Gain Greater Deer Knowledge

Hunting whitetail deer has been my a;;-consuming passion for 50 years, and I've been fortunate to have taken many nice bucks over those years. As time passes, and our hunting skills increase, veteran bow hunters soak up hunting knowledge like a kitchen sponge sucks up water.

The deer hunting season is still going on for most people as we approach the firearm opener, unless they travel south for some Dixie deer action, but hunters begin learning  learning more about hunting from the many deer stands.

Once a person has racked up 40-50 years of deer hunting, they are filled with knowledge. The one thing I constantly keep telling myself is that younger hunters, with far less knowledge, are just starting to bow hunt for whitetail deer they use.

Hunters are starving for tips that will help them produce nice deeer. Some of the tricks that I will reveal are trose that were learned the hard way -- by making serious mistakes at a younger age.

Here is one to try on for size. Many hunters have ground or elevated coops, and often they put in shooting windows on all four sides. This can be a major mistake. A hunter only needs one, and it should be on the proper side

A deer's three defenses -- ears, eyes and nose -- must be defeated before a hunter can shoot a nice buck.

If you have four windows, all should be covered with camo netting or black felt. The netting or felt can be lifted aside, but once a hunter gets used to looking through it, deer can be easily spotted without revealing your presence.

One common mistake is when hunters spot a deer, and prepare for a shot. but fail to consider what is behind them. If an uncovered window is behind you, it provides a light background. Any hunter movement, even drawing the bow, can result in breaking-up or blotting out the light source, and the deer will spot the movement instantly.

Many hunters wear a face mask and brown Jersey gloves to cover up their skin. That works fine, but any light shining through a window behind you will produce a moving silhouette that can and will spook deer.

Deer spooked from a ground or treestand coop may not return. It's possible to fool doe fawns and button-bucks, but not a wise old deer. If he spots any motion, even from 100 yards, he will spook.

Beware of any light that silhouettes you to a deer.

It makes sense to paint all walls of a ground or elevated coop black. Do it long before the season opens and leave the windows open so the coop airs out all paint fumes. You may have to remove hornet or wasp nests, but that is a small price to pay for having a dark background behind you at all times.

Never use metal chairs in a coop. In the cold you'll freeze your butt, and the chairs will squeak whenever you move.

Treestand hunters have much the same problem. It's easy to allow yourself to become silhouetted against the sky.

Whenever possible, place your stand in a cedar or pine tree. There is some natural aroma to both needles, and the green cover stays green all winter. Shy away from tamarack trees because the needles turn yellow and and then fall off, leaving the hunter exposed to a sharp-eyed deer.

Always sit in front of the tree, and position a stand so the deer approach from behind. Do it early, and once you know where deer travel, put up a stand and install some pine boughs strategically around both sides and overhead.

It's not important to shoot at 360 degrees from a treestand. Do your homework, and learn where the deer travel. A deer that moves down a trail from behind will offer an ideal quartering-away shot as it passes.

Cedar and pine boughs can break up the human outline.

Put pine boughs to each side of your treestand, and leave one choice spot to shoot through. Pine boughs tied horizontally three feet over your head will put you in deep shadow. It's important to have the tree trunk behind you, pine boughs on both sides and overhead. It does hurt to tie pine boughts to the legs of a ladder stand as well.

A hunter who can sit still with this type of arrangement, and who positions his stand downwind of where deer travel, will have it made. Learn to optimize your camouflage, don't put stands too high in the air, and you'll be in business.

Careful attention to detail will keep deer from spotting you regardless of whether you are in a ground blind, elevated coop or a treestand. Think out all of the possibilities, and remove any that would spook deer, and next season could be much better. You may soon find yourself always in the right spot. The trick then is to learn when to drawn and how to shoot accurately, and that will be the topic of a future blog.

Scout bucks like this during the summer.

Study deer habits, learn what deer can see, find out how to remain motionless, know when to draw and shoot, and shooting a buck becomes much easier. Take it from me. This may not be the answer you hoped to get, but if a hunter learns what works and what doesn't, most of the time will be spent getting ready for a close shot.

That's when you really begin to believe you've arrived as a serious whitetail deer hunter.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Winter Things To Do

Many hunters lose their deer-hunting focus during the winter months. It's easy enough to do with ice fishing, getting past the holidays, and getting ready for Income Tax Day. That day is not fun to look forward to, but I refuse to worry about it this early in the year.

So, what can sportsmen do during the winter months that will keep them somewhat wired for the upcoming deer season next October? There are countless things to occupy your time, and I'll add some, and I'm sure you can think of many others. There's no need to flop down in the easy for the entire winter.

Most hunters are just getting all of our gear stowed away from last hunting season. This is one of the best times to check over our equipment and make certain it will be in fine condition next fall.Now me, whether I hunt with a bow or firearm, I always strive for one-shot kills. This thought always figures into my mid-winter plans.

A friend who know of my penchant for one-shot kills and sent me this cartoon.

The first thing I do is to check if the bow string shows any fraying on the serving or around the ends where they attach to the bow. A frayed string or serving should be replaced. If the string and serving looks fine, a coating of bow string wax will help keep it in good shape.

It pays to check for anything loose on the bow. Unless a bow is dropped or the bottom limb hits something when a shot is taken, it should be fine. If you have a red-dot sight, check now to see if it is turned off. You can remove the battery if you wish, wrap it in Saran Wrap, and tape it to the bow.

Some people let off the poundage on their bow before it is stored, but not me. I shoot my bow almost every day, and it would be a hassle cranking the poundage up and down. I leave it set at my hunting weight, and it keeps me in tune through constant shooting.

A release requires very little care. Just store it in your bow case or in a drawer where it can easily be found whenever you shoot.

Take care of your gear, and when the right time comes, your gear will take care of you.

Boots and clothing need to be replaced when necessary. I like to get my clothing washed and put away, and I've been wearing the same set of coveralls for several years. Pulling them on is something that just feels right. People ask when I'm going to get new coveralls, and I tell them that my present clothing is good for another 10 years.

Many people carry a backpack with little odds and ends inside that may come in handy. Check it now, and replace whatever is missing, and it will be ready to go hunting when you are. I sometimes take a good flashlight with me on a hunt, and it is usually set aside for use during the off-season.

I seldom carry much with me into the field. My binoculars, bow, quiver, arrows and a flashlight is about it. In December, if the temperature is cold, I will carry a little heater that runs off a small bottle of propane. It gives off just enough heat to take the chill off my hands before a shot.

I often take a walk here and there. I check tracks in the snow in midwinter, and I make it my business to know what is happening on my land. I like to know what trails are being used most often during the winter, and I do the same thing during the spring and summer.

Glassing the open fields and woods often reveal where deer are bedding down if the weather is decent. If the weather turns bad, I know they will be in heavier cover but I want to know which patch of heavy cover holds the most deer.  Binoculars or a spotting scope are handy for checking areas without having to walk around too much near the bedding or feeding areas.

I spend some time looking for coyotes, and often have my .264 Winchester Magnum rifle with me at the time. I've taken plenty of winter coyotes, and it helps keep the predation of young deer to a minimum. I also use the abundance of snow to check for new and old trails to check where whitetails move in and out of my land. Sometimes I have to move stands to a new area.

Time spent this winter can lead to a nice buck next fall.

If I see crows or occasionally an eagle, I go to check the situation. A young deer may have died or been pulled down by coyotes, or a big buck may have been gored and died after a fight with another big buck. All demand my investigation.

Winter is just a temporary inconvenience. It gives me time to pursue things that were impossible to do during hunting season. But ... I'm always thinking about the upcoming deer season.

It's those thoughts of next fall that give me great pleasure. Shooting a deer isn't nearly as important as studying and learning from the animals.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

No Major Deer Changes This Year

Guess what? Fishing isn't the same as it was 10 years ago, and it won't be the same in the future as it is now.

Fishing and hunting have become fragmented. How so? There are many ways to look at our natural resource problems, such as:

How have things changed?

Years ago, a bear hunter bought a license and went hunting. Now, we supposedly have sound, scientific wildlife management, and that means more bears are being killed each year under a quota system than were ever killed under the old rules when anyone could hunt bruins.

And that's OK because we have more bears than ever before, and the animals are moving into new territories, and management means determining the social carrying capacity of bruins. How many bears will people tolerate near their homes before they start squawking?

We have elk hunts now with some rather new rules. The rules only affect those who draw an elk tag from now on. I've applied for an elk tag ever since they had their first hunt in 1964. I've never been drawn, but instead of drawing names from those who have applied and missed out, the DNR are enforcing the newer rules.

And frankly, I'm not the only one who has applied and been denied. It means that hunters who drew an elk tag years ago can still draw another one. Does this make sense? Is it sour grapes on my part? No, it just means that me and many people are dissatisfied with the new system that makes no sense. No one should ever draw a second elk tag if they've already drawn one but that's not how it works now.

When will Region II turkey hunters get private-land tags?

