Won a small day NL holdem tournament - only three tables but it was a fun time. Blinds went up every 15-minutes so aggressiveness and luck plays a good part. I got lucky towards the end, we split when only 3 left and almost equal stacks. Had not played a tournament of any kind for years.

Weather varies from very nice to wet and gloomy. Rivers too high right now for the later salmon fishing. Steelhead fishing will start up after the first of the year.

Working on my small 14' boat so I can do bay and lake fishing.

Christmas lights up all around town and rural homes etc. Makes it nice and bright at night.

good one. the oregon tournaments are fun. no rake and same guys every week, but fun.

think about a drift boat for a small boat on the coast there. if you dont need to go over 5 mph. they can take rough water in the bay and on nice days even go out of the bar for a ways. plus you get to use the rivers.
i can always loan you one of mine to try out for a few months.

That is a kind offer Ray. Thank You. I'll keep it in my back pocket and send a PM as necessary. Beautiful day on the coast right now. Sunny but a bit cool. Still, one of those days that makes you glad you live here.

me, stuck in the montana in the valley with it ranging between minus 10 and minus 25.

Been working on rehabbing my small 14 ft boat (formally belonged to my dad). Been sitting unused for 8 years. Small details always take more time than you think. Anyway a lot of cleaning, sanding, painting and varnishing much of the wood portions of the boat. Re-varnished the hand-made oars. Buying new hardware to install, etc. Along with new equipment required, for example a fire extinguisher. Should be completed with new electrical motor by this Friday. At which point, I at hope to launch the boat on a local lake and break it in with doing some trout and bass fishing. Hope I don't fall overboard or run the boat into a stump or log.

pm me if you fall overboard.
and you dont need a fire ex. on boats under 16 feet.
probably only life jacket, whistle.

if your going to be rowing much look into oar rites as they keep the oars vertical and in place but you still can ship them.

having some fun weather down there zeno.?

Nasty few days, even some snow. Then lots of rain but that is about normal. Right now it should clear off. Rivers are blown out. Behind on getting the boat in the water - had to rewire all the lights etc. Pain in the ass. But I didn't want to go out in the weather we were having anyway. Next day or two. Have errands to run tomorrow for family etc.

portland is all ice and 10 degrees tonight. you are lucky you arent stuck there.

the north coast rivers are very low and need rain to bring steelhead up. just the opposite of your spots.

whales should be migrating up the coast so keep an eye out for the spouts.

dont eat too many fish and chips at the crazy norwegians or griffs.

Got the boat in the water on Monday, which was a beautiful day - calm and balmy for winter weather. Motored about the small lake very well with the electrical troll motor. It does very well (has ~40lbs thrust max). Not noisy, no need for gas etc. I love it. Should work well for all the costal lakes. If I do bay and estuary fishing, I will need to get an outboard motor, around 7-8 hp.

Went with a friend on the lake and was enjoyable but very poor fishing. In fact, no fish at all. Probably too cold. But that is no big deal - maiden voyage to see if everything is ship shape etc.

Now the weather has turned typical nasty winter stuff - windy, rainy, warmed up some as the blow is from the south. Will have to wait out this but it should bring more steelhead into the rivers. So long run it is good.

Stopped raining, beautiful day yesterday - as close to perfect as you can get in Winter on the coast. Went for short a hike after a wondering trip on twisting logging roads.

Today is great also; no rain, the sky slightly overcast, little to no wind ,and river is in excellent shape for fly fishing - perfect day to cast for a Steelhead. Which I will being doing shortly.

I've been reading your thread here, Zeno. Very interesting. I believe Fear of Music is the very best Talking Heads album btw.

the rivers are teeming with steelhead right now or at least the north coast rivers. still hard to catch in some spots, but some catches of 3 or more fish in a few hours.

a giant sneaker wave took out someones deck near florence or someplace. the waves were atrocious.

Will perhaps post a few photos when fully done, but I completed my small road up to the garden area, graveled etc. The small bridge across the stream was done last fall. This leads to the garden area where I will install a large fenced area. Will soon rent a tiller to break up the ground before I put in the fence etc. This also leads to the back of the property and the tractor mower can get easier access to the back portion. Where the bunker will be built. Complete with redoubt machine gun emplacements to keep the hordes of Zombie like SJW'ers at bay when they begin their pathetic revolution.

At some point in the future I may also clear cut or thin the ~1.5 acres of timber I have and then dance on the stumps. Will have to do this before the draconian sobbing liberals and their slavish followers make it a crime to cut your own timber on your own property.

it already is a crime to cut your own timber in some places. besides its a permanent decision so choose wisely.

