Christmas Gift Idea – Age Your Own Whiskey

Posted on December 10, 2013 by Rob Endsley

Heritage Distilling in Gig Harbor has put together the perfect Christmas gift for the whiskey lover in your life. I can’t think of too many of my fellow sportsman that don’t like a fine whiskey on the rocks after a long day in the field. I know I do!

With this handy kit you can age your own whiskey at home until it reaches the perfect aroma, taste, and richness that we all love in a good whiskey. Acquiring this taste generally takes about two months…if you can wait that long.

Heritage’s kit sells for $125 and the 1.25 litre cask will produce about two 5th’s of whiskey. Best of all, they can ship it just about anywhere!

They also have a Cask Club and they offer classes that allow you to distill your own custom blend of whiskey, gin, or vodka from start to finish. The classes are approximately three hours long and sound like a heckuva lot of fun.

Can you tell I’m excited about having a distillery just miles from my house? Heritage Distilling…check it out!

Rob Endsley
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com

Heritage heritage_distilling_web

A Boat Launching Nightmare!

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Rob Endsley

I just ran across this photo from a flyfishing trip I took years ago to the Green River in Utah. While the Utah Parks Gastapo was busy searching our boat for beer, cigarettes, and porn this rig pulls up with two driftboats in tow.

“Where the hell are we…Mars?”, I jabbed towards the uptight Parks cop. We must’ve looked like we were sinners because she gave me the bitter-beer-face look and kept scrounging thru our gear.

Regardless, how would you like to back not one, but two boats down the ramp at the same time. Good luck!!!

Rob Endsley
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com

Winter Steelhead: Sight vs. Smell

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Rob Endsley

An interesting question came up on my Facebook page the other day that’s often talked about amongst us steelhead fanatics. What’s the most important factor in getting a winter steelhead to strike…sight or smell?

I would say without a doubt that sight, and more importantly presentation, is the biggest factor in getting a winter steelhead to take a swipe at a lure.

Lets talk about presentation first. Whether your chucking spoons, pitching drift gear, floatfishing jigs, flyfishing, backtrolling plugs, hucking pink worms, or slinging bait most winter steelhead are going to want your offering brought in low-and-slow. Flyfishing guide Dennis Dickson has been preaching about this for years and after catching a couple of thousand steelhead myself I fully agree with him.

Now that you’ve got the presentation down the next step in the process of hammering winter steelhead is sight. Winter runs are attracted to brighter colors like pink, orange, peach, cerise, and red to name a few. If you only had a few colors in your vest I’d start with a combination of these colors and go from there. In certain water conditions purples and blacks have their place too, especially for the fly guys.

I guided the spring catch and release fishery for steelhead on the Skagit River system for around 18 years and I can tell you first hand that you don’t need bait or scent to catch steelhead. Don’t get me wrong…bait works great but it isn’t always necessary.That was an incredible fishery in it’s day and it forced me to be adept at catching steelhead using only artificials. If Washington ever went artificials-only for steelhead I wouldn’t miss a beat.

Having said that I will tell you that bait and scents are a great closer though. Steelhead are attracted to baits like sandshrimp, eggs, and coon shrimp at first because of their color. They have a color in their natural or cured state that sucks’em right in.

Once they get a mouthful of any one of these baits we all know what usually happens next…they eat them. It’s the sight of the bait that attracts them at first though and adding a little yarn or a colorful Corkie or Cheater makes this offering even more attractive to a steelhead. Bring’em in with the color and then close the deal with the bait.

Adding scents like sandshrimp, shrimp/anise, or krill to jigs, drift gear, and even plugs can have the same effect. The scent closes the deal once a winter steelhead swings by for a closer look. If I’m adding a gel type scent to a jig I’ll add it to the head only so as not to hamper the jigs movement in the water. Pro Cure has a great line of water-soluble scents that work great on jigs and they don’t matte down the jigs feathers.

If I’m adding scent to a plug, which is rare, I’ll add it to the bill only and not the body of the plug. Part of the plugs attractiveness to a steelhead is it’s metallic shine and scent can definitely diminish that and make the plug less effective. A perfectly clean plug backtrolled at just the right speed, in the right location, will draw just as many strikes as one with scent, however.

