Take a Kid Fishing, or Hunting

Unfortunately, today the majority of the kids don't have a chance or an opportunity to go and enjoy the outdoors. The reasons are many and we can spend forever naming them. Most of the time, some kids just want to stay home and play video games or surf the internet. Not that is bad because in today's world; kids must be computer/electronic savy to function.

However, for our way of life, we have to introduce the outdoors to the upcoming generations for hunting and fishing to continue. I am going to place my daughter in hunter's education this year; she's 13 and probably ready for it. All three of my young children have already been fly fishing numerous times and enjoy it - I don't try to push them hard on it, their attention spans won't handle all day on the stream.

This young many picture is Kiran from Albuquerque. His family friend Kyle C., also from Albuquerque has been taking him out hunting; dove, quail, rabbit and now waterfowl. Of course, the young man has a lot to do in school, ROTC, band and sports but has shown a lot interest in the outdoors. Here he is with his first ducks from his first duck hunt. Congratulations young man and kudos to Kyle.

Tortilla Española

This is a tortilla española; a potato and egg fritter. Great to take to the field or stream as lunch - can be eaten as is or as a sandwich filler in a crusty bun. Pictured here with roasted marinated red bellpepper and green chile caribe.

R & B Stonefly Pattern

I first saw this dry fly pattern a long time and and I liked it. I named it R & B because the abdomen is made from a ribbon of a cassette tape; in this case, a R & B tape that I had around that had given up the ghost. It works well.

Stuffed Bacon Roll

I got this recipe off the web; so, I can't claim fame to it. I did change it a bit for my likes, though.

It is a Bacon Roll with a ground turkey stuffing.

One and a half lb. of bacon.
Two pounds of ground turkey. (original used italian sausage)

Make a weave of 5 X 5 bacon strips going across and up and down (see photo). Press turkey on the weave to flatten leaving about a half an inch around (treat the ground turkey like a meat loaf with spices and such. Dice the remaining bacon and fry to like. Place the fried bacon bits on the turkey. Now, carefully, roll the ground meat up into a tight roll. Then, roll the bacon weave around the ground turkey. It took me about five hours to cook in a gail force wind. I basted it twice before finishng. I used a couple of large chucks of hickory for smoke. A leafy salad went well with it.

Baste:

One cup of Dr. Pepper reduced until almost think. Added it to my rub (I have posted it prior here). Next time I will just add a tablespoon of ketchup, one of mustard and one of brown sugar with a good dash of vinegar.

Result: My kids and I liked it a lot. My wife said it was little salty for her, but she ate it anyway.

Old Vest

My Old vest is over 20 years old. It is faded and in a couple of places, a little worn. A few years back, a couple of zippers finally gave out and I started to price the new vests available. Some of the prices really surprised me. So, I decided to see if I can refurbish my old vest, or at least, give it a try. I called a couple of tailors to see how much they would charge to change the zippers out and got a few quotes. I started to do the math and the price wouldn't be too far from buying a new vest. Mind you, my mom was a seamstress in her life but at that moment she had too much going on in her life for me to ask her. So, I decided to do it myself. I bought some new heavy duty zippers and went to the task at hand. I remove the old zippers; but, I pinned the hem lines to keep it straight and true. Then, I tacked the zippers in place (after trimming them to fit) and sewed them in (remember my mom was a seamstress, so I got it from her). It worked perfectly. You can see in the photo that one of the zippers needs to be resown but is easy. Then, once I biked back to one of the streams in the local mountains. The access was closed to vehicles but I could use my mountain bike to get back there (I was doing an article for the Albuquerque Tribune on fishing it). Incidently, the fly fishing for browns on the spring creek was great. On the way out, the path I was following got too close to the edge of the slope and it gave way under me and my mountain bike. As I was falling down the slope, my landing net got caught on the bike's seat and got ripped off. My rod was in the tube bungeed to the bike, so it was safe. I sewed it back with a piece of demin; may change it one day for lighter material. Since that day, my wife makes me use a helmet when I ride.

One day, I may have to buy a new vest. I am somewhat traditional towards equipment like that but I do keep my options open. Hopefully, I can get a couple of more seasons out of it.

Winter Newsletter 2009

Winter Newsletter 2009

Fin & Feather

Happy holidays to all.

El Niño
The present El Niño is not as strong as in years past. But, it is predicted to last longer into the winter than normal which means more precipitation in the form of snow.

San Juan River
Last September I conducted a workshop on the San Juan River through UNM. The river was running at 500 CFS – too low for my liking. On the good side, it was running clear. The fish took the regular patterns with the scud and the Desert Storm as favorite flies. The weather was mild and sunny. Everyone caught fish with the largest fish measuring 19 and half inches long by Paul P. of Albuquerque. Here is a photo of Pete with his fish; http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j251/NMTrucha/Petebow1.jpg

Dusky Grouse Hunting
This past season was a nice change from years past. The Dusky Grouse coveys that we flushed were of several birds to close to a dozen in each covey. The area where we hunted was lush and green from the summer monsoons helping the grouse with cover and food. Even nicer was the fact that I was using my new side by side 12 gauge shotgun; an Ugartechea, to get my grouse. Dusky Grouse hunting is sometimes described as the hardest upland hunting you can do. Some Duskys with Uggies; http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j251/NMTrucha/uggiesgrouse1.jpg

Fishing Report
Everything is now slowing down for the season. The San Juan River remains as the only dependable river to fish now – and this is my favorite time of year to fish it; no crowds, no heat and no mosquitoes. The San Juan River is now all catch and release in the Special Trout Water section; from the dam downstream to Simon Canyon. The Rio Grande is also another river that offers good fishing for Browns, Rainbows and Cutthroats. There are some Smallmouth Bass in the river as well as Northern Pike swimming in the Rio Grande, too.

Gun Dog Training
I am going to start gun dog training. If you have a new pup and want to use him/her for hunting, this may be something to consider. I have trained my dogs to hunt both upland and waterfowl, I believe in a versatile dog that can do them both. The dogs will be socialized to other dogs and to living as a family companion. They will be exposed to birds, water and eventually gunfire and with a solid foundation of obedience, too. If you have any questions, please send me an email .mailto:penat@gte.net

Hunting Report
The waterfowl season is open now on both flyways; check with the game and fish proclamation for more information. I have yet to go out duck or goose hunting but will report once I get out. The quail season has opened, too. Quail season runs until February 14, 2010. Also, the big game season has started – I didn’t drawn anything this year so I can’t report much on it.

Upcoming Events

• Christmas. December 25, 2010.
• Middle Rio Grande Dark Goose Hunt. January 2 -24, 2010. Check with the game and fish proclamation for more information.
• Easter. April 4, 2010.
• San Juan River Workshop. April 17 & 24 – 25, 2010. UNM Community Education, Los Alamos. Contact Eileen (505) 662 0336 egalleg1@unm.edu
• San Juan River Workshop. April 28, May 1 – 2, 2010. UNM Rec. Services. Contact Laura 2773733 lmont@unm.edu.

Take a kid fishing or hunting
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j251/NMTrucha/marianagill1.jpg

Support our troops and bring them home.
To be taken off the list, email me penat@gte.net.

Thomas Peña
P.O. Box 12526
Albuquerque, NM 87195
(505) 452 9322
penat@gte.net