Fishermen are sort of weird.  First off they poise themselves against a pretty crafty finned animal with strange habits.  Each species has its own cleverness that makes the challenge to catch them a game to the fishermen.  Every fisherman I know would like to catch the “big one” every time they hit a lake or stream, but that does not happen all that often.  Maybe it’s just getting out and trying that keeps me and my fishing buddies going.  After all, there is a finned critter cruising past my minds eye right now and it is the biggest fish in the lake.

Fishermen are also crafty on their own.  Ever go into a sporting goods store and look at the assortment of fishing items on the wall?  That is a fun thing to do and the next time you go in, look especially at the names of the things.  Not necessarily what the packaged thing is, but just the name.

Some are called “rat finkies”, “ice flies”, “paddle bugs”, “gitzits”, “swedish pimples”, “daredevils” and there are a ton more.  And then you get into the “sub species” of the names…”tube jigs” can come in sizes ranging from “minis” to huge 8 inch monster pieces of plastic!  Oh and the colors…red, pink, white, green, black, blue, pumpkin, crayfish, oil, pumkin seed and on and on.

Maybe today you should venture into a store that sells this stuff and wander through the aisle with this stuff.  You’ll have a good laugh for sure.  Keep in mind also, that most of these items are there to catch something.  Most of which is the fisherman who imagines his line has one of these “thingies” tied on and a huge fish chasing it down to munch it up and get caught by the fisherman.

Good luck to all!  May your tackle box be filled with these contraptions that caught exactly what is was meant to catch….your bucks!

Bears Butt

Jan. 2012

It seems there have been some tagged trout dropped into a hole in the ice at a lake here in Northern Utah and each of the tags has a number.  Each number corresponds to a prize at a local establishment and fishermen who care to try and catch one or more of these little fish will be rewarded according to the pre-set prize related to the number.  29 seems to be the total number of tags!

Today, my son Mitch, nephew Edjukateer and I are going to meet up with some good friends and go to this lake and try our luck at pulling out a trout with a tag.

They are calling this a “challenge” as opposed to a “contest”, because it does not cost anything to try and catch a fish.  Contests usually cost you an entry fee.  The challenge began yesterday, Jan 1, 2012 and continues until Mar. 1, 2012.  Two full months to catch 29 fish.  And what if there are no tagged fish caught?  Well, there will be 29 fish in the lake with tags and people will catch them and put their hand on their chin and wonder just what it all means.

I’ll try to remember to take pictures of todays event and post them up on this as a continuation.  Wish us luck!  By the way, todays weather in the local area is calling for a high of 41 degrees and at the lake it is calling for a high of 49!  What gives with that?

Later!

Bears Butt

Jan. 2012

Back home by 4:30 p.m.  We caught a bunch of trout today, I’d guess in the neighborhood of 25 between the four of us, maybe even closer to 30.  A couple went upwards of a pound and a half, but most were about 14 inches long without much weight.  Here is one of mine.

It seemed like everyone was catching fish.  You would look up the shore and see people pulling in fish.  Then look down the shoreline and see people pulling in fish.  Look out toward the middle of the lake and see people pulling in fish or fish flopping on the ice.  It was a wonderful day to be out fishing!  Tons of people all with the same idea….get out in the sunshine!  It was at least 35 degrees out there, sunny and a slight breeze to remind you not to go to sleep.

But, none of our fish had a tag…:-(

We heard there was a tagged fish turned in at the store, but when we asked the lady there on our way down the mountain, she said there was some guys who brought in a fish that had a hole in the dorsal fin and they said the tag fell out when they pulled the fish out of the water….sorry guys….no banana!

A fun filled day!

Bears Butt

Jan. 2, 2012