Outdoorsmen Adventures.com

It was a nice warm spring day as we launched my boat on Lewis & Clark Lake, near Yankton.

On a previous trip, we’d caught fish in an area where the river channel rose up onto a “slight” hump.

When I say slight, I mean slight as one minute my locator read 15’ then up to 8’ and a few seconds later, back into deeper water.

As our baits started coming out of the deep water, banging into the upstream side of the hump, one of our trolling rods went crazy!

It was obvious by the way the rod was bent that we had a good fish on and after a short battle, a fat 5-pound walleye came into the boat.

Back then, the only way to get back to that Sweet Spot was to pick out a couple of landmarks on each shore and use them to attempt to come back to that spot again.

I’d lined my two landmarks up and then searched vainly for that hump, needless to say, I couldn’t find it, we were close, but when you’re fishing close doesn’t cut it!

I knew it was there, but after trolling through the area a dozen times, we gave up and headed for a spot that was a lot easier to locate, one where the channel ran along the shoreline.

That was the day that I decided that I had to have a locator/GPS unit, so I could find that sweet spot again and again without guessing.

On my next trip to Cabela’s, I picked up a Lowrance Locator/GPS and a LakeMaster Pro Master series Digital GPS Fishing Maps Chip.… Continue reading

Last week, I attended the annual Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Technology or  (SHOT) Show as it’s called which was held in Las Vegas.

This is on huge show where every manufacturer of anything and everything that has to do with shooting and hunting introduces their new products to dealers and the media.

Over the last several years, because of what’s happening in the world, there have been a lot of paramilitary dealers he show with all types of body armor, weapons, special ammunition, scopes and equipment made especially for Special Forces and SWAT units.

Prior to the opening of the show, we were given the opportunity to test fire many of the newest pistols, shotguns and rifles using the latest and greatest types of ammunition.

There were several things that caught my eye at the show including several new guns. Listed below are some of those that really caught my attention.… Continue reading

Wintertime is a great time to go through all of your outdoor gear and give it a good cleaning and lube job, if needed. (Journal photo by Larry Myhre)

Reprinted from the Sioux City Journal

If there was one thing I taught my grandson about the outdoors it was, “Take care of your equipment and your equipment will take care of you.”

And while making sure all of your outdoor stuff is in good shape is a year around job, wintertime is when you can really focus on what needs to be done.

I usually begin with my guns. We don’t clean guns much nowadays, thanks to smokeless powder so chances are your rifle or shotgun has not seen a cleaning rod in quite some time.

Rifles, big game rifles especially, are prone to copper fowling in the grooves of the rifling. Now is a good time to run some solvent such as Hoppes No. 9 through the barrel.

Wipe the metal parts down with a rag moist with gun oil, don’t use too much, and then take a clean rag and wipe down the stock and perhaps put a coat of paste wax on it. Check out the scope and if the lenses need cleaning, use an approved lens cleaning fluid and a lint free rag. I like to blow the glass with compressed air to remove any grains of sand or dirt, then wipe the glass down with a soft brush before using the cleaning fluid to prevent scratches.… Continue reading

Reprinted from the Sioux City Journal.

For the past 12 years, I have spent most winter evenings and a lot of weekends planing bamboo in my basement workshop.

I make split bamboo fly rods.

I begin with a culm (pole) of cane 12 feet long and cut in half. From that I split out sections roughly 1/4 to 5/8ths inches wide.

Roughly 60 to 80 hours later, I have a finished fly rod.

I began making bamboo fly rods because I couldn’t afford to buy one. Now, as I like to say, $10,000 later, I have all the bamboo rods I could want.

With borrowed tools and cane, back in 1977 I made my first rod. I worked at it for two years and then had to give the equipment back. In those days there were probably less than a dozen bamboo fly rod makers in the country and practically no published information on how to build one.

Because of a trade embargo with China, none of the cane suitable for fly rod building was imported. The cane I initially used was purchased before the embargo from Herters by Jim Stone, a friend and great fisherman who made split bamboo spinning rods as a hobby. For the next several years, my rod making ambitions languished for want of a proper planing form and other materials needed to make rods.

