Rat Job

That's all they are...big ol rats. And boy do they get big . I even think that the bigger they get the more destructive they are. We're not indiscriminate killers here at Mile 14, but you all know that  these things really do need to be controlled, as much as we love the wildlife....as our ever beloved Wally Hickel said as Governor of Alaska " you can't let nature run wild ". Here's few pics of Bucky, one that I executed a few years back and had mounted for Chris, he anchors the welcoming committee at Fejes and Associates.

You know me and MPeasy love to walk along the river at the Soldotna Creek for our exercise and you remember me reporting on the Beavers that moved into one of Alaska Dept. of Transportation's road run off settling ponds. These guys had a great life, a Beaver gated community if you will but boy howdy were they screwing up the function of the pond.  I wondered how long it would take for the officials to notice that Bucky's relatives had dammed up the outfall and had stored away tons of nice birch and willow trees into their feed bed for the winter. With the outfall blocked the pond rises and kills the trees he hasn't eaten yet and all the pollutants from the road just build up and build up and....well, it was an ugly scene when they finally hired a guy like me to come in and trap them out so they could fix the pond.  Here's series of pics that show just how industrious these guys are. You can see how much the water level fell, you can see the huge hut and of course all the dead trees that they lay near the hut so come winter they can feed under water on the portions submerged.

So Chris gets so many compliments on Bucky from an associate who is an Oregon Beaver alumnus that he's arranged to get a rat from a buddy of his who is a bona fide rat wrangler and have it mounted for his friend.....nothing says love like a full body Beaver mount.  Having a bit of success myself I was duly impressed with the pics I've seen of this guy's  success. The one to be mounted weighed a whopping 63 pounds....thats a lotta rat . Here's pic of the boat after a day at work.

And of course talking about Beavers here's Boris and Natasha with their rat hats...that kinda sings doesn't it.

I know what you're thinking...cut it with the rat attack...man that kinda sings too....and get on to the guide tips, right ? So here goes.
Pro Guide Tip # 3
This week it's a bit of a continuation on last weeks tutorial on scent and smell....this weeks tip is always wear the same clothes, let me repeat that, always wear the same clothes. Here's the deal, not only do you need to attract ol slimey you don't want to have him smell a foreign object . So, you don't want to smell like a human or even just smell human for that matter. Now this step in your guide development takes a strong marriage but trust me, when she sees that good ol american green lettuce rolling in she'll find you the perfect place to keep your fishing clothes right outside the house. Here's me wearing my 2000's pants and holding my 1985 - 2000 vintage Carharts.

Now I know this tip ain't easy for some you guys who like to look good, I call it the ' name on the shirt  syndrome ' but it's a big one and in the long run there are tons of benefits like ...1. you save your other clothes. 2. nobody will ever ask if you're a fishing guide. 3. you don't run out of bait. 4.  dogs like you....see....it's that simple. Now one last bonus tip on this subject - when it starts raining get your Helly Hansens on quick, quick quick,,,,the last thing you need is your pants milking out all over the boat.