This not a Salmon Egg...

its the eclipse of our moon tonight, about 8PM Mountain Standard Time, in Montana.

Bush calling the kettle black?

So Fidel officially steps down today and passes the torch to his brother. This looks awfully familiar, sort of like the family Bush in the US? Ok, so we missed an 8 year interlude that brought us the Clintons from Arkansas. At least at the end of that run we were in pretty good financial shape and hadn't pissed off the rest of the planet. If you are a Cuban this will be Fidel lite. A kinder, more media friendly regime.

Bush promptly started spewing his usual blather. From the media- President Bush said Tuesday that the resignation of Fidel Castro “ought to be a period of democratic transition” for Cuba, and that the country must hold free and fair elections to pick a successor after half a century of Communist rule.

“And I mean free and I mean fair,” Mr. Bush added, “not these kind of staged elections that the Castro brothers try to foist off as true democracy.”

Ahem. You mean like in Florida? Not that I really care that Al Gore lost but there was something awfully fishy about those "free and fair elections". And weren't there a couple of other brothers involved there? If you ask me Dubya has been reading Fidel's playbook.

I am thinking in this election year, after 8 years of Bushism that in America there “ought to be a period of democratic transition”.

Kokanee, it's what's for supper...

I finally got my fishing mojo back today. After 3 hours of "pimpling" on Lake Five we limited out on Kokanee Salmon. I could not overcome my son's early lead by 3 fish. I did rally to tie and take the lead for a short time but flustered at the loss of two fish nearly out of the hole, I lost my composure and could not muster another comeback before the bite died off.

But to keep things in perspective, these are not sport fish really. For us, this is light duty, a diversion to keep us sharp for the coming season. This is meat fishing, its whats for supper and if you fail you can always pop a can of Stag Chili. These fish do not have a prayer once they are out of the hole, the are beginning their journey down my Homo Sapien digestive tract.

Once we were home we promptly cleaned the fish, half of which were baked, the rest went in the freezer for another day. My heart is working better already with the Omega whatever you call 'ems now running free in my bloodstream. Nice fishy.

Togen Hook order

I ordered a few Togen hooks this last weekend for a some early test runs at the vice and hopefully some early season fishing. I found these via Singlebarbed a couple weeks back.
Since Saturday I have seen one or two bugs flying every day except today. So things are starting to move. I just started rummaging through the tying stuff- way behind on tying new bugs.

Bad Ice

This was the weekend of the annual fishing derby at McGregor Lake, Montana. The fishing and weather were less than stellar but the fish were not totally uncooperative. As of Saturday's finish the biggest Mac was 10lb. and the biggest Rainbow was 7lb. Despite the conditions it was all still good fun finished off by a raucous crowd claiming some nice prizes in the drawing at the lodge' bar.

The ice was not the greatest. 6 inches of snow on top, 8 inches of slush under that and about 5 inches of good ice. I should have wore my chest waders and wading boots. The high point of the afternoon was watching a helo from Timberline rescuing an unfortunate participant's 4-wheeler from becoming an expensive piece of fish structure at the bottom of the lake. Actually, one other thing happened today, probably the most important thing I have seen in weeks, an actual large flying insect of the mayfly sort! Yeah, baby!

Road Trip

Over the last weekend (Ground Hog sees shadow!) we went to my father-in-laws 95th birthday celebration. Getting to 95 is tough business. Fortunately, getting to Anaconda, MT on this trip was not.

While in the area I took a morning run up to the Philipsburg area to see what was about on a relatively balmy February morning.

And of course, a valiant, but futile attempt at coaxing a Brown out from under an undercut patch of Willows. By Easter they should have their appetites and menu back in order.

Marijuana vending machines...

You guest it, California. LA is getting Marijuana vending machines.They are of course built like Fort Knox, and guarded. You buy your medical smoke with a credit card. How convenient. I wonder if you can buy your bong and papers there too?

Read the article:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22910820/

The kicker for me is the guy that wants to see and smell his medical grass first. Is that like tasting your penicillin first? I am all for medical use but this looks to easy. Anyone over 50 that's done anything in their life ought to have enough symptoms to get a medical marijuana prescription.

I am thinking that maybe we need to get Dick Cheney in for a prescription, today's his birthday. He is obviously having problems with his eyes, not someone you really want to go out and shoot birds with. The only drawback is that he might be the type that suffers from extreme paranoia, no one would be safe then.

Red Barn

From 40° to -20° (with windchill) in about 15 hours. Standing temperature 10°.

Fishing on the ice in the rain...

New levels of fun right? Not. The only thing I can say is sometimes its just best to stay home even if you have an ice house. Last Sunday it was 0°, this Sunday its 40° and raining.

