Entertaining Grandson

K's parents had to make the difficult decision to "put down" Jake, the family Golden Retriever, who has been a part of the family since before K's grand entry into the family. That was hard, but they are dog-sitting a friend's dog, Lucy. Lucy is as old as K. She is a pretty sweet dog.































M and K waiting to drive a car at Wahooz in Boise. J and I had a good day watching these cousins play. I played a couple rounds of mini golf with them. The kids can't beat the wiley coyote, but they played pretty well. We had fun.

M caught six smallmouth bass. These were the two biggest that we kept. The larger one was the second bass caught. The other was the first bass. He had the first fish on in about two minutes of having dropped the worm to the bottom of the reservoir. The bigger fish pulled really hard. In fact the smaller fish gave M about all he thought he could handle. He was not so sure that he could land the bigger fish, but he kept with it and got the job done. Pretty exciting. We will have fried fish for breakfast tomorrow along with fried potatoes from the garden.



Looking into Hell's Canyon from the Visitor's Center located below the Hell's Canyon Dam. We spent Thursday afternoon fishing from the docks and dodging the big jet tour boats when they came in to dock.

An Oklahoma Fishing Experience

A few pictures of the Oklahoma fishing experience. Read more below.








Black Bass caught with spin cast reel and rod on The Grand Lakes of the Cherokees.
The guide was Tony Coatney. I enjoyed my four hours with him. He is a very knowledgeable bass fisherman.

My story. Several months before making our trip to Missouri and other states in the neighborhood, I went online looking for a bass fishing guide on the Grnd Lakes of the Cherokees in the NE corner of Oklahoma. I contacted by e-mail a Dempsey Guide service. In a few days I had a response. So a date was set. His wife did not ask for a down payment. Months went by without contact, so I called. A few days later I got a return call and the time was set for six in the morning on the 20th of July. He would pick me up at the marina at the resort I would be staying at (World Mark, or the former Shangri La). Still no requirement of a down payment which is the usual modus operendi of guides. Jane and I arrived at the resort and checked in the day before the fishing adventure was to begin. Since there was no marina at the World Mark Resort as there was on the Lake of the Ozarks where we stayed in Missouri the night before, I decided I had better do some scouting so that I am at the right place at six in the morning. I get information that the marina is about a half mile away. I visit there and talk with the owner of the marina. He tells me that Dempsey is not welcomed at this marina and that I should be hiring Tony. He also tells me that Dempsey is not a bass fishng guide, but a paddle fish guide. He calls Tony immediately and puts me on the phone with him. Am I feeling like I have walked into a territorial fight here? uh huh! Tony says Dempsey is not to pick up clients at this marina and that he knows he is not suppose to do so. I called Dempsey, but as usual, he doesn't pick up. I eft a message that I was canceling the trip. I arrange to go with Tony Coatney who charges $50 less and is reputed to be the best guide on the lake. He even had his own TV show for eight years I found out later. Go to his website: http://www.grandfishingwithtonycoatney.com/

While visiting Tony's website click on his picture section and you will find a picture he took and posted of me with the bass I caught. Pretty cool!

We started the morning fishing for sand bass. I caught a few. Hooked a big catfish that I broke off. Tony was cathing more, and bigger sand bass than I and he caught five or six nice size crappie that went about a foot long. They have to be ten inches to be legal in Oklahoma. Ha. We would hardly ever keep any here in Idaho with that rule.

Oh, yeah. It was seriously hot in Oklahoma. Tulsa had heat indexes of 106 while we were there. A few days it was even higher. We were about an hour and half drive from Tulsa. The temps were in the mid-nineties and the humidity was in the mid to high nineties. That is some kind of hot for a Western boy. We spent a lot of time in the condo or the air conditioned car. I did tour the Cherokee Museum while there. It was a good experience. Jane passed on that adventure.

Later,
Papa Coyote

Pictures of some Family Members.

A view of Couer d' Alene Lake. Hard to take a picture that does justice to the lake. It is big.

The following pictures were taken at a birthday party for Uncle Bud Stockton. I am late posting these, but I guess, better than never. Several members of the family were missing due to a conflict with some graduation parties for Ashley Eachon, Doug's daughter (Doug is the sone of Marilyn Stockton Eachon and the graduation of Mariah, the daughter of Patti Hamilton, the daughter of Sylvia, the daughter of Leah, the daughter of Roy Stockton (bd 1885).


Robert "Robbie" Eachon, son of Marilyn Stockton Eachon, daughter of Roy and kellie Stockton, daughter of Dean "Bud" Stockton


Tim Stockton, son of John and Gen


Ken Stockton, son of John and Gen Stockton


Marge, daughter of Gene Stockton, the oldest son of Roy and Gen Stockton the widow of John Stockton, son of Roy Stockton



Cindy Stockton Gordon and her husband. Cindy is the daughter of Frank and
Shirley Stockton the son of Roy Stockton.


Brenda and Dean "Bud" Stockton on Bud's 78th birthday dinner held at Templin's in Post Falls, Idaho on June 19

4-H Day Camp for 10-14 Year Olds

This morning the Indianhead Fly Fishers taught six young curious wannabe fly fishers how to tie a woolly bugger and how to cast with fly rod and line. A brother and sister from Spokane were visiting Grandma and Grandpa and were happy to have a chance to join in on the 4-H day camp. Thanks to Melissa for arranging this day camp for now the third year. I should have taken a close up picture of their flies, but I was busy helping one of the young tiers. Many thanks to Perry who led the class. He is truly a master tier. He also tied a beautiful Woolly Bugger for each of the campers.

