Horse sense

 That's what they need on the World Famous Kenai River.  It hurts me to report that the missing King Salmon mystery ( or not ) is not only continuing but as we're now in the 9th year or emergency closures it seems to be routine. These two graphs you've seen before tell the tale, 2021 is heading for the 3rd year in a row that minimum sonar counts were not achieved, it will be the worse run ever. It really bothers me, I'd hoped that I would be on the ground floor of a cool economy that gave opportunity to young people like I was when it all started... a word you here in Alaska a lot but seldom see put into practice....sustainable.

The black line is now, the red and purple is the escapement range....so you might notice that the yellow that is 2017 isn't so bad, well that's the sonar count with out subtracting the in river harvest which puts all those lines signaling disaster.

Ya know some people were happy to see me check out of the politics on the world famous and I know for certain that staff at ADF+G used to read this blog so I got some horse sense advice for them, it's really just another beg, please, please do your job better .  

1. I think maybe we've tugged on the July Kenai King fishery so much that it will never find it's lost glory....so maybe it's time to put some hatchery Kings in there so the sport people have something.

2. Number one is reactive of course but what we need from the ADF+G is pro active and I'm talking about the starting to wobble Silver Salmon sport fishery in August and September. If this is all the sport guys are going to have in the future act now to get the science in order and a plan to actually implement the Coho management plan that says " cohoes will be managed primarily for sport use ". and this is how....

3. Come up with strategies to stop the commercial season and deliver silvers to the stream as early as possible with still allowing for commercial sockeye harvest.

4. Count the damn things  just like they do all of the commercially managed fish. Set and achieve escapement goals.

5. create in river seasonal limits on Silvers. I've preached that for years after seeing the local harvest patterns.

6. Get enforcement on the river and have it open to boating / fishing only during daylight hours.

7. In other words ADF+G, lets try and avoid losing the wonderful Kenai Silver fishery like we have the Kenai Kings, Clam Gulch Razor Clams , Cook Inlet Dungeness , Kachemak Bay shrimp .... need more examples... ?

So me and MPeasy gave it a good college try of one full year in  Hamilton Montana...So we're dragging up and have purchased a house in Helena, we've gone full circle.  There's a lot of reasons but the biggest is that this house in HamBone is just to small, we want our kids and our friends to visit and the house is awkwardly small. The house on the upper west side of Helena has a guest room and a wing with a private bathroom for them, you . Then there's the fishing. Although I'm getting used to towing I want to be closer to the big lakes in Central Montana that interest me more than the smaller alpine lakes here. I guess I new it wasn't working so good when a waitress told my friend Roberto that nobody fishes ' that lake ' because theres no fish in it .  The 3rd part is that we could have built an addition or turned one of our out building into a guest house but it made mores sense to just get a different house and then return this house to a rental so we have some income to go with our outcome....so that's the story. We'll start moving 1st of September and hopefully be in by the 15th or so.....wish us luck....

This is one thing we'll miss.....fresh local cherries for 2 bucks a pound, oh baby they're good.  Then we have the famous Dixon Melons that we'll have to find a source for and then the Hutterite Melons and Chickens and then the local Huckleberries and .....did I mention those lakes have great, and I mean great Walleye Fishing ? Gonna get me a guide, ask all the important questions as I pay attention and this time next year we'll be showing blood sport pictures on Mile 14 just like the old days.

 

Pea Brains

 One time when I was bragging about my fishiness Chick told me not to hang your hat on out smarting a fish... their brains are the size of a BB. So having yet to catch a trout on the world famous Bitteroot River I decided to work on stupider fish, like Bass. So I research the area and find that we have these filled gravel pit ponds all over the valley that are full of Bass and even 5 pounders. The problem is I don't nothin about fishing Bass and I ain't got anybody to teach me except the fishiest guy I know ( Dan Stewart ) who volunteered to do a zoom consultation with me on the challenges I'm facing.  The ponds are full of vegetation from the top to bottom, so thick you absolutely have to be weed less. So finally I've got it, kinda got it. You know that it's a fish that wants to be caught when you have them eating plastic worms and ignoring real worms....and the Frog bait ? I laughed at myself in the store and was even a little embarrassed at check out...but, pictures don't lie.