I did do one thing right today being that I was not catching any fish, I took someone with me that could. Today it was Kokanee Salmon that was the subject of our pursuit.

The setup consists of a Swedish Pimple with a short length of line attached below and attached to that is the infamous glowing Rat Fink. Attached to the Rat Fink is a couple of nice plump pink dyed maggots. Now, here is something that I did not know till today courtesy of my son who took the time to read the back of the Swedish Pimple package. The act of, or I should say technique by which you jig your Swedish Pimple is called "pimpling".

My money says that he doesn't pay that much attention to details when he is doing his geography homework.


Now this is a pathetic little scene. This dog will pine at your heels while you are loading the truck or sit a short distance away giving you the look. The "are you leaving me here" look. I try to keep him in suspense till the end. The thing that kills me is that he will absolutely be crushed if you leave him but once he is in the field, if you are not in constant motion he gets bored and starts whining again. And this winter, all of a sudden, if there is not some form of heat nearby its time for a whining tantrum. I can relate but the fact that he weighs 2/3 as much as I and takes nearly as much space puts him at an unfortunate disadvantage when it comes to taking over the fishing digs. Never the less I am still a sucker when I get a high dose of the "look".





Not familiar with a Kokanee Salmon? This is what they look like. They are sort of a strange looking fish, something about those eyes. These are not particularly big ones but they are very tasty. Next to regular sea run Salmon they are my favorite.

Togen Fish Hooks

A note on Singlebarbed was a nice find for economizing fly tiers. Togen fish hooks, $6 and change for a 100 hooks. Be sure to look at some of Togens other stuff too. One item caught my eye just from the name- twitch. I immediately took a quick winter daydream on that one, but quickly returned to reality when the item picture popped up, ah rubber legs, of course!

Spy Satellite coming to your hometown...

So, the news is a spy satellite is coming down. The responsible agencies are being quite up front about it. I guess its hard to hide something the size of a bus when it reenters our atmosphere. They say its happened before, so whats different about this one?

Well, no one knows where its going to come down. It seems that its lost its engines and it has no steering. So guiding it over an ocean or the Australian outback where it won't harm anything but an unlucky fish or Aborigine is out of the question.

It also seems to contain some beryllium, a potentially hazardous material, so blowing it to pieces and having rain down on reentry is not an option either. Looks like this thing has a free shot at earth and could hit about anywhere. I suppose Washington DC is out of the question?

Heat Wave

Wow, there was actually signs of melting today. A balmy 25°. Yesterday was the last of the sun for who knows how long.

I got out long enough to catch some of the drift sculptures from our storm last Sunday. Its looking like we will get hit again tomorrow, another blast of snow and polar at the same time. So, its back into the flipping freezer again for a few days and more drifted snowscapes.

Hopefully having some real winter will keep the rivers running and the temperatures down later into the summer this year. Keeping that in mind makes enduring some real winter weather a little more tolerable. Will see if I still feel that way at the end of February...

Montana State Trooper runs 55mph...

Another cold day...

NOAA's local forecast says we should start warming back up to reasonable temperatures tomorrow. After a good cold snap like the one we have had, the low 30's is almost T-shirt weather. Meantime, I am daydreaming about past catches and starting to think about getting to the fly tying vise to ramp up for some serious fly tying.

Fly fishing wisdom comes like everything else in life, you have to get out and take your licks and hopefully you learn from your mistakes and observations. I almost always start new hobbies by buying all kinds of crap that a seasoned veteran wouldn't even look at. I could not afford to do that with rods and reels but my god, did I go crazy on fly tying material. Its easy to rationalize $5 or $10 here and there for some new sexy thing that may or may not bring a gleam to your preferred salmonid's eye. But but before you know it you're into it for $500 and most of the stuff never even gets so much as a twitch of attention from the finned prey. So it goes with my little cache of materials. This season I am putting myself under materials lock down. After a couple of seasons of serious pursuit I am beginning to learn that there are certain patterns that seem to always work, some you can tweak with some of the new stuff and improve upon but almost none that are total makeovers requiring the latest, greatest flashy goo-gaw. Buying materials is a form of addiction that is best broken early in your fly fishing career, especially if you are married and even more so if you find yourself plotting ways to plan your work days around your fly fishing. Let the pioneer take the arrows.