We did not have much success catching fish at the pond. Spencer had one on and lost it. That was the grand sum of our success. He was happy because he outfished his sister. He said it was his secret competition. Sorry, Spencer for letting the cat out of the bag! The trout are showing signs of stress as the pond heats up. The F and G did drop a truck load of bass and catfish in the pond. A twenty inch catfish gave quite a thrill to an older gentleman who hooked the cat. He had no idea the catfish and bass had been dumped into the pond. He was used to catching the 9-10 inch rainbows, so when the cat took off on a fifty foot run, he was flabbergasted.

Sorry not to have pictures of the youngsters fishing. Again I was busy like all the other Indianhead Fly Fishers working with the youngsters as they learned to cast a fly rod.

One young camper, Hunter, told me how much fun it was to learn something new and how he looked forward to finding a fly rod and reel. I told him have Mom and Dad keep a watch on Craigslist.com.

If you click on a picture you will enlarge the picture.



























So long for now,
Hope your lines don't suddenly go slack,
Papa Coyote

A Fathers' Day Celebration

Five fathers and their families gathered for a campfire and cookout over the fire. Kids and fathers had a great time. I think the moms were enjoying themseleves as well. After all they are an integral part of this father gig. Thanks to all for making the day so much fun.











Sometimes one has to experience modern technology, e.g., the digital camera from a kids point of view to truly understand the importance of the invention. Remember standing in front of the mirror making faces when you were a kid? Digital pictures makes the experience even better.


What is for dinner??


Brother and sister


What wonder this rain! Why do these silly grown ups run in from the rain when the rain is sooooo delightful.


Contemplating the days gone by?



Roasting some hot dogs and pocket pizzas over a campfire.

The two Papa's on Fathers' Day checking out the fire.

Thoughts on the Perfect Engineer

Happy Father's Day! 2010

If our legacy is what we leave to our children and grandchildren, then what will be our legacy?

I am thinking American society here, not individually.

And how can the sum of the parts, ................?

Reading Troutbirder's latest entry inspired me to go through some pictures taken this spring while on a Oyster mushroom hunt and write about nature's wonderful engineer. Native American people held the beaver in high regard for his wisdom and work ethic. Duh! Oh, yeah, most native people did not differentiate between people and animals. They are all part of the whole and have their importance in the Big Picture. Some how our people have not comprehended such a basic concept of survival.

You can visit Troutbirder at (http://baron-troutbirder.blogspot.com/)



This is some of the damage done by our local beaver or beavers. I have yet to see them at work. They have placed a dam on the slough that runs near our house. These poplar trees that have been chopped down are up to sixteen inches in diameter. A few winters ago I was exploring through this area and realized that there were several trees partially chewed through. Evidently, a beaver has to spend a few days cutting down a tree. I had recently read a book about a fly fishermen who was attacked by a beaver and suffered some life threatening cuts to the leg by the beaver's razor-sharp teeth so I was a bit edgy thinking of a sudden attack by the local beaver whose territory I was sloshing through. Then I hear a rustle that increased in loudness. Geez! I thought I was under attack. But, it was only one of those partially cut through trees falling. The branches brushed against me as the tree crashed to the ground. Wow. That was close. So when prowling through a beaver's territory on a windy day, BEWARE!

Mari Sandoz in her book about the history of the beaver trapping and trading industry tells of a beaver dam reported in Canada to have been over 2500 feet long. Now, that is some serious engineering and a lot of steady work. Maybe even teamwork. They are a marvel.

Incidently, if anyone is interested in Mari Sandoz' book on this subject see (http://www.amazon.com/Beaver-Men-Spearheads-Empire-Bison/dp/0803258844/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277051506&sr=1-10). I have to say that she is not the very best of writers so reading through the book can be a bit of a struggle sometimes, but the information is well worth the effort.

Hope all you fathers have a wonderful day. Enjoy your families. My wife cooked a wonderful breakfast. The day is starting well.

Yeeeeoooooowww,
Papa Coyote loves you all

Strange Find by Bryan

Ever see a fish that looks like this? The fish at Bryan's feet was frantically trying to get out of the lake. There was a pretty heavy duty thunderstorm creeping over the Owyhee Mtns. toward us at the time. Seems as though this is standard behavior for these fish when the baromoter takes a sudden plunge; hence the name Oriental Weather Fish. Some people like to keep these fish in their aquarium because they forecast storms. They are of the loach family. Bryan and I were fishing on the shores of Halverson Lake (http://www.canyonco.org/parks.aspx?id=846) when Bryan looked down and saw this weird looking fish. He was thinking that he may have seen his first Snake Fish. We collected it and I brought it home to identify. I called Mark Sands, our area conservation officer, and started to describe it. He finished the description. I asked him if he wanted to see it, but he said no. He knew what it was but could not think of the name off hand. He called the state office first thing the next morning to get the name. He said that Charlie Daniels had found one in the drainage ditch across the street from his house four years ago. They are now throughout the lower Snake River valley. They most likely have been dumped by owners of aquariums who are moving and have no one to give their fish to so they dump them in some nearby body of water. These fish manage to survive and can grow to 20 inches. They are natives of Asia and Africa. The Idaho F and G is not too worried about them because they don't compete for food with our popular game fish. In fact they probably provide a meal for bass. The loach is an edible fish, but then so is the carp. I talked to Charlie about his finding of the fish. He said that he put it in a jar and took it to a regional public meeting held by the Fish and Game. Turns out that he was the only citizen to attend the public meeting. His fish caused quite a concern at that time because our fisherery people had not seen an Oriental Weather Fish in Idaho waters yet.

For information Google "dojo loach" or "Oriental Weather Fish"
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/loaches/DojoLoach.php