'09 Elkhorn Bamboo Challenge
This thread is distinctly an FAOL Bulletin Board kind of thing. Last April, I won the monthly FAOL drawing and was awarded an Elkhorn ES1489-6 two handed rod. After outfitting that rod and learning some basics of spey casting, I put it in the corner until ...... Late last September, I was thinking about what rod to build next, and it occurred to me that Elkhorn also sells bamboo rods and blanks.
Never having cast a bamboo rod, I thought it would be interesting to build one and fish only it for a whole year. I had pretty much decided that the 1489 two hander was not going to be much use for the kind of water I like and the type of fishing I do. So after reading some more about bamboo rods and thinking about it for a few weeks, I talked to Brian at Elkhorn and we worked out a deal where I would trade him even up the complete two handed rod outfit for a bamboo blank, grip and reel seat.
That resulted in the Elkhorn Bamboo Project and Challenge thread that I started in late October on the Rod Building Forum. Follow the link for the Project part of it.
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/s...ad.php?t=24106
Last year I posted a number of threads on this Fishing Reports Forum for the different rivers, streams and lakes I fished - four long running threads and several one time only fishing reports, starting as early as late February and ending just a couple days ago.
I didn't really expect the level of interest in the places I get to fish and hike, the fish I get to catch and the scenery and wildlife that surrounds the whole process, and the feedback and encouragement I received from so many people to continue reporting on my outings.
Admittedly, some days I didn't much feel like sitting down and writing about a day on the water and posting pics, even though the reports and pics are a great way for me to relive my experiences. When I felt like that, usually some comment in a post or a PM came back to me and reminded me that while I can't take this all too seriously, some folks really do appreciate the opportunity, for whatever reasons they have, to go along with me.
So this year I decided to report on the Challenge in a single post, assuming the administrators don't shut it down !! MontanaMoose recently referred to the "Elkhorn Chronicle" in a PM to me. I almost decided to put that title on the thread, but finally settled on something a bit more descriptive.
I'm looking forward to another interesting year in my backyard here in the Intermountain West. I hope all that come along enjoy it as much I plan to. If at any time it seems I'm taking this too seriously, somebody please give me a whack upside the head.
John
Central Mountains - Birch Creek - Part 1
Where to start ?? Where to start ??
A pair of Golden Eagles ?
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...029_edited.jpg
Or some Pronghorn Antelope ?
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...o/P1110048.jpg
Maybe a band of Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep ?
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...027_edited.jpg
Ah, how about fishies ?
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...043_edited.jpg
Saw several Bald Eagles, but they were out of camera range. The Coyotes were also out of camera range - but not out of earshot, several of them in chorus.
Now that I got started, I'll head on down to Part 2, which is about fishing. Well, maybe a couple comments about the wildlife, first.
The Golden Eagles were having a feast near the side of the road. Probably a road kill which ended up far enough off the pavement to provide a safe place for these guys to chow down on it. They were pretty persistent. I took a total of three passes by them, and got pics two times. A couple were almost good shots of the eagles in flight, but just didn't frame quite right.
There were more Pronghorn Antelope up there today than any other time I've been there. The band in the picture is part of a larger band that I counted to seventy-five before stopping. There were several other bands of that size or larger, and several smaller bands. Must have seen around three hundred, probably more.
This was the first time I had a camera with me when the Bighorn Sheep were around. Over the past four or five years, I've seen sheep at this location five or six times. The biggest band before today was six or seven. Today I counted eleven, both with the binoculars before I approached and when I got within camera range. All eleven can be seen in the photo. There was one ram that had a full curl, a couple younger sheep, and the rest all appeared to be females.
Besides the wildlife that let itself be seen, there were lots of other critters, big and small, that left their sign. Moose and deer tracks around the creek, and some small tracks that I couldn't identify.
All in all, the ride was well worth it, fishing or not.
( Continued )