Sharp Hooks

     Are your hooks sharp?  Do you use a good quality hook?  Why do I need a sharp hook anyway?

  All of these questions are about maintenance and preparedness. Some take care of these questions as a hobby or something to do as they wait on their next outing. Others do this as a means of preparedness, these are the folks who view hooks as tools and need to have them clean, sharp and ready for the next use. 

I fall in the latter maintenance/prepper.  Well heck, really I am OCD about it as I don’t want to leave any stone unturned or have the possibility of a fish besting me because I was lazy or forgot to take care of business. 

  The other thing is what's the right hook for the job?  I mostly jig lakers and walleyes.  The hooks on my rods are Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp or Trokar Hooks.  These are fail safe out of the package, once you get accustomed to how a quality sharp hook performs on a low stretch line like Fins Wind Tamer braid you will immediately know when something is off in your set up.  Hopefully its not you.  More on the you part in a future blog.

  The answer to 'why I need a sharp hook anyway' is to start the penetration of the hook point as I move the rod or as the fish turns to swim away with the hook in position.

     Like all sports visualization is the key.  Look at a pack of hooks and see fish on your stringer!!!!!!!! 

Long Time

     A long time has passed since my last blog, sounds like confession.  It has been a nice break filled with family and Roxi my granddaughter.  Wow, folks talk about its awesome being a grandparent.  I really did not connect to that until it had happened. Many of the things I think about with her are the same as those original thoughts with my daughters.  I just want to be with her and show her the marvel of what is outside and waiting to be discovered, well much the same of what I hope to give to friends and clients.  My personal creed, I would say, “Share the joy and craft  of fishing, outdoor knowledge, safety and the stewardship of God’s creations." 

Ok what does that truly mean in practice, to show up each day being who and what I have been created to be. Give all of my energy to the efforts of reaching the sole goal of : Communicating ability to have a peaceful mind while being outdoors. I kind of liken it to when we were kids and had pretend forts, we were make believe kings or queens, Daniel Boone, Davey Crocket and the like.  The escape or mindful experience of disengaging from the grind of it all and knowing that there are really only a few things that really have value Love, Time and what we experience as Beauty.  In the pursuit to give this way, I find it intriguing to relate to folks and the day.  Most folks will state that being outside and learning skills of this outdoor craft and /or lifestyle was brought to them thru a parent and/or their grandparents. 

    More on these thoughts in the future.

    I always want to remember that all I have to do is choose to be a part of the beauty, creation of it is the same as what created myself.

Seasonal

Wow, I can't believe it’s the changing seasons already.  I know sometimes when it is a blur it is because we are busy. Yep that’s what it was for me. As I think back on this season and the season of fishing, it has been a challenge as many patterns have been different and the waters all fished colder than previous years. Then comes the flood of memories of folks I have been privileged to spend the day with the talks about God, our lives, our children and sometimes best of all the fish we have caught together. 

Seasonal has a special meaning as we get older because we realize we will only see so many of the changes, the growth of our children, spouses and friends encountered on this journey. The most unexpected gift I get and I hope we can all find in our lives is the gift of companionship and love. I am amazed when I hear from friends and family members how an event/fishing trip was so meaningful and special. I sincerely hope we all take time to slow down and realize, how, when, where we can love on each other. Sometimes just that mind set brings about a mindset of safety in our broken world for those around us.

Ok back to fishing, crap that the hard part that stuff is the fishing and the people for me. The action has slowed on Kokanee at Wolford Mountain, Pike have picked up on Williams Fork, Granby is pre-spawn lakers and it just keeps getting better til ya can't stand the cold.

A fishing story, which inspires:  this is from D & A. D & A were recently pictured on Facebook with a 28" pike. I met D at Williams Fork this spring, he and family were back up last weekend (D is a avid expert fly fisherman). I offered him a few hours in the boat so I could watch and learn from a master how this piking is done, also to learn boat position and control for this type of casting. Well just like mentioned above the conversation is about being positive and loving and we catch fish of well if A is feeling that way we all catch fish and Wham Fish On. Inspiring to say the least. Thanks D & A for the evening companionship and learning as well as an exciting fish.

"BE"

Did you feel it down there?  Here it comes,
Fall is at the door. The days are getting noticeably shorter and cooler at night, a different blanket maybe?

Well you can really feel it up in the mountains. Wow and really see it as well, all the grasses and a large portion of the undergrowth is changing. The cottonwoods along the Colorado will be all yellow in less than a week. The animals are moving, the first hunting seasons have started.