If you’re swinging spoons or flyfishing stay away from the scents altogether. Spoons, like plugs, work because of the flash they create and they have a very large zone of attraction.

And, of course, adding scents to a fly isn’t cool at all…leave that one alone and pay your dues. Find the right water type and bring either one of these offerings in low-and-slow and you’ll catch steelhead.

There’s your order of importance for catching winter steelhead. Sight, presentation, and then scent, if need be, to close the dealio. At least that’s how I see it.

Thanks again for stopping by and don’t be afraid to share your steelheading stories over on the Outdoor Line forums. I fish for winter steelhead as much as I can over the course of the season, but on days I can’t fish I’m happy to live vicariously thru others. Good luck to you out there and I hope this was helpful!

Rob Endsley
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com

Montana Spot and Stalk Mule Deer Hunt

Posted on November 13, 2013 by Rob Endsley

I just returned from a fulfilling mule deer hunt in the Missouri River breaks of Central Montana. Hunting here means hours and hours behind the glass searching for mule deer in the open sage country of the breaks. A great set of field glasses, a spotting scope, and an eye for locating deer is a must in this country.

My eyes are accustomed to gazing thru my binoculars for long periods of time and I’ll usually use them to locate deer at great distances before I jump on the spotting scope to take a closer look. In this country a spotting scope gives you a huge advantage in determining whether you want to go after a buck or take a pass in hopes of a bigger one.

I happened to grab the photo below by placing my small digital camera over the eyepiece of my spotting scope. I spotted this buck in his bed at around 900 yards. It was one of many on this trip.

After you find a mule deer that you want to take comes the hard part…closing the distance. My good friend Jim Heins and I spotted a good 4 point from around 500 yards away and then Jim used the cover of a knoll to close the distance to 250 yards. You can’t just walk up on a knoll like this and shoot your buck though.

Deer that live in open country depend on their eyesight just as much as their sense of smell to detect danger. Even the sight of the top of your hat peaking over a ridge can send them hauling ass for the next county.

Once Jim got to the knoll he was going to shoot from he slowly pushed his pack and rifle up to the edge of the small ridge to get in position for a shot. There’s also plenty of cactus here, which can literally be a pain in the ass when you’re putting the sneak on a mule deer.

Luckily I was along to range this mule deer at 245 yards before Jim took the shot. He used a Kimber .300 WSM with a Leupold VX-3L that was nothing short of a tack driver. This load carries plenty of energy to knock a muley down at great distances.

Here’s a little better view of the ravine Jim was shooting across. The mule deer was standing at the top of the dark patch that looks like “Z” on the right side of the ravine. This is a chip shot for a .300 WSM!

Jim made a perfect shot and the mule deer went down immediately. Off we went to go check it out.

This deer was down alright…all the way down in the bottom of the canyon. Here’s Jim looking down to the bottom of the canyon where his first deer is laying.

Jim “Bucket” Heins first deer turned out to be a heavy-bodied 4 point with a single eye guard. All that time at the rifle range payed off for this happy hunter. Not too shabby Mr. Heins!

Jim cutting his Montana deer tag before we field dressed his muley and hauled it out of the canyon. It took some work but before too long we had it back up to the road where we could pick it up with one of the four wheelers. Well worth the effort if you ask me and Jim was more than happy with his first deer.

I’ve hunted deer most of my life but I hate to admit that this was my first out of state deer hunt. It definitely won’t be my last though. The hunting was very challenging and on average I would see around four to five bucks a day with a couple of good shooters in the bunch. For the guys with little to no experience hunting deer that daily buck count can quickly go down to a single buck a day or less. These animals blend into their environment perfectly and more often that not if you see them…they see you!

Thanks for stopping by and good luck on the remainder of your hunting season everyone. Go get’em!!!

Rob Endsley
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com

SHOTLOCK™ INTRODUCES SOLO-VAULT BUILD FOR AR PLATFORM

Posted on November 1, 2013 by Rob Endsley

THE WORLD’S FIRST SOLO-VAULT FOR AR PLATFORM RIFLES

ShotLock, maker of the only solo-vault for shot guns and handguns, is introducing a solo-vault made specifically for full framed AR platform rifles for release mid-November ‘13.