The trade embargo was lifted in 1975 and in 1977 a book was published which would rekindle the interest in bamboo rod making.

“A Master’s Guide to Building a Bamboo Fly Rod,” by Everett Garrison with Hoagy B. Carmichael was the book which was to become known as “The Bible” among bamboo rod makers.… Continue reading

The Big O crankbait is a fishing lure with a storied past going back nearly 45 years. It’s still my first choice of smallmouth crankbaits on the channelized Missouri and elsewhere. (Journal photo by Larry Myhre) Reprinted from the Sioux City Journal

I’d like to have a penny for every time I’ve cast out a Big O crankbait.

Oh, I’d still be sittin’ here writin’ fishing stories, but the view would be a lot better. West Okoboji lakefront is what I’m thinking.

But, back to reality. Back to the Big O, one fine fish catching machine.

I first used the Big O back in the mid 1970s. In those days I opened the bass fishing season on Lake Geneva in Minnesota every year.

The Big O was my go-to crankbait then and, I’m here to tell you, it still is today.

The Big O has a long and proud history.

The lure, which is made of plastic today, was originally carved of Balsa wood. Fred Young carved the first Big O lure in 1967.

Fred’s brother Odis field tested the lures. He was six feet, six inches tall so it is easy to see how the lure got its name.… Continue reading

Hunting Season is upon us once again and the members of Team Outdoorsmen Adventures wishes you the best season of all!

North Carolina Archery Season has begun with many other states opening soon. A bow hunter is someone who gets to know his prey up close and personal. He is of the land and knows the patterns and movements of the game he intends to harvest.

This is what makes a great hunter out in the woods. “Make No Mistake About It!” That is exactly the key element in a bow hunters mindset he must be mentally ready and prepared for the shot.

The hunt starts before season when he picks his bow up each year. It makes sense to not take the shot if you have not completed your homework.

The first task to cover is to inspect our bow for damages. Inspect it anyway, even if it has been locked in your case for the past year. If your string looks worn, it’s time to replace it. I like to replace my bowstring every two years regardless of the wear and tear on it. Strings will stretch over time. Inspect your arrows and anything else on the bow. Look for cracks, a bent arrow, torn or bad fletching or anything than could cause an arrow to fly incorrectly.

Make sure you oil movable parts of your bow with scentless oil. Wax your string each time you practice. Proper care of all bow hunting equipment is essential to success in the field.

Once all this has been accomplished you are ready to shoot again. Practice everyday no less than a month before season. I feel if you’ve put in shooting time every night till the opener you’ll be prepared physically and mentally for you shot at a game animal.

By this time your shot should become a repetition of steps that you do automatically without thinking.

Even at this point, here in North Carolina with a longbow season practice should be performed periodically during season to ensure your form and shot have not went south.

When the game animal is in front of you the less thinking you do the better. This brings me to a point on the many sights that are on the market.… Continue reading

The new Game Cleaning System from Hunter’s Specialties® helps hunters quickly field dress deer, antelope, bear, hogs, and other similar sized game.

The Game Cleaning System contains a set of field dressing gloves which protect your hands and arms from blood and bodily fluids all the way to your shoulders.

The kit also contains the new Butt Out® 2 big game field dressing tool which quickly and easily removes the alimentary canal of the animal being field dressed, making the entire process safer and easier.

An economy deer field dressing bag is included to place the animal in after skinning to keep off dirt and pests.

A pack of Scent-A-Way Field Wipes is also included for quick and easy clean up.

Proper game care… Continue reading

Like many outdoorsmen, I carry more than my share of outdoor related gear in my pickup, as I want to be ready to take advantage of any outdoor opportunity I might come across.

The problem with this is that the gear I need always seems to be at the bottom of the pile or way in the back of my pickup box.

Well, now there’s a Midwest company that has a line of products that will help to make your outdoor experience a lot easier and a lot less painful.

Alumilene, Orange City, IA. has developed a series of products that that will help to store protect and make it easy to load and unload your gear as well as your hunting dogs.

Manufactured from the highest quality materials, Alumilene products have been developed to help you to maximize space in your pickup or SUV.

Their product line include; Alumilene Vaults, Kennels and Kargo Glide available in many configurations and sizes.… Continue reading