Highlights of the summer: the birth of my youngest daughter and buying my oldest daughter a brand new Savage MKII heavy barrel .22 for her birthday and taking it to the range to watch her cut ragged holes.

Regrets of the summer season: not enough fishing, and that’s about it. Luckily, the baby will be big enough to sit up in a forward facing seat next summer (they’re easier to strap onto boat seats). If you’ve ever seen the Princecraft commercial where the father is doing exactly that, you know what I’m talking about. Baby needs to fish.

I’ll be back to the blog again soon….one of the things I’m contemplating is analyzing news reporting and bias with regard to events such as the recent tragedy at Fort Hood. Has anyone noticed that no one wants to call it terrorism?

Here’s a headline from ABC News today:  Obama Lays Out Plan For Detroit’s Survival.

That sounds so benign and measured.

Translated into a more boldly defined truth (albeit a tad wordy):

Obama Practices Unique Brand of Socialist Zealotry as He Abuses Power by Firing GM CEO and Strongarming Chrysler Into Making Deal!

What should I call this feature?  Or should I just shut up before the Obama administration asks for my WordPress login information?

Discuss at your own risk.

I just returned from a trip to Illinois via Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa (thus my absence from Blogville).  There were lucky folks fishing on the Mississippi river from boats, waving as we drove past, taunting me, as I’m sure they could tell clearly from afar that I was from North Dakota.  ”Poor bastards,” I imagined them saying as I left them and drove back north.  I thought of my own boat lying in state in my best friend’s quonset.  He probably won’t have the doors busted free from the ice and snowdrifts for another month so I can free my vessel.  And then about all I will be able to do is bring it home, park it in the driveway, and sit at the helm, making outboard motor noises and dreaming of open water.

At this very moment, I’m waiting for the melt to really break loose to test my newly installed 3/4 hp sump pump.  The Red River here near the headwaters is going to be above flood stage, as usual, and is due to crest on Wednesday.  Fargo prognosticators are predicting a crest there to match the 1997 flood.  Having lost a home to the 1997 flood when I lived in our sister city of Breckenridge, my back aches for pretty much the entire month of March, and I think about water non-stop.  Ironic that a fisherman would experience so much stress over the very same thing that provides so much enjoyment later in the season.

So I wait.  I can’t even do boat prep for the season yet.  The tackle has all been obsessively organized several times over the long winter, and the gear is ready to go back in the boat.  I guess I’ll stand in my garage and look around at all of my stuff, plug in the bait fridge, and wait for the river below the dam to break up so that I can at least drop a jig in it sometime in April.  And I will think of the guys below all the dams I passed on the way back up the Mississippi.  Catch one for your northern brethren, boys.  It will be a spiritual work of mercy for us souls in purgatory.

#1: Loco weatherman in snowflake suit. 

#2: George Carlin’s “Hippy Dippy” weatherman.  Rest in peace, Grand Master of the English Language.

#3: European weather woman (German?) loses it.  Much of the time, weather forecasters might as well be speaking a foreign language.

#4: Attractive Minnesota weather girl.  And an illustration of the yearly beatdown for us Northerners.

#5: Attractive European weather girl.

#6: Attractive European weather girl.  This is the last one I give you.  If you want to continue this trend, take your pervy hands and type in a search on YouTube.  There are lots of these for your sick viewing pleasure.

I vote for changing our local weather forecasters over to attractive Polish-speaking meteorologists.  As long as they’re reasonably expressive and use words like “Brrrrr,” I’ll know exactly what to expect.

#1:  Otis Dempsey of www.grandlakefishingguide.com

I fished with Dempsey a couple of years ago on Grand Lake, Oklahoma for paddlefish.  The day my brother and I went paddlefishing with Dempsey, he had been up a good portion of the night fighting a brush fire as a volunteer firefighter.  Although I was named “Lucky” by Dempsey on the trip because my luck was less than stellar to begin with, Dempsey kept at it and got me on a 70+ pound paddlefish that eclipsed my older brother’s.  Good man.  He does bass and catfish, too.  And he tells a good story.