Designed to hold a single AR style tactical rifle, the ShotLock AR Solo-Vault is perfectly sized and adjustable to house most AR platform weapons that have a carry handle or tactical rail mounted optics and up to 30 round magazines. The solo-vault can be mounted on a wall, or any other stable surface either vertically or horizontally.

“The ShotLock AR Solo-Vault is the perfect security solution for someone who owns an AR style personal defense weapon,” stated Don Fenton, Sales & Marketing Director of TruckVault, Inc., owner of the ShotLock brand. “With this product, you can keep your AR close at hand, quickly accessible and secure at all times.”

Just like the original ShotLock designed for pump and semi-automatic shotguns and its sister products made for handguns, the CCW Solo-Vault and the 1911, the AR ShotLock is constructed of 14-gauge steel and stores a single firearm with room in it for spare magazines. It can be mounted securely virtually anywhere in the home. “With its 5-button inline programmable lock, the ShotLock Solo-Vault can be opened while allowing you to put a loaded weapon in your hand in less than 3 seconds,” explained Fenton.

Marketing plans to support the ShotLock Solo-Vault family of products include print advertising, television spots, Internet/Social Media ads and sponsorships, an aggressive pricing strategy, and sleek, contemporary packaging. ShotLock Solo-Vaults available online at www.shotlock.com and at select retailers.

SHOTLOCK™ AR SOLO-VAULT FACTS

Size: 15.5” x 10.875” x 2.675”
Weight: 11.4 lbs
Suggested Retail: $219
Website: www.shotlock.com

•   Accommodates one AR platform rifle
•   Secures trigger, safety, and charging handle
•   Pistol grip adjustable hangar
•   Accommodates top rail mounted optics
•   Room for additional magazines up to 30 round
•   1000+ combination programmable
push-button mechanical lock
•   2 year limited warranty
•   14 gauge steel construction
•   Mounts on a wall vertically or horizontally
•   Made in the USA

About TruckVault, Inc. For more than 15 years, TruckVault has been building secure in-vehicle storage solutions for sportsmen, law enforcement, and commercial use. TruckVault has been recognized throughout the years as a leader in firearms safety and as a producer of top-quality products, including being granted the shooting Industry Academy of Excellence Award for Accessory of the Year in 1999 and Safety Product of the Year in 2004 and 2006. In 2008, TruckVault was awarded the Cygnus Innovation Award.

Canyon River Ranch With Jay “The Bone” Buhner

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Tom Nelson

I’ve always been chided by, well, everybody for my lack of fly fishing expertise.

The sad fact is, I really have no defense to the criticism. Most anglers careers follow some type of meaningful progression. You know, dunking worms as a kid in the local pond to fly fishing in some exotic destination. Unfortunately, my development as an angler was stunted, basically stopping at salmon fishing with herring, essentially using a piece of meat to catch a bigger piece of meat.

So, when the opportunity to cast and blast Canyon River Ranch with Mariner legend Jay Buhner presented itself, I knew I had a challenge ahead of me. The “blast” part of the equation didn’t concern me as much as the “cast” …but, we’ll get back to that later.

I had never been to the Canyon River Ranch before and was pleasantly surprised to find it so close to home!

Once you get there, it’s a unbelievably luxurious and affordable destination that’s just like a slice of Montana less than two hours east of Seattle!

Since I had my black lab Bailey with me, the good folks at the Ranch assigned me the “dog friendly” room… The nicest room the mutt and I ever stayed in, no question about it!

Once we got settled, it was time to check out Red’s Fly Shop. From the outside it looks inviting…

Once inside, Steve Joyce and his crew offer expertise in every aspect of the Canyon River Ranch experience from sporting clays to pheasant hunting to yes, fly fishing!

Your cast and blast adventure at the Canyon River Ranch begins at the crack of 8:30 when the pheasant hunt begins. Here’s Jay Buhner and I with the morning’s batch of roosters. Bailey the black lab was a little reluctant to have her picture taken…

As if by magic, after lunch the drift boats appear waiting to take you down the Yakima River Canyon.

