We have just finished building a new website for Head Hunter Outfitters. You can see the site at: www.headhunteroutfitters.com. This outfitter operates a Whitetail Deer and Black Bear hunting camp in northern Saskatchewan. The website features this outfitters hunt information, a custom contact form, plus custom image galleries for their bear hunting, whitetail hunting, and also trophy fishing on the nearby lakes.
See more information on Outfitter Websites by PrairieOutdoors.com.
Of all the topics in the world to write songs about, the great outdoors seems to have been mostly overlooked. It’s just plain difficult to find a song, let alone a good song, about hunting or fishing. Yes, there are a few “joke songs” out there, songs that rank up there with “Snoopy and the Red Baron”, and hunting or fishing show opening songs, but actual songs by actual brand name artists are hard to come by. It’s not hard to find songs about girls, songs about boys, songs about cars, and summer, and parties, and all other popular topics. So, we have scoured the internet and our own personal music libraries, to give you a list of songs for hunting and fishing. Some of these are great, some are crap (personal opinions), but you know what they are about by the titles. Some of my personal favorites come from Ted Nugent, who can quite regularly be found on outdoor shows having a great time shooting black bear in Saskatchewan with his “Wackmaster” bow or shooting ducks off his back porch in Michigan. If you want a great album, pick up “Spirit of the Wild” which includes many of the songs listed. A few of these songs take the light hearted approach, such as Brad Paisley’s “I’m Gonna Miss Her”. We have a second list of songs that might be considered, but aren’t really, about hunting or fishing, but mention animals, or lakes, or forest, or such.
The songs that didn’t quite make the list:
Today I attempted to fish at the North American mosquito testing grounds. I pulled up and parked near one of my favorite fishing spots and opened the door to get out. Within 2 seconds I had two mosquitoes on my ear. Like a fight in a high school parking lot, it was on! Out came the Muskol. I was determined to not let a pesky little insect prevent me from casting my fly rod and hooking some trout, maybe that big brown I’ve seen feeding on the surface nearby. In fact, mosquitoes be damned, I will use them to my advantage.
I defiantly walked to the waters edge and tied on my “Jumbo Mosquito” pattern and started casting, through a cloud of mosquitoes, so it seemed. Every piece of exposed skin was covered, twice, with bug repellant, but they were all over me. I set my rod down and started applying bug repellant directly onto my clothes. I read the label, “Apply sparingly, re-apply as needed, lasts up to 6 hours”. Try 6 minutes and only when applied in thick layers. It was better to be on the move. With myself and my dog constantly moving and casting, I thought I could move away from the swarm, only to realize I was moving into the next swarm. Walking through the grass only bounced more mosquitoes into the air.
I was convinced I was in a battle with Muskol resistant mosquitoes, or these are the mosquitoes from the bad side of town and they treat Muskol like candy or a cheap drug. The more I put on, the more I was swatting at mosquitoes landing on my neck, arms, legs. Finally after an hour and a half, and no fish, I packed it in and headed home. I saw the big brown trout surface again. I’ll be back for him, with uber strength bug repellant. Perhaps a double layer of Muskol Extra Heavy Duty and Deeper Than Deep Woods Off.
This round to the mosquitoes. Next round to man!
When you are busy fishing, you have a hand full of rod, reel and line, and hopefully a net in the other, ready to land your latest catch. Once you remove the hook, do you have time to fumble through your vest for a ruler to measure the fish, getting it back to the water quickly? What if your rod was also your ruler?
I have 3 fly rods, an 8 weight I use for pike, a 6 weight for river fishing, and a 4 weight for trout ponds and perch. Recently I was fishing a trout pond and tied into a decent fish for the pond, about 12 inches, but not exactly sure. I laid the fish down beside my 4 weight rod and reel for a quick photo then slipped the fish back into the water.
It looks like about 12 inches. A few years ago, I had used thin strips of duct tape wrapped around the shaft of my 6 weight rod to mark off ruler lengths of 12 inches and then every 3 inches. When I took the above picture, I realized my 4 weight rod doesn’t have the ruler markings, so I used some colored electrical tape and added the measurements to my 4 weight, my 8 weight, and redid the markings on my 6 weight.
Some might say the color tape makes the rods look a little ugly, but I don’t mind, and the quick ruler is a time saver on the water. I don’t bother with longer measurements on the 4 weight, I have it marked at 12″, 15″, and 18″. I don’t expect to catch anything bigger than that with that rod. The 6 weight goes up to 27″ which would be one hell of a trout. The 8 weight is marked from 12″ all the way up to 48″, because I’m an optimist.
It’s almost a year since the last guy only fishing trip. I don’t know why I call it that. It’s always all guys I don’t think that women are invited. A bunch of us get together, usually at the start of May and go to catch some rainbows on a fly rod.
