Memories of Days Gone By
I have many great memories of fishing with my father as a small child, my father had a love for fly-fishing and he would take me along to some remote place every time he had the day off and the weather was good. We would usually end up far from home at some very secluded creek, lake or small river in the foothills of Alberta, we would walk cut lines for hours on end exploring the creeks, rivers and tiny lakes that were hidden from all but the most serious of fisherman.
In all my childhood years fishing with my dad I don't ever remember bumping into another fisherman, we did on occasion run into some lonely trapper who would point us to some new hidden fishing spot and off we would go to check it out. We never brought any food, as it was my father's rule, if you want to eat you had better catch something, not very often did we go home hungry. I can still remember listening to the bugling of an Elk and the smell of Rainbow Trout and Artic Grayling roasting slowing over an open fire, the wind rusting through the leaves as we sit together in silence enjoying the day and dreaming of our next trip together.
My dad has been gone many years now and his last wish was to go on one more trip together. I took a few days off work and headed off into the foothills, where his ashes are now spread over some of our most favorite fishing spots, and I can say in all honesty that grown men do cry, and that these were the most emotion filled days of my life. I went from each river and creek spreading his ashes, I would sit down and the memories of that particular spot would come flooding back to me and I could almost smell the fish roasting and my mind could see my dad fishing along the bank. I was gone for 4 days on this trip and I never did cast my fly, but it was one of the best trips I have ever done in my life.
The memories I have of our trips will last forever and hardly a day goes by that at some point my thoughts will wander off and I can see us standing there together, fishing side by side. There has been days in my life where my wife will come into the kitchen and see me sitting there, staring off into space, holding my cup of coffee with a silly grin on my face, and she will ask what's wrong with me and I would tell her nothing is wrong, absolutely nothing.
Now that I have children that go along with me to the same places that my dad has taken me, I can see why my dad was always smiling on these trips. The absolute best part of taking my kids fishing is to sit and listen to them tell their friends about how much fun they have going out with the "old man" and you can actually hear the excitement in their voice and see the sparkle in their eyes. Hopefully the memories that I now share with my children are the memories that they will have forever, and someday when I am no longer on this earth, they will be sitting back with their cup of coffee, a silly grin on their face staring off into space.
Up The Creek: Pontoon Boats for Fisherman
After 7 years of fishing from my float tube and having suffered a serious back injury, I had to look at other options, as fishing from my tube was an impossible task. A friend of mine suggested I come out and try his pontoon boat, after 20 minutes I realized this was something I had to have. After 2 months of looking around at all types and styles of pontoon boats I finally bought one. There are generally four different types of pontoon boats available and each pontoon boat has its advantages and disadvantages, before running out to your favorite fishing store and getting the first pontoon boat you see you will need to give some thought to exactly what type of fly fishing you will be doing and what type of water you will be using it on. Another good thing to consider is how far from your vehicle you have to haul your pontoon boat before you can set it into the water, as some of them can be quite heavy. Most pontoon boats today are available in a powder coated steel or aluminum frame, with the aluminum frame being the most popular due to its weight.
One Person Pontoon Boat - The options that are available on this style of boat are almost endless and they have a weight capacity of between 250 and 400 pounds (including your body weight and all your gear), I would tend to stay away from the lower weight capacity boats as you become limited to the amount you can carry. The optional motor mount is a must have and I would also recommend the aluminum frame (6 to 10 pounds lighter than the steel frame models), if the lakes and rivers you fish require you to carry the boat over a long distance. The higher end boats also have an option for a standing platform for easier casting and are available in steel or aluminum frames. Setting up this style of boat is a simple task and can be done in less than 15 minutes. The biggest advantage is this boats ability to float in less than 5 inches of water.
2 Person Pontoon Boat ? Designed to carry 2 fishermen, this type of pontoon boat can be a real chore to assemble, also due to the size and weight you don't want to haul this boat very far from your vehicle in order to set it on the water. The options on a 2-man boat are numerous dual casting platforms, aluminum frame, motor mount (front and back), and the different array of storage compartments is almost unbelievable. The biggest disadvantage to this style of boat is the size, weight and amount of space required to haul it.
The Packable Pontoon Boat - This style of pontoon boat is an excellent choice if you like to get away from the crowds and walk into a more secluded lake, setting one of these boats up is about as easy as it can get. This style of boat because of its lightweight feature is not available with as many options as the standard single person boat. The single biggest advantage to this boat is its weight and the ability to pack it into your favorite spot. The biggest disadvantage is the lack of available options.
Kick Boat - A kick boat although not much of an upgrade from a float tube, will keep you warmer as only your legs are in the water, making it more pleasant to fish late into the fall season. The advantages of a kick boat are that they are lightweight, packable and will fit into the trunk of smaller vehicles. The disadvantage is that they can be extremely physically tiring to fin around the lake for a full day of fishing.
I have recently upgraded from my float tube into a Trout Unlimited pontoon boat, and after fishing from a pontoon boat I am sure I will never go back to a float tube again. As you sit above the water, fishing late into the season is not a problem due to cold water, casting is also much easier and moving around the lake is less tiring. My boat also has the optional motor mount and battery tray (picked up an electric motor for it on Saturday). I am looking forward to trying this out as soon as the ice is off the water.
Good luck and tight lines.
Stance and swing 6 tips for better golf
The perfect stroke is that elusive thing we all strive for, asleep in our beds at night with a smile on our faces as we dream of that drive going straight and true down the middle of the fairway or that putt dropping in to the cup at the end of its smooth 50 yard run.
Unfortunately reality bites when we get to the tee and make our shot, those niggling worries start in the back of out minds, are my feet too far apart, is my eye on the ball, is my chin too far in is my back swing too shallow, this indecision and doubt might be throwing you off your game, so take a little time and read through these tips to improving your swing and stance, if you do not learn anything at least you now know you were doing the right things all along and that doubt can be lifted and replaced by the dream stroke you always had inside of you.
1. Is your stance too narrow? A narrow stance can cause balance problems for a golfer, it also causes an unstable base and this can lead to more balance problems and so the vicious cycle continues. To solve the problem of poor balance you should take a slightly wider stance should be used, your toes should be slightly splayed out. The lead foot should be splayed out around 30 degrees, make these adjustments and you break the cycle, your base is stabilised and your balance restored.
2. When the club addresses the ball are your hands too close to your body?
This can limit the arc of the club and can cause it to be too narrow, to improve your arc you should reach a little more this produces a wider arc and improves distance.
3. Avoid swaying during the back swing, if you have a tendency to sway backwards this can seriously impair your swing, this is because you are not turning about your pivot point and the weight becomes too much for your rear leg, you should feel free to move your weight to your rear leg but only to the inside, you should concentrate more on turning than swaying to solve this problem.
4. One thing that will loose you power when you are playing golf is keeping your club too close to your body on take away, the way to correct this problem and get that power back is to extend your arms away from your body, like you were going to hand your club to somebody on your right had side, you must maintain your balance throughout.
5. To get a wider arc and more power you need to ensure that your right
elbow stays out from your body, too many golfers keep the elbow too close into their body and this causes a loss of power and severely limits your game.
6. Concentrate on not moving your weight on to your front foot during the back swing, this can cause a reverse pivot, that will lead to a loss of power, you must ensure that you move your weight to your back leg but not so much that you risk a loss of balance.
I have been involved with teaching and playing golf for over 20 years and share some helpful tips a at golf golfdust training I hope you find it useful.