With Canyon River Ranch’s Steve Joyce on the oars, Jay Buhner grabbed the stern of the boat which left the bow for me…and the camera man. This outing will be coming to a TV near you soon in the form of “ProGuide Outdoors” on Root Sports starting in January 2014.

Up ahead lay the Yakima River Canyon. I’ve floated many, many rivers in Washington State and this may be the most unique and beautiful river that this state has to offer.

Jay Buhner is a simply a fly casting machine once the winds came up and we switched from small dry flies to streamers it was “Bone” clinic time. Here’s a fine Yak rainbow.

Rainbow brute #2 goes to…you guessed it. The Bone strikes again and I’m learning that there is a lot more to casting and stripping streamers than you’ld think!

Jay and ProGuide Producer/Editor Russell Cameron of OMG Multimedia share a few thoughts at the end of a fun filled cast and blast day!

I learned more than a few things on this trip. First, Jay Buhner is a great guy and a fanatical fly fisherman. Second, Canyon River Ranch is a wonderful destination, capably operated by a whole bunch of wonderful, knowledgeable people. Lastly, I need to work on my streamer casting technique and as soon as I get this ice bag off my casting shoulder, i’m going to do just that!

Tom Nelson The Outdoor Line www.theoutdoorline.com 710 ESPN Seattle

High Tech Salmon Smoking!!!

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Tom Nelson

I’ve been smoking (and eating) salmon literally my whole life. I’ve been fortunate to travel all over Alaska and have seen how the native Alaskans process & smoke their fish and game so I felt that I had a good handle on the process.

That was until I wrote my salmon smoking process up in blog form Smoking Salmon Simplified and received a multitude of questions that I couldn’t answer!

Basically, all I’ve ever used are the ol’ standby “box and hotplate” electric smokers like the Luhr Jensen Big Chief and Little Chief. All these units do is plug in, get hot and make smoke. There is no thermometer, no heat control…no nothing!

So, when I was asked by readers of the blog what temperatures to smoke fish at… I really had no clue! All I really knew was that smoking fish in the summer was a lot easier than in the winter!

All that was before I got my new Masterbuilt Digital Electric Smokehouse with thermostat, temperature control and a timer… Did I mention the wireless remote control?

Once out of the box, it just a few minutes to do some screwdriver “surgery” assembly and you’re almost ready to smoke!

After assembly, you’ll need to break the unit in by bringing it up to temperature and running a tray of chips through. I was amazed that the unit started smoking within five minutes of turning it on!

The process now follows my previous blog, Smoking Salmon Simplified and now I can add the handy and interesting concept of actual temperature readings to the recipe!

Don’t forget to air dry your brined fish for 24 hours! the cabinet of the Masterbuilt smoker is simply perfect for this process! Just open the top vent and remove the smoker chip tray to increase air flow and you’re in business!

As soon as you plug it in, the unit displays the interior temp of the unit. For smoking coho I recommend 175 degrees for five or six hours depending on the thickness of your fish.

The digital timer will shut the unit off while you’re away and as long as you can find the time to replace the chips a couple times during those six hours…

…you should see something like this coming out of your new Masterbuilt Digital Electric Smokehouse from Sportco and Outdoor Emporium!

To be honest, I’m just getting started with this unit! I’m smoking pheasants, ducks and possibly a Thanksgiving turkey! How about some smoked venison and/or elk?

I better start shooting straighter before I can promise that!!!

Tom Nelson The Outdoor Line www.theoutdoorline.com 710 ESPN Seattle

New Driftboat – Tricked to the Hilt

Posted on October 15, 2013 by jdarr

By Josiah Darr. When it comes to drift boats there are a fairly endless number of options and accessories available if you have the money and are willing to spend it.

Do you want a metal boat? Fiberglass? Maybe a classic wooden boat? Willie and Koffler make great aluminum boats and Ray’s River Dories makes a wooden boat like none other, but with friends already working for ClackaCraft Drift Boats, knowing how easy they were to row and maneuver, my decision to guide out of a Clack was a no-brainer.

Deciding the model was also a piece of cake. A ClackMax 18’ Sidedrifter with the flat floors and box seating is easily the most versatile and fishermen friendly boat I’ve ever been aboard.

