Sunday, March 28, 2010

Yee-Haw!!!! Corlane's Gunshop

I spent Saturday with the gun wizards at Corlane and Rocky Mountain rifles at Dawson Creek BC. I was there to get some work done on my project rifle that I've been writing about and I filmed some cool You Tube clips that will be up this week.
It was pure heaven for a gun nut gear head like me but, I took Sandi along. Worse I promised her we'd be only a couple of hours and it turned into 7 with Rod, Greg and Travis. On the way home with the sun sinking behind us Sandi thanked me for taking her along and said she'd had a great day! See guns are cool for everyone.

Great Day for a Hike







We hiked up Prairie Mountain in K-Country yesterday and were shocked at the lack of snow. We made it right to the peak with no problems at all. It was Jet's first trip to the mountains and he had a blast. He looked like a real mountain dog with his packs on and he was so well behaved. Not too bad for a nine-month old pup. We saw a few goats but that was it. It was great to get out in the mountains this early in the year but we sure need some more snow and rain.






Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Home Again

If I seem a bit shell shocked in this post it's because I am. The crowds and response at the Edmonton Boat and Sportsmen Show were overwhelming to say the least. Once again, Laurie and her team did an outstanding job with the show. With over 500,000 square feet of exhibits, it was a full day's event for sure. Rich and I got to meet many viewers of Outdoor Quest TV and we'll be announcing a couple new sponsors very shortly that will be working with the show in 2010. They will bring a lot to the show so stay tuned.

Now, it's time to get caught up on some writing. I've got pieces due shortly for Alberta Outdoorsmen and The Outdoor Edge and there's a lot of follow up from the sportsmen show. Hopefully I can get out to the mountains shortly. My July Dall sheep hunt gets closer every day and I need to be in top shape. Wait till you see what I'm taking for a rifle...more on that shortly.

Thanks to everyone that stopped by to say hello and hopefully we'll see some of you at the SCI Northern Alberta Chapter Banquet in April.

TJ

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Edmonton Boat and Sportsmen Show

Rich and I have spent the last two days setting up for the show and are ready for tommorow's opening. With 500,000 square feet of displays, this is western Canada's biggest show. Come down and say "hi" to us at the presentation pool.

Friday, March 12, 2010

A Day on the Ice


I managed to find time to get out fishing with my good buddy Ray Kohlrus from Reel Angling Adventures and we had an incredible day ice fishing for huge perch. After bouncing down several backroads and several miles of cutlines we arrived at an unnamed lake where Ray promised us some huge perch. He didn't fail to deliver. We caught loads in the 12-13 1/2 inch range. It was some of the best perch fishing I've ever experienced. http://www.reelangling.com/


Monday, March 1, 2010

Costa Rica Day 4

Today we said good bye to our new friends at Poor Man's Paradise and took our last wild surf ride out to the Aldea Del Rio fishing boat. We ran back out to the same area where we had our lack the day before and wed had one of the twisted luck sort of days. We saw more sails than ever and raised many to the baits only to have several strike and to miss the hook up. Sandi did have the longest sailfishing fight of her career with a 125 pounder taking her to the ropes for 30 minutes.
After a another great day of fishing we turned the boat towards the Boca Sierpie and cruised back up river to the town and Osa Paradise. We have a couple of days of tourism planned before we have to catch our flight home. Watch for all our adventures in Costa Rica on upcoming episodes of outdoor Quest TV.

Costa Rica Day 3

Sandi and I were lulled to sleep in our cabina at Poor Man's Paradise by the sound of the surf crashing on the beach and roar of a huge tropical down pour. J was very happy about the storm as the water temp was down to 82 degrees as we headed out in the morning. We quickly found a large log floating about 15 miles offshore and three passes by it resulted in four bites and two hook ups on dorado with Sandi catching here personal best the beauty pictured above. by 11 we were seeing many sails finning and others jumping around us, we knew it was only a matter of time. When the strike came and the large sail hammered the ballyhoo and launched it self skyward we were galvanized into action. The ferocious 25 minute battle was everything you could hope for, huge fish and many jumps including a set at the boat that soaked Sandi and the camera. Finally we slid the 150 pound beauty into Sandi's lap and snapped a few quick pictures before releasing the giant to fight again.

Costa Rica Day 2

We started off shore first thing, J was concerned as El Nino the hot water current that brings us warm winters has driven the surface temp to 87 degrees F and above. The high temp had been wreaking havoc with the sail fishing. We hit a school of feeding bonito (black tuna) and caught 7 that were destined for bait later if the sails didn't cooperate. We did manage to raise a couple of bill fish but couldn't hook up, we did catch some large dorado. With a couple of hours left in the day J ran us over to a large underwater reef where we used the bonito as bait and drifted big chunks across the top. Sandi caught a big barracuda and I got broke off by something very large before our day was done.