There are ways to pinch pennies when stocking up on materials. Always be alert for alternative types of hair/feather colors, the coarseness, and how it will hold up to tying and then hopefully surviving several trips over the jaws of a nice trout. This is an open season kind of deal too and there are no bag limits because we are talking about alternatives, not big game animals. Road kill can be a good source, just be careful that you do not end up in same condition. Your neighbors cat or even the dog. You don't necessarily have to lay out and snipe him when he wanders or is lured into a safe line of fire. Its actually preferable to just harvest a little from him now and then and have an ongoing supply. Dogs are much more cooperative in this endeavor and they are generally easily bribed with table scraps, doggy treats and so forth. My dog is a great source of large, course black hair that serves as a great replacement for Moose hair. Cats are not so easily handled so you may find that your preferred method of restraint or sedation when relieving them of some of their fur results in their untimely demise. Its unfortunate, but it is after all for a good cause.

So, for this season, in looking over my mountain of material I hope to keep it to a sane minimum and only spend a modest fortune on hooks and continue my search for alternative sources of hair and feathers.

Native Americans full moon names for 2008 from Space.com

These are from Space.com-

Here is a listing of all the full moon names, as well as the dates and times for 2008. Unless otherwise noted, all times are for the Eastern Time Zone.


Jan. 22, 8:35 a.m. EST — Full Wolf Moon. Amid the zero cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. It was also known as the Old Moon or the moon after Yule. In some tribes this was the Full Snow Moon; most applied that name to the next moon.

Feb. 20, 10:30 p.m. EST — Full Snow Moon. Usually the heaviest snows fall in this month. Hunting becomes very difficult, and hence to some tribes this was the Full Hunger Moon. This is also the night of a Total Lunar Eclipse. North and South Americans will have a ringside seat for this event and will take place during convenient evening hours. Observers in western Europe and western Africa will see this eclipse from start to finish during the morning hours of February 21.

Mar. 21, 2:40 p.m. EDT — Full Worm Moon. In this month the ground softens and the earthworm casts reappear, inviting the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signals the end of winter, or the Full Crust Moon because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. This is also the Paschal Full Moon; the first full moon of the spring season. The first Sunday following the Paschal Moon is Easter Sunday, which indeed will be observed two days later on Sunday, March 23. This will, in fact, be the earliest Easter since 1913.

Apr. 20, 6:25 a.m. EDT — Full Pink Moon. The grass pink or wild ground phlox is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other names were the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and — among coastal tribes — the Full Fish Moon, when the shad came upstream to spawn.

May 19, 9:11 p.m. EDT — Full Flower Moon. Flowers are abundant everywhere. It was also known as the Full Corn Planting Moon or the Milk Moon. Since the moon arrives at apogee less than 12 hours later, this will also be the smallest full moon of 2008. In terms of apparent size, it will appear 12.3 percent smaller than the full moon of Dec. 12.

Jun. 18, 1:30 p.m. EDT — Full Strawberry Moon. Known to every Algonquin tribe. Europeans called it the Rose Moon.

Jul. 18, 3:59 a.m. EDT — Full Buck Moon, when the new antlers of buck deer push out from their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, thunderstorms being now most frequent. Sometimes also called the Full Hay Moon.

Aug. 16, 5:16 p.m. EDT — Full Sturgeon Moon, when this large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water like Lake Champlain is most readily caught. A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because the moon rises looking reddish through sultry haze, or the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon. There will be a Partial Lunar Eclipse that will be visible from Europe, Africa and the western two-thirds of Asia with this full moon. At its maximum 81 percent of the moon's diameter will become immersed in the Earth's dark umbral shadow.

Sep. 15, 5:13 a.m. EDT — Full Harvest Moon. Traditionally, this designation goes to the full moon that occurs closest to the Autumnal (fall) Equinox. The Harvest Moon usually comes in September, but (on average) about every three or four years it will fall in early October. At the peak of the harvest, farmers can work into the night by the light of this moon. Usually the full Moon rises an average of 50 minutes later each night, but for the few nights around the Harvest Moon, the moon seems to rise at nearly the same time each night: just 25 to 30 minutes later across the U.S., and only 10 to 20 minutes later for much of Canada and Europe. Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice — the chief Indian staples — are now ready for gathering.

Oct. 14, 4:02 p.m. EDT — Full Hunters' Moon. With the leaves falling and the deer fattened, it is time to hunt. Since the fields have been reaped, hunters can ride over the stubble, and can more easily see the fox, along with other animals, which have come out to glean and can be caught for a thanksgiving banquet after the harvest.

Nov. 13, 1:17 a.m. EST — Full Beaver Moon. Time to set beaver traps before the swamps freeze to ensure a supply of warm winter furs. Another interpretation suggests that the name Beaver Full Moon come from the fact that the beavers are now active in their preparation for winter. Also called the Frosty Moon.

Dec. 12, 11:37 a.m. EST — Full Cold Moon; among some tribes, the Full Long Nights Moon. In this month the winter cold fastens its grip, and the nights are at their longest and darkest. Also sometimes called the Moon before Yule. The term Long Night Moon is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is indeed long and the moon is above the horizon a long time. The midwinter full moon takes a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite to the low Sun. The moon will also be at perigee later this day, at 5:00 p.m. EST, at a distance of 221,560 mi. (356,566 km.) from Earth. Very high ocean tides can be expected from the coincidence of perigee with full moon.

