Salmon fishing part 5...

I went to the local go to guys last week and said "Please teach me what I need to know about fishing for salmon. My Dad is 90 and really needs to catch one."  A large chunk of change later I had all the tools and some of the knowledge.  

Dad and I went out in old Ugly again Monday. She is home from the boat hospital, finally. They didn't hookup the fish/depth finder, but Dad said we didn't need it cause he didn't think it worked right anyway.  Well when the river is this low it's sorta nice to know when you are going to hit a gravel bar.  Thankfully the river is clear so you can see the bottom and sorta gauge depth from that.

Jim, a girlfriend's guy went with us.  He was practically raised on the river, so was a lot of help.  Taught me a bunch of tactics for boondoggling, and drifting, and handling ol Ugly.

 

Jim perfecting the art of the birds nest...

We didn't catch anything, but Dad got some good bumps.  He was fishing with roe and Jim was using a sardine wrapped flat fish. We had salmon jumping around us, and could see them swimming, so it wasn't like there were no fish.

 

Dad fishing....

Dad went again today and took a friend of his, D. I couldn't go as I had a conference call coming from the doctors. 

They didn't catch anything, but had a good time according to Dad. 

Later in the evening Dad was raving about what nice a guy D is and how D kept saying he wished I could have come with them.  I swear alarms went off in my head.  Next thing I know Dad says, "Oh, by the way he wants to date you."  "He said he would see you tomorrow night at the poker game here."  Date! I haven't been on a date in years, well except for the short kilted guy in the shiny shirt...sigh... 

 

Hot Spot...

We have had nine fires set within 1/2 a mile of the house recently, the latest a few day ago. All in the field that abuts our neighbor...hood.

 That field is where the retired parole officer and his wife run, and where Willie and I run/jog.  I tried running on the subdivision's streets, but that was not a good fit.  There are no quail, turkey, raccoon, does or fawns there to track, there are no sounds of doves or meadow larks, or raucous scrub jays, or bell cows, and the air doesn't smell like Mother Nature's garden.

I had been concerned that there were no fire breaks put in around the field, as the fuel load was high. One neighbor didn't seem to realize that he had a perfect fire ladder to his house.  Finally, a couple of weeks ago the owners of the field bladed in a bunch of fire breaks, and a large berm at the end of our street to keep people from driving into the field. The berm was effective in keeping the water tinders, and tractor/trailer with the dozer from getting into the fire. A neighbor showed them where access would be possible.

There are a lot of vagrants/druggies around town, and the consensus is that the fire bug is in that group.  The neighbors tell me that since the large releases of prisoners from prison to small county seats, nothing is safe, especially if left on the street.  This in a neighborhood full of retired military, and many resident retired/active LEOs of one branch or another. 
Haven't been packing my little Sig because the darn field is within the city limits, and my CCW permit is still in processing.  I do take my cell phone and assorted other devices.

 When I lived on the home ranch, my brother's wife came out to visit and said she could never live out like that, she would be afraid all the time. Which seemed so strange to me, as we were armed to the teeth, had a couple of dogs that wouldn't let anyone near us, and you could hear someone drive over the third cattle guard. Thieves had to want your stuff pretty bad to come out to the middle of 12,000 acres to try and take it.  The same was true for fire bugs. They seldom made it out of the area before being caught. 
  Much easier pick'ns and fire bugging in town. 
 
 

Saturday Night Special...

Here it is another cowgirl Saturday night, and I was writing a post. All about a cowboy and a thiev'n no good rustler. 

Not wanting to use any of the pics of cowboys I know, I went in search of one, but... 

skål...

Preppers be prepping, 

for Winter is coming, 

any good Viking berserker

 would tell you to be prepared,

so...  skål

http://www.hottug.nl/index_en.html 

Deserter...

Went out for the dawn run with wee Willie. As is my compulsion I made my bed before leaving. Wore a loud orange tee, it's dove season in the back of beyond.  It was still fairly early when we got back.  I had made coffee in my trusty French press before I left the house, so off to the kitchen to get a cuppa, and do some admiring on my kitchen cabinets remodel from the day before. 

It had been a battle to keep Dad from doing it. I had erred by telling him I was going to reverse the way a couple of the cabinets opened. (Who ever the carpenter was that put in the cabinets when mom & dad built this house never had to function in a kitchen.) Turned my back and there Dad was (with my drill mind you) getting ready to climb on a step ladder. "Oh Heck No!  You can supervise to your heart's content, but I'm doing it."  Worked out well, and this morning Dad had positioned himself so that when the home helper came he had a ring side seat to watch her practically rip off the doors trying to open them from the now wrong side...

Got back to my room, which is a work in progress for sure. (Seriously, who the hell puts white carpet throughout a house in RED Bluff) Looked around for Willie, no dog. Searched through the house, no dog. Checked outside, no dog. Damn, I know I'm a bit cranky from lack of sleep but to have my dog desert me...