July 2014

Summertiiiime, and the livin' is easy... It's been almost a year since I updated this blog. And I had such good intentions... Oh well, I'm going to start plugging away at it again and, with luck, I'll get back up to date before summer kicks in again.

Something left half of a muskrat under our picnic table at Tunkwa!

Now there's a feat - four retrievers sitting still for a photo. It didn't last long!

Sadie catching some air.

Stretching her legs.

Wendy and Sadie peeking out of our camper at Plateau Lake.

We had the whole place to ourselves.

On the road out from Plateau Lake. It's steeper than it looks!

Wendy needed to hold trees out of the way from time-to-time.

Fish on! Peter Hope Lake.

'Twas a nice one!

A blunt-nosed Peter Hope Lake trout.

This odd contraption was hanging from a tree in our campsite at Peter Hope Lake. I wonder what it is?

The Great Blue Heron hung around in a tree nearby for quite a while.

There were some woodpeckers chowing down in the trees nearby, too.

They make very cool pecking patterns on the bark.

Sadie and Norm's dog get acquainted on Tunkwa.

Such cool-looking creatures are chironomid pupae.

Sadie didn't want to get left behind!

I see you!

Is it safe to come out?

I'm outta here!

Well, there you have it, finally some photos from last July. If I do one month per session whenever I can I should get caught up by July...

Cheers! KW

July, 2013

Summertime, and the livin' is easy... July means the start of summer break, sedge hatches, and road trips. Since we are fortunate to have a truck and camper once again, Wendy and I did a couple of trips in July including:

• a trip to Roche Lake to see our pals Fran and Gerry (and do some fishing, of course!)
• an adjoining trip up to Sheridan and Bridge Lake to visit with my pal Peter and his family, and Kenzie and Kyt (sadly, it would be the last time we saw Peter)
• a trip to Big OK Lake

I also started my somewhat annual trip to Terrace with Hu and Jack to fish the mighty Skeena River for salmon and steelhead.

Tunkwa had the best July fishing we've seen for several years, too!

A good way to start the summer.

Another good way.

We had the whole place to ourselves. Sweet!

Gotta love good weather, and empty campground, a glass of wine by the fire and a wife who likes camping!

Wendy networking.

Have I mentioned that I love sedge hatches?

The good ol' Michulak Sedge does the trick again.

Fran in warm Roche Lake evening light.

Kenzie hoping Peter's motor will start.

Wendy, Kenzie and Kyt on our tour around Bridge Lake.

Bridge Lake sedge.

They sure are green. Too bad the trout weren't keying on them at Bridge.

Trying to go unnoticed.

Tunkwa double-header.

Tunkwa bombers.

'Nice to get some good chironomid action on Tunkwa in July!

Longhorn Beetle. Aptly named!

The might Skeena!

Slow fishing and a wonky fridge

Well, summer is finally here, according to the calendar anyhow. The weather and fishing would have us believe otherwise...

I arrived at our trailer yesterday morning to start our summer vacation, only to find that Wendy has had trouble with the fridge for the past three days. We're not sure what's wrong - it lights but won't stay lit. Yesterday I checked all the connections at the power board and DSI board, and they seem to be good. This morning I found a good Norcold refrigerator troubleshooting website(we have internet at the trailer this summer!) and I thought I had the problem diagnosed. When we turned on the fridge, the ignitor would light the burner, the flame would burn for a few seconds, then the ignitor control would shut it off. I was pretty sure that the flame sensor electrode was not in the path of the flame so it wasn't able to properly measure the presence of the flame. Thinking there was no flame the DSI would shut off the gas and ignition. I bent the electrode a bit so that it is definitely enveloped by flame, and when we tried the fridge again it came on instantly and stayed on. We thought we had solved the problem. Sadly, when we came in from fishing a few minutes ago we discovered that the fridge was off again and the trouble light was lit. Dang! Back to more troubleshooting...

Fishing is slow at Tunkwa right now. We suspect the unsettled weather is a big factor. Hatches and fish activity are intermittent and sparse. Some guys are getting a few fish on mayfly nymphs in the afternoon, but not many fish are being caught. Apparently Logan Lake is very slow right now, too. I haven't heard any recent reports from Leighton. With luck we'll get some good, consistent weather soon, the fishing will pick up, and it'll feel like it really is summer!

That's it for my first blog post from Tunkwa Heights!

Cheers! KW