photos I took today

I took these pics of a clear ball then changed the with adobe. Thought you all might like to look at them

Here are some pics to keep you warm

I have herd lots of complaints about the cold weather in the states. It's been cold here this winter also. Sariah even complained about the cold damp Arizona weather. I thought these might warm you up a bit. She might not miss Alaska so much After she sees the frostey side of things.

Ice fishing on the 26 of December

I hate to say it but I got skunked. Well I did get a few bites and one felt like it might have been a big fish But I will never know. One thing is for shore when I get skunked it relay steams me.

christmas

Christmas was a good time. Family friends and fun at Allan and Tamis. for those that cant go because you live out of town here are some photos and so you can see.

rabbit hunting 12/6/2008

Well hunting was a bust. Rabbits were skittish every where I went. I think because I took the dog. I did see nine but they were going away from me at mock 10. guess thats because I had the gun. Here are some mt. for you all

Lake Louise November 28

My friend Salmonman, as we call him on Iceshanty.com, picked me up this weekend for some ice fishing at Lake Louise. The trip started off with the normal long ride to Lake Louise from Anchorage. On the way we stopped in Palmer to pickup another friend Troutsman for the trip. As we drove we talked about how we would love to catch one of those giant Lake Trout Lake Louise is known for. Salmonman said man I would love to catch a fifteen or twenty pound lake trout. Russ agreed that would be great. Well, I said; I would be happy with a ten pound laker if I caught a fish that was fifteen or twenty pounds I might pee myself from the excitement.
We left Palmer with a warm Chinooks making it 35 degrees and arrived to Lake Louise with sub zero temperature. We stepped from the truck to check the ice on the lake to see if we could drive on it. We thought we could do it if we chained up. We spent the next several minuets dressing in our winter gear then set out chaining the tiers. Salmonman then cautiously drove us down a steep hill to the lake. We slowly drove to a spot that we thought should hold some fish and stopped. We retrieved our ice fishing gear from the back of the truck and discussed how we were going to go about drilling some holes. We decided to start drilling from a point off the lake in approximately ten feet of water then go out every few feet in the direction of the point till we found a drop off. Salmonman drilled the holes and Troutsman followed him with the ice scoop. I hooked a heavy five inch brass colored spoon to one of my rods and walked behind them. I dropped the spoon down and did a few jigs in each hole to find the depth. I was at the last hole of the nine or so they had drilled and dropped my line down. There was about 20 feet of water. I jigged a few times and told the guys the depth. They each had a rod in and were fishing so I decided to stay there with the big spoon jigging. We were all talking about random mundane things that had nothing to do with fishing. I was becoming tired of jigging the heavy spoon that was on the rod and made the comment that I was going to change to a curly tail jig. Just then; slam!!! My pull doubles over and line rips off the reel. I scream. “Fish on”. Before Troutsman and Salmonman could get there I looked down and almost all the line was gone from the spool. I was surprised, as I had put twenty pound Fire line on the spool till it was starting to come off the edges. I started to panic as I could tell this fish was a good one and did not want to loose it. I pinched the line between my thumb and pointer finger but it did no good the fish was still running and now I could see the center of the spool. Fear crept into me that I might break this fish off so I threw my glove off one hand and quickly tightened the drag six clicks, but the fish was still heading for the far side of Lake Louise. I think it had three hundred yards of line out so I clicked the drag a few more times and the fish started to slow. Soon I had the beast turned and coming back to the hole. I recovered half the line then like a rocket it shot off again making my drag zing. Then all of a sudden the line went taut. The drag stopped releasing line but my rod was still bent. “No” the fish must have snagged the hook on the ice while it was running and now it’s gone. Most the line was off the real and we could not see the hook any were. Salmon Man offered to put his hand down the hole and try to dislodge the hook. I told him to go for it. Just as he pushed the line off the jagged ice at the base of the ice fishing hole the fined brut shot several more feet of line off the reel then the turned and came straight at us. I reeled as quickly as I could in order to keep the line tight. Soon I recovered a fray in the line caused by the fish’s vigorous running, pulling the line over the sharp ice. I knew I had to ice this fish soon. But the thing had other ideas. We watched as it raced past the hole. The three of us gasped at whet we saw, this thing was incredibly big. The biggest fish I caught ice fishing, a twenty six and a half inch bow was nothing to this beast. I slowly turned the fish and worked it back to the hole. It was a sight to watch the huge head come through the hole. The girth of the fish looked even more massive when its body was in the 10 inch ice hole. We though we were standing over the honey hole and we were going to have a great day, unfortunately like typical Lake Louise style it was the only fish. We each got a bite but that was it. Now we can’t wait to go back. I would just like to thank Salmonman and Troutsman for being there. I would not have got that fish on the ice on my own and since my camera was in the car I would not have got the photo with out killing the fish. On the other hand a whole lot of me wishes I would have took the fish home for bragging rights.

Don't mess with the Barbra

So, we all know how devoted Heidi and Barbra are to there garden, It doesn't mater if your a child, a teenager or a 1000 pound moose they'll stop you. Just look how Barbra treats this poor little moose looking for a meal on a cold winter day.

Didn't find the time to finish the post last time. Joe and I went to Sutton to search for some rabbits. I drove Heidi's car to the top of the coal mine roads and it was a bit ruff but fun. Joe and I saw several rabbits but we were only able to shoot two.