The DNR has had ample opporunities to allow Region II turkey hunters to obtain some private-land turkey tags that would guarantee them a first- or second-season hunt for those applicants who own property up here, but pressure from other groups is louder than the mumbles of regional landowners. So, private-land turkey tags can be obtained in the Upper Peninsula in those counties where birds are hunted, and throughout southern Lower Peninsula counties, but again Region II landowners get the short and dirty end of the turkey-permit stick.

It appears the DNR is caving in to special interest groups. In case you haven't noticed, the special interest groups are in the face of the DNR biologists to get what they want, not what is fair to everyone else.

Do you remember when Michigan had their statewide trout season opener on the last Saturday in April? And then, in hopes of streamlining our fishing seasons, the DNR allowed Lower Peninsula muskie, pike and walleye fishing to open at the same time as the trout season. There are many sport shops in the Lower Peninsula, and this ruling a decade or so ago, denied sportsmen two opening days -- trout and walleye, etc., and simply lumped them all together.

Guess which one most people prefer, and in resounding fashion? It wasn't trout, which are harder to catch. Those people who opened the trout season, and then on May 15, opened the walleye season years ago, jumped for joy. They got over two more weeks of walleye fishing, and the sporting goods stores lost a wonderful chance to make money on the second opener.

Deer kill and deer numbers are way down in Region II.

The DNR, currently backed into a corner by angry deer hunters, have been taking it on the chin. The DNR's little dog-and-pony show went on the road to discuss issues with deer hunters four or five years ago, and they were confronted by many angry people who are tired of not seeing deer and even more tired of horrible deer management policies.

Trust me, in many parts of the state, the chances of seeing and killing a deer is as high as drawing one of the aforementioned elk tags. Southern Michigan counties still have lots of deer, but such is not the case in the Upper Peninsula and northern Lower peninsulas.

These hunters were and still are clamoring for change, and rightfully so. I've backed the DNR for more years than I can remember, but things are changing ... and frankly folks, it's not for the better. Deer are plumb hard to find in the U.P., and things aren't much better in the northern half of the Lower Peninsula. But guess where the deer are: on private land in the southern Lower Peninsula counties. They aren't Up North.

Mandatory deer registration is important.

This deal over deer and deer hunting is far from over. The DNR needs to begin mandatory deer registration, and do away with the two-license deal. If they want to make more money, make it mandatory that hunters register their first deer before they can buy a second license. Hunters no longer believe the estimated Oct. 1 deer numbers, and they don't believe the  final totals that show deer kills higher than what anyone believes, especially those sportsmen who do not see a whitetail during the hunting seasons.

Now, in an effort to raise more money and to protentially alienate more people, the DNR will be selling some of permits for some of the species that are difficult to draw -- like the bull elk tags. If you've got enough money, you too can bypass the lottery system, and bid lots of money. This further tips the scales away from the ordinary hunter, and will become the most direct cause of higher license fees.

And, while we are at it, it means the rich get what they want while the average sportsman get little or nothing. Go over to Germany and try to hunt. It will cost an arm and a leg, and a lengthy training session before you'll take your firearm into the woods.

Now, because of one case of a Chronic Wasting Disease scare in Kent County a couple of years ago, baiting has been eliminated in the entire Lower Peninsula. In the meantime, baiting continues in the Upper Peninsula. Many people started cheating last fall in the Lower Peninsula where they continue to bait. Does it make sense to have legal baiting in one part of the state but none in the rest? Not to me it doesn't.

And all because of one CWD disease in a private enclosure. Everyone had to pay the price for that solitary animal. Did people resent this, and is it sound scientific management? It makes one wonder. The DNR and Department of Agriculture should get their collective acts together.

We lost deer hunter numbers when baiting was outlawed.

Has deer and turkeys suffered in the northern Lower Peninsula. You bet. Folks, where I live we had more than 180 inches of snow last winter and about 110 inches so far this season. I've seen very few gobblers, and only a few hen turkeys this winter. If the DNR's weird sense of having turkey feeding sites weren't so laughable, I'd cry.

If we have fewer turkeys this spring than in the past, we can look to a lack of a winter feeding program. Turkeys are big birds and they burn a lot of energy launching into flight from the ground, but to expect birds to burn up even more fat reserves during winter months by having to fly to an elevated position for corn, is a bit silly. Besides, the birds scatter the feed from above, and the deer come to it on the ground,

But never mind me. I get a bit peckish after snowblowing for three months, getting the blower stuck once in deep snow two weeks ago, and watching the road plow fill in my driveway. Some things, like silly management policies, get me going.

Am I in a bit of a nasty mood? You bet! Michigan hunters once stood tall and proud of their DNR, our deer management policies, and the fact that we had more combined deer hunters and man-days of deer hunting than any other state in the nation.

We don't have much to be proud of now except in areas where there is a Quality Deer Management program. Hunters in such areas are now seeing more bucks and larger animals in some of those counties than ever before.

Folks, it goes against the grain of Mother Nature to try to maintain a status quo, year after year. It's an impossible to accomplish, and management of our deer herd is sorely lacking in focus.

Where are the DNR wildlife deer biologists? Not out in the field.

I never see a wildlife biologist in the field, and in the words of a fine wildlife biologist who retired a few years ago, "the new wildlife biologists don't have any dirt on their boots."

One might wonder if they ever own a pair of boots. They spend little, if any time, in the field. They manage by building computer models, and I for one, know that it isn't working.

And sadly, the biologists seldom want to talk with landowners, especially in northern counties. They know they'll get an ear full, and most of the anger generated their way these days, is justified.
Perhaps we need a shake-up in state government.

One doesn't have to look hard or far to see that state government has wrecked the economy, our jobs and our livlihood, and politicians have left taxpayers holding the bag ... again.

This is the adult version of the old snipe hunt trick we played on other kids when we were young. It was funny back then, but nobody is laughing anymore because many of us are left holding an empty bag, and we're now playing the snipe game.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

It's Payback Time!

Are you a giver or a taker? It's a simple question that goes far beyond a one-word yes or no answer.

The bottom line here, in the event that this question may come as a big surprise to some of my faithful readers, is very simple. Do you take more from your fishing or hunting trips  and your living area, than you put back?

The purchase of a fishing or hunting license grants us nothing more than an opportunity to legally fish or hunt. It is a privilege but not a guaranteed right. It promises opportunities, not limit catch or a heavy game bag.

$portsmen must learn to ask politicians the hard-hitting questions.

In days of old, when knights were bold, the landowner owned the fish and game. They also owned the river water that flowed through their property, and Heaven help those pesky peasants who poached one of the king's red stags, a brown trout or Atlantic salmon.

The human population was far less 300 or more years ago than now, and peasants were kept in their places and ruled with an iron fist. People caught poaching were severely punished, and any fish or game they may have taken was confiscated.

Things are much different now. We have flowing springs, but bottled-water plants are tapping into the underground aquifers. They are taking water but putting nothing back. There are developers ready to quickly fill wetlands, and they operate on the premise that it's easier to say "I'm sorry" later, if caught, than to ask for and be granted permission first.

These are trying times, and everyone wants and needs some outdoor recreation. We need to smell the roses, but what will happen when the roses stop growing?

What will happen when former trout streams become a mere trickle before drying up because a bottling plant has shipped our water out of state for corporate profit, and the trout have disappeared because bottlers have drained and sold our water? What about the ducks that once inhabited the wetlands or the bullfrogs that croaked all night

How many people are speaking out to Gov. Jennifer Granholm? Are you standing up to face big business, and asking the hard questions: Is sale of our water right?

What happens to Great Lakes water when Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas want our water? What will be done then? Hopefully, compacts already in place limit such withdrawals but those who do not care are greedily trying to circumvent those laws.

Who among us is speaking out about urban sprawl in the Traverse City area? Or near Charlevoix? Or in the Petoskey-Harbor Springs area? Cadillac is another area primed for a push from those who wish to move north to what they perceive as paradise in northern Michigan.

How many people are willing to take a few minutes from their busy lives to ask why? Why is state government allowing this to happen? Why are cities like Detroit becoming an empty maze of cluttered and unsafe streets, boarded up crack houses, and why has 1.2 million people fled Detroit over the past 20 years? Why is the same thing happening in Flint and other cities around this state?

People must learn to give something instead of always taking.

When will we get rid of all the crooks in government. Books have been written about Kwame Kilpatrick, who followed the lead of former Detroit mayor Coleman Young. The city was just something to be looted for personal game. They caught Kilpatrick, tossed him in the clink, but whatever they do to crooked politicians isn't enough to satisfy those who lost their savings.

One needs to look no furthern than some politicians. Consider Kwame Kilpatrick and his sordid text messages and political hijinks. He got some time in the can, but not nearly long enough for someone who profited while the city he was paid to protect teeters on the edge of death and total collapse, a city where crime is rampant.

