gonefishin

Sure is. There is a very simple and unbreakable rule in the animal world. You are either prey or you are not. Not to hard to figure things out from there.

Good story Terry. Rheumatoid disease has forced me to slow down. I hate the disease but, there is a sliver lining. I have learned how much more pleasant things are when moving at a slower pace. I fish from bank most of the time. I sit back and relax with a cool drink in my hand and watch my bobber. Fishing is supposed to be a relaxing sport and nowadays I find myself amazed at the pace most people set and the dollars worth of equipment they have. A few weeks ago some friends and I went to the lake. The kids wanted to swim of course so we headed for the swimming area. While the kids were swimming I got out my lawn chari, rod and reel, a Folgers can of garden worms. I didnt think I would catch much but, it was a pleasant day and it was fun watching the kids playing in the water. So I sat down and tossed a worm out. I sat there for about 4 hours while the kids were swimming and lost count of the number and kinds of fish I caught. It was a great day that ended with a surprise fish fry. The way I fish now, at the end of the day, I can generally fry up a nice mess of bluegill fillets if I want to; if not I just toss em back. Most of my rods and reels are more than 10 years old. My tackle box is very small, it doesn't take much room to hold a few hooks, sinkers and bobbers. If I lose it or someone steals it, I ain't out much. Seems to me a good way to fish.

I had several and was refilling the feeders regular. Havent had to refill them for a few days now. There are usually some that nest here and by this time of year I am usually starting to see the little ones but not so this year. I think Terrys giant squid came and gobbled them up or something.

I think Terry has been riding around with Willie.

HMMMM, I thought it was they guy who caught the most fish wins....

I feed them and I have been wondering the same thing. Where did they go???

Howdy and welcome. Hope you enjoy the site and your trip. Good luck

Makes it kinda hard to hunt waterfowl in Ark doesn't it?

Congrats on the win and the big fish.

Time to take a look at the data. Lets keep it to the last 50 years. 1950's O 1960's 1 1970's 5 1980's 3 1990's 6 2000's 13 Non-Fatal black bear attacks on humans is hard to pin down. I guess it is bad publicity. Anyway there have been at least 53 since the 1950's. Nothing really unexpected here after all black bears are large and potentially dangerous predators. Encounters with people are bound to happen. There is a pattern tho, as the black bear populations expand so do the number of attacks. It also looks like black bears are starting to think of people more as prey. This is born out by the numbers of people stalked or attacked in tents at night. When a bear attacks people in tents at night the bear is on the hunt for prey. This is happening more frequently. Still the odds of being attacked are extremely thin. Odds are several thousand percent better that a person will be attacked by another human than by a black bear. I certainly don't plan on missing any sleep over worrying about being attacked by a black bear.

AMERICAN FORK, Utah (AP) -- An 11-year-old boy was dragged screaming from his family's tent and killed by a black bear during a Father's Day outing in the Utah wilderness. The boy, his mother, stepfather and a 6-year-old brother were sleeping in a large tent Sunday night in American Fork Canyon, about 30 miles southeast of Salt Lake City, when the stepfather heard a scream. The boy and his sleeping bag were gone. His body was found about 400 yards away, said Lt. Dennis Harris of the Utah County sheriff's office. His identity was not released. Authorities said the bear, a male possibly 300 pounds, probably was the same one that was snooping around a different tent in the same area before dawn Sunday. Wildlife officers shot a black bear Monday and flew its remains out of the Wasatch Mountains for tests to confirm that it was responsible for the fatal mauling. The officers used 26 dogs to track the bear's scent, shooting and wounding him. The creature wandered around wounded until officers shot and killed him several hours later, said Lt. Scott White of the state wildlife agency. Authorities said the death was Utah's first fatal attack on a human by a black bear. It follows reports of several bear sightings during spring and occurred just hours after other people in the same primitive campsite likely encountered the same animal. "Truly a tragic event," said Jim Karpowitz, director of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. "Events of this type are extremely rare in Utah." The attack occurred in American Fork Canyon, a popular camping destination with elevations as high as 11,000 feet. "When it's hot and dry like this, bears are short of food," Karpowitz said. In May, officials reported black bears in Provo Canyon and Park City, including one that ripped through a screen door at a cabin where residents had burned food and opened windows. Officers killed that bear because it showed no fear when biologists tried to scare it away with firecrackers, the wildlife agency said. In July 2006, a black bear bit the arm of a 14-year-old Boy Scout while he slept in a tent, also in Utah County. The female bear returned to the campground and was killed. Black bears, which are found in 27 states, are "generally less aggressive than other bears and don't prey on humans," said Stewart Breck, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Fort Collins, Colo. The typical human-bear conflicts involve bears breaking into homes or cars. "But it's not breaking into a tent and killing," Breck said.

See you just cant trust a fisherman to tell the truth.

HEY! That isn't fair. Talking about a fly that is not available, even in pictures, to fly fishermen is like teasing a baby with candy.

I was thinking of Merlin from back in the mid-evil ages. Is that the right one? The force moves thorough everything, has always been here and always will be here. Merlin was surely tapped into the force wasn't he?

Welcome aboard Graham. There is only a fine line between mental illness and hobby so be careful. There are a lot of good fishermen on here and even more windy fishermen so be careful who you talk to. :P

The practice of 'clean' farming was the worst thing that happened to wildlife. I guess 'clean' farms look pretty but I prefer the hedgerows and overgrown fence rows of the farms that I grew up on. Coyote populations have been hard on a lot of wildlife and are starting to become problematic in a lot of places to pets and even people in some case. Just another example of the balance being upset.

I am sorry They say bringing ones problems out in the open helps. Welcome to the forum and I hope you enjoy it here.

I still think it was the Force. Merlin was one of the Great Jedi Masters so he was probably in on it. Of course it may have been Terry goofing around on the dark side again.

Sounds like you had a good day.

Those things sure make a strange noise.

Nice fish. What do you reckon he weighed?

I have to agree TR is good for flathead. I have seen some big un's come out of there.

Nice pheesh!

Thinking about coming down this week. How has the fishing been? Lake cleaned up yet?

How did you do?