Hobby Sports

I dont think this Discovery show made it Stateside.

A Dogs Life was a short lived show that each week featured a particular breed of bird dog . Aired on OLN, it was hosted by Jamison Parker of Simon And Simon fame. I really wish this show was still on air. Showcasing various breeds and set in various hunting scenarios, A Dogs Life may just be one of my all time favorite bird dog shows. As an owner of a Deutsche Drahthaar I particularly enjoyed that episode.

Each episode explained in detail the breed showcased, all the strengths, personalities, history, and even an advice segment from Steven Smith and a vet segment with Doctors Foster and Smith. All that and it even included the dog at work hunting. The show was even sponsored by Filson, my garment of choice while bird hunting in the States. Jamison even hunts with a side by side. I wish the show was on DVD because Id buy it. If your considering buying a bird dog for the first time Id suggest you watch the episode of your desired breed.

The show, and all episodes can be seen here.


Another show, Ill mention since it is also on the same site, which is not nearly as good, Bird Dogs Forever can also be seen here. It is nowhere near as good as Jamisons show although it looks like it aired much longer than A Dogs Life. Bird Dogs Forever can even be purchased on DVD.

We fished MVL this afternoon and like most of our recent outings it was brutal.  A pair of dink bass for the both of us was all we could show for our efforts.  Tight lipped bass were not  our only problem but strong winds that prevented our boat from making a decent drift and playing havoc on our casts.

Me with a 6lb carp wearing the stupidest pair of fit over sunglasses ever.

Finally Ive been able to get Tuck out for some carping.  I think weve been talking about fishing for carp for months now but have never been able to make it happen.  Since Tuck was unable to get out until 10, Chul and I met on the water at 9 and fished a small section before he could arrive.  First thing I noticed was how low the water is, Id never seen it that low.  At the spillway lays a deep pool that usually dont fish because its usually occupied by bait fisheren; I told Chul "I bet theres bass in there."  He began blind casting his Prince Harry Aggravator into this section.  I, on the other hand, moved past and started casting to feeding carp; I was using a rubber legged chartreuse ice hares ear.  With the morning sky overcast,  I think the choice of fly was probably a poor one.  None of the several carp wanted want I was offering.  Chul on the other hand was slaying baby trout sized bass everytime I turned my head.  I think he may have gotten half a dozen before Tuck arrived and we met him in the parking lot.  I switched flies to legless Prince Harry Aggravator.

The fly bent from fighting the carp.

Once Tuck rigged up we headed back and I spotted some fish for Tuck.  None wanted what he was offering even though some casts were perfect.  In time I managed a nice carp and set the hook only to have the fly line sling-shot back at me and hit my chest.  The entire leader had broken off at the loop.  I hadnt changed that flouro in a while and had used it on several outing.  It was bound to happen.  Im too lazy to change it out, my rods are pre-rigged and are holstered in the Rover in a Rod holder for quick and easy access whenever I hit the water.   I tied another aggrevator in a smaller size and began to fish again.  After spotting several fish I managed to hook up on a 6 pounder that fought like an animal.  Tuck and Chul were to my left and since I was fishing my Abel PT5 reel, that has no outgoing click, they unfortunately they could not hear the glorious sound of a zinging reel from all the running the carp was doing.  Damn you Steve Abel!  We continued downstream and began fishing back, I switched to a olive Clouser swimming nymph after noticing my fly was now deformed.  I had another fish, a very good one on and had it run at least 10 yards until the fly popped out of its mouth and flew back over my head and into the tules behind me.  Chul managed a few more miniature bass and lost a carp or two before lunch from his leader breaking at the knot.  We headed to one of my favorite Mexican joints for burritos and so Chul could collect on his free beer.  After a great lunch and laughing our asses off from stories about  Tucks blistered poison oak infested dong, we decided to head back.

Tuck wet wading even after I warned him -WTF are you thinking?

By the time we finish lunch, the wind was blowing quite hard.  The chop on the water was making it difficult to see any fish.  Even if you could spot them, it would only be briefly and you needed to be quick on the cast.  I missed two during this period.  Chul lost another carp from his tippet failing.  I told him take that leader off and gave him my spool of flouro and told him to fish straight flouro.  Tuck get home skunked which seems to be the case whenever I bring someone here.  With Tuck leaving for British Columbia soon, I told him if he could find a morning to fish this early hed most  likely be able to get his first carp on the fly.

Ive seen a bass take a duckling before. Ive seen a trout take a mouse.  Ive even seen a pike take a piglet before.  This is the first time Ive seen a catfish take a pigeon, until now.  That is the River Tarn in Southwest France and that is a European catfish.

