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Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 107 total)
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  • in reply to: NCNP Bill out of Committee — Now passed Senate #90889
    Sandy McKean
    Participant

      Well, I’ll be damned! (It came a long way since that meeting in Chelan!)

      in reply to: Float Tube or Pack Raft #96567
      Sandy McKean
      Participant

        my Trinity float tube kit is just under 10 lbs

        The nice thing about a Curtis raft (if you can find one) is that the entire package: raft, paddles, packing bag (that doubles as a blowup pump) all together weighs in at 34 ounces! Even with your super light solution (for which you are to be commended), you require 7 extra pounds. To a balls-to-the-wall off-trail backpacker……that’s HUGE.

        in reply to: Self sustaining populations #99191
        Sandy McKean
        Participant

          Lakes with self-sustaining populations that aren’t stunned are rare. You could make it your life’s work to find very many of those lakes. Just stick to lakes that get periodically stocked (and therefore don’t stunt).

          Get the fishing regs pamphlet from WDFW. These days ALL lakes are open all year long UNLESS specifically closed in the pamphlet.

          in reply to: whats a good 3 day fish/hike/cqmp #98472
          Sandy McKean
          Participant

            caddy8581,

            Here’s is a web page that the Washington Dept of Fish and Wildlife puts out. It does a good job of telling you what to expect and what you’ll need. At the bottom it has links to suggested lakes (these are “starter” lakes with easy to catch fish; the lakes with the best fish are usually off trail and require mountain navigation skills).

            http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/high_lakes

            P.S. I agree with Allison. A .45 is unnecessary here. If you have concerns, you (and the rest of us) will be better off if you use pepper spray.

            in reply to: interest in trailblazers and highlakers #84618
            Sandy McKean
            Participant

              @jackchinook wrote:

              We thought we were pretty incredible and that we needed backcountry alter egos.

              😆 😆 😆

              I recently acquired such a “macho” name from a friend from Mexico with whom I was doing some physical work. This was up in the San Juan Islands where I have a place (and to which I am moving permanently soon). There had been some coyotes in area about which we were all worried (considering our small pets). Anyway, here we were: this aging white guy (me), and this aging brown guy (my Mexican friend), when suddenly he started laughing uncontrollably……he had invented a pseudonym for me: Coyote Blanco.

              I was a brilliant stroke. If you knew my personality, and saw the paleness of my skin compared to his bronze body, you would have joined me and he in the resulting sustained belly laugh. He and I have been joking about it ever since. For days after that one would hear the occasional yell at my secluded island retreat of Coyote Blancoooooo coming from him, to which I would dutifully howl at the sky.

              in reply to: interest in trailblazers and highlakers #84615
              Sandy McKean
              Participant

                Bob,

                I think “Jack’s” real name is Michael.

                P.S. This is not a slam on you Michael since the vast majority of folks seem to be in your camp, but frankly I get very tired of folks using all these pseudonyms on the internet. I almost always use my real name since I think the communication is degraded when folks “hide” behind pseudonyms. I am VERY glad that in the TB’er and HL’er forums we all use our real names. I LIKE knowing I’m talking to Bob Burnell and not to TheBigGuyUpATree :D.

                in reply to: interest in trailblazers and highlakers #84602
                Sandy McKean
                Participant

                  We respond around here. It might take 3 years, but respond we will!!

                  😆 😆 😆

                  in reply to: wilderness trail flagging #94033
                  Sandy McKean
                  Participant

                    John,

                    I am most comfortable with a philosophical outlook that all truth is relative, and that there is no such thing as The Truth to the exclusion of what others see as a different truth. Funny that tho, since I am basically a scientist kind of guy…..but apparently a scientist who doesn’t accept that Truth exists 😉 (except in the eye of the beholder). I’m probably best labeled as an existentialist (my literary hero is Samuel Beckett).

                    in reply to: wilderness trail flagging #94030
                    Sandy McKean
                    Participant

                      Here’s a photo from a 2004 trip where we went maybe 5 miles into a lake. This the pile of trash we found hanging in the trees. I doubt we even got all of them!

