY 22 GITTIN READY TO GO SQUIRELL HUNTIN ONE DAY. I HEAR THIS BIG FANCY CAR STOPPED DOWN NEAR THE DRIVEWAY, OH I WAS MAYBE 12, JUST TARGIT PRACTICIN, AND LADDIE JOHN WAS GOIN NUTTSO. SO, I WENT OVERTHRU AND WATCHED AS THESE DOWNCOUNTRY,S DECIDED THEY,D TAKE THERE TRASH AND PUT IT ON OUR LAND. AND LEAVE IT. STREWN IT.EVERYWHERE. I WAS HOT!! I WENT DOWN THRU AND PROCEEDED TO GIT HOT AND TELLIN EM THEY WERE GONNA GITOUT THE CAR AND PICK IT ALL UP OR I WAS GONNA CALL THE POLICE.I FORGOT I HAD MY 22 IN MY HANDS I WAS SO HOT. AND LADDIE JOHN TELLIN,EM, BUT THEY PICKED UP EVERY PIECE UP! HAHA BUT I BET THEY MEMBERED ME FER AWHILE. OH AND THANKS A MILLION FER MY NEW SIGNATURE I LIKE IT LOTS. COOL!!
.

Lou

HAHAHAHA BOY AM I GONNA HAVE FUN WITH THIS ONE! haha YOU!! HAHAAHHA CRUSTY OL FART HUH?? HAHA I LIKE CRUSTY OL FARTS CAUSE THERE JUST LIKE ME!! HAHA WELL, I,M A STUBBORN OL HICK WITH MY OWN INDEPENDENT THOUGHT AND WAYS AND I AINT GONNA CHANGE FER NOBODY. HAHA HOW DO YA LIKE ME NOW! HAHA AND WE WILL BE SURVIN LONG AFTER THEM IS RIGHT. well as fer as ya gittin picked up with your gun bein out, well it,s opposite fer us, we have to have it in the open or they,ll git us fer a concealed gun.{em too} gun! anyways, i believe they have that list everywhere don,t they. well LIST THIS HONEY! HAHA i will protect my own.! yessa. i,m pretty well prepared myself. i,ve always had to take care of me and ma and my son, so,s i know what your sayin, there all i had and needed. course my animals too. but ya learn when ya got to learn the hard ways, and i didn,t mind, ya don,t fergit! but my problem is i don,t back down from nothin. i ain,t scat of nothin and toocrazy to be scat. hahahaha how do ya like me now?? i do what i have to do. nobody,s gonna walk on me or mine. that,s why i,m the blacksheep haha. and them politicians ain,t rulin my life, nobody is. some call me a===== haha well, i just ask em if they want to see one?? haha later!! and me too on the huntin and fishin ,survivin! hey bud, what that homeland security?? thing??
.

Lou

Homeland Security, formed after 9-11 to protect us from them bad terrorists. To date, all it is is a Black Hole in which our tax dollars disappear while taking away our Constitutional rights. It was a bad idea from the start.

I like you already, you sound alarmingly like a copy of me. I also am called the Black Sheep of the family because I do things my way without fitting into any convenient catagory, enjoy a good, lively debate (some call it arguing) and generally live my own life the way I see fit. Although I do have to live, somewhat, within the laws of man and nature. Man is more forgiving than nature is, just get lost in the forest and see what happens. Of course, I've never been lost. I may have "not" been where I wanted to be but never lost.

When the next Great Depression hits, and it ain't that far away, we'll be the ones who are eating regularly and living off the land while others are scratching their heads and screaming, "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?" We'll be the ones people come looking for and asking how to survive. How do I catch a fish? How do I find a deer? No, it's not in the Yellow Pages and you don't catch a trout by waving a worthless $100 bill at it.

Perhaps it's our anchestral genes kicking in, I don't know, but survival of the fittest will be the Law of the Land, and we're better prepared than most of the population. That CEO sitting in his office high above the city will be munching on stale crackers while we're enjoying grilled trout and venison. Okay, call me crazy but I think the outdoorsman (person) is better suited to cope with today's pressures than any psychologist raking in $500/hr just to tell you to relax. Did Davy Crockett turn to a psychiatrist when he had a problem? No. He just told someone in town, they told everyone in town and pretty soon, no more problem. That's why we're more mentally stable that anyone else. If we have a problem, we step outside, talk to the squirrel and the problem is gone. Of course that squirrel now has a problem, but we don't.

To those who think communing with nature is a walk outside to get the paper, I say .^.