The planning doesn’t take long. Pick a weekend, buy some food, beverages, and pack a minimum amount of clothing, lots of fishing stuff and worry about the sleeping arrangements when we get there. It’s a simple, uncomplicated process.
The guy trip must be a fascinating thing to women. I am in no way a chauvinistic person, but I can’t see my wife or any of our wives picking a weekend and just going to do nothing but be there. With a girl trip, its all about what are they going to do, where are they going, what are they going to wear, what are they going to see and so on and so on.
We go on this trip to drink, eat, fish and sleep and that’s about it and not necessarily in that order. We can go for hours and not talk, we can laugh at things that our wives would kill us if they ever found out what we were talking about, and most importantly we can be ourselves. There is no one there to impress, no one to criticize, always some one to make fun of and it’s all in good fun.
The trip is about more than just catching fish. It’s about friends, family, fun times and connecting in a very surreal way with nature. Its about bragging rights that last 5 minutes or 5 hours. Its about spending time with people that don’t care if you’ve had a shower brushed your hair or how you look. Within every trip there are lessons learned in life, fishing and family. That’s what the trip is about. It’s a simple, uncomplicated, fun, fantastic time. Everyone should do it. If you do it once, you’ll do it forever.
I have fished the Jumbo MosquitoTM fly a number of times over the past few years and it is the best trout pond fly I have ever used. The only negative I can state is that the fly is not very durable. After a few fish landings and especially when the forceps are needed to remove a fly from a trout, the fly gets beat up and starts to unravel.
Because the fly is so easy and inexpensive to tie, I have always compensated by tying lots of them and switching flies when this happens. That is, until I came up with the Super Jumbo MosquitoTM fly. A slight modification has made the fly more durable, and takes a minimal amount of additional effort.
Same materials as the Jumbo Mosquito:
I could use a smaller hook, I have, but #14 seems to be the size the trout like.
Tying the Fly:Step 1: Place your hook in the vise and wind your thread on to the start of the hook bend. I like to catch the bottom half of the hook bend with my vise so that I can wind the thread further back.
Step 2: Pull off two stands of the the peacock hurl. I found this particular peacock feather lying on the ground at the local zoo. Trim off any excess material that may have pulled off the stalk of the feather. Then catch the peacock hurl in place with a few wraps of thread. Leave the thread at the hook bend.
Step 3: Wind the peacock hurl towards the eye in tight wraps, touching the previous wrap. Once you reach the eye of the hook, place a hackle pliers on the peacock hurl to hold them in place and free up both hands.
Step 4: Wind the black thread over the peacock to the eye. This gives the fly the added durability, keeping the peacock fibers from breaking and unraveling.
Step 5: Trim off the excess peacock, build a small head with a few more wraps. Perform a whip finish and put a drop of cement on the head.
The finished fly:
The picture below has the Jumbo MosquitoTM fly in the center, and four Super Jumbo MosquitoTM flies around it. The Super Jumbo MosquitosTM are slightly thinner, but have proven to catch just as many fish, and far more durable.
Anytime trout are feeding on small top water bugs, this fly works. Especially if a mosquito hatch is underway. Because I fish it on trout ponds (still water = mosquito breeding ground), I can be pretty sure there are mosquitoes around from mid May to mid September.
You can toss the fly randomly, hoping to catch the eye of a fish looking to the surface. I’ll do that until I see a fish rise, then I’ll quickly lay the fly in the middle of the ripple. A couple quick short pulls will get the attention of the fish feeding there. If not, move the fly to another spot. Sometimes I will catch a fish after pulling the Super Jumbo MosquitoTM for 10 or 20 feet but most hits are within 2 feet of where it lands.
Announcing our newest Premium Outfitter, Bear Down Outfitters.
Our parent company, Netnotic Marketing, has just launched a website for a new outfitter, www.beardownoutfitters.com. They are located at the north end of Brabant Lake, in Northern Saskatchewan.
We could tell you all about them here, but that’s what we built them a website for.
What’s the world’s best fly? I would argue the Jumbo Mosquito. My criteria is simple, the fly with the highest fish caught to tying time ratio. I sat down today to tie some Jumbo Mosquito flies, 5 of them, for tonight’s outing to the local trout pond. 5 flies, plus the time to take a few pictures, total time = 15 minutes. Last night I used up 3 Jumbo Mosquito flies, while catching 29 trout.
I don’t know if anyone else has already invented and named a fly like the Jumbo Mosquito. If not, I am putting a Trade Mark on it right now. The Jumbo MosquitoTM. There, done. This fly is so easy to tie that even if it is your first fly ever tied, it will work for you. I think the most expensive item on the materials list are the hooks.
Here’s my fly tying desk, complete with the Fly Tying Bible. It’s not in there, but I recommend the book. Great stuff in there.
Fly Tying Materials:What I use:
I could use a smaller hook, I have, but #14 seems to be the size the trout like.
Tying the Fly:Step 1: Place your hook in the vise and wind your thread on to the start of the hook bend. I like to catch the bottom half of the hook bend with my vise so that I can wind the thread further back.
Step 2: Pull off two stands of the the peacock hurl. I found this particular peacock feather lying on the ground at the local zoo. Trim off any excess material that may have pulled off the stalk of the feather. Then catch the peacock hurl in place with a few wraps of thread. Continue the thread to the head.
Step 3: Wind the peacock hurl towards the eye in tight wraps, touching the previous wrap. Then hold the peacock in place with a couple wraps of thread.
Step 4: Trim off the excess peacock, build a small head with a few more wraps. Perform a whip finish and put a drop of cement on the head.
The finished fly:
Anytime trout are feeding on small top water bugs, this fly works. Especially if a mosquito hatch is underway. Because I fish it on trout ponds (still water = mosquito breeding ground), I can be pretty sure there are mosquitoes around from mid May to mid September.
You can toss the fly randomly, hoping to catch the eye of a fish looking to the surface. I’ll do that until I see a fish rise, then I’ll quickly lay the fly in the middle of the ripple. A couple quick short pulls will get the attention of the fish feeding there. If not, move the fly to another spot. Sometimes I will catch a fish after pulling the Jumbo MosquitoTM for 10 or 20 feet but most hits are within 2 feet of where it lands.
On our website, under both the Camping menu and the Hunting menu, you can find a link to Our Favorite Places. We have started this section with information on some of our favorite hunting and fishing locations, and then others have take over and added hundreds of more locations.
What’s your favorite hunting place? Maybe it’s that set of ponds that load up with Mallards in October. Maybe it’s the patch of forest next to the river where the big whitetails bed down at night. Maybe you have a favorite lake or stream where the fishing is always great.
Come and browse the Favorite Places. Maybe yours is already on the list!
My Dad taught me to fish and I don’t remember it being a complicated process. I always thought that I just picked up a rod and Dad was there to teach me how and what to use to catch them. I remember trolling for hours at Dauphin Lake in Manitoba and catching lots of big walleye. We went on father and son fishing trips to Wellman Lake in Manitoba and I remember we always caught lots of fish. It was so much fun. But now that my kids are the age that I can finally teach them all the things that I knew about the great sport of fishing, I realized what my father must have gone through.
Teaching children to fish is like herding a bunch of cats. There are more things to worry about and as the number of children increase, so do the potential for disasters. I have learnt some things about teaching children to fish and I feel that I must share at least some of them.
When fishing with children, don’t plan on fishing yourself. There are just way to many things to do with little people who don’t know how to change a hook, tie on a leader, or even cast. Fishing with kids is like refereeing a hockey game. You are always looking for something to happen. A rod tip too high, casting across other lines, not paying attention to anything. All of these things make it impossible for a Dad to fish.
When fishing with children, be prepared to leave early. Attention spans in young children are about 15 ’20 minutes. With the proper diversionary tactics, it can be extended to about an hour. After that, its just a lot of the ‘I wanna go home’ chant.
When fishing with children, don’t expect them to catch a lot. I don’t know what it is, bad luck or just something that happens to kids, but I don’t think, that in all the times that I have fished with the kids, have any of them ever caught more than 1 fish. And this includes the fishing from the dock in 3 feet of water where you can see the perch. (For the answer to this question, see attention span point above).
When fishing with children, get the bathroom breaks out of the way when you arrive. Last summer, my best friend and I, (pictures in the dictionary under ‘suckers for punishment’), took our collective 5 kids fishing to a small trout pond. We spread out in the best interest of safety and got the kids hooks in the water. Ten minutes in, a bathroom break is required. My kids are on the dock, in no danger of catching anything, so I volunteer to watch the rods while they take care of their business. As they made their way to the outdoor bathroom, the rod closest to me bends. I look to the direction of the washrooms and see the door closing, grab the rod and begin to play with the fish, hoping they come back soon so he can reel in this fish. Finally I bring it in, realize we have to keep it, put it on a stringer, and put it in the water. The door to the bathroom opens, they emerge and I have to break the news that while doing his business, he caught a fish.
All of these things got me thinking back to when I was a kid. Surely I was one of those children who just knew how to fish, had the patience of Job, and was no trouble to my Dad at all. I called him and asked. He laughed and told me a story about me casting in a boat and the rod slipping through my wet hands and into the freezing cold water. As he spoke it all came back to me. I remember seeing my Dad, in his underwear, at the end of the boat, preparing himself to jump into the freezing water after his favorite rod. Just before he jumped in he looked back at me as if to say, ‘Someday I hope you have kids just like you and try to teach them to fish’.