I ask: What will become of our open fields, marshlands, hardwoods and conifers that now provide cover for game and non-game animals and birds here in northern Michigan? Has anyone paid attention to the downsizing of Michigan's deer herd? The marked decrease in snowshoe hares and some game birds?

How about those rivers where salmon and trout were once plentiful? Those rivers don't support the same number of salmonids as they once did, and  they may never regain their great popularity as world-class steelhead waters.

What about our Department of Natural Resources, a state agency nearly as financially bankrupt as the entire state government. When people lose their jobs in downstate factories, they often move north. Acre by acre, day after day, our land is being gobbled up, paved over and otherwise descecrated. Pheasants like these roosters are no longer common anywhere in the state.

A nice brace of ringneck pheasants taken during a snowstorm.

The answers are not nice but they are easy. We're talking about an excessive loss of habitat. We're talking greedy businessmen. How, I wonder, can Exxon and other gas companies declare such huge profits for shareholders while the average person was breaking his back trying to stay afloat when gasoline was over $4 per gallon just over a year ago. We have Medicare programs that no one understands, and skyrocketing prescription drug prices. It's bureaucracy at its worst.

Granted, what has happened in the past several years to our deer herd is not easy to cope with. But take a hard look at some of the problems.

Urban sprawl is eating away at land necessary for deer to live. People move north, buy their five or 10 acres of paradise, and disrupt deer travel routes. Homes are built where deer crossed roads. As more people move in, buy land, the terrain becomes even more fragmented. The deer soon disappear to another area that has yet to be exploited.

People see bears where they've never been seen before. The animals need a place to live, but humans have taken over. We own 20 acres we bought 30 years ago, and admit that we may have contributed to the problem. However, we did it long before the big push to move north came about.

Deer numbers in our area are way down so we hunt elsewhere when we can. Does this solve the problem? Of course not, it just puts a bit more hunting pressure on an area that hasn't felt the full force of land development like what has taken place around Traverse City. Where are the brook that once lived here?

Try to find brook trout like this now.

Thirty years ago when we moved here, Traverse City was a quaint northern Michigan town with about 8,000 people. Look at it today. It has the same types of problems as southern cities now faced. Drugs, embezzlement, rape, robbery, murder. We've got that whole bag of nastiness up here now, and paradise has lost most of its glitter and luster, but it still looks nicer than downstate so people keep coming back for another sample of the north.

Twenty or 30 years from now, when Traverse City has expanded southeast past Kingsley, southwest to Thompsonville, northwest to fill the entire Leelanau Peninsula, and northeast to meet Charlevoix that is expanding southward, we'll have the same problems that people fled when they moved north from the downstate big cities.

The difference is those who moved north brought much of their excess baggage with them, and now they want this area to be like their home area once was. Folks, it doesn't happen that way.

When will people look around, see the slow but inevitable destruction of this area, and wonder how and why we let it happen? Of course, the answer is easy: we are too busy raising a family, pinching pennies because half our pay is a view of the bay, and if we live long enough, we'll learn that if we aren't part of the solution, then we must be part of the ever-growing problem.

Meanwhile, paradise has been turned into another drug storechain, gas station, bank or a cement-carpeted parking lot. And one must look hard to find a rose to smell, a deer to see, or that wonderful silence at night when the northern lights sparkled in the heavens. Sorry folks, but the aurora borealis is hard to see through the glare of city lights.

The problem is people have taken what we deemed as ours and given nothing in return. How sad is that? How greedy are we? Many people should be ashamed of themselves. They've paved over paradise and turned it into a parking lot.

It's time for state residents to start giving something back.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Unraveling The Spring Steelhead Mystique

It's a well known fact. Just ask any beginning steelhead fisherman, and they will tell you just how difficult spring steelhead are to catch.

Books have been written about these game fish. I've written three books on the topic myself, and even though when pushed hard, I will admit they can be hard to catch when they are not running.

My three books -- Steelheading For Everybody, Steelhead In North America and Great Lakes Steelhead Flies -- and the mystique that surrounds these fish trouble some anglers.  The mystery of this lake-run rainbow trout is usually part of the smoke-and-mirrors show that advanced anglers talk about. Click on Scoop's Books on the page that  comes up when you click on my site, and then look up my name and the books for sale. I also have hundreds of old outdoor magazines with great artwork on the covers

Steelhead action can be improved by knowing how to fish.

But I digress. The stories one hears about the steelhead mystique are meant to discourage fishermen, and in many cases, the falsehoods and lies work. It’s nothing more than one angler shining on another to discourage them before they even begin fishing. It’s nothing but a lie to keep anglers away.

These freaky falsehoods are basically tactics to drive neophyte anglers  from a favorite fishing area, but if an angler does not  know the river, they can't catch fish with any degree of regularity. Locate some fish, as guide Mark Rinckey of Honor and I do with a great deal of regularity, and some anglers may think this highly-touted game fish is easy to catch.

Some days they are easy. Other days they are not. Go figure. Learn to accept both good and bad days, and seek to become familiar with various rivers on certain sections of severl rivers. NeverAny screwy suspicions spoken about steelhead fishing is nothing but reverse propaganda in the minds of good fishermen. This sport is easier than it needs to be, and it’s certainly easier than others would have you believe.

Catching steelhead can be easy ... sometimes.

Catching steelhead can be downright simple … at times. It can be extremely difficult at other times. Savvy fishermen soon learn to take the good with the bad.

Be there, at the right time, fish the water properly and steelhead are not much more difficult to catch on flies than bluegills or sunfish are in the spring. One principle applies to all game fish species: Anglers must find the fish, and cast well, before they can taste the sweetness of angling success.

There are as many ways to catch steelhead and this is true with most game fish. All methods produce during certain periods, but they may work best at other times of the year. For me, stalking visible steelhead on shallow rivers and casting flies to them is as good as it gets, and I made a living for 10 years guiding fly fishermen to good catches using some of the following methods.

Fish as often as possible.

One thing to remember is  that experience on the water is necessary. I’ve taken beginning anglers, and under my tutelage, had them catching steelhead the first day. They thought the fish were  easy to catch.

The problem with fly fishing is that too many people are in a big rush. They want fish now, and they jump off the river bank, splash into the clear river and spook fish off spawning beds. They then wonder why they can't catch the fish. A certain amount of stealth is necessary to get within casting range of spring fish/

Forget about wading up or down the river, and spend more time on the river bank looking for fish. Walk slowly along the bank, stop often and study the water. It's a method much like still-hunting deer, and if anglers try to rush the process, the fish spook. The deer run away and the steelhead swim into the log jams.

Slow down, and take your time. My toughest problem when guiding steelhead fishermen was curbing their enthusiastic impatience. This old method worked back in the 1960s and it still works now providing people follow some easily understood rules.

Steelhead fishing requires patience.

Stay out of the water unless casting to visible fish. Don’t become another stupid fisherman that wades downstream pr upstream, and spooks every steelhead around. Barring a quick warm-up, snowmelt and run-off, anglers have at least four weeks and more likely between six and eight weeks before steelhead numbers begin moving upstream. Use this time period to study these tactics, memorize them and put them to good use them this spring.

Instead of wading downstream, walk the bank, stop, start and look for fish. Use any available cover and a successful stalk may take 15-30 minutes to move close enough for a short and accurate cast/

Wear a billed cap, pull it low over Polarized sunglasses, and pause frequently to study the water. A fresh-run mint-silver female is most difficult to spot in the water, and sometimes all that can be seen is a shadow. Males are dark colored, and their gaudy gill covers and cheeks are easily seen. Don't look for the whole fish; often all you'll see is a tail, a white mouth or a shadow apparently moving across the bottom.

Watch the fish and study them. If they are going on and off the bed, it means they are spooky. Relax, take your time, and wait until the hen starts rolling up on her side and the male fertilizes the eggs with a jet of white milt. Remember, if nothing else: never fish for the female; try only for male fish in the spring. Why? Catch or hook the female, and she is gone and the male fish go with her. Hook a male, and land it downstream, and the female and other males will stay on the bed.

Tips on choosing steelhead flies.

Which fly to use? The old philosophy is always a good bet. Use bright attractor patterns on bright days, and dark patterns on overcast days. Use a tippet or leader testing six pounds, and perfect your accuracy somewhere  other than on the river. Plop a fly down on top of a fish and it will spook. Carry several bright and dark patterns in sizes No. 4, 6 and 8.

Ease slowly into the water and move softly without splashing the water or crunching gravel underfoot. If the fish start moving back and forth, stop, remain motionless, and wait for them to resume spawning. Take your time, and ease gently into casting position. It may take a long time, and I've spent hours trying to catch a gaudy buck steelhead. This method requires constant attention to detail, great patience and accurate casts. Don’t try to hurry things.

Study the water current and depth. The fly must be cast far enough upstream to be scratching gravel when it comes to the male. If the female hits the fly. do nothing. Hook and fight the female, and all the males will disappear. Hook a male, and it's not uncommon to catch two or three fish without unduly spooking the hen or harming the resource.

