Cisco's Carp

They never fail to amaze me.  The water temperature is their calendar.  They have been on the silty bottom of the Bear Lake Marina since November.  The temperature of the water has hovered just above freezing, little light has penetrated the ice and there have been no currents.  Life inside the Marina is much different than out in the lake where the water is always moving, there is more oxygen and billions of small fish eggs.  But here they stay,year after year, in a state of suspended animation, waiting for vibrations from the docks, and the beginning of manna from Heaven.

I am at Cisco's more now, getting ready for the summer.  As I peered over the dock I could see shadowy figures, barely moving, deep in the water.  I got a hot dog bun left over in the freezer, broke it up and threw is on the surface.  It seemed like forever before the forms, squeezing out the antifreeze from their veins, came to the surface with their yellow lips and whiskers and had their first food for months.

The Cisco Carp have come alive.  What a great summer they have ahead of them.  I am sure their long wait will be worth it.

Summer will be here before we know it so make your reservations now.  I am presently working with suppliers so if you need anything like tubes, wake boards, water toys or marine products email me at cisco@cut.net and I can have them here before summer starts cheaper than you can get them anywhere else. I also have some new Hyperlite boards and boots from past years that I am going to sell cheap this year.
 

Bear Lake Islands

As the ice recedes, I see that there are two new islands on the south side of  Bear Lake.  I have taken the liberty to name them,  The little one on the left is named "Temporary Island" and the big one on the right is "Sand Castle Island.

Anyone who follows me, knows I am obsessed with turkeys and spend a lot of time driving in Logan Canyon.  Today on my way back from the spring like weather in Cache Valley to the snow in the upper canyon, I passed Rick Springs and noticed something off  the side of the road.  I was astounded to see a tom turkey with the longest beard I had ever seen.  Beards are actually feathers that look like coarse hair and the length is determined by age.  How had he survived the winter up that high and what did he eat?  Only the turkey knows.  They are truly a remarkable bird.  No wonder Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey as the National Bird instead of the bald eagle.

The picture is not of the turkey I saw today.  He had a much longer beard. Too early to be strutting.

The winter in Bear Lake this year is unpredictable.  I do believe the climate is changing but I know it is a lot more complicated than the yap on television.  I am still fascinated by the weather.  In the old days, when were didn't have computer or the internet to check on snow depths at thousand's of locations across the world, things were different.  We judged in intensity of the winter by watching the snow level on wood fence posts or trees.  We tried to factor in drifting and snow settling.  I always watched the old pole, drift fence in the Sinks just after you went over the Summit toward Logan.  When it finally was covered with snow, I figured we had a normal snow year.  Over the past forty years, it seemed that the fence would be covered but we didn't seem to have the same amount of snow.  Last fall walked down to the old structure to check it out.  Sure enough, over the years, the snow and snowmobiles had smashed it down so now it is two feet lower than in the 1970's.  Since the pole fence is no longer accurate, I now watch the metal fence posts on the lay down fence below the Franklin Basin turnoff and check NRCS Snotel stations   

 

What a difference a week makes

It happens every year.  Fear of a drought.  People and media worry themselves to death about water for the summer or how low Bear Lake will go.  Will California be able to raise the vegetables we want to eat?  What a waste of anxiety and it was only January.  I have been in Salt Lake the last week and they really didn't have anything, but then the "high pressure" was breaking down. Here comes the Pineapple Express! Snow.......

The weather will do what it will do.  We can predict it and respond to it but we can't control it so quit worrying about it. As I worked my way up Logan Canyon yesterday it was readily apparent that winter has arrived and I am stuck.

The next morning we are snowed in.  Logan Canyon is closed.  Then the work starts.  Three feet on the deck, blower opening, 12 inches......

Well it snowed all day and is still snowing.  So far Tony's Grove has added five feet in this storm. There are avalanches in the canyon, a constantly narrowing road and of course, pow pow. I haven't even seen my turkeys lately.  But we got our "moisture", we won't die of thirst and all the newcomers now know what a "Bear Laker" storm is.  Enjoy the snow!

Cisco Dip Netting

I am getting to a point in my life that when looking at my past is more interesting than worrying about the future.  On the way back from Mexico I started wondering if the Bonneville cisco run had started.  I then began to reminisce about my life and ciscoes.  In the late 1950's people started dipping ciscoes on Cisco Beach.  Bear Lake was one of the few lakes open year around and the Super Bowl had not started so there wasn't much to do in January.  My dad, Rex and his buddy Wade decided they wanted to try cisco netting, but nets were an issue.  Aluminum smelt/cisco nets were rare so they decided to build their own.  I remember going with him to the carpet store were he was able to get a 12' bamboo pole that they had rolled carpet on.  He then need to make an 18"frame so they formed 3/8' round steel rod around a steel bucket with tails on it.  Then he had the tails welded onto a piece of pipe that would fit snugly over the bamboo pole.  A couple of bolts then held it on.  A net was attached by wrapping parachute around it an the frame.

As a 12 year old making my first trip to Cisco's Beach for the run was memorable.  As we crested the hill just north of South Eden (the road was dirt and mud then) all I could see was billowing clouds of black smoke along the beach.  When we got there there were tire fires everywhere keeping people warm.  Most of the fishermen were in old war surplus coats with nets tied to poles, in hip waders and usually intoxicated.  Old trailer house and tents were scattered along the shoreline and trucks were stuck because there were no 4WD vehicles except Jeeps.  We netted our 50 fish each and headed home to clean them.  It was illegal to use them for bait.

I have seen countless changes over the past fifty years but as I was thinking about going dip netting I realized I had loaned all my nets out and none had returned.  When Dad died, I gathered up the old net so I decided to reintroduce it to the lake.  It was none the worse for wear so I headed over on the 20th which was historically when the cisco peaked.  I was surprised how much lighter, longer and sturdier it was compared to the aluminum nets.  Even in open water I had my fish in no time.  The old net didn't fail me and I think it was happy to be back in the lake after 45 years.

\

  

Angry Birds

It has been a while since my last post but shutting Cisco's Landing down is a real chore.  Pulling boats, cleaning boats, winterizing and fiberglass repair on Waverunners, hauling boats over to Lee's Marine in Hyrum for service and winterizing and back to the lake for storage is all consuming for this old man as my help goes back to school or on Missions.  There was a little hunting and fishing thrown in there too.

So much for excuses.  Anyone that knows me is aware that I love to watch and feed birds as much as I like to hunt them.  Since my office is on the couch and the bird feeder just outside I observe feathery animals for hours.  I always like to see the changes in species associated with the seasons as migrations come and go.  However, there is one species that lives here all the time but only migrates to my feeder when it snows.  The turkeys...

Most folks think turkeys are dumb, docile and not smart enough to come in out of the rain.  That is true of the ones we buy out of the stores but my flock is rowdy, cantankerous, mean and think nothing of picking the hell out of each other.  They also have no manners leaving turkey droppings and feathers all the deck.  Above and beyond all they are pigs.  I throw chicken scratch to them on the ground and as soon as that is all scratched up, her they come to raid the black sunflower finch feeder. They bang it and shake it until all the seeds are on the ground and in their crops.

THE PICTURE ABOVE SHOWS REALLY "ANGRY BIRDS"