June 27, 2008Back from the Great White North (Dakota)This blog has been quiet for the past week because I've been in Bismarck, N.D. for a conference. When I told people I was going to Bismarck for a conference the first thing they wanted to know was, "Who in their right mind holds a conference in North Dakota?" The Outdoor Writers Association of America, is who. The OWAA traditionally tries to hold conferences in areas where the outdoors are important, and that certainly holds true with Bismarck. Contrary to the belief of my wife and a number of others, it wasn't a vacation. I spent five days in meetings, seminars and panels, and most nights with planned events. As some of you might have seen in the DGIF's Outdoor Report, I was recently elected to the OWAA's board of directors (thanks to all who have sent congratulations) so that added to my responsibilities, too. I guess I could have found some time for blog entries on some of the happenings up there -- and I plan to touch on some of the topics. But while the stuff was of interest to me, most of it might not be for others as it was a lot of nuts and bolts-type stuff. I'd be lying if I didn't admit to having some fun socializing in the evening with friends I get to see but once a year. One night I even broke from my non-gambling form and played some blackjack at the motel bar. They can run the games because all profits go to the local convention and visitor's bureau. It's a small stakes game, with $1 minimum bets and $25 max bets. I started with $20 in chips and figured to play $1 and $2 bets until I ran out. Amazingly, I didn't run out. When I cashed out after two hours of playing I had $55 in chips, and I'd actually tipped the dealers some, too. That game provided a couple surreal moments. One, two guys took a bathroom break and found the men's room closed for cleaning. So they knocked on the door and went into the women's bathroom. Well, the woman cleaning the men's room saw this and went ballistic. Next thing we know she's in there with two security guards yelling, "There they are! That's them!" Fortunately the guards, who were straight out of an episode of "Reno 911," agreed to let the perpetrators off with a warning. Later in the game the guy sitting next to me took a drink of red wine, swallowed down the wrong pipe, coughed and blew his wine all over the dealer and our cards. Amazingly, she let him keep playing after he tipped her generously and helped wipe off the cards. I did manage to slip in one outdoors adventure, staying an extra day to go prairie dog shooting. It was pretty interesting and I hope to do a story for the paper and post a video here when the story runs. June 20, 2008Is it unreasonable to require a valid e-mail?A couple days I put a little note up under the Quick Thoughts category about e-mail addresses on the comment form. Simply put, I modeled it after the policy in place over on The Roundtable Blog. It simply states that a valid e-mail address is required on the comment submission form. I didn't think it was that big of deal, but a co-worker has since called it a "rant" and another guy sent in a note claiming I was stifling his 1st ammendment rights. (I think he may have been yanking my chain, but couldn't quite be sure.) Maybe I'm being too sensitive but this has been bothering me. I know assumed anonymity (I say "assumed" because, as most of you know, it's pretty easy to track down all but the sneakiest and smartest tech geeks in Cyberspace) is one of the appeals of the Internet. So while some people have no problem posting full names with their comments, many people want their opinions to be seen but don't want those opinions attached to their real names. I've got no problem with that. It probably helps spur more interesting debate than we'd have if we required, as we do for letters to the editor in the newspaper, a valid name and hometown (and a phone number for verification). That said, I promise you it's REALLY EASY to post a comment with a valid e-mail and still remain anonymous. As I wrote in the Quick Thought note, the e-mail won't be made public. It won't be accesible to spambots. Etc. Just put "Billy Bob" in the name section and that's what your comment will appear under. I really don't care who you are. So if your regular e-mail address contains your name and you don't want me (or another site administrator) to see it, it's also REALLY EASY to create a valid e-mail account with any number of services (such as yahoo or gmail) for anonymous posting. Heck, I've done it. After the Nebraska Huskers pulled a trick play on my alma mater while leading by something like 30 points in the second half, I posed as an idiot Nebraska fan and had a lot of fun posting on Husker fan sites. The fact is, the vast majority of posters here are totally cool with using a legit e-mail address with their comments. So this policy will affect very few people. Now, it will \probably affect one group -- the animal rights folks who get on here from time to time. They rarely use valid e-mail addresses. I guess they don't trust me to keep the address private. Maybe they're afraid I'm going to form a posse to track them down. I suspect the requirement will cut down on comments from them, and I have mixed feelings about that because I have to admit that those back-and-forths can be pretty entertaining. On the other hand, some of the animal rights comments can be pretty outrageous, bordering on personal attacks. I'm not one to stifle free speech, but I don't think it's unreasonable to ask them to at least be willing to take a little responsibility for what they're typing. So, I guess what I'm wondering is what other folks think about it? Is the policy reasonable? If not, why not? I could be convinced to go back to the Wild West if someone presents a compelling enough case. June 17, 2008A valid e-mail address is required for commentingWhile the vast majority of readers submitting comments to this blog provide valid e-mail addresses on the comment form, a few folks, for whatever reason, insist on providing fake addresses. The deal is simple: To comment on this blog, a valid e-mail address is required. I will conduct random checks to ensure that addresses are valid. Be assured, the address you submit on the comment form is not public, and not accessible to spam bots. It will not be used for any other purpose than verification. Additionally, from time to time this blog touches on some topics on which we have passionate and sometimes divergent views. Debate is fun and productive. Please keep things polite and respectful. Personal attacks won't be allowed. Obviously, libelous comments are non-starters. Thanks to all of you for reading, and a special thanks to those of you who take time to comment. Mark Taylor Sean Snyder with a 29-pound James River muskie
He stuck with his lightweight gear (8-pound-test) but had the sense to put a steel leader on in front of the big white spinnerbait he chose. It's a good thing because this 44-inch long muskie hammered the lure and the fight was on. Snyder plans to get the 29-pound fish mounted. "It's going on my wall," he said. I've heard of a couple other good muskies pulled recently from area rivers. In one case I even got a picture of another big one, but the sender swore me to secrecy regarding that catch. June 11, 2008It may be a while before I catch a bigger catfish
I can't take all the credit. My buddy Erich Faber had actually cast out my bait (a live sunfish) a while earlier after reeling it in to keep it from a marauding turtle. He also had to yell to wake me up. And then he had to net the thing. So it was a team effort. I hope to get back to the lake soon for another catfish trip, although I'm not sure I can hack another all nighter. I'm still recovering from this one. June 9, 2008Anybody have some turtle avoidance suggestions?
