Trout fishing in those out of the way places

Well now, this post will not be your normal travelogue piece.  First, the thought of trout fishing probably conjures up images of exotic locations with scenic vistas and expensive equipment.  Well for those who have spent a little time here reading my opines, you will recognize that I usually don’t live my life that way.  Things are a little more folksy, down to earth, and consist of real world activities that have a cost but are within reach of the average working stiff.

Yeah, but trout fishing as seen on TV is pretty high dollar stuff with specialized equipment and skills that are outside of my means and abilities.  Hold on, hold on, we are getting there but we need to set some expectations first.

I want you to imagine a beautiful stream along side a quiet gravel road deep in the Rockies on a golden, quaking aspen autumn day and see a tall thin man standing calf deep in a stream with a fly rod briskly whipping a #21 midge forward and back to just the right spot and imagine the swirl of a big rainbow coming up behind ……. wait a minute that is not what this is about.  I am talking about fishing for trout in IOWA!!  Yup the “tall corn state.” We are talking, worm dangling, lure casting, cow pies on the bank, pheasants cackling over the limestone hill, IOWA.

So maybe your idea of trout fishing is the description I just gave of a fishing afternoon in the Rockies.  Good enough, keep googling, cuz this ain’t the right stop on your magical mystery tour. We are heading to the great state of Iowa for a glorious afternoon of fishing without much fellowship. The price will be right and the enjoyment will be similar but without all of the trappings of an outdoor channel extravaganza.

Iowa began their program of “put and take” stocking back during the mid point of the last century.  The idea is that the state will hatch and grow trout to be eventually stocked in appropriate streams within the state.  Then we the “fishermen” (fisherpeople sounds a bit pretentious) will spend our weekends in the spring and fall dangling worms and such bait as we can buy or find until one jumps out of the water and lands at our feet.  Well maybe it is not quite that easy.  We are using equipment made by companies like Zebco, Mitchell, Eagle Claw, Berkley with Mustad hooks and such.  We buy our bait at WalMart and Cabela’s and Bass Pro and our rods and reels together cost well under a $100.  We carry our stuff in our coverall pockets and our hooded sweatshirt pouches and we don’t even understand what a tippet is used for, ”weight forward” is a concept of how our diet has put the pounds on us over the years and creels are those folks that live down on the bayou and got hit by hurricane Katrina, right?

Anyway, you get the point that this is not a sophisticated exercise, right.  The fun of fishing, is, well, fishing. Getting outside on a beautiful fall afternoon with a sandwich and can of pop nee soda in your 5 gallon bucket, a dozen night crawlers, a couple of old fishing poles that have seen lots of service and some wonderful spring fed water flowing through limestone covered hills with rocks the size of your pickup in the middle of the stream hiding 1# -3# fish awaiting the plunk of your bait to entice them out of their environs and into your bucket.

The state hatchery publishes a stocking schedule of what streams will be stocked and when.  There are quite a few streams that are being stocked and lots of fish are being placed for the enjoyment of the citizenry that take a fancy to a little walk in the farm lands, on a spring or fall day, who have the patience to wait out these little guys hunger pangs.

Now the purists out there are saying, “that ain’t trout fishing” well good for you it might be different than your style of trout fishing but it is trout fishing Iowa style and if you think your enjoyment is any greater then the enjoyment I just described you are sorely mistaken. Fun is fun and if you’ve a hankering to fly fish or some other esoteric form of killing fish, have at it.  In the years I have fished these cold water streams in Iowa, I have seen every form of fishing I know of and all have provided hours of pleasure for their purveyors.  So you go ahead and do it your way and I will do it mine and we can all coexist.

Part of the nice thing about Iowa trout streams is NO CROWDS! If you have ever tried trout fishing in Missouri or any of the other popular states you are used to being able to see many folks from where you stand fishing in your favorite hole.  It will be the exception when you can see anyone from your favorite hole when fishing an Iowa trout stream except in the state parks that are stocked.

License fees are reasonable and an annual non-resident fishing license is $39.50 and a Trout Fee is $11.00 (this used to be called a trout stamp.) So for about $50 and some bait you can be in business and most of us cannot drive to another trout fishing location for that price, so give it a try.

As far as equipment goes, any old rod and reel will work.  Old timey trout fisherman tell you you need 4# or less line and ultralight rods and reels.  Well, while those types of gear catch a lot of fish, I have stood next to guys using their Zebcos and watched them pull fish after fish out of the same hole I was in with my fancy equipment and they were home cleaning fish before I got my limit.

I use graphite rods because I really like the feel of them when a light tap, tap, tap is felt on the end of the bait,  I use a Shimano Spirex 500 FA reel with a G Loomis ultra light graphite rod of 5′ 6″ with 4# line of some brand that Cabela’s wound on for me. But, again, it is not necessary. The fish are looking for food and as long as they think that is what they are getting, they don’t care that it is attached to a cheapo rod and reel, they just want to eat.

So the real purpose of fishing is decompression time for many of us.  There are those that fish to eat and for them my suggestion is find some other type of fishing as the limit is 5 trout per day. Go fish crappie where the limit is about 1 million crappie per day and you can fish one day and eat for weeks. So if the enjoyment of being out in nature and relaxing is your goal then Iowa trout fishing is something you really need to explore.

I hope this helps, as I really am feeling the pull to get up there and get after them.  The stocking season does not start for another couple of months but the carry-over trout always seem like a fun thing to try.

If you’ve a hankering to, check out this site http://www.iowadnr.com/fish/fishing/trout/troutstr.html everyhting you ever wanted to know about Iowa trout fishing is located there including stocking schedules.  Enjoy and don’t forget who sent you.  You’re gonna love it! Any time you can get outdoors and spend a day you are a better person. Make it a habit.

My little corner of the world

Well, ain’t we got fun?  I am about to start the 3rd month of entries in this blog. 

Maybe it is time for some reflections; about topics, readership, my input and reactions to what I have written and some random comments which may or may not be relevant to anyone but me.

So, here goes.

I got into this blog thingy from an interesting angle.  One of my kiddos gave me the nudge (not against my will obviously) and assisted me in getting things started.  The topical issues, I take total blame for. They are mine and mine alone.  They derive from how I live my life.  I identify things that either I need to do (e.g. buy a new ATV) or from things that I feel a curiosity about in this world and thus feel a need to better understand (e.g. Yellowstone National Park) and in both cases I jump on the web and begin research until I have enough information to make an informed decision.

In fairness, I don’t believe that everything I read on the web is either truthful or unbiased.  I call it an anecdotal encyclopedia.  Take the information you get for what it is worth.  I suspect that the real encyclopedias have similar flaws but they are much better research and studied.  The flaws are due to misinformation or cultural bias. I still believe they are better researched than web information in most cases.  But much like reading a newspaper, you need to take what you read and compare that to what you know to be true and draw your own conclusions.  Caveat emptor.  Don’t go looking for someone to blame when the information you got off of a web site makes you look stupid. Accept it as a flawed medium just like all other forums are flawed and move on.  Either try to improve it or get over it!

So in 60 days I have written about Yellowstone National Park, ATV s and their selection, digiscoping, ham radio licensing, a little water fowl hunting and lots of opinions about the various and sundry goings on in my head.

I had an assumption, going into this that this exercise (writing a blog) might be cathartic.  Didn’t happen! I carried in some assumptions that this would be inter active with comments and such that I would be responding to every day.  Didn’t happen.  I had an assumption that I would run out of topics pretty quickly.  Didn’t happen. 

So what really matters?

What are the reasons you read this blog?  What topics are you interested in hearing about?  Why do you come here and read this stuff? It would be of interest to me to understand the “market” I serve.  I realize it is voluntary but none the less, you are being delivered a product and I would like it to be something that you can savor for a while rather than just a one time deal.  You pay for this information with your time so let’s make it useful, or recreation or somewhat enjoyable. Jeez, this sounds like girlie, relationship building stuff rather than guy stuff.  Ah well, so be it. If you wish to weigh on this or any other topic that is on your mind give me a reply.

Thanks for your time.  Until we meet again, on down the log.

So you would like to be a ham operator?

Ham radio, does anyone know what it is? “Sure, isn’t that the citizens band stuff that truckers use on the highway? Breaker, breaker good buddy, CW McCall and “we got us a convoy” jargon.”

No, ham radio is something all together different.  While the equipment includes a transceiver and a microphone that is about where the similarities end. 

CB radio does not require licensing of any kind.  Back in the 70’s licenses were required but the FCC dropped that requirement and now if you have the money to buy one you can talk on a CB radio.  Since it is unregulated (that may be a little strong) or loosely regulated the rules are pretty informal and topics and language can be for mature audiences only, sometimes. Many folks have gone to the FRS walkie talkies for mobile to mobile and for family outings at amusement parks and other travel venues just because of the language and topics heard on CB’s.  The FRS equipment does not allow much distance so CB radio can be useful if you need longer distances (up to several miles).

Anyway, ham radio requires licensing for all operators and ham equipment is regulated by the FCC and it is self regulated as well. The hobbiest might find this to be something he/she might enjoy doing as they become less mobile with time or situation. This may also be an interesting hobby for those who have a technical gene and like tinkering with stuff just to figure out how it works.

Many might recall the requirements of knowing and using Morse code to become a ham operator.  As of February 2007 there is no longer a requirement to know Morse code to get an amateur radio license. There is still an awful lot of Morse code being used but it is voluntary rather than mandatory.

The FCC has 3 levels of amateur licensing.  They are titled, Technician, General, and Amateur Extra. The Technician level is the entry level and is pretty restrictive (not much band width) but lots of voice and code opportunities. The next level is General and has very liberal frequency privileges.  Almost all of the frequencies are available and most modes (PSK16 and PSK 31, FAX, Slow ScanTV and several other digital modes) are also available. Finally there is Amateur Extra class which has all amateur radio privileges.  The tests become progressively more intensive. The Technician class is not too difficult and is intended to get folks on the radio and having fun.  The other two classes require testing that is more technical in nature and delves into the circuitry and making of antennas and logic components.  Fun stuff.

The purpose of this blog is to discuss the process where by one can move from the Technician license to the General and Extra licenses.

For most of us, the information that is tested is not stuff we already knew.  So there are some real mental hurdles to overcome. You often hear folks say, “I am not good at math.” Those kind of mental blocks can make getting your radio licenses very difficult.  Electronic circuitry and such are brand new to me and while I understand logic (ANDs, ORs and NAND’s etc) calculating RMS values and oscilloscopes, and frequency analyzers were really new. There is also the test anxiety. I don’t know about you but I have not taken a test of any significance (except my drivers license test) since I left grad school. The thought of failing one of these was pretty debilitating! As I sat in the room awaiting testing this past weekend the 25 or so people waiting with me were practically buzzing with test anxiety.

So let me describe the technique I use and that I would recommend to any who wants to pass these tests.

I enjoy using Gordon West’s Ham Radio books for each of the levels. He does a thorough job of reviewing and explaining the material.  The FCC testing is done in a somewhat unique method.  All of the questions that will be on the test are public information. They are maintained in a public question pool.  There are several sites on-line that provide practice tests and let you verify your knowledge before you every go to take the test.

I have found if I read through the all of the questions and answers and explanations once and highlight the correct answer then I can start taking tests on-line. I used WWW.QRZ.COM and I like to take about 10 repetitions. Make sure you are taking a different test each time. I didn’t worry too much about whether I passed or not. The focus is on learning, not on passing.  Then I reread the entire book, reviewing all of the questions and focus only on the right answers. Then I return to the on-line testing until I pass every time.  Once I am passing every time, I find a place to test (here in Kansas City, Associated Radio has handouts in the their store with the various locations where testing occurs and the dates they are held each month) and clear my schedule for that time. In the Kansas City area you can take test on all but the first Saturday of the month and there is even an evening testing session in Independence.  The test fee is $14. You can take the same license test as many times as you wish until you pass, but you have to pay $14 for each test.  However, if you pass the Technician test you can take the General and if you pass that you can take the Extra all for the single fee of $14.  But if you need to repeat the same test then you must pay an additional $14 for each time you take that test.

Keep in mind I indicated that I work on the tests until I PASSthe tests every time. I know there are some type A’s out there that absolutely have to be perfect and not miss any questions.  You will see reviews on-line of folks who took their test months ago and still remember how many they got wrong!  This is obviously a stressful thing, taking these tests.  But I recommend you focus on learning not passing.  After all, this testing is to allow you to operate a radio and you want as much knowledge as possible, so learn all you can and pass the test so you can get on the air. But much like high school there are several topics that may not ever be relevant to your radio experiences. So strive to pass the tests. Knowledge is always good but generating more stress to do perfect is counter productive.

So to summarize:

Read the entire book and highlight the correct answers

Take 10 tests on-line focusing on learning the material

Reread the book focusing only on the correct (highlighted) answers

Take tests on-line until you consistently pass with a score of better than 85%

VE’s (the folks that administer these tests) indicate that your test results will be within 1 or 2  questions of the level you have had on your on-line tests. So if you have been regularly getting 85% you should expect somewhere between 83% – and 87% on your live test.  Which means you pass!

So buy the book, get on-line and get your license upgrade. It is less than one months worth of work and I believe you will be amazed at how quickly you are ready for your test.

73’s K9RSL