As the season shifts yet again it slows down for me, it gets easier to look around more and see the presence of God or a higher power all around me. It was a great summer season but the present is here now. I really like it when I notice the little stuff (the undergrowth and the bushes changing) and focus on all of it not just the big picture say the aspens.

One of the changes fishing takes I/we notice is fish of all flavors Kokanee, Lakers, Pike and Walleye all start being just a more reactive. That means its spoon season, snapping that metal around for the violent strikes. The spoons I love are my homemade slabs and the PK spoons both the Flutterfish and PK. Sharp hooks seal the deal.  Eagle Claw LAZER hooks are my go to and what I switch out to. If you have lots of spoons try this trick, pull the hooks and only put hooks on the few you will be using that day - far less de-tangling frustration.

Please come up and enjoy Grand County and the great lake fishing we share and have to offer on Wolford Mtn. Reservoir, Williams Fork Reservoir and Lake Granby.

If ya hit the weather right the fishing is great, the sun is warm after the lake fog lifts and the guide is rested up and so ready to put ya on fish.

It is hard to write this thought but "if you see what is around you, you are an active part of what you see" So I think about it like this if you look at it from a photo it was a beautiful moment in time recorded and re-viewed and enjoyed. If you are actually there and view it, you are actually an active part of the whole. Say I see beauty, feel the temperature around me and smell the odors I am then a real part of the whole and part of this beauty.

This is a refreshing thought to me.

Be in all you do.

Damn IT!!!!

It has been a long time since I blogged, 2 reasons the first wow was I busy. That's the great one, the second wow was I tired. The tiredness comes from my 'all in' attitude and work ethic which sometimes will get me in trouble, as I do not realize how exhausted I have become. Well, I learned some new signals and choices that I can make. 

The fishing has been amazing with large Pike, high quantities of Kokanee Salmon. Both Williams Fork and Wolford Mtn are fishing well. Granby continues to be full to the brim and producing at normal August fishing. 

The fishing will remain good in Grand county up until Ice on and just keep going. The fact that we have had a wet year and cooler temps will make for a gradual transition to the fall patterns. Many of the trees have stopped growing and have begun the process of going dormant. The leaves will peak this year in the first2-3 weeks of September . 

Now for the damn it part. It is about loss and grief. As we all experience this and process in our own ways. Mine is sometimes just summed  up as Damn IT!!!!! Well I /We lost one of those folks in life which shows how much love and hope there is in our world. Nick C God's speed and enjoy being whole again I will see you as I am called home. I will watch and be aware of your angelic spirit in our physical world. I know you will watch over K and L. The support group which formed around you to pattern you was an amazing chance to view love in action. I look forward to seeing this Love come into view again.

                                                                                       Morning fog

What? Expecting?

We as anglers, pattern fish to create expectations of behavior and location. A responsive angler knows real fast, um something is different. When this happens we experience locations to vary, or a response far different than we are used to.

The question comes to mind, how do we alter our approach when we see this variation in our quarry. What I hope to do each day is to go out on the water interpret the environment / fishery, gather info via fishing and sonar, make choices and respond not react to the variations of weather, water level and others until I find a pattern or sometimes I call it a recipe for success. 

A good example of this is, say the pike fishing is on fire via top water and in 1' to 5 ' then a slight cold front comes thru. Slight right, well ya but the thunderstorms that night with a lot of lighting. Are those same pike gonna be shallow first thing in the a.m., well no I think not. Um probably change my approach.

Yes as most things fishing, I see a parallel to daily life. We pattern our spouses, friends and co-workers, I think it's a human trait, I know I take this for granted at times not acknowledging what environmental affects have altered the friend or spouse's patterns. To take time to be aware of this, is to be focused on them and how we can lovingly interact and give to their needs. 

What? How is your life affected by the environment or world today?
Expecting? Careful this response is seldom the same, although we try to make it that way for our comfort.

First ?

I recently have had the joy of lots of first time experiences with folks guiding. First fish ever caught, first time to fish in Colorado, first time to deep jig for a fish, first fish larger than my foot (kind of a weird comparison, but real).

Sometimes these firsts will leave ya thinking. It created in myself the wonder of all the conditioning and habits we create for our minds.  Can we adjust and direct our thoughts to experience these firsts again?  I have not found the recreation of the first time for myself, but I have found the joy of watching and being a part of creating an environment in which others do.

One recent satisfaction was the opportunity to share with a young man who is sensitive, yep sensitive like myself, some coping strategies to be able to handle this time of awareness and insight into his spirit as well as others.

It is truly a pleasure to guide folks fishing and spend time with them while learning about each other and helping each other. All while fishing and being outside in our beautiful world.