and a strong cup of coffee

As I was reeling in the first bass that I would keep, Don started the GoPro to document the actual catch.  Hmm... I may need to get one of those! Come here please. Gotcha! Bringing him into the boat   YUM A big thanks to Don at Maine Outdoors for sending these along.

A couple of weeks ago, I was lucky enough to catch Don Kleiner of Maine Outdoors with some free time on his hands and convinced him to take me fishing.  We could not have picked a more perfect day to be away from the world and on the water. We set off to catch Smallmouth Bass.  Having caught my first fish with Robin, I was hopeful that I could at least catch something besides grass.  Don was brave enough to attempt to teach me how to fish a few years ago and I hoped, as I stepped into the boat, that I had improved my skills a little bit since then. Our first spot was a fairly shallow spot near some overhanging trees.  Don taught me that fish do not have eyelids so when it is sunny out, they usually hid in the shade so that they can keep watch over any predators that may be around - like eagles, osprey or us.  My first cast was horrible but I kept reminding myself that I did just fine with Robin and needed to not over think it.  The next few casts we...

My friend Staci is a fisherwoman.  She had the gear, knows her stuff and has years of experience.  Somehow, someway, I convinced her to take me fishing. We were watching the water height and strength online and it looked promising so that is where we headed.  An hour later we arrived to this:  the water had been released from the dam above and was raging.  I snapped a couple of pictures and we headed to a different spot to try out luck. Staci said this was a little high compared to what it was a few days before when she was there with her husband but it seemed doable and we wanted to be able to cast a few times just to say that we did it.  I had received two pairs of waders from a retiring coworker so I was eager to try them out and hoped that they would hold up. The bridge swung a little as we drove over it We geared up, Staci put some ties on both of our fly rods (I watched her and tried to adjust the waders).  And we headed into ...

Slowly but surely, I am going to learn how to fly fish!  There is a blog coming (along with a couple turkey blogs) but until I can sit down and publish them... enjoy the view from the river. We arrived about an hour after they released the water. A little better!

A few weeks ago, my great-uncle Donald sent me this book because he had been reading my articles in the Northwoods Sporting Journal and thought I would enjoy this find. While this is not super old, it is older than me and it was great to read through the book and "learn" how to hunt, fish, hike, camp etc. The great thing about being an outdoors-woman right now, is the openness and excitement that I have found with other writers and outdoor-men in my life.  In order for us to evolve and become more interested in getting outdoors, it takes someone who is willing to teach us.  I hope that when Uncle Donald sent this to me, he saw that too.  It is a way to pass on a deep hunting heritage to other family members and create more hunting stories for future generations. There is an entire section about what type of ammunition you should use for each gun you may be hunting with.  You can learn about different knives you will want to bring with you or you may want to know ...