Yearly Archives: 2021

Salmon Fishing with Tim Browne, Mike & Owen Cleary

I’m invited to join Tim on his annual salmon fishing trip, this time with Mike and his son Owen Cleary. We all convene in Anderson Sunday night at the Gaia Hotel & Spa. Have a great dinner at the Woodside Grill. After dinner, we reminisce about our epic trip to Ireland with my old photo album.

The next morning we’re off to Corning to fish with Steve, a guide that works with Dave Jacobs. Owen lands the first salmon of the day and his first. I’m handed Steve’s rod after he gets a fish on and I land my first Striped Bass. Mike is next hooking up a big salmon. He fights it all the way to the boat and as it slowly emerges at the surface it somehow loses the hook and is gone. Some discussion follows that perhaps Steve should have netted that one. Am glad it didn’t happen to me. These guys are great fishermen and when they lose one it’s a tough break. If I lose one, well it’s pretty clear I screwed it up.

Day two is with Mike Bogue, Tim’s usual go-to guide. We meet Mike early in the shopping center lot across the freeway and follow him to put the boat in. We’re on the river by 6:30 am and off to the usual spot called the Barge Hole. There are already about 10 boats there. As usual, Mike gets us set up and it’s not long before Owen lands the first Salmon of day two. I think fish two is boated by Mike Cleary, another nice salmon. Soon Tim lands the largest so far.

We try a few other places. I commit my usual rookie mistakes. I forget to keep my thumb on the line, I get tangled with Owen’s line, I somehow get my line around the boat prop. (not sure how I keep getting invited back to these but am grateful for everyone’s patience). At one point I have a fish on and am fighting it to the boat but lose it before we ever see it. I ask Mike what I should have done differently. He pauses thoughtfully and replies “Hook it better”. I don’t think I even set the hook, just all of the sudden noticed I had a fish on and started reeling. DOH!

Towards the end of the day, Mike snaps his rod back and hands it to me. I proceed to reel in a really nice salmon to make it one for each of us. Mike takes the boat to a shady spot where he ties up and fillets our catch for us.

This was another amazing trip organized by Tim and a wonderful reunion with the Clearys. So much fun, I don’t think I’ve laughed that much in a long time!

Rider Share – AirBnB for Motorcycles

There is a new solution for renting motorcycles called Riders Share which enables owners to rent out their motorcycles. There is a fee along with chosen insurance coverage.

What a great idea. I had dreamed about some subscription-type service that would just let you try different bikes. So far I have rented a couple of Harley Davidson cruisers. First was a Street Bob which I was not that crazy about. Looks cool but the bars and steering dynamic didn’t instill a lot of confidence.

My second rental was the Fat Bob which has a more sportbike style front end, twin discs, and even better, an exposed knob to up the rear mono-shock pre-load. I bottomed out the Street Bob quite a few times on some of the more challenging back roads like Stage.

The experience of renting the two bikes was great. The site manages the scheduling, payment, and you check in with comprehensive photos to document the bike’s condition. Both renters let me leave my Suzuki DR350 with them so it could not have been more convenient.

It’s funny that getting to the rental and going home just makes me appreciate my ’97 DR even more. It still amazes me how fun this bike is. It can go as fast as most bikes on the roads I ride with that long travel DP suspension that just smooths out any road. I’ll keep trying lots of different bikes but will always have the DR!

July Blacktail Hunt -2021

My annual blacktail deer hunt at the Diamond C was fantastic as usual. We were looking for a nice 4×4 that was frequently near a public road and on the hit list to be taken before the B1 season started and the chances of him being poached would be almost certain.

The first day we went out in the evening and we actually caught a glimpse of the buck near a green cattle trough that he frequents. We could not get a great look at him and there was no great way to stalk him as shooting light quickly faded away into the night.

We were out early the next morning and shortly after dawn, we spotted four deer on a far hillside. Dylan quickly determined one was the buck we were after. I quickly got my bi-pod opened and tried to settle down prone for a 300 plus yard shot. We went through my typical inability to locate the right buck in my scope. I finally described the buck in my scope’s actions and got the confirmation. He was at 320 and I was shooting my Cooper Backcountry in .300 win mag.

My first shot was a good hit, right beneath the heart. The buck stayed on his feet though and moved to 380 yards. I was able to put another round into him and dropping him at that spot.

Holly quickly came up to us in the side-by-side 4 wheeler and soon we were on the hill looking for the buck. He was easily found and another amazing 4×4 blacktail. After having taken so many great bucks off this ranch, I still get so excited and this buck is certainly something special. So grateful for having stumbled into hunting the Diamond C in my early days and what’s now a 16-year relationship with the Carr family.

Turkey Hunt at the Diamond C – April 2021

Was able to make the spring turkey hunt with Dylan again after missing last year due to the COVID chaos. Was so great to come again in Spring when all the grass is green. The weather was perfect. We drove around in the early afternoon and tried to find some toms but no luck. We went back to the cabin and hung out for a while trying a little later in the afternoon. At one point I spotted some toms down a hill and we decided to try and lure them up to us. We set up behind a gray-white deadfall. It wasn’t the best cover but about the only thing available. I had a nice gun rest on one of the branches and Dylan sat nearby calling. Finally, we heard a faint gobble in answer. Then shortly after a much louder gobble and we knew they were coming. That is the most exciting point in a turkey hunt! We have a rubber hen decoy we put into the ground for the toms to focus on and I set up for a shot near it.

Soon two toms came into view but they looked too young. The first barely had a beard at all. Finally, as they neared the hen decoy they separated and I could see the other was a big tom. When he was sufficiently isolated I squeezed off the shot and he went down right there. The big 3.5″ magnum turkey load gives quite a kick and I managed to have my right hand punch my nose pretty good. No blood though just saw a few stars.

Dylan kept calling and I was able to pull my phone out and video. There were actually three toms. The other two kept walking to the right and I pan back to the hen decoy and you can see the wing of my tom fluttering still above it.

He turned out to be a big one, at least 20 pounds. Nice long beard. He made 3 batches of my favorite turkey salad recipe!