Howdy Ian........
Good to hear you are alive.....
Are you folks engulfed in smoke from the forest fires ??

At times today I bet flight was restricted to IFR only.....

 

Thanks for the pictures Jim....... I love the rich blue sky that we usually have here.

Lately, gray everywhere you look. Visibility down to 1 or 2 miles ....... Yuck.

 

Yep, that's the area. I didn't fish any rivers this time. I don't use my fly rod much.

 

Great pics Jim! Thanks for sharing!

 

Great pics Jim! Curious, what were you fishing with? I've not seen trout fishing with multiple poles sitting there like that before.

When I was a kid (16 I believe), I fished in Yellowstone Lake with my dad for an hour or so. He caught 4 cutthroat trout in that time span. I was right next to him, using the same lure, same rod and reel setup, and didn't catch a damn thing! Trout are so finicky! The only trout fishing I get to do today is in our stocked trout streams here in MO. That should all change in 10 years or so...

 

Jim,

Really super pics! Thanks for sharing. Glad to hear your solar system is working out so well. That makes the effort (and expense) worth while.

 

Montana and Wyoming fishing licenses allow two poles by default. Colorado is one pole by default but I buy the second pole option.

I hear you on two fishermen having different results. I've seen that many times. Sometimes it's a matter of how far one person can cast. Farther doesn't always mean better, but it does often result in bigger fish.

I usually start with a pinched brown worm (artificial) on one pole and salmon eggs (also artificial) on the other pole. If nothing is happening then I'll change to a different color of salmon eggs. I reposition a line every 15 minutes. If nothing is going on after a couple hours I'll find a different spot to fish from. If I'm desperate I'll go with Power Bait (trout dough) on a treble hook. Pink Lemonade is my go-to flavor. This is my last chance method because the treble hook is almost always swallowed, making for a difficult decision to release the fish. I rarely keep fish.

My usual rig is a water bubble with a regular hook on at least a 3' leader. All my bait is floating. The water bubble sits on the bottom. If I know I'm going to be releasing fish then I'll start with a circle hook, but those can be challenging to get a fish to shore.

My first two rods were Ugly Stiks. Great rods, no question. But I don't like bringing them when I have to hike to a lake. My newest rod was a gamble. It was a replacement for a name brand telescoping rod that caught a lot of fish. While shopping on Amazon for a new telescoping rod I came upon and thought, "For the price, what the heck!" So far, it's a great rod. It's longer than all my other rods.

 

We have three little dogs and walk them in public spaces almost daily. All the places that we visit have leash laws. Daily we seem to encounter large, un-leashed dogs. You can see the owners are not smart enough to operate a leash or pick-up, after their out of control dogs. The one thing that all these owners have in common is the ability to yell, "Don't worry, fluffy is friendly". Why don't these dog owners understand that not everyone wants to meet them or their unleashed dog. When in a public space, keep your dog on a leash and assume that others in this public space are not interested in interacting with either you or your dog. Public spaces are shared spaces. If you cannot keep your dog on a leash, stay home or leave the dog at home. Public spaces include campgrounds that seem to be packed full of unleashed dogs wondering around.

We never see small dogs, unleashed and bothering others. ** Rant is over ***

Bruce...

 

I was too upset to give the hikers a piece of my mind. Once they saw me ready to pull my pistol they reacted quickly and then hightailed it out of there without any further conversation. Did they learn a lasting lesson? I doubt it.

My pistol holster was mounted on the outside of the hip belt of my pack. It was clearly visible, just off the side of my belly button.

 

Dogs behaving aggressively towards each other is bad enough. When a dog without being provoked behaves threateningly towards a human being that is completely inappropriate and over-the-top. I say good on you for being prepared to draw. It may just bring home that someone takes their dog's Behavior seriously

 

Great info! I know where I'll go for advice when I eventually get to fish out west!

Here in MO, 3 poles is the limit, and there is no buying more. I didn't even realize things were that different elsewhere. Of course, here, if you're fishing with more than one, you likely aren't trout fishing.

 

I wasn't there, but it sounded like the dog might have been trying to protect it's owners. The dog likely thought Jim was a threat. These owners were reckless and stupid for not immediately getting their dog under control and calmed down (regardless of the situation). You don't let your dog get that aggressive towards anyone unless it's warranted. Jim should have never have had to say a word. They should have gotten control over their dog immediately. People like that shouldn't have dogs. They should have a pet rock to be friends with the one in their head.

 

The only reason they should even be allowed to have a pet rock is so that other people can use the rock to smack them upside the head when they behave this stupidly

 

Geez, I thought that was assumed? You mean that's not legal and encouraged every where?

 

The rest of my fishing group was already in the parking lot and the dog wasn't reacting to them.