More than 2 inches of rain yesterday, gale force winds all along the coast. Some rivers near flood stage, it has been raining steady for 4-5 days and will continue for another 2 days. Drove up river to check things out. Took my chainsaw and cleared one small myrtlewood tree that was blocking the county road. River was up and full of sediment. No steelhead fishing for a while, but more are in the river than the past weeks. Nothing unusual about this storm, get at least a few like this each winter. Very warm storm, temps are above average I think.

My chain was a bit dull but that's just right for cutting up a tree laying on asphalt. hand Filed the chain when I got back home. I noted that I still use my old file, made in Finland, that I got way back in the 70's. Still good. Chain is nice and sharp now, ready for the next job.

My Toyota truck needs more repair (just replaced the alternator). The solenoid is out on the starter but since I have 226,000 on the engine I'm just going to replace the whole starter (still has original). Will wait until weather clears, as my boat is in one of the bays of the shop. Have a two-bay shop but the other bay is permanently blocked with shelving for wood and other storage. So, I'll do the work outside, backyard mechanic style. That's how us rednecks do it, mostly. My place does lack the clutter that is usual for much of this rural area. Many places have at least 2-3 dead cars/trucks and a few boats, farm tractors or other equipemnt scattered about their property.

the myrtle wood tree you left there is worth some dough and in great demand with the wood turners.

boat out truck in. fix truck, truck out boat in.

north coast flooding also. more fish coming. more fishermen 2.

Nasty storm today, after some really nice weather. High winds, seas and lots of rain. More of the same tomorrow.

Took a trip up to Astoria last weekend and spend two days bouncing about, seeing the sites. Astoria is a cool town, not too big but with great breweries, restaurants, coffee houses, art galleries, museums and the Columbia river. Huge ocean going ships ply the waters and anchor off the area, waiting for the river pilots to take them up to Longview or Portland. The Bar Pilots get these same huge cargo ships from just off the Columbia river entrance to Astoria, to wait for the river pilots.

In the middle of replacing the starter on my truck. Taking it out was a pain, new one on order and will get it tomorrow. Once replaced will be getting more wood and renting a tiller to till up the garden area.

Need to buy a boat cover or rig up better system to cover boat for storing outside. Can't keep doing backyard mechanic stuff with truck on wood blocks out in the open; will look too much like a redneck haven.

why didnt you pm me buddy.

Ugh, .......sent one now. I thought you were in Montana, eating snow and ice.

Anyway, fishing is no good in the rivers. And now I have to help a fishing buddy find his 8 ft pram that got away from his little dock on a lake and is now hugging the bottom we think. I need to get a good hook or rig up something to yank it up and out if we can find it.

The little calves are everywhere. Most born about end of January or so (seems early to me but that the is timing around here). The cattlemen need lots of good hay and alfalfa (for the mothers to produce good milk) and for protection of the little ones during all these nasty storms. Local guy is up and down the road everyday early with a truck load in the back of his rig, have to take care of the young ones well - that is a lot of potential money on the hoof.

Rain and wind again. Can't get much of a stretch of good weather to lower rivers for good fly fishing for Steelhead. Did some work on place clearing out some damn Ivy and some weed whacking work. It is terrible stuff once it gets established. Almost as bad as gorse.

Have dirt under my fingernails all the time from this grubbing type of work. Good thing I'm not at the poker table much. Been under the weather also with a bad cold, really a tough one that hangs on. Only rest and time will get rid of it.

lots of people got the flu or a cold right now join them in harmony. as a recluse how do you catch a cold from no one. :-)

the short rivers haven't blown out though. but tons of rain.

We had snow on the coast Sunday Morning, 3-4 inches of wet snow - only happens once a decade or so. Less right on the ocean shore but it is still a beautiful sight, if messy and mushy. Surrounding hills shine out nicely also.

Two stray(?) cats were arguing under my house early this morning. This is automatic forfeiture of life on my property. Through some good sneaking investigating using large access points, and use of a flashlight (cat's eyes shine like the sun), I spotted at least one. Five good blasts with a shotgun ended any more augmentation. I may have got both. Don't care about the carcass and I ain't crawling under in the tight space to find out. They will rot quickly or other animals will have a free meal. Anyway nature cleans up dead animal material very quickly, especially around here.

I kept a loaded 12-gauge shotgun in my bedroom and a loaded 45-auto in the bed headboard bookcase. On top of the headboard bookcase is a readily accessible bottle of single-malt scotch. I am thus prepared for most contingencies. In this neck of the woods anyway.

Hope to get some steelhead fishing in this afternoon.


Kudos to the Men's Oregon Duck Basketball Team. The PAC-12 Tournament starts Wednesday. Oregon has a bye on the first day.

yep a skunk will move in and live on the feast. try shooting him buddy.