PUTZING AROUND OUTDOORS
By Jerry Kiesow
Editor’s note: To keep track of what he is doing and where, to see his photos and read some of his other writings, including his book, “Tales of The Peshtigo Putzer,” check out his website: www.jerrykiesowoc.com.
Variety, there is always something to do
Due to some ongoing domestic projects, I (we) don’t always get to spend as much time outdoors as I would like - do we? But ... the good news is that I do, always, have alternatives. Do you? (I certainly hope so.) That said, as I stated in the first of this series, “... Putzing Around Outdoors is more than hunting and fishing ...” The following are perfect examples.
On Saturday, March 23rd, I took my wife and oldest daughter to the Lakeshore Trout Unlimited banquet in Manitowoc. I told them that I considered this full payment to them for helping me with my Fly Fishing For Beginners classes at Riveredge Nature Center, Newburg. They, together, suggested, “Maybe.”
Our daughter had never been to a banquet before and my wife hadn’t attended one for several years, so they actually looked forward to “a night out.”
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| The Lakeshore Trout Unlimited banquet was a good one. Of course, winning these lobsters did nothing to discourage that thought either. There will be several grill-outs like this one, sharing the tails, and other tales, with friends. | |
This was one of the best banquets I have been to in several years. Some of the reasons for that would be because the raffles and silent auctions had more items in them that I am interested in, which former banquets did not. (You may find this hard to believe, but one does reach a time in one’s life when he/she almost has everything he/she needs. Almost.)
Of all the raffles and silent auctions we participated in, I was “up-bid” on a handsome, little, handmade trout net. I discovered a young lad was watching the bid and the net intently. He would always up my bid by $1.00, so I backed off and he “bought” it. I don’t know who got the other items we all bid on, but we did not walk out empty handed. I “won” first choice in the Onion River raffle - 10 pounds of “Wild caught from Canada” lobster tails, $40.00 worth of meat from a Sheboygan meat market, a block of cheese, and a soft sided cooler. Not bad for a $10.00 “donation.”
Five days after the banquet, we “bought” the meat. We will eat well in the evenings ahead. Then, naturally, because we were in the area, we looked at how some of the rivers and streams were doing. We found that it will be awhile before I start casting flies for steelhead.
Speaking of steelhead, during excursions for other things, I adjust my routes so I can check out the rivers and creeks in the local area I haunt for steelies. Before the thaw, which is ongoing as I sit at my desk writing this, I had found two small creeks that were clear and fishable, but only one showed fish - a pair of small steelheads moving together, slowly, upstream. A day later, that same creek was eight inches higher and cloudy with suspended dirt in the melting snow. I could not have seen fish even if there had been a hundred of them moving through.
In addition to fish watching, I always, no matter where or when, bird watch. With that in mind: I had read on a fishing report website, a few days ago, that white-winged scoters had been seen in the Port Washington harbor. I was traveling near there, so I made the slight detour and, praise be, found one was still around. My excitement is because this is a new species to add to my Life List. I don’t get that opportunity very often anymore. I have a pretty full list - for an amateur who doesn’t chase birds all around the world.
This sojourn and other travels have revealed: sandhill cranes finding patches of grass in people’s yards; turkey buzzards returning to help clean up the newly exposed road kills that have been “preserved” under the snow; and robins taking over the landscape, but starting to share it with red-winged blackbirds.
One afternoon, I felt it was time to check out all of my fly leaders (the fly boxes are already ready). I found some no longer had any value because I could not straighten out the imbedded memory, while others, with the addition of appropriate tippet material, are now ready for action.
I also spent a few good hours collecting sap, which has finally begun running with a passion. It may end up being a good syrup season yet.
So you see there are a variety of outdoor, and/or related, things we can do as we wait for the fish to become active, turkeys to gobble and strut, and morels and ramps to poke their heads out of the ground.
The only thing I would have liked to have added to these experiences would have been to have gone to Canada and trapped the lobsters I won. But then, beggars can’t be choosers - can they?
Until next time, keep a good thought!
Jerry