Now I can understand that on the river the bugs don't fly until it warms up so the fly guys get to sleep in but these bass are a different animal. Once the sun is on the water it's over...So ol Bass guide #003 is going to crush these Montana guys who can't get out of bed. I have yet to not be alone in the morning fishing and it's the best part....how about this sunrise pic that MP took one morning when she came along.

Every morning I've been going and have to say Dan was right about the frog when they hit it " makes you giggle like a girl ". Here's an action pic...ain't no salmon but ya know the newness and the puzzle of it all for me is nice, I like it.

We left a lot of things in Alaska, stuff as well as emotion and comfort / community.  But man am I glad I brought my old White truck. The guys at Kenai Auto have it going down the road like a new truck so I decided not to put bike rack on MP's Rav 4 and instead use the receiver hitch on the old truck. The Bike trails here are incredible, we did 15 mile in Missoula the other day and our goal is to beat Bob and Dana's 27 miles....mmmmm....without electric bikes Dana. I guess it's everywhere these days. Here's this beautiful bridge built for Bikes and we keep riding because there's 10 people living on the bridge and drinking...at 8:00 a.m. It bothers me. When I was in Seattle with Sam for a Mariner game he told me to just ignore the street people.....well, I don't ignore so well, it bothers me.

We had another pay off for this lifestyle alteration we made. Max flew over for a long weekend visit and we laughed pretty good for days. We were killing time before his flight after we ate at the famous Oxford in Missoula. I pulled into second hand store for MP and Max tried on a few new duds...that'll impress them on your new job ol buddy !

I actually came out of the covid isolation in pretty good shape. It's true that I'm at 198 but  it could be worse and I never got over my Waterloo  weight of 200 ....but I did squander a chance to stay at 185. I got to thinking my cardio might not be as good as it used to be but after the three of us did the Blodget overlook hike where we gain a altitude in the 90 degree heat I think I still got it.

Like everybody, we're ecstatic that things are normalizing . We walked by the historic Wilma theatre in Missoula the other day and they had the schedule of summer events and walla....JackPot ! On July 24th we're going to see one of my musical idols and a guy that I cover many songs of, Robert Earl Keen . And then in October right before we leave for Mazatlan it's Todd Snider who I think is maybe the greatest song writer in  Texas. We looked for Gary Allan as I got tell you, I'm a groupie with that guy but even though he's setting a personal record for tour dates to make up for canceled 2020 shows he's just not going to be anywhere close enough for us. 

This was in front of the liquor store in downtown Missoula....don't ever say that I don't try to pass on good advice.

Got me another new song and I'll record it tonight and have it on the next edition of Mile 14, Ham Bone Montana Bureau.

It's a funny place

 You might recognize those two happy faces, It's Bob and Dana who we've known for 40 years through Alaska / Oregon/ Arizona .  And you might even see that Bob has a fish on, a rare occurrence for us lately.

Now Bob retreated from Alaska about 20 years before I did so he has more real world fishing experience than I do.  He looked around my professionally set up fishing sled with all the best high tech tackle you can get and kept saying " everything you have is TO BIG "  and of course I'd call B.S. .. So he goes into his own tackle and rigs my Fenwicks with his own wedding rings and cow bell flashers and then elected to run them with weight instead of my recently rebuilt down riggers.  The Garmin shows there are fish everywhere and Bob says the schools are as big as any he'd ever seen....It's not long before we have the most success yet, two on at once, fish after fish and ,,,,mmmmm,,,,,,yawn,,,,,I finally see the Kokanee on my home water, as we say in Mexico, pequeno.

It was a wonderful morning. Once again we were the first and only boat until 11:00 a.m. I learned a lot about the troll and the boat performed perfect with 4 people which I wondered about as I'm used to 21' ft. of aluminum as apposed to 17. We caught many Kokanee and about 3 trout , all released. As we put the boat on the trailer Bob looked under the boat and pointed out about a 20 inch Rainbow swimming along, safe from us.