Amen about the homeland security dept. and that goes DOUBLE for the not-so "Patriot" Act too!




Your Fishing Webmasters Moderator

Utah Fishing Information - Get Info on Utah fish species and waters

Register for BigFishTackle - it's FREE and easy!

ain,t that so true!!!!!!1 them suckers! and that,s what i was meanin too when they call me black sheep. i figure i don,t tell them how to live, well don,,t step on my toes either. we all got choices, same as the huntin fishin thing. cause i,m gonna,.and i hear ya bout livin within the laws of man and nature, and i ain,t never been lost neither, maybe off the track little bit. haha but lookin on tv sometimes,in hospitals too, like ma did, ya know what i mean? i sometimes wonder with all this hurt and miserable livin lives, pain and sufferin, people are goin thru and the way there treatin one another, you sure nature isn,t more forigivin?? at least it,s short, and quick and not so much sufferein, and ya know what,s gonna happen ya don,t have to sit there and wait to die, not knowin what to expect. when, to me that,s more human than human. the ways they treat each other, guess ya can look it at it either way. and i too believe they,ll be another depression like ma went thru. she told me bout it. it,s the citiers that will have the problems.hear ya! i think it,s my gtramps genes kickin in cause i,m just like him, ma even said that that,s why we did the arguin haha it,s the indian comin out she,d say, and as fer as those shrinks, hahahaha i have tolaugh at them, i went to one when i was goin thru physical therapy one time, well ya know, moren that but it was this one specific time, haha,last time, she didn,t want to see me again, haha iwonder why?? anyways, she asked me if i was in an apartment in the city would i be scat??would ya git all worked up and buy a gun?? lock the doors and sit there and bawl?? i said no, she said i would,well i told her sounds like your pretty paranoid to me,and lookin fer somethin that,s gonna happen fer it does.i said haha it was one of those head games ya know, and i says guess i,m not half as dumb as ya think i am huh?? haha she didn,t like me much after that,i figure, haha where thebear ====in the woods haha it,s the world that,s wrong not us.but they like makin it out thatit,s us, cause theire knowin i,m right, they wouldn,t have a job, and would have to admit i,m right, thatit is the world that,s screwed up, and we,re more normal than what they figure. haha did i git that right haha which way di he go george?? and i did talk to the squirells and my ponies my hounds cats haha and i got more out of them than i did her! hahaguess they figure talkin to your animals ain,t normal. haha well it,s more normal livin life sharinlife bein inlife and learnin it than out of a book to git the answers!! di the ones who wrote the book she learned out of, live their life out of other books to git their configurations on life and how we,re suppose to be?? haha which i said to her. she was younger than me and ia pup.outof colledge, and i told her so. i also proceeded to tell her, you couldn,t handle what i,ve been thru and be as sane asi am out of it all. haha i,m done. haha but ya don,t gain wisdom in a book. people can learn, of others trials tribulations,out of a book, yes, and if they learn somethin out of it good,, but what,s right in that book fer somebody don,t mean it right fer the one sittin there. but it,s not like bein it feelin it dealin with it, and comin to terms with it so,s you can live with yourself with your choices. that,s what i believe. to me, friendship can do more fer ya than and their doin the same things the shrinks do, listen, be there fer ya, and ya don,t have to pay em, there there cause they want to be not cause they have to be. takin your money, and they don,t even kow you or love you. my animals di that fer nothin.they didn,t wear a white collar or fancy dress,wisdom, it has to be learned.thru livin life, to me. later!all in stages in life. even animals know how.they don,t go to no shrink! hahalater
.

Lou

You lucky dog! Here in MN, we're sposed to be in the mid-70's but we've been up in the low 90's and upper 80's.

Today, the temps cooled down rather quickly. We've got a "cool front" coming in... supposedly with some moisture (pray that it actually happens instead of blowing around us again). The crappies were biting pretty good and they were definite keeper size. The sunnies were hefty as well.

It's the most luck I've had in a while in getting keeper size. If it weren't for everybody else around me, they'd have been put back to be caught another day but the others were after dinner.

On to other stuff!

A couple days ago someone told me that according to the Farmer's Almanac, we should be in for a doozy of a winter. Maybe I'll get to survive my first REAL Minnesnowta winter?

The weather is'a changin'. People here have said that the weather's been odd for the past 5 yrs. Maybe I brought it with me when I moved from Barstow to here 5 yrs ago. Hehe.

-- DrownedDesertRat --


Click here for your local weather report.

so your ready for some -60 below sero weather?




Dave
Your Message Board Administrator





Wage war on natural desasters, not humans !