Bill battles another while Ryan, his little brother Owen and their dad Brett look on.

Once the stickers were stuck and the rods were loaded I took to the water. Luckily the fall Chinook fishing here in the Tillamook area has been better than most people ever remember so it didn’t take long to get the boat bloody. And like my warm up trips with friends were supposed to do, they pointed out a few minor oversights in my options and design that I wanted corrected ASAP to dial the boat in even further and essentially create the ultimate river and tidewater killing machine.

Julieanne with her first ever chinook on her first ever trip into the Oregon Coast tidewater.

The first little add-on that was obviously was an oversight when ordering was the fact that there were going to be a lot of times when I needed a kicker besides just the sticks. With a little help from Rodger in shop at Clackacraft and a few minutes the drifter was ready for power.

The small plate Rodger installed not only gave me a place to put my kicker, but it did it in such a way that that I was able to leave the anchor centered. The plate kept the motor just high enough that is cleared the anchor are giving me full mobility. It also kept the motor tipped slightly more upright so the nose of the boat stayed down when I was cruising.

The motor mount easily supports a gas or electric motor.

With the elevated motor mount, the motor can turn freely.

The last little touch I needed just to make the motor mission complete was my prop guard, but not just any prop guard. We’re talking the mother of all prop guards made right here at Clackacraft. Not only is the guard made out of heavy duty galvanized steel right there in the shop, but it’s attached with a compression fitting so no holes need to be drilled in your new kicker. The guard with it’s oversized fin also helped keep the boat plained out when cruising along while deflecting any gravel bars or logs I might hit…..Okay, will hit.

The cage is ready for fish seeking navigation.

The compression fitting only take a few second to install. So easy even I can do it.

Another feature that I quickly realized I couldn’t live without with the bow drop front anchor. It’s so easy to use and when bobber fishing and especially backbouncing. I found out quickly precise boat placement is the difference between one fish and quick limits.

A simple tug on the front anchor rope and the boat settles right into position.

After a trip I realized when I’m running my motor I don’t need the anchor hanging in the way so one more call to the shop and 3-5 business days later the anchor holder was installed and the problem was solved. The anchor is in the water when needed, out of the water and securely stored when it’s not.

The anchor next keep the anchor when fishing or trailering.

Most the extra boat features like a walk-around rowers bench, upgraded Lamiglas oars and the holes drilled for the ability to place and secure the seat boxes depending on the type of fishing and type of fishermen were all already taken care of, but a few more little tweaks to the boat once it was out and fishing took the brand new Clackacraft from a really nice boat to one of the most functional boats on any river, anywhere.

The counterbalanced Lamiglas oars were an easy decision.

When it all comes together, it’s a beautiful thing!

Nate with his first ever backbounced chinook.

It doesn’t get much better than big chinook on the coast in the sun!

World Class boats for world class rivers….

If you’re interested in fishing the Tillamook area rivers for either salmon or steelhead out of my new Clackacraft give me a shout at (206) 660-1490. Fish On!

Josiah Darr – Outdoor Line “Young Gun”
JDarr’s Guided Fishing
Tillamook, Oregon
(206) 660-1490

Middle Schooler Scores First Black Bear

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Rob Endsley

After two years of perseverance hunting the rugged west slope of the Cascades in Whatcom County 14 year old Justin Miedema finally got a chance at his first black bear. Justin took the 250 pound black bear at 370 yards with a 140 grain bullet from his .270. “The bear just folded after the shot,” said Eric Vanhofwegen who was along on the hunt.

I’m sure Justin was already hooked on hunting to begin with, but after this great black bear I know exactly what he’ll be doing every fall from here on out. He’ll be hunting!

Kudos to his dad Brian for getting him hooked on hunting at such an early age. Great job you guys!

Rob Endsley
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle

Blacktail Scouting With Our 2 Year Old

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Rob Endsley

It kind of sounds like an oxymoron when you first read it. Scouting with a 2 year old…really???

She isn’t actually two yet, but at 20 months she’s close enough. This is our third trip into the woods now and I’ll admit the first two were a little rough.

On our first voyage we walked around two miles behind a locked gate with Ava riding in our Bob jogging stroller. I picked some chantrelle mushrooms along the way and I scoped out the edge of a clear cut before we had to go…like right now. If you’ve got little ones at home you can probably guess what happened. It was bad, really bad. Thankfully I brought a change of clothes for Ava. I wasn’t so lucky though and ended up shirtless all the way back to the truck. Wow!

Our second adventure went much more smoothly and we were able to ride in on the mountain bike this time with Ava riding shotgun in the kiddo trailer. It was her first time in the trailer and she enjoyed the ride as long as she had her favorite sippy cup, a snack cup full of Goldfish, and her favorite stuffed monkey.

We rode approximately 3 miles behind a gate to an old clear cut that’s grown up a lot the last couple of years. It holds a lot of blacktails, however, so I tossed her up onto my shoulders and we did a rather quick half hour lap around the entire clear cut looking for sign. Nada…nothing…not a damn thing!

She was getting a little fussy so we piled back onto the bike and cruised back to the truck to head home and have some Spaghetti’O's!

Since then she’s been climbing in the kiddo bike trailer on a near-daily basis and yelling “Go!” along with some other jibberish that I can’t quite make out. She’s already turning into a little outdoor girl, so I hope.

With that encouragement from Ava I loaded up the truck this morning with the bike, trailer, kiddo snacks, stuffed animals, and a diaper bag full of necessities and we once again headed for the hills.

Upon arriving at the gate I got Ava all geared up with animal cookies, Goldfish, her sippy cup, and her monkey and off we went on another scouting mission cloaked as a bike ride. She was quite content in the trailer today so I rode as quickly as I could, getting us in about four miles behind the locked gate. It’s a fairly easy ride behind this gate and it didn’t take us long to cover the distance.

Ava ended up on my shoulders again and off we went for a lap around yet another clear cut in search of the elusive blacktail deer. We didn’t walk 25 feet before we ran into our first blacktail rub…

We poked around the area a little bit and found more rubs like this one on the backside of this small alder tree.

Here’s where the buck stopped to tickle this alder with his antlers before heading on down the trail. It’s not a huge rub, but it’s blacktail sign that you definitely can’t ignore.

The weather was absolutely perfect today and Ava sang the whole time as we walked around this big clear cut looking for sign. There were doe tracks all over the place and also a few more rubs on small saplings in the clear cut. I think we found what we were looking for!

Towards the end of our walkabout I noticed a subtle disturbance in the pine needles and dirt that turned out to be a really good blacktail buck track. It’s kind of hard to tell from the photo, but you can definitely make out the dew claws and the hooves in the pine needles. This is a dandy!

Even though Ava was happy as a lark I figured we had better get going so as not to push it too far with her today.

I’m constantly scanning for sign on these forays into the forest and on the way out I spotted this rub on a small tree. I took the picture from the road to show you how well these rubs can blend in. If you don’t know what you’re looking for it’s easy to walk right on by. It’s on the bottom of the largest branch in the photo. After checking it out I used my binoc’s to scan the tree line along the edge of the clear cut and sure ‘nuf…there were more rubs on quite a few of the alders. When the rut starts this place will be crawling with blacktails.

It takes some extra effort and obviously a lot of precautions, but it’s definitely possible to get out with your kids and get some exercise all the while scouting for deer. I chose the right weather days and always made the trip mid-morning so that we wouldn’t blow any deer out of the area. And of course I didn’t expect to stay out all day…just a few hours at best.

I’ll do my usual trip to eastern Washington for opening weekend in search of mule deer and won’t worry too much about these blacktails until they really start to rut in a couple of weeks. You simply won’t see many mature blacktails until then anyway. Towards the end of the regular season, however, I’ll be out just about every day in search of these elusive deer. After today’s clues they’ll be a lot easier to find when that time comes.

If you’re still looking for you’re first blacktail here’s a few tips that might help…6 Tips for Taking a Late Season Blacktail.

With hunting season starting this weekend I won’t make any more trips into the woods with Ava this fall. Our adventures thus far have been wonderful though and I’m looking forward to our next one…whatever it may be.

Best of luck to everyone this hunting season. This is by far my favorite time of year!

Rob Endsley
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle