Snapshot

Just remember if your having a bad day flyfishing.....

Here is another setup that I learned in Montana. It can be a deadly combo, especially for bigger fish. I use a #4 to #6 White Zonker, with a Prince or Pheasant tail nymph in front of it. Give it a twitch or two during your drift. Even though flyfishing purist's don't really consider it a fly. An orange, or pink, Glo-bug (Yarn Egg pattern)can catch alot of fish during the spring Rainbow spawn. During May/June in Montana I use this pattern on Rainbows when they run up the rivers from the lakes to Spawn. Last year I caught 8 big fish in less than an hour on this pattern. They wouldn't even touch anything else I threw at them. The San Juan does not support a large Mayfly population. Use a bigger Midge pattern in front of your streamer if need be.

THe San Juan is a great river. Lots of good fish. I have fished it a few times. The best time to go is before the lake turns over, and releases the dirty water into the river. Flyfishing is like Golf. It's expensive, and it takes years to master. I have been flyfishing a long time, and I am pretty good at it. At the ranch I teach guests a little flycasting/fishing on occasion. However, I also have bad days on the water. I learn something new everytime I hit the rivers. Try a tandem 2 fly rig. A San Juan worm up top with a small midge nypmh off an 18" dropper.Use a strike indicator about 5-6' up from your bottom fly, depending on the depth and speed of the water. Enjoy your trip. Great time of year to go fishing. Tightlines my friend!

Up in Montana they have whitefish in the lakes and rivers. If your using a nymph or subsurface fly it can be hard to keep the whitefish off your fly sometimes. Some people just throw them upon the bank and let them rot, but it is illegal. I have heard some people like them smoked, but I have never tried it.

These messages are painted out in the staging areas by the runway

Ball dragging Yeti minnows?

We are very fortunate to have all the public forest we have. If you were to look at other states you will see we have a good draw system. If you and your wife can't get drawn for a rut hunt then try and change your priorities. You can draw every year if you weren't so picky. Don't blame the guys who get drawn every year. The wait period isn't the answer and don't blame us who draw every year. Pick a unit that you can draw and put your work in. Hunting in the rut should be illegal. Like catching bass off their beds. Just kidding! :lol: TJ Catch-n-release my friend.

Awesome! I like a big buck in velvet.

Bill, I understand what your saying. I like fishing the upper and lower sections of the Little Colorado. The fish are not big, but every once in awhile, I will catch a nice one or two on the lower section. I love the Greer area. It has a certain charm about it, that I can't explain. Lots of good times and memories up there. I hope to get up there again sometime this summer?

Bill, I could certainly see that area being a travel corridor. Some years back, I flyfished my way down the Little Colorado river, from where it comes out of the dam on River Reservoir. I had gone down quite aways, and decided to take a shortcut back. I climbed out of the canyon, and ran into a really nice Antelope buck in one of the small meadows back in the timber. Further on I ran into some does and fawns. It was far fom typical antelope country.

I know of an outfitter that has gone over to hunt below Alma mesa. It is a LONG ride from the Blue River, and you will need to find water. The Only short way to get there is from the NM side. Also the backside of Red Mountain can be a sleeper, I'm told. Don't overlook the Bear Mountain area down in the Blue. A real gagger of a Bull was taken out of there awhile back. Here is a picture of Red Mountain taken from highway 191

I would burn 10 points for a unit 27 December hunt....in a heartbeat. Only 25 people in that big unit would be a quality experience, with the possibility of a 30" buck? You bet! The thing is, I have never had 10 points for deer. I always include a 3,4,5 choice on my app, and usually get drawwn for something. I just like to hunt, even if it is a marginal unit on a 3rd choice.

I have seen some nice bucks just down the road from Hoyer campground, hanging out in the pine trees. Also around the east end of Tunnel and Bunch reservoirs, there always seems to be a few.

You.....and all the rest of us!