My neighbor Josh told me that if you're missing the wilderness you need to drive up Lost Horse to Twin Lakes which is 25 miles of dirt road right here near Ham Bone.  He wasn't kidding, and hour and a half in and an hour and half out.  The road was so bumpy we had to stop and pee every 6 miles. But the water and the wilderness is beautiful . We crossed a bridge that was made of laid down cement columns that rolled and had huge gaps, I had to look it at it for awhile before I declared to MP that is seemed to be semi safe. I 'm amazed she still trusts me on those deals.

Did I mention the dust ? And avalanche run off's by the dozen. 

We commuted to the Zoo a couple days last week as I left the Minnow 7 at  Big Sky Canvass for a custom travel cover. ( and shout out to these guys, it's work of art and perfect ) so two mornings we did our morning walk along the Clark Fork River...beautiful trails for miles winding through town so I came home and ordered a bike rack so we go next week and ride. We parked across from the campus and not knowing where we were going MP said to follow these guys.

They had enough Chardonnay for two walks. The river is running high and being a college town we shouldn't have been surprised to see something  like this. There were several guys and gals surfing the break I guess you'd say....if I was a little younger ????

Under the Orange street bridge was the coolest graffiti mid river and the arches framed it in such a way that I noticed.

These Montana guys are funny. In the frozen north you don't have to see guns to know everybody has got them. Here you see people packing pistols all the time, the Saturday market has a guy who sells ( try's to sell that is ) CBD enhanced honey while wearing not one but twin revolvers. Sheesh !  People here talk about ' personal freedom, personal rights, all the time. They say welcome just don't bring any B.S, with you....and....well they have legislation that allows for guns to be taken anywhere , even into schools but I do think they excluded Bars, which I guess was seen as just a little to over the top ridiculous. Then because the covid made the food / liquor industry survive on take out we have a new law that allows people to have cocktails served curbside to their pick up trucks.....what could go wrong eh ? But the kicker for me was this, it made me write this, there's only one word to describe it so you choose.

This part of Montana is where the " Big Blow Up " occurred in 1910 that made Teddy Roosevelt create the National Forrest Service to deal with wildfire. As you get to know this area you see that fire awareness and fire fighting culture/ education are stitched into almost all parts of every day life. Every summer the fires here and all over the west keep people inside from the smoke at sometime and everywhere you go you see the devastation from the last fire or the fire before last or....But I guess people see the value of having their kids throw Black Cat's into pop cans and hold Lady Fingers to prove they won't blow your finger off as more important than fire prevention. Yikes, is all I can say.

Those things you're looking at are the new safety chains, now safety cables. Somewhere, sometime , somebody started a fire by the sparks of his road dragging safety chains and now we have these plastic covered coiled up pieces of #@%*. They stay coiled and won't hang down as to catch the boat tongue if it did happen and I don't think they're even strong enough to hold it anyway....It defies common sense as I'd bet you case of Pacifico to pay you off in Mazatlan air fare included if anybody could show that safety chains have caused more fires than fireworks !

It's just weird....When I noticed that their isn't a single speed limit sign in Hamilton Montana somebody told me it's because everybody just knows that it's 25 mph so why do you need signs. 

OK, done with that rant, I feel much better....look at the great job Big Sky Canvass did for me. It's easy on and off and goes down the highway without a flutter and that's where we're headed, Fort Peck here we come, as soon as I get my Bimini top installed .

Montana Fishing

 Casual is about the best way for me to describe it in one word. I guess the biggest thing I've noticed is Montana fishermen DON'T KNOW HOW TO GET OUT OF BED !....My goodness the Orvis bunch who throw flies while floating down the river have to wait until the donut/ latte shop opens which coincides with the first warmth of the day which make the ' terrestrials ' emerge. And it looks to me like the Lake fishermen have to wait until they gas up at 8:00 a.m. when the Town Pump finally sells beer. The local Lake Como is only 10 miles from my house and it's gorgeous, big , clean and wilderness. I've now been up there 5 or 6 times and have yet to not be the first one to launch. The other day we waited as I had to work on my downriggers and didn't get to the lake until 9:30 and yup, first one off the beach. Tuesday morning MP and I left the house at 6:00 and launched at 6:30, who would miss that magic moment ? The lake is flat calm and Herons walked the shoreline. A nice brisk 3 mile run brings us to the head of the lake where it's so quiet you can here both waterfalls rushing down the canyons.....here's the Inlet of the lake with a bridge that we're going to use when we work up to circumnavigating the lake by foot path. But for now floating and fishing is just fine.