The fly must ease past his nose. Set up a rhythmic casting pace; cast upstream past the male, strip in line as the fly drifts downstream, and once it passes the male, lift the fly out and cast again. Cast, strip line, ease the fly past his nose, lift it out and cast again. Use a hook hone to sharpen hook points. They soon get dull when bouncing over gravel.

The male will often move out of the way of a fly. Repetitive casting angers the fish, and they will often hit. Watch the fish's head, and when it moves two or three inches when the fly is near, it usually has the fly and is moving it out of the bed. Set the hook. If you wait for a hard strike, you'll never hook a spawning spring steelhead.

Courtesy on rivers is vitally important.

Common courtesy has its place on a steelhead stream. If you spot an angler up ahead casting to bedded fish, walk wide around the area on the bank. Don't wade down the river and spook his fish. If you are fishing to bedded fish, and see an angler coming, holler and politely ask them to make a wide pass around you and the fish. People with common sense will do so. The slobs will not.

Those who never had any brains or upbringing will ignore your request. A steelhead isn't worth getting into a fight over, but I've seen days when I wish I'd taken those Charles Atlas courses offered when I was a kid.

This is just one of many steelhead techniques but it happens to be my favorite, and in the future, we'll share other methods that produce. But one thing to remember is to learn something new every day.

It's hard to do, but trust me. Unspooked steelhead are much easier to catch than those that have been dodging snag hooks, clumsy wading, and people who care nothing about the rights of other people. Too many folks want a steelhead at any cost, and as quickly as possible, but they have no clue about how to go about catching them.

Patience, superb fly presentation and good timing are three keys to success.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Some Ice-Fishing Tricks To Try

It doesn't always require a storm to slow down ice fishing. At times, fish can easily go off their feeding routine.

There are several tricks that can help change poor fishing to good. The first trick is to find any green weed beds, and fish near them. The weeds provide some extra oxygen, cover and forage fish for the larger game fish to feed on.

One trick I learned many years ago is to take a plastic snow shovel out fishing. Sure, you'll build up a sweat using it but clearing snow away from an ice hole will allow more sunlight to filter through the ice. Many lakes have little snow on them although we picked up a couple of inches last night and this morning,

Some friends shovel off a 15-foot by 15-foot area around each ice hole, and then drill five or six holes fairly close to each other. Once anglers begin to connect the dots of each ice hole, a great deal more sunlight will reach the weeds. This can stimulate a bit more activity and improve the appetites of bluegills, sunfish and yellow perch. The same trick can work wherever antlers put out tip-ups for northern pike,

Yeah, yeah, I know how much work shoveling is. I can promise you it is not nearly as difficult as shoveling my front and back decks whenever it dumps a load of snow on us. Besides, there was so much wind on over the weekend that it scoured much of the snow off many area lakes.

Try to clear away the snow, and drill ice holes near the weed beds. Sunlight over weed beds can trigger more action.

Casey Richey with a pike from Platte Lake.

Another suggestion is to stay as far away from other fishermen as possible. Ice fishing often means that fish are feeding very little, and excessive noise can spook them. I've watched people walk up to an area where I'm fishing and doing well on panfish, and they decide if I'm catching fish, they may as well join me. Ice fishermen are gregarious souls.

The power auger roars into life, ice chips fly, they ram the spinning auger up and down a dozen times to make sure the hole is even larger than it needs to be, and begin unloading their ice sled. The bait bucket clatters to the ice, they wait until they are ready to start fishing, and then auger another hole almost all the way through and leave the power auger standing upright in it.

Ten minutes of augering holes, banging around, and then they start fishing. By this time, all the commotion and noise has driven the fish far away from my hole and theirs.

Did you ever try talking to these guys? It's something like talking to the closest tree. They don't understand that being as quiet as possible is part of how winter ice fishermen should be.

Drill most of the holes you'll need in one drilling session.

It's true that we must auger holes, but we try to drill as many holes as we need as fast as possible, and then scoop out the ice chips and start moving quietly from hole. It usually takes several minutes before the fish start to bite, but a quiet approach can pay big dividends.

Another ice fishing trick to try is to go fine, go small, and use less bait but change it more often. Instead of four-pound line, try switching to one- or two-pound line.

I've gone from a 1/32-ounce to a 1/64-ounce ice fishing fly or jig. A fat wax worm may be too large so I'll try wigglers or make the size of the wax worm smaller by cutting it in half. It's a messy job, and difficult to do, but try to make the bait smaller. Using a 1/64-ounce ice jig will make using a smaller bait mandatory.

Learn how to "shiver" your baited ice fly or jig for panfish.

One last tip is to barely wiggle the baited ice jig. Don't even try to move it up and down an inch. Instead, just try to wiggle it sideways. That a;sp is hard to do, but a wiggling lure often will out-perform a more vigorous up-and-down action.

Late-season panfish are known for being hard to catch. That is because many anglers try to use the same methods they used on first-ice, and that just doesn't work very well.

When weather and ice conditions change, ice fisherman must follow suit. It means changing to suit the existing conditions, and it means being on the move at all times.

Do it right, and you'll catch more fish. Do it wrong, and you can commiserate with all the other fisherman who are unwilling to change their tactics as we move deeper into the ice-fishing season.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

The Day My World Went Flip-Flop

My world was turned upside down four years ago at just about this time of year. The National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward, Wisconsin, sent me a letter stating I had been inducted into the Hall of Fame as a Legendary Communicator.

It hit me like a runaway 18-wheeler. One moment lunch was being eaten while reading the mail, and all of a sudden I felt like a two-by-four had been cracked over my head to grab my attention.

My speech was a low sputter as I read it the second time, and my wife and father were looking at me as if something incredible had happened. They weren't too far off the mark.

The words "Legendary Communicator" didn't exactly roll off my tongue. Never thought of myself quite that way, and never considered myself legendary in any regard.

The letter of induction was handed to my wife and father to read while I struggled to organize my thoughts. It was difficult because my whole career has been dedicated to writing quality outdoor copy for my readers. And now, this award about blew me out of my chair because my hard work had been acknowledged by a famous group.

I find my book collection a key part of my professional life.

It put me in a class with many of those people who have had a long-term effect on my writing career and my years of guiding river fishermen that began back in 1967. Forty years had passed, and other wonderful awards have come my way, and all were unexpected ... just like this one. Now, looking back over my 44-year career. it seems incredible that the times has passed so fast.

Many years ago, one of my favorite writers was Ted Trueblood, and I was perhaps the last writer to have talked with him before he committed suicide. He had incurable cancer, and we spoke about 10 days before he shot himself.

A number of good friends have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Two of the inductees with me were very important. Erwin A. "Joe" Bauer was perhaps the most prolific book author and magazine writer-photographer in the history of outdoor writing. He and I had worked together a good bit 25 years ago. He was a kind and gentle man, who deeply loved the outdoors. He also was one of the most humble of men I've had the pleasure of meeting.

Corey Ford was a favorite in Field & Stream 50 years ago, and I always read his column first. Men like Ed Zern preceded me into this prestigious position, and the legendary A.J. McClane, Field & Stream's former fishing editor, was a member of this rather elite group. So, too, was Ray Bergman and Joe Brooks, both of whom toiled as Outdoor Life's Fishing Editor for many years.

These are men who, in one way or another, stirred my imagination and thought processes as a youngster. All, in their indelible way, had left their mark on me at a teenager and as an adult.

There were so many others. O.W. Smith wrote several books but his "Book Of The Pike" is a classic. He built into me a desire to catch a big northern pike, and years ago Babe Winkelman (also in the Hall of Fame) and I tried to crack the 30-pound mark. I wound up with a 29-pounder as my heaviest, but I'd hooked and lost a couple of 30-pounders in northern Saskatchewan.

Al Lindner of Brainerd, Minnesota, also is in this prestigious group. I've known Al and Ron formore than 30 years, but have never fished with either one.

Larry Ramsell, my muskie guru and friend, is a member.

My old friend, Larry Ramsell of Hayward, Wisconsin, is a walking encyclopedia on muskie fishing. His book "A Compendium Of Muskie Angling History" is an important work on the topic, and it was recently reprinted. I'm looking to buy one of his 1982 editions of that book. He's also in the Hall as well.

Longtime friends like Bill Dance, Jimmy Houston, Mark Sosin and the late Billy Westmoreland are members. Dr. Howard Tanner, he of the coho and Chinook salmon plantings in the mid-1960s, also was inducted. My longtime friend, Stan Lievense of Traverse City, was inducted many years ago.

Charterboat skippers Jim Bennett, Emil Dean, and Bud Raskey, all of the Manistee area, are in the Hall of Fame, and deservedly so.

My old pal, Homer LeBlanc of St. Clair Shores, was inducted long before his death. Uncle Homer, as many local anglers called him, was the man who pioneered muskie fishing in Lake St. Clair. He devised trolling methods over 50 years ago that are still being used today.