Lat week I met a friend from the http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/ and we hit up the Talkeetna area for some rabbits and grouse. We found some new spots we cant wait to try to hunt some more and we even got a grouse each. well sort of, mine got hit by a car. We knew we had to scare them off the road as you cant shoot on or across a hwy. He scared his up to a tree on the other side of an ATV trail and walked off to shoot it. Mean wile I tried to get the bird I was after to fly away to a tree but all it did was walk to the middle of the road and take a seat. I tried to get it to fly but it was hopeless it sat their as a truck drove tords it. It jumped up to fly at the last second but it was two late it became a pile of feathers. I looked over it as Dusty cleaned his and as far as I could tell the breast meat was fine so I cleaned it up a bit and took it home. I had the bird for sinner last week and it was great, well tenderized.

This weekend I had to move the camper back to dads so I thought I should do some hunting at the same time. I went to Sutton as it is closer to dads house. I started walking at 10:30 AM. Chai jumped a rabbit from the brush for me and I took a quick shot and got it. There were tracks all over in some spots it looked like the rabbits had dug through the snow and pulled grass up. I didn't want to try to drive to the top of the coal roads on my own so I walked clear to the top. At the end there was a Ruffed grouse waiting for me Chair scared it into the air and i shot it. I wanted to walk to Eska Falls but I ran out of time. On the way back I jumped a small bull moose that had two cows with it. I got back to the car at 5:30. Man am I out of shape my legs are sore today. Next week I'm going to go ice fishing for the first time of the year should be good.

first rabbit hunt of the year

I will wright more later but here is Joe with one

I'm a hold out

I waited till the last moment to take the canoe off the van. I fished on Saturday at on e of my favorite lakes. it was slower than I thought it would be. I caught six fish the largest 22 inches. I started using a Thompson Buoyant. I was doing great with that, caught a fish every time I cruised by a point of land I hook the 22 inch and it put up a great fight pulled lots of line off the real and jumped several times. It was a nice fat fish. The other ones weren't as large so I let them go. Dan who went with me caught a fat 25 inch. We both thought it looked a lot bigger. I guess because it was so fat. it was a bit cool out I think the wind chill was only in mid thirty's. I was hopping the weather would hold out for another week. We got a few inches of snow Sunday but I was surprised when I got up and it was only 18 outside and after work it was not above freezing. non the less after work I took the canoe off the van looks like summer is over. we are so post to get more snow tonight.

That was a fast fall

I went fishing yesterday and It was good. I putted around a lake for a few hours and caught six nice rainbow trout. I kept three of them, the biggest, (about twenty inches) the fattest and the ugliest (looked like it had a broken back). The ugly fish was strange looking wished I had a photo of it but Barbra took my camera back east with her. Looks like Fall is over. I cant believe it, Hear it is October fifth and snow is poring from the sky. I was hopping to go fishing one last time next weekend; at the moment it's not looking like that will happen. O-well time to dig out the auger and sharpen the blades. wont be long before I can hit the ice for some hard water fishing. The earliest I've fished was the 16 of October. Don't know if that will happen this year but it should be an early start. In th mean time I can grease up the shot gun and go bunny popping wile I wait for the ice to become safe to walk on.

winter is coming

We had a hard frost last night. So I thought I would show some more photos of the fall colors before they blow away and are replaced by snow.

On another note, Joe and I tried to go duck hunting last weekend. We weren't so good though as I missed all five birds that I had a chance to hit. Joe got one but after it fell to the ground we could not find it in the deep grass and water. The sun rise was nice through thick fog but I left the camera in the car. I thought Heidi's red shamrock is nice but it has nothing to do with fall

The first day of fall

In remeberance of summer here are some random pics.

Dont the flowers make you feel good? Hope

so, becaus we wont be seeing them for a wile.

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In celebration of the first day of fall here are some photos taken today

oh Snow in Arctic Vally? Could we have a normal winter for once?

Heidi's birthday trip

Monday September 1, 2008
We left the house on a nice day for the drive north to Tangle Lakes. We lucked out with clear skies all the way. Sheep Mountain and Eureka valley looked beautiful. We had to go through a few spots of road construction, which was not a surprise; in Alaska we joke there’s only two seasons winter and road construction. Unfortunately, in one of the construction zones we got a slow leak in a trailer tire because when we got to Tangle Lakes’ campground we had a flat. We counted our blessings we didn’t have a blowout on a sharp curve on the narrow Glenn hwy and have to change the tire with no shoulder to hide from the traffic. I found the jack and set to changing the tire. The lug nuts, laden with dust and dirt from the road, were hard to turn. I of course being the brawny man that I am added more torque, gripping the wrench with both hands and leaning back with all my body weight. The nut was turning and I was making progress when the wrench came loose. My whole body flailed back, the wrench came up and smacked me in the head. Just missing my glasses and putting a nice gouge in my eye brow. I did a quick cleaning of the wound with a wet towel and a butterfly bandage then finished changing the tire. The crack in my skin wept a thin sheen of blood down my glasses the whole time I was leaned over the wheel. After I was through Heidi did a more through cleaning of the wound and put some of her herbs on it which seamed to stop the bleeding. I had a good headache the rest of the day. After the tire was changed we drove around the camp ground looking for a good spot to park the pop-up and spend the week. After it was up and we had things set we thought we would go up the road to a nice ridge and go for a hike. We saw a cow moose with two young caves. The caves looked very small to make it through the winter. We found a few blueberries and watched the sun set then walked back to the car. We went back to the camp started a fire and watched the stares come out. The night was completely clear; we watched the satellites cruising the sky and watched as the Milky Way came out. A while later the northern lights made a brief appearance in the northern sky. It was the first time that I’ve been in a place that was completely dark with no interference from man or the moon. I forgot that there are so many stars and things to watch at night. With the clear sky the temperatures dropped like a rock I think it was only in the teens or low twenties as there was a thick layer of frost in the morning.