The Non Weather Channel

Did I miss something in geography class or has the middle of the US dropped off the map? If I were living in LA, Chicago, New York or Miami I could get Weather Channel updates every 15 minutes. But if you live in Great Falls, Cheyenne, Scott's Bluff, or Mandan you are SOL. In fact, if any of these places were buried in 10 feet of snow overnight and the temperature was -50 you wouldn't even be a blip on the Weather Channel screen.


Here in Montana we have been sub zero for several days now, we're talking -30 and so forth. Whiteout blizzard conditions and several inches of snow last Saturday night. Today, the Weather Channel was crowing about a measly skiff of snow that sounded like it was bringing the Great Lake states to its knees. What the hell? Come out here and blast through a few 3 or 4 foot snow drifts on your way to work, or use a flamethrower to warm your truck up. Or your dog is clinging so tight to you when you leave in the morning that your neighbor thinks you got a new fur coat.

Hello, Weather Channel, update your map! There is more to this country than the flipping coastlines.

Open container

Every day we see and hear of tragedy in all kinds of forms. And though there are many, many worse things happening, this ranks right up there with the worst.

Thankfully no serious injuries and it was certainly more relevant than say, the economy, the presidential race or many other things.

I wonder if there will be a dented can sale?

Sane Ice Fishing

Winter is almost half over and I still have not tied a single fly. Worse yet, this year we decided to continue the chase into the depths of frozen insanity and bought a couple of ice houses for Christmas. Three seasons were not enough. Working outside five days a week most of the day was not enough, oh no. So much for relaxing weekend afternoons watching the Outdoor Channel and tying flies!

Insane as it sounds I convinced myself that an ice house was actually a sane solution to a very perverse form of recreation. Fishing in and of itself can be a borderline religious pursuit, especially in the flavor I prefer which is fly fishing. I had never been able to convince myself that standing outside in all forms of cold on a large, thick sheet of ice with a hole in it waiting for a fish was ever going to elevate me to some state of joy and enlightenment. Enter the FishTrap Scout ice house.



We bought two single man outfits, or man and a half. Purportedly, it will fit one ice fisherman and all the gear he needs to survive an afternoon in the arctic along with a prodigious heap of fishing gear, bait and attractants. It was immediately apparent that I should have either lightened my load or got something bigger. My dog, who weighs in at about 85 lbs. was as enamored with the idea of shelter from the god forsaken conditions as I was. But, like a passage from a Jack London story I banished him to the frozen wastes to keep company with the measly few Perch that lay flopping around my little oasis in the arctic. I can't help but feel that some day I may pay for this heartless act but the fact is, I'm not going to be the one freezing my butt off. And after all, he was the one that practically ran over me to get in the back of the truck to go somewhere.



If you have ever spent an afternoon ice fishing wide open to the elements it doesn't take long to appreciate some of the finer, simpler pleasures in life- like shelter and warmth. It was pure heaven to actually be able to change lures with fingers that actually had blood running through them and not groping and fumbling with everything with ten frozen stubs that are as stiff and useless as unsharpened pencils. Further, just being sheltered, why it was like being back in the womb. I wanted to take off my entire 100 lb. wardrobe and sit back and start roasting marshmallows. Providing heat was a Coleman Blackcat heater. It was almost unnatural to be this comfortable while ice fishing.

So, for the near future instead of doing something constructive, like getting ready for the fly fishing season and much more sane climatic conditions we are working on our ice fishing skills in a much smaller hospitable environment.

Notes on the Fish Trap Scout-
We looked at a lot of the clam type houses under different brands that have been around for awhile but settled on these because the fabric was heavier and seemed more durable, the frames were one piece affairs, and everything was fastened to the sled. Its like an accordion that just folds over the top of you. The seats will spin around and slide backward and forward. There are both vents and windows with full zipper door. The first one took me about an hour and a half to put together, the second about 45 minutes. Side by side with the other brands it seemed like a much more sturdy ice house. We had them out in wind up to about 15-20mph and with a little snow piled around them they were fine. Outside temps with wind chill were zero or less. I was not enthused about fishing in those conditions, ice house or not but I wanted to see how these things would do- I was impressed.

The Coleman Blackcat-
Just a simple little heater. I use it for more than just fishing but it heats up this little ice house just fine. The electronic starter didn't impress me so I got a little butane "match" to start it with and it takes right off. It uses the little green gas bottles that sell for 3 bucks. They will last about four or five hours running on high.