ROUND 3 OF SALMON FISHING!

At last the rain came down hard for almost a full day and I knew that with plenty of water in the river, the salmon were going to make a nice run for the breeding grounds. This time I brought a friend from church who is an avid fisherman and loves to fight the bigs ones as well to my favorite spot. The river was high and moving fast and we knew that our fishing hole was going to be full of fish. As soon as we got to the spot we saw 2 other fisherman successfully landing fish after fish and we knew it was going to be a good day. And so it was, we each caught 3 in 1.5 hr. Packed up and headed home. That's my kind of fishing.

AND THEN ROUND 4 ON THE RIVER!

I never liked to fish by myself and there is something fun about bring a friend or two with you. This time a couple family members came up from Binghamton to fish salmon for the first time. My biggest worry was that if they don't catch something then they will feel like it wasn't worth the trip. However, it all turned out nice. One of the guys didn't officially land any but had a few not the line. The other guy actually caught the last fish of the day, which was very exciting to see, after losing several fish earlier. Nevertheless it was a successful day with a full quota of 12 fish for the 4 guys. Everyone was going home with plenty of fish. It also turned out to be my last salmon fishing trip for the season so it was a going ending.

Total season catch: 10

# of trips: 4

FISHING WITH THE BROTHER-IN-LAW!

My brother-in-law, Victor, decided to give salmon fishing a try this year. We had talked several times about the big fish, adrenaline rush, and successful trips. With the wives and kids relaxing at home we decided to hit the river.  

After a few days of no rain, the salmon was slow coming up all rivers and creeks flowing into Lake Ontario. We decided to head to my favorite fishing spot to see if any fish came up the night before. After seeing a couple, we decided to head down river to see if we could come across some in the deeper pools along the edges. The three that we came across were spooked and there was no luck there. We continued walking until we came across an area with deeper water and several other fisherman having some better luck. We decided to give this fishing hole at try. After 2 hrs of fishing, we still had no fish to our name. Meanwhile our "friends" from NJ fishing next to us were hammering them like crazy. After getting some tips and pointers from them we slightly modified our technique and soon enough we hooked a couple each but couldn't land nigher one. Victor hooked one really well and with our friends help we landed a large salmon. We continued to fish but without any luck. We decided to make the mile long trek back to the car and then find a cleaning station to get it all cleaned and filleted. I was happy that we didn't go home empty handed.

Congratulations Victor on your first salmon!

BROTHERS HUNT: DEER # 2

It's always more exciting to get a buck then a doe! Maybe it's a male thing--male vs. male! Or it's just a hunters phenomena! But once again my brother got a nice buck. It want a trophy buck and definely not wall mountable but the rack still looked nice: a 5 pointer!

The hunt: bow hunting in aluminum tree stand. Shot at 25 yards. It was a nice clean shot to the vitals. My brother said he actually saw where he fell before heading to get the truck and camera. I was home that Saturday so it was my pleasure helping my brother get the deer. It was also an opportunity to try out my F & S 1000 Thinsulate boots. The buck ended up running into the swamy area on the boarder of my parents property. He was laying in about a foot of water. It actually made good picture. 

After some nice pictures we knew we would have to haul him out of the water before we could gut it. Straneous but a quick haul to the truck. Once on the truck it was a straight shot up the hill to the barn. But it didn't turn out to be as straight forward as anticipated. Lots of rain the night before and bald tires didn't make a good combination. We got stuck in the field. So we just hauled the deer on foot. That wasn't the fun part. After gutting it, hanging it, and skinning it we were ready for a break. 

The lungs revealed a double lung shot. 

The next day after nicely cooling the meat, my brother and I butchered the meat and bagged it in about 1.5 hrs. We had a rough estimate of about 60 lbs of meat for jerky and sausage. 

Congratulations little brother on another big one!