Muskie pro's -- Homer LeBlanc and Bob Brunner -- have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Eighty-seven-year-old Bob Brunner of Utica was made a Legendary Guide a few years ago, and we've fished together. Bob is perhaps the oldest guide of any kind in the state of Michigan, and he also is a book author.

There are more, so many more people, who had a lasting affect on my angling career. In many cases, I wanted to be like Joe Brooks, Corey Ford, and all the others. I wanted to make my living the same way they did, and I admired each and every one of these men, and the many others who were not mentioned, for offering me inspiration when it was needed.

In one way or another, all have had a lasting effect on my life and career. They taught me much of what they knew, but they also gave me something else more precious than a fleeting taste of fame.

Dave Richey steelhead fishing from a river boat about 20 years ago.

They taught me how to be humble. My career, in large measure, came about because of their tireless efforts. They led the way, and I hope that in some small way, I can inspire others who follow to aspire to great outdoor writing. The world needs more great fishing writers to inflame the thoughts of youngster as those people named above did to me many years ago.

Fishing will only remain desirable as long a outdoor writers write well-chosen words that people want to read. Those words must entertain and inform readers, and as was  true with me, will catch one little spark that will ignite a whole new world involving fresh water and game fish for new anglers. It's this that will keep the passion of fishing alive now and long into the future.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Follow Your Gut Instincts

A lifetime spent fishing and hunting across North America and as far away as New Zealand has put me in some rather dicey situations. Some have been caused by my own actions, and some were caused by events well beyond my control.

That said, it follows that a few circumstances have been somewhat dangerous. Over all these years, my gut instincts have served me well in avoiding most of them.

It was opening day of the firearm deer season 35 years ago, and I was hunting in Kalkaska County. I hunted a clear-cut with an elevated knob in the middle, and fallen tree tops lay in all directions.

Walking a narrow ledge for Tennesee boar (left).

I sensed that 150-yards in all directions was good enough to cover the entire clear-cut with my pre-1964 .264 Winchester Magnum. I had a little seat on the ground, my back to a tree stump at the top of the knob, and by turning slowly to right or left, I could see 360 degrees. A deer would have a tough time spotting me. It was the perfect blind.

It was late morning, and the first deer seen was an 8-point buck. I had a solid rest, and the buck came out of the brush and started following the clear-cut edge. It stopped, I aimed, shot and the buck fell but got up and stumbled off  into the surrounding brush.

Several minutes were needed to crawl over all the brush and find where the deer was hit, and I began tracking the blood trail. I found the deer with a guy bent over as he began field dressing my buck.

I began having a funny feeling about this as a thought niggled at the back of my brain telling me this could be some serious trouble. "Hey, partner, I appreciate you field dressing my buck for me."

I asked about the deer and received a potential dangerous message.

"What are you talking about," he said. "I shot it 10 minutes ago."

"Sorry, friend, but only one shot has been fired in this area all morning, and it was fired by me 10 minutes ago when I shot this buck at the edge of the clear-cut and he ran in here."

One of his buddies stepped out of the brush, casually pointed his rifle midway between my knees and belly button, and muttered: "You got a problem here?"

"I shot that deer, and your friend is gutting it out, and you are pointing a rifle at a tender part of my anatomy. What's up?"

"What's up is you come around here, trying to cause trouble, and you'll find it. My buddy shot that buck, and you're not going to take it away from him. Git out of here or you'll have more trouble than you can handle."

A buck isn't worth getting shot over.

So I lost my buck. Fighting or getting shot over a buck is not something I'm interested in doing. I do hope they choked on a splintered bone. It also points out that little gut instincts told me this would be a bad deal and it turned out that way.

Once, years ago, some friends and I were hunting those big European hares in southern Ontario. The beagles were on a hot track but the wind was blowing up a gale as I leaned against a dead elm.

I kept listening, and occasionally would hear a bawl from a hound, but the jackrabbit detoured around me. The wind continued to howl, and I was considering a location change when a gut instinct told me to move ... fast. It was as if God put his hand on my shoulder and urged me from that dead tree.

Widow-maker elms can kill people.

I found another spot about 20 yards away where I could see, and with a loud crack, the crown and 20 feet of tree trunk gave way and crashed down exactly where I'd been standing. Divine intervention? I'd love to think so, but it could have been my gut instincts kicking in. Whichever, it had been a dangerous and scary situation.

Another time, while bow hunting elk in Colorado, we were crossing the spine of the Rockies late at nigh in strong moonlight. There were sheer drop-offs on either side but the game trail seemed well worn and safe.

We reached a spot where we had to cross a shale outcropping that pitched off with a 2,000-foot free-fall to the base of a rocky cliff. We had to cross 20 yards of shale to reach the "shortcut" my guide said came out near his truck. My neck hairs were standing on end. This didn't look or sound like any fun.

"Stay upright, keep your balance and keep moving," he said. "I'll go first, and once I'm across, you come directly toward me. Got it?

I had it but didn't like it. He crossed easily enough and it was my turn. One slip, and a 2,000-foot plunge would ruin my day. I started across, and halfway to the guide, the shale slipped under one foot. I lurched a bit to get straightened up, and managed to keep my feet moving.

The trip across that shale was scary but I made it to the other side, and the guide was reaching out for me when I got close. It was a shortcut, and saved us another two or three miles of mountain hiking in the dark.

Shale slides are no place to be at night.

I've learned to trust my instincts in outdoor situations, and they have done well by me. Getting tuned in to nature, and knowing your personal capabilities, has kept me going. However, if my instincts scream at me "Don't do i!", I turn around and find another longer but safer route.

Some years ago my buddy Jon Ashley and I hunted wild boars in Tennessee with a bow. Our guide lead us a sheer cliff with a six-inch-wide trail, and if that wasn't bad enough, he jump into the crown of an old oak tree, got it sway and then leaped onto a trail on the other side. It was another dumb move that I tollowed, as did Jon, and it cut our hike in half. But that tree was 80 feet tall, and I had to leap while carrying my bow and all my camera gear. We both got out boards.

The author (right) with a twp-shortcut wild boar.

Two rules have always governed my wilderness travels: Don't mess with Mother Nature, and never second-guess your gut instincts. If you don't know whether you can make it don't try. I knew I could do both thing, and I did, but wouldn't do them again.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Mid-Winter Steelhead Fishing

The difference between a good mid-winter steelhead fishing day and a bad one often is measured by just a few degrees of warming temperature. A bright, sunny and warm day can produce fish while cold and overcast days usually do not.

Ten years of guiding river fishermen taught me many things. One is to watch the forecast, and pick those sunny days with warmer-than-normal temperatures as a time to plan a winter fishing trip.

A key winter fishing day.

Nothing in life is 100 percent except death and taxes, but one thing to remember: a sunny winter day is better for fishing steelhead than a dark and overcast one. A day with a minimum of wind also is better, and two sunny and warm days after a really mild day can be great.

Warming temperatures cause some slight runoff, and any runoff can stir up steelhead resting on the bottom of a deep river hole. It is a false hint of spring yet to come but fish often respond to it.

The second day of warming temperatures is even better, and if sunny days last for three days, I'd choose the third day to go fishing. However, bear one thing in mind: study the weather, and three sunny days in a row during the winter is an extraordinary event.

Fish tight to the bottom with  spawnbags like this.

There are many things a winter steelhead fisherman needs to know, but the two most important things are to offer bait or lures within two or three inches of bottom, and fish as slowly as possible.

Winter steelies are sluggish from water that is only 33 or 34 degrees. Their metabolism is very slow, and the fish will not move far to take bait or lures. An accurate presentation means repetitive casts to the same spot to provide fish with numerous opportunities to strike. It's far more difficult to do than one might suspect.

I make about 10 casts to the same spot and allow the bait or lure to bounce naturally downstream along bottom. If nothing happens, move a few feet downstream to slightly change the angle, and cast another 10 times. If this doesn't produce a strike, keep moving and changing the angle, and then try standing directly downstream of known holding water, and cast upstream and retrieve slowly with the bait bouncing slowly along bottom.

Should that fail, try fishing from the opposite side of the river. Follow the same set pattern of 10 casts and move. Many times I've made 100-150 casts before a fish will hit. And, sometimes they never strike.

The bait, fly or lure must come directly to the fish. Steelhead won't move to take your offering.

Be methodical in your fishing approach.

Key holding areas for winter steelhead are in deep holes and medium-depth runs along the river bank. One thing to remember is that cold water makes these game fish lethargic, and they don't want to expend much energy to hold their position in the current.

Don't look for winter steelhead in the full thrust of the current. Look for them behind, on either side or immediately above anything that breaks the current flow. A large rock in the hole or run with provide a cushion of quiet water behind it that will break up the current. Look for fish near log jams or submerged rocks. The edges where sand and gravel meet can be a hotspot.

If the river depth is known, use a bobber, and adjust the line length from the bobber to the hook. Make certain the depth keeps a spawnbag just off bottom. Cast bait and bobber to the same area, and run it down through the holding water 10 times and then move a few feet.

