Havre

Recently, my wife and I took some time off to go on a camping trip. We went to the small Montana town of Havre, where I grew up. Havre is located in north central Montana, about 40 miles south of the Canadian border.
We met up with my cousin Dennis and his wife Louise and headed south to Beaver Creek Park, to what is known as the First Lake. This lake has a variety of different fish including Trout, Small mouth, Northern Pike, Perch and Walleye. This lake can be quite challenging to fish. Where you think the fish should be, they generally are not. We finally found some Perch and caught some pretty nice ones using the old stand-by "worms".
We were unable to lure any Northern Pike and Walleyes, so we decided to head back to camp to a meal of steaks grilled over the fire, baked beans and camp potatoes.
The next morning, after breakfast, Dennis and I decided to go below the spill-way and fish the creek with flies. We had much better luck using an ant, gnat and grasshopper presentation. Even with the thick brush, we were able to catch several 12-16 inch rainbows.
If you ever find yourself in Montana along the "high-line" around Havre, take the short 10 mile ride south to Beaver Creek and try your luck.
Oh ya, stop at Rod's and get an Ugly Burger on the south end of 5th Avenue, it's on the way to the park, on the left side of the road. I think you'll enjoy it.
Until the next time, keep your line tight and good luck fishing, where ever you are!

Camp Cooking

On your next camping trip, if you plan to cook over a campfire, here are come things to consider.
The first thing that comes to mind is matches and/or lighter fluid. There are a number of different kinds of fire starting material on the market today from charcoal bricketts, to a paste. It is always a good idea to take some plain old newspaper along, those cardboard egg holders you get at the store can be a great help in getting your fire startetd. Then you will need a medium to large, light weight, post, a pan of similar size, aluminum foil and a portable grate to set over the fire. With just this small amount of cooking equipment, you can cook almost anything, breakfast to supper. Don't forget a spatula and tongs, taking food from the fire can be hazardous to say the least.
The direct heat of the campfire to cook a meal is the basic method of cooking. Cooking food that requires high heat can be wrapped in foil and set in the hot coals, this will require that you check it frequently.
Another way to use heat from your campfire, is to put a grate over the fire and cook your food as if you were having a BBQ in your yard back home. The heat is less direct and likely to take longer to cook the meal.
Using the pots and pans, mentioned earlier, you can cook soup, stew, and even pasta. These require you build a good fire, let it die down to coals and place the pan or pot over them. The hard part is managing the coals as the heat can become inconsistent fairly fast.
With practice, camp cooking is almost as easy as cooking in your kitchen at home

FLY FISHING BOATS

Although float tubes and wading are excellent methods of fly fishing, the lake may be too big or the stream or river may be too wide or the current too fast or too deep to float effectively, this would prevent the fisherman from reaching a prime fly fishing spot. For these reasons, any fisherman that plans on fishing major rivers or will be spending time fishing lakes, may want to consider a boat that is dedicated to fly fishing. There are a variety of boats that will work well for fly fishing that are not nearly as expensive as other types of boats used for fishing. They are very portable, light weight and can be used for other things besides fly fishing. Many of these boats are not considered when looking for a boat. Some are inflatable kayaks, rafts, sport boats and catamarans.
An often overlooked fly fishing boat, that works amazingly well for fly fishing, portable, durable, affordable and provides great fun for running the river and lake paddling is an INFLATABLE KAYAK

.
Another boat that is excellent for fly fishing is the INFLATABLE RAFT, the smaller variety of the raft is ideal for 1 or 2 anglers, and work well for both lakes and rivers

.
Designed for larger lakes and ocean use and used for yacht tending and can be equipped with up to 40 horse power motors are excellent fly fishing boats for fresh and salt water are the INFLATABLE SPORT BOAT, they are portable.

 Resembling a pontoon boat in many ways, the INFLATABLE CATAMARAN KAYAKS are a new type of inflatable kayak. The angler is suspended between two pontoons sitting on a platform. Excellent for fly fishing, catamaran kayaks are also incredibly versatile.

Fishing In The Great Outdoors Of Alaska

I can mark this one off my list!
Left Montana on the 5th of August for a long anticipated trip to Alaska for a week full of fishing. We checked into the "Gone Fishing Lodge" on the 6th after a 3 hour drive from the Anchorage airport. (The speed limit is 55 mph for most of the way) Although a little slow, the scenery was spectacular.
After getting settled in our room, we got a good nights sleep and were ready for our first trip,  at 6 a.m., so it was up at 4 a.m. for the drive to Anchor Point where we met our guide Charlie. The trip to the fishing spot took about 2 hours over some pretty rough water, this was somewhat unkind to a few of the guests. Once we starting fishing, the bites came fast and furious.
No matter what you hooked, or it's weight, whether it was halibut, dog fish or rays, hauling up a 30 pound fish from 260 feet is quite an experience.
With our limit caught, we headed to shore where Charlie filleted all the halibut in short order. With filets in the box, it was back to the lodge to get ready for the next days trip.

The next day we found ourselves on a '1956 float plane, heading across Kenai Bay for a morning of Silver Salmon fishing. We had a bad feeling as we landed noticing a boat that was mostly under water. We all pitched in, and together got it bailed out and set out to the mouth of a slew into the Kenai River. The bait we used were salmon eggs tied to the hook with an "egg loop hook", an interesting knot to say the least. We used a variety of set-ups, some used bobbers others used bottom rigs with sinkers. While it took a little while to get used to the way Silver Salmon strike, very light for a large fish, once hooked, the excitement was ON. Silver salmon are very strong fish that make very fast runs. At about 11:30 it was time to get back to the plane for our return to the lodge with our legal limit of outstanding "Silvers".

On day 3, we were taken on a float trip, fishing for Silvers again. This trip was, if you will, a lazy trip. Sit in the boat in our spot and wait for the fish. This trip yielded a catch just one short of the limit for the group.








The next morning we departed to Seward Bay for a combination of different fish to be caught, Silver Salmon, Rock Fish, Halibut and Cod. The boat ride lasted about two hours,with the view of the bay, mountains. We saw different types of Whales and other land and water animals, it didn't seem like a long trip with so much to see.

Once at the fishing ground, it was not long before we had our limit of Salmon, Cod and Halibut, we started the trek back to Seward. The return trip was filled with sunshine, which made the scenery even more beautiful.

The last day took us to the Kenai River Canyon for a fly fishing float trip, although this trip was strictly "catch and release" it did not diminish the thrill of hooking a Pink or King Salmon or Dollyvardin, their strength and shear explosiveness was amazing.Our trip ended with us being worn out and well satisfied - all the while a thought tickling in the back of our mind --- I'll be back

PONTOON FLOAT TUBES

A different type of float tube was created to remedy the problems of the traditional float tube, using a pair of air chambers called pontoons that sit on the water on either side of the angler resembling a pontoon boat. By having the two v-shaped pontoons make the pontoon float tube much easier to move in the water and offers much less resistance and drag compared to the traditional float tube. Sitting higher the angler can cast much easier and in cool weather he can stay warmer. Pontoon type float tubes have a higher weight capacity for gear and equipment, although the pontoon tube, with all the advantages, are heavier and are much more expensive.

In the long run, the choice you make will depended on what you can afford and what features you want.
.

FLY FISHING FLOAT TUBES

If you are like me, and have wanted a boat for fly fishing, but the expense and up-keep is more than you can afford or want to spend, try a float tube. A float tube is nothing more than an inner-tube with a seat. float tubes have been refined over years, and most very affordable, some costing less than $100. These "one man" boats are fairly easy to maneuver. While sitting in the tube, you simply kick your feet that have swim fins on them. Waders can be worn in colder water. Float tubes are well suited for ponds and lakes, but should not be used in rivers. Always wear personal flotation devices when on the water.

There is a wide variety of sizes and colors many with features to help keep fly fishing gear organized, such as pockets, rod holder and fly holding pads.

traditional float tubes are generally round, which makes it a great fly fishing platform, the shape creates more water resistance although, and this does make it a little slower in maneuvering which will have to be overcome
and will be tiring over course of a day.

Another shape out there is the u shaped tube. this also can be difficult to maneuver.

FLY FISHING REELS

Although the fly fishing reel is some what over looked and kind of boring, it is a very important part of your fly fishing system. This realization will become evident if the reel fails while trying to land that trophy fish.
There are several things to consider when buying a fly fishing reel;

 1. Cheap reels generally break down quickly and have an uneven drag.
 2. If salt water fishing, a multiplying retrieve or automatic retrieve will work well while for fresh water fishing get a single action reel, which is the most common.
 3. Although a click and pawl are nice they are rarely needed anymore. A good disc-drag fly reel is a good choice for all around use.
 4. Since fly reels get wet, insure the reel you purchase is rust proof.
 5. When purchasing a fly reel, it is important to match the weight of the fly reel to the fly line. Match 5wt. fly line with a 5 wt. reel.
 6. Buy an extra spool when purchasing a fly reel, switching from a floating to sinking line can be done quickly and easily, not to mention that if you decide not to get an extra spool, they are usually not available when you do decide to get one.

There are two types of drag systems and three types of retrieval systems.
The original drag system is the spring-and-pawl, and is a very good drag system. With the use of gears inside the fly reel, this allows the fly line to exit the fly reel at a uniform and steady rate. Making it a good drag system for smaller fish and trout. Although the spring and pawl is a very good drag system, it is rapidly being replaced by disc-drag, where a pad inside the fly reel can be adjusted to put more or less tension on the fly line. Using a disc-drag, the tension can be adjusted to almost infinite levels.
For the new or inexperienced angler, the disc-drag system would be the best choice, because the spring-and-pawl are difficult to find and a disc-drag fly reel is equal to or better than the most hideously priced spring-and-pawl model available.
  The SINGLE ACTION reel retrieves the fly line back at a 1:1 ratio. That is one turn of the spool is equal to one turn of the handle. This type of retrieve is the most common, most reliable and the simplest to use.
  A MULTIPLYING FLY REEL with it's confusing network of gears enables the fly line to be retrieved back onto the fly reel significantly faster. One turn of the fly reel handle can equal two or more turns of the spool. At first this speed may seem nice, but these reels can be a bit of a pain when fishing in rivers. Multiplying reels have earned the reputation of being temper mental and awkward to use at times, and make it needlessly difficult to change spools from floating fly line to sinking line.
  The third type of retrieve is the AUTOMATIC fly reel. The fly line is retrieved with a touch of a trigger rather than turning a handle. An automatic reel isn't needed or even wanted when fly fishing in fresh water such as rivers, however it can have uses when fly fishing in salt water or large lakes