And a pic of the captain...as I rigged more experimentals she ran the boat most of the morning. We caught just one nice trout that morning, maybe that's the reason people don't get out of bed but me, I't a challenge to learn and the chase...well that's all there is. I'm learning to run the riggers, tie nots in line that I can't see onto the @#$^ damn sharpest little hooks I've ever worked with and I haven't asked a soul how to do it, just me and some intuition...and forget about doing the ol ' seagull ' thing that I've seem hundreds of times in Alaska...there's nobody to follow !

So we fish until 11:00 when it's hitting 75 degree's it's time for team 003 to retreat ... just as several launchers and an entire flotilla of kayaker's are arriving. You talk about casual, letting your kids kyak in 53 degree water with no life jackets.....mmmm....

And the boats....what a fine collection of vintage watercraft there is around here. I was going to say junk but it just seems to be a different mind set here, the guy with this boat told me he was working on a 1963 Shasta camper to go with is boat.

Those are the motors of my youth.  Evinrude 18 h.p. V twins, about the same size and weight of the 50 horse I run now.... These are the motors that started the twin outboard motor craze for safety, one of them is sure to run most of the time eh ?  These are the motors that my dad, brother and I were towed in from Sawmill bay out of Valdez Alaska in 1965, these are the motors that had us pulling the rental boat along the shoreline back to the lodge on Paxton Lake Alaska in 1964.  These are the motors that we had on our skiffs and well...helped along the events of July 26th 1973.  Guess I'm a boat snob but when the guy told me " they run like hell once you get them started " I thought no thanks. I'll take and EFI 4-strock with four cylinders of quiet dependable performance.

I know it's been a while sense I've written....the Hot Springs tour is still on of course. We went back to Jackson which is our favorite developed hot water and now we've found two hike in natural springs. The first one is just over the Idaho Border at Jerry Johnson. We got a late start and quite a few people were there. It's mile and a half in and of course a mile and a half out. Beautiful canopied Forrest and a nice trail, nice hike for sure.

The smell of the cedar Forrest is fantastic and new to us, we both agreed that the lush vegetation and abundant water combined with the Cedar reminded us of southeast Alaska.

We were told that there are three pools but the third one had fallen into the river where we could see hot water gushing from the rocks. Of the the other two pools the first is kind of the kids pool and the next is kind of the adult pool if you follow the unwritten body language of the place....hehe...So, I only got pictures of the first pool, what gorgeous place eh ? Next week we're going to be there just  like Lake Como at sun up, the best part of the day...I'll bet the hike in hot springs crowd have trouble getting out of bed as well.

The other night I set up to practice. I have about 5 new songs I'm working on, it might be  four to many...but, I turned on the amp, tuned the Godin and this old song just fell off my lips, I used to sing it in the 70's and can't even tell you the last time I sang it before this... MP said we need to get that on tape so I did it again....don't worry about me, I'm feeling fine...and I'll write more.

Just like King Salmon

 But mmmmm.... a little bit smaller. But you know my Mantra ' the joy is is in the pursuit ' so this very first Montana trout of mine was a very big deal for me. I was beginning to wonder if I'd lost it and it didn't help that MPeasy would laughingly tell me that I was never going to catch another fish in my life because I'd used up all my moe-joe making money off them. Well, this is the first of many. We'll be chasing Kokanee ( which people tell me are excellent eating ) and ditto with the Walleye and of course trout and anything else that is slimey.