Fish with a bobber to suspect bait just off bottom.

A bobber-bait rig often provides more precise presentation as the bobber floats along at the current speed. Use enough splitshot above the baited hook to keep the bobber upright in the current. If the bobber dips under, set the hook.

Very few winter steelhead strikes are hard. The bait seems to hesitate, and that is the time to give a good hook-set. Anglers can use heavy line for these big fish, but winter rivers often are low with clear water. Six-pound monofilament leaders work well, but if fish are present and not hitting, lighten up and switch to a four-pound test leader. The battles will take longer, but the name of this game is to hook fish and have a good time.

I've landed countless steelhead on four-pound line, and the angler must take their time and pressure the fish just enough to keep them moving. A motionless fish hugging bottom isn't expending any energy. A fish that is kept moving will tire quickly.

Warm weather warms the water slightly, and this often causes steelhead to strike. It works in both theory and practice.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Need Fishing Or Hunting Books? I Can Help!

My email box had an interesting question from a reader. He was looking for a specific book.

It was a fishing title, but he couldn't remember the book's name or its author. That narrowed the field down to one topic out of thousands of book topics. Did he have a date of publication? No.

He couldn't even remember if it was about bass fishing, muskie, panfish, pike, trout, walleyes or other fish species. Was it oriented toward general fish or was it about fly fishing? He had no clue.

More Information was needed but wasn't available.

I enjoy helping people, and I really enjoy it when they buy a book or books from my extensive listing on Scoop's Books. I wanted to lend this guy a hand, but after trading several emails, the whole exercise was doomed to frustration for both of us.

I have a fairly large number of titles for sale. I'm always willing to do a book search for a client, but I need at least two reference points to achieve any chance of success. The author's name and the title of the book are two criteria I need. Sometimes I can find the book from just a name or part of a book title, but having name and title work.

Several clients send me a list of book titles they want to buy, and I begin the search. Most are ultimately successful but some are not. It's a hunt and not all searches end well. Some books are very scarce, and may only be seen once in an active bookseller's life.

One client already has a copy of a book his heart desires. Sadly, the book doesn't have a dust jacket. He wants a copy of this extremely scarce title in better condition than his copy but it must have a spiffy dust jacket. Such animals are very difficult to find, and a person may search for many years for such a copy with a nice dust jacket without success. Or ... the book may be prohibitively expensive.

Some clients deal only in certain game fish species such as bass, muskie, trout or walleye titles. Others favor the generalist approach where the book will feature quite a bit about all kinds of fishing.

Other book collectors are completists. They want a copy of every book that was written by Jack O'Connor, the famous gun writer for Outdoor Life magazine years ago. They want his hunting, rifle and shotgun books, and his novels, Boomtown and Conquest, which I've had for sale but they are now gone. Other people look for O'Connor's Horse & Buggy West, a semi-biographical account of his young life. I have it. Looking  for Bob Btunner muskie books? I buy and sell them

Bob Brunner (right) & a muskie he caught. I buy muskie books.

Some people collect only limited editions of fishing or hunting books, and I just had to turn down a customer who wanted a self-published title about hunting in Africa. I studied a list put out by a friend who deals in Africana more than I do, and he didn't have one nor did he know where to find one. For many people, finding the right book means spending a bunch of time searching for it. Some books are like the proverbial needle in a haystack.

On the other hand, people come to my site because 90 percent of my books are in Fine condition or better. There are several categories of book condition ranging upward from Reading Copy, Fair, Good, Very Good, Fine, Very Fine and Mint or As New. I accurately grade the books I sell, and there are establish criteria for each grade.

A man offered me nearly a dozen books a week ago. He wanted to know how much I would pay for them. Buying a book or many books without first seeing them can be a major mistake.

I asked if he would buy a car from someone without seeing the vehicle. He said no, but books and cars were different. I agreed that there is a difference but the principle still applies: no one buys items sight unseen unless they are very wealthy or very stupid.

It's sad to say but there are scam artists that deal in books and old outdoor magazines. I am not one of them, and anyone who has followed my lengthy career of writing books, internet stories on my personal website, magazines or newspaper articles should know enough about me to know I have plenty of books and have no need to steal one from another person.

One of Bob Brunner's scarce muskie titles.

He wasn't interested in letting me look at them ahead of time, and I wasn't interested in pursuing the issue any further. They were titles I wanted to buy, but he wouldn't let me take a peek. He lost, I lost, and down the line, a customer lost as well.

Some people want a book dealer to establish a price they will pay, and then buy them for that price without seeing the merchandise. It's very difficult for a bookseller to be both the buyer and seller. Some negotiation is almost always possible, but there isn't a bookseller I know that will pay full retail for any book or buy without looking.

So ... I'm in the market to buy good books in very nice condition. Most of the books I wind up buying are in Fine to Mint condition. Most people who buy books want to buy the best condition they can afford. Condition doesn't mean much if the selling price is  $5-10, but it is very meaningful and important when the price tag goes to $100 or more.

Send me a list of fishing or hunting books  you have, and describe them and any flaws each one may have. I may ask to see them if they are of interest, and if not, I'll gracefully decline. However I can't and won't buy books sight unseen unless I know the seller.

I'd love to hear from you this winter. Digging through your books will give you something to do, and it will help me out. I buy all kinds of fishing and hunting books, but muskie fishing, trout fishing and turkey hunting titles are what really turn my wheels.

I also have a huge collection of Outdoor Life and other outdoor magazines from the 1920s through the 1940s. Ninety-nine percent are in Fine or better condition, and such magazines are vert scarce because most people threw them away after they were read.

John Walker's books are always popular.

The son of a famous wildlife artist from the 1920-1940s contacted me two weeks ago, looking for some of his father's work. I spent a full day sorting through those magazines, and found about 40 illustrated by his father. He was trying to put together three collections for his children. I had the magazines, and he began  bickering, saying they were too expensive, and left me hanging. A full day of work for a man who backed away without a word has left me griping and complaining. A few people think it's great fun creating work for a bookseller. I can usually pinpoint such people, but I missed the mark on this guy.

Let's see if you can make my wheels spin. Oh, I'm also looking for a hardcover copy, with dust jacket, of Robert Ruark's The Old Man & The Boy in Fine or better condition. Touch base at <dave@daverichey.com> and let me know what you have, and let's communicate.

I need your books and perhaps you need my money. Let's hear from you and we'll see what happens.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

The Brown Trout Moon Dance

The late October day had passed all too quickly. The thrill of fly fishing northern Michigan during the peak of the fall salmon and trout spawning runs had been a mesmerizing experience.

The setting sun had brought to a close an award-winning episode on Michigan’s famed Platte River. Longtime friend, guide, and outdoor writer Dave Richey and I had been guiding clients from Iowa. That day had found us in the midst of a heavy run of chinook and coho salmon and some huge brown trout.

We had put our clients into a mind-boggling number of fish, and it had been a truly legendary kind of day. We fished a stretch of river that looked yellow-orange because of the spawning colors of lake-run brown trout scattered throughout the river.

Big brown trout were everywhere!

I witnessed savage runs of these powerful fish, and watched them break 10-pound test line like it was sewing thread, leaving clients drop-jawed and speechless. But now the day was over, and our clients had returned to their cabin.

They were sated from numerous struggles with big fish. The year was 1971, and they complained of sore arms and wrists, but their smiles stretched from ear to ear. They had brown trout, Chinook salmon and coho salmon carefully wrapped and padded for a taxidermist, and they would be frozen solid as they headed for home in the morning. Their salmon and trout fillets were packed away in the deep freeze.

Our waders, rods and tackle all rested in their proper places, and we were on our way to dinner. We were lean and mean in those bygone days, and one meal a day was normal for us. Now, after all the day's work was done, we were on a bee-line for some hot chow.

After a great meal and one sundowner, we talked about the unbelievable number of big brown trout we had encountered that day. Dave and I couldn’t shake off the intensity of that outing, and the number of big brown trout we had found. This was a day around which guides and their clients build fishing dreams around.

Perhaps, deep down inside, we knew the odds were very good we'd never see a river filled with browns like that again during our lifetime. Some of the gravel spawning beds had held 10-15 male and female browns, and more kept nosing their way upstream in their search for a spawning site. The same was true on most gravel bars up and down the river.

It was 10:30 that night as we left the restaurant and the night sky was filled with the energy and light from the Rutting Moon. We looked at each other, and then I said: “Lets go back after ‘em. They will still be there.”

Dave put the car in gear and we were heading for the Platte River. I'd noticed that his Black Beauty fly rod was all set, and knotted at the end of the leader was a No. 6 Dave's Favorite that had been tied by his twin brother George.

The big brown trout spawning session was still underway.

We found a crystal-clear river, filled with trophy-sized spawning brown trout. The night sky, energized by the light of the full moon, provided great lighting, and we were as giddy as school girls.