                      I guess someone was really, really worried about getting lost.

                      in reply to: wilderness trail flagging #94028
                      Sandy McKean
                      Participant

                        My statement below makes me feel like a “principles first, and principles only….and the hell with reality” right winger sort of guy (not my normal comfort zone)……… 😉 😀 😀

                        When I’m out there, I will continue to remove every damn flag I ever see (except official ones), and the hell with arguments to the contrary 🙄 .

                        in reply to: New to the forum! #95464
                        Sandy McKean
                        Participant

                          Brian, you know far more about this than I……do you know how a spammer can “afford” to write “subject appropriate” spam messages?

                          I guess I can imagine it. A program reads the forum and finds the most commonly used words and places them in a sexually charged message (“I’m one of those girls”……”romantic place”) with a verb related word “fishing” (which would be a high incidence word here), along with some pure nouns “mountains”, “lake” (again high incidence) as a plausible human message. OTOH, I would think there would be a request to click on something rather than to leave to chance that someone might click on a signature link.

                          Now I’m starting to lean toward Mick’s excellent instincts :).

                          in reply to: New to the forum! #95462
                          Sandy McKean
                          Participant

                            This is spam isn’t it?

                            It might be, but not likely since spammers do not make customized posts….that is, the spammer would not know that this forum is about fishing.

                            This forum has been continually hacked in recent months by spammers, but the form of those spam messages looks very different from this one.

                            in reply to: New to the forum! #95457
                            Sandy McKean
                            Participant

                              These are often asked questions. I will give you what I consider to be the “best” answers. I am serious with these answers. Some may think these answers are just being facetious, but I really honestly believe these are the answers to your questions. (Note the alpine fishery is defined as occurring in lakes above 3500′ on the east side and 2500′ on the west.)

                              What is your lure of choice out in these types of lakes? – I use rooster tails and number 1 dick nites.

                              Pretty much any small lure will do since there is little food in WA alpine lakes (on the west side at least), so the fish are opportunistic feeders. Having said that, many folks seem to like Jake’s Spin-a-Lures. Many consider fly fishing the most satisfying — sometimes only flies will work. Flies on a bubble can be necessary when there is no back-casting room (unless you have a raft).

                              Biggest trout caught out recently out of an Alpine type lake?

                              80% of the time you will catch 7″ to 10″ trout. At the right lake at the right time consider yourself lucky to tie into 12′ to 16″. Trout larger than 20″ occasionally occur. (I saw one at 26″ once).

                              Where can i find some German Browns to catch?

                              Browns are up there in a handful of lakes. Keeping fishing and you’ll get one eventually.

                              And finally, if anybody has some good spots they’d like to share with good fishing? I have a few i could share as well.

                              Best think to do is, just look for blue spots on a topo map and go there. Off trail results in better fishing. Not all lakes have fish. Many lakes have stunted populations (especially with Brookies) due to biological management mistakes of the past. The alpine fishery in western Washington is a fishery of discovery….that’s the joy DISCOVERY…..catching fish is just a bonus. Be prepared to spend years.

                              in reply to: Pack raft #94886
                              Sandy McKean
                              Participant

                                Mick is right about a truly packable raft (at reasonable weight….say 2 to 3.5 pounds), but one can get a larger, and certainly heavier, blowup boat (at 6 to 8 pounds) for a $100 or so. All depends on what kind of backpacker you are.

                                in reply to: New to this site and have a few questions #94722
                                Sandy McKean
                                Participant

                                  Brian just created the best 168 word advise for high lake fishing in the Cascades I’ve ever read! 🙂

                                  P.S. Many people don’t realize the power of a fly on a bubble……mark my words.

                                Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 107 total)