We trailered over to Helena and Hauser Lake. You can only imagine how wonderful the Missouri river was before the canyons were damned because even with most of it under water it's still absolutely gorgeous. In true Jethronian style we were up at 0 dark thirty and the first to the boat launch. It was cool and crisp and the lake flat and quiet, I felt in my element for sure. Not knowing a single thing about where or what to fish with I went to work with the Garmin I purchased and found a drop that Tom had told me about the day before. We trolled it with a couple shallow diving Rapala's as I could see the fish at only 10 feet....absolutely incredible as I've never had a machine that can do what this one does.

Almost immediately we had a bite, it took me three more to learn that I can't be yarding the rod out of the holder and doing the super set that I'm used to. Once I turned it down to a gentle jerk and some easy reeling we landed a trout and then another. Hot coffee many pictures and being in the perfect place with the perfect person old #003 was happy.

And whats a fishing a trip without a little boat / fish / I caught a ( fill in the blank ) one time talk with other fishermen ? This guy Todd in the Boston Whaler was all curious about the RH  Pro V that he'd never seen before so we had a nice chat. You know me, I'm kinda queer for boats so I told him the story about MP telling me that I never did anything to help with the yard and to help make our house look nice....I told her of course I do... I buy boats and park them in the yard and that Boston Whaler Newport model is a gorgeous thing for sure that would improve anyone's yard..

Here's pic of Lake Como which I guess you can say is my ' home water '. Unlike the Missouri this place is Alpine and has Kokanee as well as wild trout. We're goin there tomorrow and I have some of the weirdest flasher set up for Kokanee that I researched on YouTube. Absolutely strange with a rubber snubber as they're reported to have a soft mouth and for bait...Shoepeg corn, which I'd never heard of  and didn't even know existed.  I think humans can eat it to.

Well it's spring time for sure and now that I'm getting used to my new environment we'll be adventuring and I'll have  more to write about. Lots to do, Clark Canyon, Fort Peck, Tibor, Painted Rock and I know this sounds weird but every time I've driven Interstate 90 through Moses Lake Washington I've wondered about those lakes in the middle of nowhere , so we're going there to....And oh, we've only used up about 6 of our locations on the search for Montana's best Hot Springs so I hope you come along...

OH,,,,A little house keeping : This blog has  a " follow by e-mail " feature that some of you my use to be alerted of new posts. Starting soon Blogger is going to discontinue that feature. So you'll have to find me the old fashioned way, intuition for new post or just plain old bad luck. I will try to have an every two week or so schedule, I'm retired ya know 😎🎸🎸🎵🐟🐟

  

A Primer on Ageing , course # 001

 This will most likely be an ongoing theme here at Mile 14, like everything in life, life itself is a work in progress and we learn as we go , everyday every hour. So I decided to do a list of the things that have been working for me as I try to gracefully wander into my 70's... I know all of us have heard the rhetorical  things like " ageing ain't for sissy's " or a variant of that but I wanted to make sense of those things, kinda sort through what I'm learning and how I handle things differently now after going on 68 years of experience.  The biggest thing I need to learn is TO TAKE YOUR OWN ADVICE....so this, a letter to Jeff.

1. shoulda's, coulda's always mean didn't. Regrets will seem to make more sense if they are the " I wish I wouldn't have " variety instead of the " I wish I had " variety.

2. Stretch before you get out of bed, everyday.

3. Question authority as a way to help the world...afterall, now you are the authority.

4. Never tolerate being talked down to or lectured by young people. Be proudful. 

5. It's seems a natural part of ageing to want to be more cautious , be aware of that and then move on.

6. Sing loud and often.

7. There is nothing you can't do too much of, new is good.

8. Exercise everyday. If 10,000 steps is the good, 14,000 is better.

9. All you need is what you have....money wise, people wise, love wise, health wise etc.

10. Buy the double for a dollar at the airport.

11. I used to say ' reward your friends and punish your enemies ' now it's only about your friends. Ain't got time for the idiots I've known along the way. You don't have to be 'friends ' with everybody but you do have to be 'friendly'  with everybody.

12. Forgive, forget ....just live better and laugh more than the people who have disappointed you in life.

13. Don't shy away from sadness, you're at the age when it will accelerate so face it with love , warmth and dignity.

14.  Everything in your life brought you to this wonderful point, the things you shouldn't have done, the things that broke your heart and the successes   you've had . Don't be ashamed or make excuses for anything, anything period . 