We soon reached the river, parked the car and walked slowly and softly down the bank. The shallow gravel beds, fanned hard and shiny with overturned white stones, glistened in the moonlight. The river was choked with big browns that held downstream from spawning salmon. They were suckers for orange or pink flies.

A pathway, clear of obstacles, lay alongside the spawning trout, and it provided perfect casting opportunities. I tied on one of George’s Platte River Pink flies, and the first cast retrieved across the gravel bar triggered a strike that sent a huge brown trout tail-walking in a moon dance of silvery spray across the shimmering Platte River. Two fishing guides had arrived at Fly Fishing Heaven.

A hook-jawed old male brown trout (right).

I hooked a big fish, a male with a kype as big as a crooked little finger, and the fish took me down the river. Dave shook out line through his fly rod, shot a cast across the river, and as it swung in the current, another brown trout hit as the line straightened out below him.

For two hours we danced one brown trout after another across the moonlit river. We were in our individual thoughts during this piece of time. Just us and the fish that took us there.

Dave then worked a big brown down the river, and I sat on the bank, unable to cast again. I was shutting down alongside the river that gave us the greatest single night of brown trout fishing ever.

This had been a day & night to remember. Many fish were caught during daylight as well.

I awoke to Dave’s voice: “ Hey, partner, I almost stepped on you! You had enough for one night?”

“ Yeah”, I replied, “Let's pack it in. We need some sleep before meeting our new people in the morning.”

We walked back to the car, stowed our rods, and as I looked up into the night sky, I knew we would never forget the Night of the Brown Trout Moon Dance. Every one of the golden male browns and silvery females were released.

And you know what? We've never forgotten that one night in our shared lives when the brown trout fishing was twice as good as anyone could ever want.

Editor's Note: John McKenzie was one of my fishing guides from 1968 to 1976, and this is another of his stories from an event that happened 39 years ago. He still loves river fishing and whitetail hunting, and he, like I, remembers the old days with great fondness because they may never come our way again. Dave's book Great Lakes Steelhead Flies, a limited edition leather-bound book, contains the patterns and photos of the flies mentioned above and many other early steelhead ties. The books are mint, numbered and signed, and are long out of print. He has a few copies left at $60 each plus $5 shipping and handling. Make checks payable to David Richey, PO Box 192, Grawn, MI 49637.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Walleye Jigging Tricks

It's been 60 years since I caught my first walleye, and it was taken while trolling a nightcrawler harness along bottom on Houghton Lake. It's been 40+ years since my first walleye was caught on a jig.

An old gentleman on an Ontario lake offered this jigging advice many years ago: "I don't care what color jig you use as long as it is yellow." And for many years, yellow jigs were my favorites.

Many things have changed over six decades, and that is especially true when jigging for winter walleyes. Lures, reels, rods, line and almost everything else has changed, except for the fish.

Equipment has changed over time. Everything is smaller and easier to use.

Jigging rods have become smaller, more sensitive, and the reels are usually smaller and stocked with six-pound line. There also has been considerable difference in the lures being used.

Four lures -- a jigging Rapala, Swedish Pimple, Hali and Do-Jigger -- are my favorite winter walleye lures. I cut my teeth on river fishing many years ago on the Saginaw River when the big Saginaw Bay walleyes moved in, and after mastering jigging methods there, I began fishing on the Bay itself.

I favor a short, medium-action rod with a spinning reel loaded with six-pound mono. Add a snap swivel and the jigging lure, and begin fishing near bottom. Walleyes occasionally will come up off bottom to hit, but most winter fish are caught within two or three inches of bottom.

Let's take a look at each lure. I favor the medium-sized jigging Rapala in silver-black or chartreuse-red although the gold model works well at times. A one-inch emerald shiner is hooked Through the bottom jaw and out the top of the head on each end hook, and one on each barb of the treble hook. Lift it two inches off bottom, hold it for a second and allow it to spiral back down.

Try this jigging method but experiment with others.

Jig upward, pause for a second, and lower it down again. The jig can be lowered on a tight or loose line. I prefer to lower it on a taut line because it makes it easier to detect a soft strike.

The Swedish Pimple is a metal lure, and favorite colors for me are silver, silver-blue or white. I use models measuring about two inches long, and again add an emerald shiner to each hook. Snap it up about two inches and allow it to flutter down. Pause as the baited lure settles down, and then jig again. This lure has produced some very big walleyes for me.

The Hali works well too. My favorite is one about an inch long in silver, white, blue or any sparkly color that will produce reflected light. Add emerald shiners to this lure because the action and the smell of meat offers a double-barreled attraction to  this game fish.

The Do-Jigger is a spoon made by Bay de Noc Lure Company that also produces the Swedish Pimple. Blue-silver, all silver, silver-green, white or orange spoons work when sweetened with one, two or three minnows. This lure has an excellent fluttering action, and seems to work best when lifted off bottom, and then allowed to flutter back down. The more minnows added, the less fluttering there will be although the flutter-drop can be more erratic.

Try moving around and sampling new areas.

Take your pick of lures but remember that walleyes are always on the move and are usually hungry. Keep moving from hole to hole. If one spot doesn't produce a hit or a fish within 10 minutes, move elsewhere.

Often a move of 10 yards or so is enough to put fish under the hole. Walleyes will occasionally slam a jig or jigging spoon, but often the lure hesitates as the upward stroke begins. Set the hook hard at any hesitation, but don't be so heavy-handed that the line breaks. There could be a big fish -- a 10-pounder -- on the other end.

Years ago I watched Saginaw Bay ice fishermen fish for perch with two lines, often in the same hole. I don't subscribe to that theory, especially with lures that swim or wobble around, but jigging in two holes jusr two or three feet apart, will work. The added flash of two lures baited with minnow can trigger numerous strikes.

Experimentation and prospecting for fish are two major keys to success. Try using different colors and sizes of jigging lures, and keep moving. It's possible to catch walleyes by sitting in one spot, but it's more likely to hit fish by moving whenever the action slows.

Nothing in fishing can match setting up over a school of winter walleyes, and hooking a big fish on the first try. Those anglers who think walleyes don't fight have never hooked a six- or eight-pound walleye 10 feet below on 6-pound line.

These fish can provide a scrap that is impossible to ignore.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Tip-up Tricks For Northern Pike

The tip-up spool was slowly turning. It would move three or four inches and stop, only to start slowly moving again moments later.

The pike was in no big rush to go anywhere. He had the big sucker minnow clamped between his toothy jaws, and would have to stop in order to turn the sucker around to swallow it head-first.

Eventually the line stopped. Nothing happened for several minutes, and we wondered if the pike had stripped the sucker off the wee treble hook. Then the line started to move again, and the tip-up and line was moved out of the hole, laid aside on the ice and out of the way, and when the braided Dacron line came tight in my hands, I gave it a hard jerk.

The northern responded in typical fashion, and raced off on a short run, slowed down and I began bringing the line in hand-over-hand, laying it on the ice so it wouldn't tangle on the next run. The fish was two-thirds of the way back to the ice hole when it switched directions, and raced off on another 20-yard under-the-ice run.

Two hard runs against tension was sapping the pike's stamina in the cold water, and the next time the fish came to the hole, I positioned his head directly under the ice hole and brought him up and out with a mighty splash.

Jig a Swedish Pimple with rod & reel while watching the tip-up.

The pike, at 11 pounds, was all green with those beige kidney-shaped spots along the side, and it was a handsome fish. It was my third, and largest, pike of the day. The other two weighed nine and 10 pounds. We kept hoping for one of the magical 20-pounders that once were common, but it wasn't to happen on this day.

There are all kinds of new tip-ups on the ice but my old standby -- the wooden variety -- still works well enough for me. I've used them for more than 50 years, and all I have to do is put new line on the spool every two years.

I've seen some of the finest winter tip-up pike fishing available over the years. My method, which is described below, works well for me and should work for you.

I use 30-pound braided Dacron line on the spool and run one end of the line through a big white button, tie the Dacron to a husky black barrel swivel, and add an 18-inch length of 20-pound clear monofilament from the swivel to the hook.

A heavy 2-ounce sinker is attached to the hook, and the line is slowly pulled through the two buttonholes, and when the weight touches bottom, the button is slid down the line until it reaches the water. Up that rig comes, the weight is removed, and I favor a No. 12 treble hook. One point is buried deep into the tissue behind the sucker's dorsal fin, but not so deep as to hit the spine.

A Rubbercor sinker is attached to the leader 12 inches above the bait, and it is slowly lowered toward bottom. I stop the downward plunge of the bait, put the button and two coils of line back on the spool, set the tip up into the ice hole with the side opposite the flag facing into the wind. This helps prevent those aggravating false alarms called wind bites.

The sucker is now swimming 9-12 inches off bottom. I favor setting tip-ups along the outside edge of a weedbed where pike often cruise, and the area off a river mouth can be good because pike gather here before going upstream to spawn in the early spring. The fish often swim near bottom, but because of the positioning of their eyes, I like my bait up off bottom a little so it is easily visible.