There are remote spots of unit 27 that some old bucks may have never even been shot at, or seen, for that matter. I have put in for unit 27 exclusively since the later 1970's. It is always my first and second choice. I have seen a RADICAL drop in mule deer and permit numbers in the last 25 years. There used to be thousands of tags between 2 hunts. Not anymore. The whitetail seem to be doing well, but the mulie numbers are not even close to what they used to be. I would figure a December hunt with 25 tags would see at least a 50% success rate, if not more. The junior hunt always gets first crack at some good bucks in October. Some of the wise old bucks in the Eagle Creek area just boogie over to the Tribal land and hide out. I like the idea of it, if there is survey data that would support the extra harvest? I know the competetion for the tags will be fierce.

Happy Birthday! Hope your day is good to you! I decided I better not post anymore birthday pictures of women jumping out of cakes. I don't want Den-Mother to get upset with me.

Nice pics. I have not been up to look at the damage in unit 27 since I got back from Montana, but it is a real shame to see what happened because of 2 boneheads not extinguishing their campfire. Is there any green vegetation popping up through the ash?

Drooping ears and protruding ribs are one of the symptoms of Chronic wasting disease, but I don't think there are any known cases in Arizona?

I am not sure about migration in unit 23, but it would be worth looking into! I got drawn for late archery in Unit 27 in 2009. It was the toughest hunt I have ever been on. Found lots of bulls, but they were migrating. One day the area was full of bulls, next day they were long gone and on the move. The only bull I got a stalk on busted me because of the winds, which was a daily occurance. They were all moving down in the steep canyon country. Here is a little clip from the G&F unit info: During the archery antlerless hunt in November, hunters should scout the Christopher Mountain, Naegelin Rim, Canyon Creek, Young Airport, Buzzard Roost, and Armer Mountain areas. The late bull hunt in November and December will have the bulls pushed into remote often rugged areas of the Unit. These areas include Armer Mountain, the south slopes of Naegelin Rim, Christopher Mountain, Horse Mountain, and the Mogollon Rim. TIPS: Scouting for the earlier hunts should begin soon after being drawn. Scouting for the later hunts should wait until elk begin their seasonal shifts, which occur after the weather changes and things cool down significantly. There will be areas where elk are common in September, but are absent in December. Also, later hunts have seen an increase in the use of aircraft for scouting. There is a Game and Fish Commission Rule, as well as federal regulations,

Maybe I will come by with a 12 pack, and we can have a minnow eating contest.LOL Sushi anyone?

I like your way of thinking!

LOl. Ain't that the truth. The last 2 years I worked up Montana, right outside Yellowstone National Park. Every May/early June, they have what is called a Buffalo roundup. Cowboys and helicopters are used to push all the Buffalo back into the park for the summer. There is a group everyone call's the "Buffalo hippies" they live in a little commune reffered locally as the "Nation", teepee's and all. These Buffalo hippies flock to the buffalo roundups to make sure that the Buffalo are not being mistreated. They will park in various areas and watch, and wave as people go by. You will not mistake one if you meet them. They smell like something crawled into their pants and died. Dreadlocks and tye dye. I know a bar/restaurant, where the owner actually kicked them out because of their stench.

X

I hear and understand what you are saying. Our society breeds selfishness in many forms. The self serving and ignorant thinking of the anti's and hippie activists, who are truly clueless to the big picture. These very people should have what they are passionate about taken away from them. Or maybe forced to hunt for nutrition just as it was in the old days. Hunt or go hungry. They seem to forget that this country was founded on guns, God and Freedom (Thanks Uncle Ted) This country is changing at an alarming rate. Left wing liberalism is rampant, especially in areas where Liberals can play on human emotion. The liberal media does not help matters. The only thing we can do is fight the good fight, for what we believe, and what we are passionate about. Younger generations will have to pick up were we leave off. Our younger generation of hunters deserve the opportunity to enoy the good times and memories of hunting with Dad/Mom, just as I had growing up.

Did they look healthy, or emaciated? Amanda might know the answer to this.