15. Things are just has hard and happy is just as happy for everybody on the planet....try not to start the story with ' well back in the day ' or ' when I was cutting my teeth in the business '  

16.  A little pain is good. If you don't have some day to day pain you aren't doing enough . BUT, if that pain is more than a little or it is unusual, take care of it. You're in charge of your health so educate yourself  and see the Doctors when you must with the goal of 30 more years...or so....

17. Have fun....always.....ain't here for a haircut ! enjoy the ride and sit up top whenever you can.

Parallel Worlds

 So MPeasy is in Helena with her sister working on the house and the plan was to meet her at her sisters mountain retreat at Moose Lake and spend the night then drive home to Hammy. I get out  of bed and it's 50 degrees , did I mention that it's spring here ?....So.... I put on my shorts and flip flops and take off for Moose Lake about noon. I've always considered myself a common sense guy but this time I under estimated the difference in elevation, Hammy is at 3,570 feet and Moose Lake is at 5,300.  Here's pic of me in the Frankenstein's boots that Jim Weaver had to lend me.

On the way I stopped in the scenic town of Phillipsburg that is said to being over run by 

Californians like Kelly Clarkson, I needed gas and one of those really soggy egg salad sandwiches that I like when I road trip. The only guy around was the guy running the cash register and he started up the conversation....

" you ain't from around here are ya /" 

" Nope, ya can tell huh ?"

" So where ya goin ?"

" Moose Lake to see the relatives ?" 

" You got 4-wheel drive ?"

" yup, I got a little S.U.V. ?"

" You get stuck up there , ain't nobody to help ya ?"

" Oh I think I'll be O.K. " 

" Them California S.O.B's won't help ya "

" Used to be you could buy land here for 500 bucks an acre, now it's over 4 thousand thanks to them people "

" Well thanks for the chat. gotta go ".

As I drove along the sun was beating on me and I had the roof open and thinking when I got to the Lake me and MP would take the canoe around the lake for a cocktail cruise....Wrong...let's just say spring ain't hit Moose Lake yet. Beneventi has been telling me that the Root is where the Indians would winter as it's the mildest climate in the Big Sky. We drove back through the Big Hole country and I think he's right, the Root is a parallel universe, an island of ...dare I say it.....California like weather in Mooootana. Here's a pic from the wood fired hot tub and the Wise River area on the way home.

They got a funny way of running things in Alaska but boy howdy this Montana is going to take some getting used. I'm really frustrated by the way the government works....hold that.. doesn't work. I guess I shouldn't be to surprised as the current legislative session has had bills to allow concealed hand guns in schools and bars, the vote was actually close. And of course they got a Governor here that was warned for not taking the mandatory wolf trapping  course when he killed a black one because he's ' been trapping his whole life'...even if he is from back East.

Nobody wants to work and it seems the covid has turned into a big ol do nothing culture amongst all the government workers who seem to me to be the only segment of America that didn't lose jobs through all this....So it goes like this : When we arrived were told all the DMV and most other State agencies are closed but don't worry about your licensing as we're relaxing the rules until the covid spike ends. The finally it was OK we're taking on-line reservation for licenses , license plates and of course I need M.T. numbers for my boat to be legal. The 800 number rings for a full two hours and the on-line form has a ' create your account ' page which assigned me a password with a total of 18 letters , numbers and figures....Finally got our reservations for the first available day, May 25th. And the real rub is that you can't get a resident fishing license without a resident drivers license. So I call Fish and Game and ask if there's not something that can be done, ol #003 needs to go fishing. A surly woman told me it's not up to them it's the legislature so if I got problem go to them. I got the feeling the legislature is a little busy with all the important stuff they do to help me go fishing....

How's about a song....MP said she wasn't fond of this song I wrote about gossip in Soldotna so I round filed it for a couple years. But my friend Terry is helping me put together a second and third verse and as he says....at it's core it's really a love song. I was at a meeting and was introduced to a lady who said she was happy to meet  me finally as she had heard that me and MP had a very loving relationship....so I thought that's weird, but really cool at the same time.