Canyon Lake is an affluent gated community located in Riverside County. Since high school I have had access to this lake as one of my best childhood friends has a residence here. Back in college when I started fly fishing it was here I cut my teeth fishing for bass on the fly. Also I believe it was here I caught some of my first species on the fly. Throughout the first part of this century I fished quite a bit as my buddy would come to his home here several times a year inviting me almost every time. In 2004 or so he stopped coming here regularly as work and family obligations took more of his time. That was the last time I fished here until today my new buddy Luc who invited me to fish.  All it cost me were a few flies which I was more than happy to give away.
I met Luc at 5am at his house. We loaded his boat with my gear and headed to the launch ramp. Saturday there was a bass tournament so Luc was preparing me for a tough day. Topwater was first on the agenda. Luc likes fishing big flies and he started with a 10 weight and a big hard bodied popper. Armed with my 8 weight XP, I started with a hard bodied frog pattern that Luc suggested. It proved to big for my rod and later switched to a diver Luc suggested. After a few drifts past several banks it too proved to cumbersome for the 8 weight so I moved to Webbs Folded Foamhead. Several hours past without any takes.

Luc gets the skunk off the boat with a topwater take

Luc finally managed a topwater rise. It was a 2 or 2.5 pound bass. Finally the skunk was off the boat. Now with the sun out in full force we moved to subsurface presentations.  Hours past and I was constantly changing flies looking for the right presentation.

It took what seemed like eternity to get any bites. I kept missing fish. Luc was shocked that we were having such a hard time. Each cove, according to him, should have produced at least one bass many times more. I told him my bad luck just rubbed off on him and he shouldnt have invited me.   He just laughed it off but I was serious. Its not been my week. We were fishing some deep areas so I borrowed one for his rigs.  A 7 weight Sage RPL+  with a Airflow Depthfinder fast sinking line and his favorite fly an unweighted olive woolly bugger.  Luc likes fishing unweighted flies and letting the line take the fly down.

An average Canyon Lake bass 3 pounds.

I must have switched flies more than a dozen times.  As we started moving toward the shallower portion of the lake and a deep sinking line was not needed I moved from one side of the boat to the other.  In the process, with all the line stripped to the floor, I tangled Lucs line badly.  I spent the next 30 minutes or so trying to untangle the line.  Luc told me to just forget it and fish my other rig.  Not knowing Luc well enough, I didnt want to leave it for him to fix.  Eventually I just gave up and left it in frustration.  I picked up my favorite 5 weight and tried several flies before tying my Fugly S.O.B. in purple.  Soon enough I was on.  My first bass was a 3 pounder.  Luc let me know this is about an average fish here.  Back in my day, I would have given my left nut for a 3 pounder.  Ten years ago or so my personal best was maybe one and half.  Of course then I was just an novice/intermediate fly fisherman but I never saw a bass like that here.  If this is the average the lake has definitely gotten better from when I was fishing it.  It must be the fact that shad is everywhere.  You can see them swimming and Luc was showing me how to read his fish finder and sure enough they were everywhere.

A nice Canyon Lake representative.

My first Catfish on a fly

Taking flight.

This area is loaded with fish, mostly shad with crappie and bass mixed in.

I had an absolutely great time despite what Luc called disappointing.  No matter, I have a special place in my heart for this lake as it was where my fly fishing path started.  Fishing today brought back a lot of fond memories some of which I shared with Luc.  One story was back in those days, the lakehouse was party central for my buddies and since most of us were either just out of college or in college most of them came just to drink and party.  I didnt care for that I came for the fishing and one of the rules of the house, my buddy set, was to prove your party animal status was you couldnt go to sleep until I woke up to go fishing at 5 or 6 in the morning.  Only then would you have proven your worth.  I remember numerous times fishing on my buddys dock looking up after hearing the sliding door open only to see one of my buddies leaning over the balcony puking his guts out.  Good times.

As I am on the mailing list for Sierra Trading Post (STP), I receive a catalog every month, the last contained an extra 25% off coupon.  STP, for those of you who dont know, is a discounter who buys overstock, closeout, last season, or liquidated goods at a bargain and resells it to the public at a significant discount.  Most of what they sell is stuff that has no interest to me but on occasion they have some real gems.  I bought my first "premium" fly reel (Abel) from them more than 10 years ago among other things like Barbour sweaters and such. 

But this time I think I struck the mother load.  While checking their site I noticed that they have some select Hanwag boots in stock.  Hanwag is a bootmaker from Germany known among the international mountaineering scene.  These boots, with the exception of one dealer who only stocks a few models, are extremely difficult to acquire in the States.  My father and I had considered buying some in the past from Europe but since sizing is always different from one brand to the next we never ended up purchasing any. 

So I was pretty ecstatic to see these Hanwags dirt cheap on the site and with the additional 25% coupon, what a deal:

All these boots are made in Europe, finished in Germany.  These are not cheap imports. I was somewhat reluctant to buy the winter boots as I would rarely have a chance to wear them.  But I figured that my old man and I do have the intention of hunting in cold weather climates in the future so its better to get them for the cheap than to have to buy them when we go and pay full boat.

Hunting Trophy. 1862. Oil on canvas. Musée dOrsay, Paris, France. Claude Monet


The Hunt. 1876. Oil on canvas. Private collection, Paris, France. Claude Monet


Game Still-Life with Hunting Dog. 1730. Jean-Baptiste Simeon Chardin

Over the years I have been asked how to use a gut hook on a bird knife, Ive even seen the same question asked on internet hunting forums.  So Ive posted this video to help anyone who is still looking for an answer.   

Pluck the bird first and then follow the video. 

While looking for videos for Hunting with Hank, it reminded me of the show that used to proceded it on OLN, Sportsman Journal with Andy Mill. I began looking for any uploads of old episodes on the web. Unfortunately no one has ever uploaded it onto the internet. I googled Andy Mill in the hopes I could find a few episodes, I never did but I found that Andy wrote a Tarpon book.

Its available in three versions, standard, limited edition, and presidential edition. For $5,100 youll get the presidential edition signed by President Bush (the first one) and Andy Mills. The standard version is not cheap either at $100. I think Ill eventually pick one up as Andy really knows Tarpon and Im sure this book is packed with tons of knowledge.

The book is not available on Amazon so it looks like youll have to pay full boat for now.

It even comes with a Chasing Silvers DVD. The book is available at

http://www.wildriverpress.com/A-Passion-for-Tarpon.html

Last summer I asked Capt. Bill Calhoun if he wanted to hit Barrett Lake with me and although he wanted to he told me he couldnt as he was busy working on something all summer long.  I asked what it was but he told me he couldnt tell he was up to but would let me know when he was finished.

I spoke with Bill this morning after talking about our duck hunts, he let me know about his new project with his buddies, The Calico Syndicate.  These guys are casting lines up to 1000 grains on their 10 weights going after monster Calicos in the deep!  Now 1000 grains lines are nothing new, in fact I have one from my Costa Rica trip years ago.  The difference is back then we never actually casted the line, we simply hucked it over the boat and jigged the line until a tarpon hit it.  Also we were using rods 12-14 weights.  Now with modern graphite and flylines what was thought of as impossible is now reality.


While this set up was designed for Calico bass, I would love to try this set up on largemouth bass, particularly at Barrett and Stripers at our various Striper lakes.  This concept is new so Bill and company havent yet tried this set up for those species but are planning to do so soon.

More videos are available here on their youtube channel.  There you can learn how they design their lines, knots that they recommend using for and such.  I need to try this set, the only question am I going to kill myself by nailing myself in the back on the forward cast?  I hope to God not.

Mercury Stag Multi-blade Folding Hunter




For anyone looking for a nice folding knife you can use afield, World Knives has a very nice Italian-made small game knife for sale. From the website:

This is a very fine hand made Italian folding hunter knife with real stag handles and 4 implements.
It features a main locking blade, saw, gutting blade and gut hook to remove viscera.
Very nice action and overall quality.
Our Price: $112.95
Weight: 0.50 lbs
Length: 4.5" (closed)
Blade Length: 3.5"
Blade Material: Stainless Steel
Handle Material: Stag
Status: In stock

If I did not already have my Hubertus and Boker knives, Id buy this one. Its even got a blunt tip gutting blade which is nice for not puncturing internals when gutting game.

With the hunting season over my attention is now transitioning to fishing and it made me remember an old fishing buddy.

To my old friend Yosh,

May you rest in peace, you are missed. Spending time on the water with you always made fishing more fun. Ill always remember how youd always outfish me on each outing. But what Id remember most is your creative fly tying, you always inspired me to be a better tier. Now that your fishing new waters now, I know youre outfishing your new fishing partner whoever it maybe.

Two samples of Kaisers urine, the bloody urine and one from the following day which appears to have cleared up.

After hunting all day we heading back home for a long drive. Kaiser worked hard the past day and a half. When we finally arrived home I took Kaiser out to urinate. While relieving himself I noticed that his urine had blood in it. I couldnt really tell as it was around 9pm by now and the artificial lights outside made it tough to really see. So I let him in and found a flashlight to check. He had pissed on an empty planter that had some light dried leaves in it. I saw that his pee did in fact have blood.

Having never dealt with anything like this, I freaked out a bit. After I showered him I called the local emergency vet to see if I should have him checked out now or if I should just wait till the morning to see my regular doctor. they told me to come in. So I did.

The vet checked him over. There are a few causes of bloody urine such as eating poison, trying to pass a stone, among others and the vet asked me question so to see if these could be the cause. Another cause is overexertion. When a dog overexerts himself his muscles breakdown and is passed through the body through urine or feces. The doc x-rayed the dog to see if he was trying to pass anything, she also did other tests such as blood and urine analysis.

After some exhausting tests, the main culprit was overexertion. With the results in from the analysis in, it was determined that Kaiser had some abnormal readings that concerned her. She worried that he could suffer from some kidney damage and suggested that he say overnight so she could put an IV in him so he could recover quicker and reduce any chance of kidney damage.
I left him there for the night to pick him up the next morning before 8am.

I arrived at 7:30am to pick up Kaiser and after paying the $710 bill we were off. The vet said he should be fine but have him rechecked in three days to make sure he didnt suffer any damage.

Im having several hunts that are becoming extremely expensive but as long as my dog is okay, Ill just have to live with it.