The Fun is over and the Work Begins

Terry's Big Fish of the Day

Terry and his friend Butch from Missouri finished up the sight fishing season with me on Tuesday.  The wind blew from every direction and fishing was a little slower than last week.  There was still plenty of fish on beds if the wind would allow you to see them.  We had about and hour of flat water and most of our fish came in that period.  We spent a lot of time running from cove to cove looking for flat water and about the time everything calmed down the wind would switch to another direction.  My eyes still hurt from squinting threw the ripples.  

I didn't catch as many fish this year and the size seemed to be a little smaller.  The reason for the smaller fish was because we seemed to have more wind this year.  The bigger fish come out of deeper water and with the ripples on the surface you just can't see into 10 feet of water.  It will be a couple of weeks before we return to Lake Almanor and the sight fishing will probably be over.  Next comes the Hex hatch, watch out trout.

Well the fun is over for a while and I am back in RB drawing up a new job that will start tomorrow.  It should take about two weeks and 20 gallons of sweat.  We should be back up to the cabin about June 12th for the summer.  

Missouri Butch and a nice Smallie

More Lake Almanor Smallmouth

Ryder and Dad with a good fish.

Ryder and Sean joined me on Memorial Day at Canyon Dam Lanch ramp and we preceded to boat a nice batch of smallmouths.  It looks like I started something with his first catfish sandwich and we ended up keeping a couple of small fish for Bass sandwiches.  The rest he learned how to kiss on the forehead and send them back home.  We were off the water by 10:30am because of the increasing boat traffic.  Terry and Butch will join me tomorrow for the last day of Smallmouth fishing this month.  Back to woodworking and sawdust.

Fun Time at Lake Almanor

I've been busy this last week harassing the bass at Lake Almanor.  It has been a little windy but it was generally pretty calm in the morning until about noon time.  We can still catch a few bass after the wind comes up but it just isn't as much fun when you can't see the expression on their faces when you rip their lips off.  I've had a lot of company which is really a blast, especially when everyone is catching fish and having fun.  Dinner time was really fun because we ate some of our catch along with wild Turkey and Venison back strap.  Check out the smiles on all the fishermen.

Steve with a fish Terry broke off the day before.

Yours truely with a chunky Smallmouth

Pete's first Lake Almanor Smallie

Another great Smallmouth.

Ryder's First Fish

Check out the video of Ryder and his first fish.

Ryder's new dog

Welcome Bogey to the family.  Do you think Ryder is excited to have a new playmate.  Bogey is a Labradoodle and will keep the Puritz family busy for a while.  What a cutie.

Cedarville-Surprise Valley

I thought I would share an article in Enjoy Magazine that Michele came across this morning.   What I found interesting was the paragraph: "The Chamber of Commerce’s largest and most successful event is its annual squirrel hunt, where shooters are invited to help farmers rid their fields of crop-destroying and plague-carrying rodents."   The Surprise Valley was our destination last week but we didn't make it when we were sidetracked by a farmer in need of help near Alturas.  We are making plans to participate in the Annual Squirrel Roundup next year.  Click on this link to read the article on Cedarville.   Also check out the video of a Golden Eagle picking up a dead squirrel. 

                                      

Squirrels 101

Rob, Terry and I ventured to Adin last week to try out the new 17 HMRs and found the weather to be a little nasty.  We chased ground squirrels for a couple of days  but the wind blew like crazy and on Friday we were blessed with a couple of inches of snow.   We parked Rob's 34 ft. fifth wheel trailer down a dirt road behind the ranchers home next to the river.  With a couple of inches of snow we made the decision to leave the trailer and come home with our tails tucked between our legs.  Having lost the first round to the squirrel gods we were determined to return and even the score.  On Wednesday we returned to retrieve the trailer and kick a little squirrel butt and we did just that.  We eradicated our fair share of little rodents and scared the living you know what out of the rest.  The three of us shot about 800 rounds on Thursday and did our share of saving the hay industry and stimulating the ammo industry.  Check out the video below if you don't mind the graphic nature of rodent control.  I mounted the video camera to the top of the scope on my rifle.  Most of the shooting was between 80 and 230 yards.  I also have footage of a Golden Eagle swooping down and picking up a dead squirrel and I will try to edit that tape and post it in the near future.  Hope you can enjoy the video, not recommended for the faint at heart.