I often throw ice slush into the ice hole to prevent a bright beam of sunlight going down into the hole on a sunny day. All of my holes are augered at one time so there is less noise while fishing, and I often auger two or three extra holes so the bait can be moved if it's deemed necessary.

Walk, don't run, to a tip-up.

"Flag Up!" is the tip-up fisherman's cry when the orange or red flag pops up as a pike grabs the bait. I know people who thunder across the ice, making far too much noise, but I walk to the tip-up as quietly as possible. There is usually plenty of time, and study the twirling spool.

Waiting is the most important part of tip-up fishing. Try to set the hook early, before the pike turns and swallows the sucker, and you usually donate the sucker to the fish and never hook him. Wait for the spool to stop unwinding line, and then wait some more until the spool starts turning again.

Set the hook hard, and there are two ways to land the fish. One method, if fishing with a partner, is to walk backward away from the hole while holding the line. The fish will come partway, stop and start swimming away. Walk back toward the hole, and make the fish earn every inch of line it takes out. Allow your partner to land the fish.

Three anglers gather around a tip-up (right).

The other method is to hover over the hole. This is more of a give-and-take method. Lay the line on the ice so it doesn't get tangled up in your feet. Braided Dacron is pretty tough, and seldom will the line break from being on the ice.

Either way, once the pike is under the ice hole, bring it slowly to the bottom of the hole, and bring it straight up and out onto the ice with one smooth upward pull on the line.

Some of my best pike fishing near Traverse City where I live is on Boardman Lake, Manistee Lake at Manistee, Portage Lake at Onekama, and Skegemog Lake northeast of Acme. The latter lake also produces the occasional trophy Great Lakes muskellunge.

Ice-fishing fun reaches its peak when a big northern pike powers away from the ice hole. The first two runs will give the angler an indication of its size, and a husky pike weighing 10 pounds or more is a prize catch on any winter day.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Tuning Up My Turkey Calls

My turkey hunting vest hangs in one corner of my office. The pockets bulge with box calls wrapped in soft brown wash clothes, and secured with stout rubber bands to prevent an accidental sound at the wrong time.

The back of my vest has a couple of decoys and stakes, and there is a turkey wing I slap against trees to imitate a hen flying down to the ground from her roost tree.

Other pockets contain slate and glass calls, another pocket has a bunch of diaphragm calls, and scattered here and there is a crow call and an owl call although I rarely use them. There is a gobbler call that I've used perhaps twice in 30 years.

Most of my joy about turkey hunting is calling the birds. The idea of a big gobbler strutting his way to the call is a magnificent feeling. It is a wonderful sight, watching that bird react to soft clucks and purrs, and to watch a long-beard sneak through the woods, stopping and going into a full strut followed by a booming gobble. It's something to be experienced.

The hen is looking. Don't move!

Now me, I am not a good caller. Never laid any claim to being good. Guys like Greg Abbas, Bob Garner, Bruce Grant, Arnie Minka, Phil Petz, Al Stewart and many others are good callers. Not me. I was tone deaf as a youngster, and never could sing a lick. Couldn't carry a tune in a picnic basket.

Countless records have been listened to, and there's no way the sounds that come from my calls sound anything like those on a record or tape. The tapes have true sound quality, and the notes are crisp and sharp like the ringing of a bell.

My sounds tend to run together. There are calls I can't make, and I never try, but no matter how bad they sound to me, it matters little. It doesn't bother the gobbler, not one bit!

One of the secrets of turkey calling that I learned many years ago was that gobblers and hens, like men and women, have different voices. They don't sound the same, and humans are not meant to sound the same. So if my turkey tunes are a little off key, it doesn't bother me if it doesn't bother the bird.

I've argued back and forth with hens, and on more than one occasion, my squabbling with a hen brings her to me. Where she goes, the gobbler will follow, and more than a couple gobblers have met their fate by following a snarly old hen to my call.

I've read books on turkey calling, and the author often advises leaving the diaphragm home if a hunter can't use it right. I always let the turkeys determine whether it is right or wrong, and even when it sounds wrong to me, the birds seem to accept it.

Never practice calling outdoors.

Turkey calling, to my way of thinking, is not so much about what you say with a call as how and when you say it. There is a certain rhythm to turkey calls, and if a hunter has the sense to know the string of sounds and can put them together in the right order, the gobblers may come sneaking in, dancing in little circles, dragging their wing tips, all fanned out as pretty as a picture.

There is much good to be said about never calling too much. A hen that stays in one spot, and squawks at the gobbler may not call a long-beard to the ground anywhere nearby. Call a little bit, perhaps answer one gobble to let him know where you are, and that may be all it takes to lure a big Tom to the gun.

However, having said that, I've long experimented with using two calls at once. If a gobbler sounds hot on the roost, and is gobbling and double gobbling, but won't move in your direction, try using a box call and a diaphragm at the same time. It sounds something like two hens scrapping with one another, and sometimes it will cause the gobbler to come to investigate.

This may be all you see of a gobbler in heavy cover.

Nothing ever works 100 percent of the time, and I've seen world champion turkey callers mess up. Too much calling at the wrong time is a dangerous practice, and hunters must have the experience needed to know when and how much to call.

Shooting the gobbler isn't why I hunt gobblers. I chase this long-spurred bird because I thrill at seeing a snowball-white head bobbing through the woods as it comes to my call. I've been known to let the bird come in, look for the hen and wander off, just so I can catch the buzz of having a gobbler up close. Shooting the bird is anticlimactic.

It's a thrill I hope never to lose, and I'll be practicing my calling for the next three months. Perhaps the practice will help but it's nothing to worry about. I know that with time I can call in almost every gobbler that wants to come.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

I Eagerly Await The Spring

Ice fishermen want the cold weather to hang on for another month or two. The same holds true for snowmobile clubs, and downhill and cross-country skier plus bunny and predator hunters.

To each his own, I say, but sitting around the house while my hopefully heals from a fall last autumn has begun to drag on me. I get up early to watch the sun rise into the sky, and today has been a glorious day. The temperature shot up to 38 degrees, and a tiny bit of spring fever grabbed hold of me.

It's these occasional warm, sunny days that fire up my imagination. I can feel the throbbing head-shake of a buck steelhead, and in my mind's eye I can see a reddish-orange blush along his flanks.

Chunky bluegills like this one offer tasty eating.

I can feel the hint of change in the air, and have been known to sit on a river bank with my back to a tree, and watch steelhead spawn. I don't feel like a voyeur, and have sat motionless for hours watching the fish. In all honesty, probably one or two hours were spent nodding off. Then I knocked some ice and snow off my roof overhang, along with some help from my son David, and his fishing friend,, Ron Rau of Sitka, Alaska.

My ears hear the peenting call of a woodcock as he soars high into the air to impress a female woodcock. Granted, this takes place in April and May, but it's common during the steelhead season, and my memory of listening to this sound on hundreds of other days makes it as crisp and sharp to my ears as church bells ringing this morning.

So too is the putt-putt-putt sound of a ruffed grouse drumming out his love song to a spring hen. The sound is like that of a gas- or diesel-powered generator, and it's as much a spring ritual as fishing for these big fish.

I have a strong hankering for some leek soup, and the time to pick leeks for soup is when the plant is young and just growing. Cut them up, mix in water and seasonings, and leek soup will make French onion soup look like the canned variety.

Of course, another ritual of spring is hunting morel mushrooms. My poor vision makes this an exercise in futility. Unless a white or black morel is big enough to trip me, the chances of my spotting the thing is pretty slim although I give it a try every year. Occasionally one is found although my plans are to put my four-year-old grandson to work in May. He's built closer to the ground than me, and once he learns what to look for, we'll be eating morels.

Driving dirt roads is great fun, and I'm never in a big hurry to go anywhere except perhaps to the end of the trail. A daily drive is just an excuse for checking out some old and new areas for strutting gobblers. A man can't have too many back-up plans when it comes to turkey hunting.

Smelt catches can be good on Crystal Lake if it freezes. Try Green Lake, too.

My memory bank is crammed with the sights of mature gobblers strutting for the hens, sticking their head out to gobble, and watch the head of a big long-hooked gobbler change colors as he displays for his harem.

Folks, I didn't do a thing today except talk deer hunting with a friend, outdoor books with a Florida collector, and I'd like to call your attention to Scoop's Books. Go to the top of this page, scroll down to the right, and click on my ugly puss. That will bring up near 400 fishing and hunting books for sale. Some are expensive but worth every penny, and all are priced right for a sale.

My back is acting up some, and if you'll pardon me now, I'm going to watch the Red Wings game, dig into a mess of fresh-caught bluegills and perch, and relax.

If tomorrow is as much fun as today, it won't be long before I'll be back in the woods checking deer sign. So keep it super-glued to this spot, and I'll continue this daily blog on a regular basis. It's therapeutic for me, and I'm hoping you enjoy my daily thoughts. Go Red Wings!

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors