Elk
Monte Burke talks about his hunting dilemma:
and
RMEF pledges $300,000 for elk restoration:
Teddy Bears
Mullings’ Rick Galen has a wonderful holiday suggestion:
Bonefish, Tarpon, Permit
Here is the schedule for Buccaneers and Bones:
Watch “Buccaneers and Bones”
The good folks at the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust have put up a trailer for the new TV series “Buccaneers and Bones”. It is running on the Outdoor Channel. The first episode is Dec. 26. If you liked Pirates of the Flats, you will want to tune in.
Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZyAqJz_pu4&feature=player_embedded
Gumbo
Cookin gumbo
When it is cold my thoughts run to gumbo. It is one of those foods that is fun to make as it is satisfying to make as it is to eat.
My “go-to” gumbo recipe is from Chef John Besh. The good folks at Garden and Gun posted a great story, The Besh Gumbo Ever. It is not only a fun story to read, it also has Chef Besh’s wonderful recipe!
Roux
For me the secret to great gumbo is the roux. In the G & G article you will learn one of Besh’s secrets…the 3 beer roux. Works for me!
Enjoy!
Renovations
Thanksgiving.
Likely my favorite holiday. Cooking, eating, drinking with family and friends. No pressure, a lazy day, a day to catch your breath and a time to reflect on the things we are thankful for.
I won’t rant about the insipid commercialism that lurks on the morrow. Better minds and voices than mine are on it. I cheer them on.
Today is a time to relax and just for fun renovate the blog. Yeah it is kinda lame, but I can sit quietly this morning and goof around a bit before the cooking starts in earnest.
Trying out some new formats and tools. There will surely be some gaffes and missteps but it will all get sorted out eventually…
Happy Thanksgiving.
Paraphrasing Winston Churchill, we can enjoy Thanksgiving because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.
For them I am eternally thankful.
Counting coup
Fall
It is not always the best time for fishing, at least in the mountain streams here in Virginia. The water levels can be iffy and more importantly the brook trout are going about their biological imperative. Don’t want to upset that apple cart!
So with time on my hands I like to go scout out some of my favorite streams or pick a new blue line to investigate.
When I am fishing I tend to get a little tunnel vision. I am looking through the water so hard that I sometimes forget to look around and enjoy the view. I probably know my location on many streams by what the bottom of the stream looks like rather than what the banks or surroundings look like.
For me fall is a great time for hiking and sight (site?) seeing. I still look at the water but I really have a chance to see what is surrounding all that water. A chance to see where I am fishing not just what I am fishing.
Of course I tote my tenkara rod and a few flies. And while I am not looking to fish, if the brookies happen to be rising then I just might decide to float a dry their way. But in the fall I like to just count coup on them.
How to count coup
During the year some of my flies will get the hooks broken at the bend. I keep the Adams’, BWOs or Wulffs and use them in the fall. I am not trying to catch the fish, just trying to get them to take the fly.
Counting coup.
Kind fun and let’s them get back to the more important business of reproduction.
Old dogs
The comfort of an old friend.
Her name is Ashby. 14 years old. Spends most of her day not more than a few feet from wherever I am.
My clients indulge both us when she snores during conference calls and I forget to mute the phone or drop everything for a run to the vet because a 14 year old with a cancer history takes precedence.
As much as I wish we could spend more days wading up some blue line looking for fishing holes, her snores are just fine with me these days.