He pitches a tent on his dock in the back of the creek (on the Roanoke River) and we pretty much stay up all night fishing. A couple hours before dark we start catching sunfish to use for bait. Then we cast them out, engage the clickers on our reels and wait. We didn't have to wait long for action on Saturday. Unfortunately, it usually came from one of these buggers. We must have pulled in close to two dozen. It was brutal. Most managed to swallow the circle hooks so they cost us a bunch of expensive hooks. We caught only four catfish all night and I have to believe it would have been better had these things not kept bothering our baits. Does anyone have suggestions for keeping turtles at bay? I realize that fishing in deeper water would probably help. And maybe we should use a float rig to give the sunfish a little more mobility. Any other suggestions would be much appreciated. Despite the bothersome turtles it was still a fun trip. And it actually produced my two biggest cats ever -- a 19-pound flathead and 29-pound flathead. I'll post a picture of the big cat soon. June 4, 2008Some pictures of sick fish from the James River
\As this picture shows, the findings Tuesday weren't pretty. About a third of the fish shocked up showed some level of illness, mostly in the form of lesions of sores. As you can see from these pictures, some were pretty nasty. Smith and Kovacs planned to be back on the river at a different site on Wednesday and I haven't heard from them how that went. If there is good news here, it is that what I saw Tuesday was similar to what I saw on a similar electroshocking trip this time last year. And when it was all said and done, Smith said the estimated mortality on the river last year was about 10 percent. Considering that natural mortality is probably around 5 percent, that might not seem that bad. Certainly, it could be worse. (Mortality has been thought to hit 80 percent among some species in some sections of the Shenandoah in certain years.) But that 10 percent adds up. Plus, there's some evidence that suggests that mortality rates may be higher in larger fish. A lot of speculation and accusations are floating around out there about what might be causing this. Those of us who love the Cowpasture or Jackson or James want to blame someone or something. But there's still no proof. The best thing we can do is keep on top of this, making sure the groups investigating these problems stay on top of the investigation. Is the team, at the center of which is the specially appointed Shenandoah River Fish Kill Task Force, doing everything it can to solve the mystery? Given the available resources, I think yes. I wish they had more resources, of course. So do they. Rock bass seemed to be most heavily affected
Mouth sores on a James River rock bass
June 2, 2008Just another (frustrating) day at the lake
My hope was to get a few carp to use for cut bait for an upcoming catfishing trip. So we get my little johnboat in the water (at the Hardy public ramp) and the 15hp Yamaha 4-stroke fires up on the second pull. And I had to say, "Second pull. Gotta love it." At which point the engine sputtered and died. And that was it. Nothing would get it going. I didn't have tools or spare plugs or anything so there wasn't much we could do except head out with the trolling motor and try the engine from time to time (to no avail). Visibility was terrible. I'm not sure why as it hadn't rained lately and the river wasn't up. I wasn't seeing much except turtles and sunfish. On a bank that's never been that good for me I spotted this carp and it gave me what turned out to be my easiest shot of the evening. I stuck it in the spine and it didn't even flinch. That was it. I got at least 20 more shots and didn't connect on any. I shot over some but shot under others. It was frustrating. I'm going to make a sunken target and do some practicing on the water because I haven't been able to hit squat for two years now. Eventually I put down the bow and got out the 3-wt fly rod and started tossing a little popper up near the shore. Bluegills were crushing it. Unfortunately, most were about 3 inches long. Alfie was casting a worm for bass and had one good hit. The weather started getting iffy and we headed the mile or so back to the ramp. Well, we started too late because we ended up having to fight a stiff wind for the last part of the trip. It started pouring just as we got to the ramp. (My new Cabela's Gore-Tex rain jacket, purchased after that soggy trip to Pa. a couple weeks ago, worked great, by the way.) I'm frustrated by the motor issue. The thing is 4 years old but is pristine because I just haven't used it much. That's probably one reason it's been a bit finicky. I'm not a motor tinkerer. Never have been. But I'd like to try to get this fixed on my own if it's simple, which it seems it should be. Bad gas or plugs, maybe. I'm not sure where my manual is so I figured I'd pull one up on the Yamaha Web site. Well, naturally, the manual I'm trying to download won't open up in my Web browser. Yamaha's site says they will happily sell me one -- but they're out of stock. So I guess I'll be digging through my junk tonight trying to find the manual. One thing about my boat when I was a kid, it never broke down. And rowing it kept me in pretty good shape.
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About this blog
While growing up in rural Southern Oregon, Mark Taylor developed a passion for the outdoors while he and his younger brother tagged along with their father on fishing, hunting and camping adventures. Graduating from Northwestern University in 1988, Taylor spent four years as an officer in the U.S. Navy based in Norfolk before moving into journalism. After five years writing about the military for a Norfolk-based publishing company, he became the outdoors editor at The Roanoke Times in 1998. He lives in Roanoke with his wife and twin daughters. .....Advertisement.....
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