 #2: Randall Kirkpatrick of www.fishatl.com

One fine spring break, I happened to be in Atlanta, so I found a day to go out with Randall on Stone Mountain Lake, a horsepower-restricted impoundment nearby, after largemouth bass.  Randall is a tournament angler and very smart bass fisherman.  His service even included picking me up at my hotel in Atlanta.  Of course, my luck (see “Lucky” above) caused us to be fishing in late March in light snow.  I went wayyy south (for a northerner) and all I got was the same weather as home!  Though we didn’t catch much, Randall taught me a lot about bass fishing and patience, and the severe cold front was obviously to blame for the slow fishing.  In spite of the tough bite, I enjoyed myself immensely.

#3: Doug Komrosky of www.hilinecharterfishing.com

Doug’s domain is Fort Peck Lake in MT, one of the best walleye (and pike and salmon) factories around.  Since “Lucky” is my name when I hire fishing guides, the day in June my daughter and I showed up to go fishing with Doug, there was a small craft warning and gusts way past 35 mph.  Even though it was a day most people were staying off the water, Doug found us some sheltered spots around the dam and tried to find us some walleye.  He didn’t turn any up on the graph, so we packed it in and Doug didn’t charge us a dime.  I believe his statement while we were on the water was “I could take you around to a few sheltered spots and pull cranks all day and charge you the full rate, but you wouldn’t be very happy at the end of the day.”  How’s that for honesty?  I hope to go back to fish with Doug on a better day.   Even though we only spent about an hour with Doug, I still got something out of the experience: a good test run in a Warrior that tells me they are one excellent boat for rough water.  

I salute you, real men of fishing genius.  Give these guys a try if you want an honest fishing guide, and tell ‘em “Lucky” sent you.

Recently having become excited about lever actions again after seeing Marlin’s XLR series (and finding a home for one in .444 and one in .35 Rem), I have discovered some excellent sites to pass along:

#1: Skinner Sights.  Built in a one-man shop in Ronan, MT, these sights look like the ticket for the .444.  I don’t really want “scope-eye” from a .444. Can you blame me?  A longer sight radius and a ghost ring should make the .444 a good bear-whackin’ machine.

#2: Game Reaper Scope Mounts.  I like the look of these one-piece, lightweight aluminum mounts for putting a 1.75-5x scope on the .35 Remington XLR.  They have some forward offset, which is nice to have on a lever rifle with a scope that has generous eye relief.  

#3: Ranch Dog Molds.  The proprietor has done his homework on shooting cast bullets in Marlin’s lever guns, especially on barrel throat dimensions and the unique attributes of Micro Groove rifling.  The XLR series (as well as the Guide Guns) have cut rifling, but the bullets are said to shoot well in those, too.  With ammunition prices going sky high, casting bullets with the Lee system looks like a good way to save money.  The molds aren’t horribly expensive, and the sizing and lube processes are simplified and don’t require an expensive lubrisizer.

#4:  Marlin Owners Forums.  This set of forums offers the collective wisdom of Marlin guys across the country, so the rest of us don’t have to know it all.  A good place to get acquainted with common problems and solutions involving all Marlins.

I am looking forward to summer and load development.  I think with all of the new trendy cartridges on the market, it will be fun to work with a couple of “oldies but goodies.”  The one new cartridge that interests me in Marlin’s lineup is the .338 Marlin Express, but I’m not sure I would trade the .35 or .444 in to get it.

No caption necessary.

I-94 Red River Bridge Camera

The iceman bloweth the snow from the driveway.

As mentioned in a previous post, my favorite NASCAR driver is Matt Kenseth.  With a Daytona win followed up by a California win this past weekend, I’m having a good year.  (WHY did I not enter a betting pool this year??)

In honor of Matt Kenseth, I propose true fan mania in the form of collecting all that is black and yellow and plastering the #17 on these items.  This is what the well-appointed outdoorsman will be sporting this NASCAR season:

1. Arbogast Hula Popper

2. Frabill Flo-troll Minnow Bucket

3. Malibu Kayaks X-13

4. Jig (www.custom-crappie-jigs.com)

5. Spyderco Tasman Salt knife

6. Garmin E-trex GPS

7. Frabill Magnum GT ice shelter

8. Grundens Rain Bibs

9. Black and yellow Clouser Minnow

10. Vans Era shoes

11. Ski-Doo Skandic WT

12. Abu Garcia Revo Reel

13. Mepps Black Fury spinners

14. Skeeter boat in custom colors

15. 2006 Roush F-150 Champion Edition

16. Piper J-3 Cub airplane

17. Sexy bee costume

You will see that the average NASCAR fan will not necessarily be able to afford all of these accoutrements. Piper Cubs were cheap when they were on the market, but are quite collectible now. $8,000 doesn’t just fall off trees for toys like snowmobiles (at least not in my spending climate). The F-150 Roush Edition would definitely break the bank for me. However, wheeled and winged things aside, I think I could afford to just possibly be the Best Matt Kenseth Fan Ever.

Now I’m scaring even myself. I dare Carl Edwards fans to come up with 99 duck-themed ways to honor their driver.

These little motorcycles (and other Benellis) have their own little niche on the internet at www.mybenellis.com

I kind of miss my little 50 (and seeing my father ride it around–a scene typical of an America’s Funniest Home Videos clip!).  It was the last motorcycle I owned or rode.

We had family friends who were into the little Honda motorcycles in the 70s.  They had the ubiquitous Honda 50 and a Trail 90, probably the coolest outdoorsman motorcyle around.  I confess to dreaming about one day restoring a Trail 90, but others have already had the same idea, so it doesn’t seem as original as it once did.  I see that Honda has reintroduced the Honda “Monkey” 50cc in Japan.  Maybe they will offer one over here if the child toy lead ban doesn’t shut them down here.  As a side note, if you haven’t heard about that debacle, read this article: Lead Ban Stops Youth ATV and Motorcycle Sales). I like the Polaris solution–put warning labels on them and sell them anyway.

For your viewing pleasure, a Honda Monkey from their corporate website and a very mint Trail 90 that is no longer for sale over at www.hondamotorcycles-used motorcycles.com:

Probably influenced by his attraction to such things as the Trail 90, my brother recently picked up what has been a very good (and practical) motorcyle for an outdoorsy guy.  I envy his Kawasaki Super Sherpa 250 (which is a 2006 model he picked up with very few miles).  I am happy to see that Kawasaki has reintroduced the Super Sherpa, which went away, at least from the U.S., for a couple of years.  I like the lower seat.  I’m not much for motocross style bikes.  I’m not much for motorcycles at all, but I think I could get used to tooling around on a Sherpa in the summer.  Go to Motorcylistonline.com’s breakdown of specifications for more info.

Kawasaki Super Sherpa 250

Finally, I don’t think motorcycles get any more interesting for outdoor applications than the Rokon Ranger, which is still in production.  Ever since seeing a couple of early Rokons in a guy’s storage garage, I have been semi-obsessed with them.  The pictures of them traversing snowy trails, desert dunes, and basically any terrain one can imagine, captures the imagination.  These are power tools, not motorcycles in the traditional sense.  Two wheel drive makes them very unique, although it’s not an idea that’s been lost on inventors over the years.  

What would I buy if I had unlimited quantities of money and an understanding wife who wouldn’t ask questions about why I need another set of wheels beyond my Arctic Cat 400 four wheeler?

I’d probably have to swallow my pride and copy my older brother, who would undoubtedly be pleased to set the example for me yet again in our lives.  The Super Sherpa would have to be the first choice.  Although I could re-enact and capture some of my fathers joeie de vivre on a Honda Monkey.  I’m sure my daughters would enjoy taking video and sending it in to America’s Funniest Home Videos.  It’s almost as fun of an image as the clown car at the circus.

I found Eric Engbretson’s site www.underwaterfishphotos.com by way of Moldy Chum.  I love underwater photos of smallmouth bass.  It is very cool to be able to visualize what the fish look like “down there.”    

Another site that has some spectacular underwater footage is Kim Stricker’s Hook and Look.  His website also has multiple species photographed by sneaking up on them with scuba gear.  If you get a chance to see the TV show, he also shows lures in action and the responses of fish.

Finally, you owe it to yourself if you love trout to visit Pat Clayton’s FishEyeGuy Photography.  His underwater pictures of trout in streams are the finest I have seen.  Please go to his gallery and look at his photo of Yellowstone Cutthroats and the other gorgeous streambed scenes.  You will probably ooh and ahh and call someone else over to show them the pictures.  Incredible stuff!