Jon’s Outdoors Fishing & Hunting News

How is everyone doing? I have been a slacker on this newsletter the last month and a few of you have let me know about it. Between fishing here and making several trips to Wyoming, I have been so busy that I am not sure if I am coming or going. But don’t worry I am not quitting the newsletter. You are not getting off that easy. You are still going to get all my misspellings and creative grammar. With the added fishing I will be doing in Alaska and the hunting in Wyoming there will be a lot more to talk about and we might as well get right to it.

We put a lot of keepers in the boat in October. Just like October should be, the sturgeon fishing for keepers was pretty good. We also hooked up a few trophy sturgeon that had not yet migrated to the ocean after spawning. Those giant sturgeon are always a blast to catch. I remember we had one that certainly had an anger problem. That fish came up to jump and just plowed into the side of my boat and splashed all of us. That fish was just under 10 feet long.We will continue catching keeper sturgeon until the water temperature starts to drop. Then the sturgeon will become a bit lethargic. We will still get fish through the winter however we will probably not see our typical 20-30 fish days until springtime. Then it will be rock and roll again.

March through May is peak time for the spring keeper sturgeon fishing. Right now the April dates are all full; however I am booking half-day trips for April. I will fish a full day then a half-day afternoon trip at the end of the day. Last year the half-day trips were just about all limited with fish. April the last couple years has been off the charts with fish. We still have some dates available in March and May. By mid May the trophy sturgeon will be back eating shad and coming up the Columbia River to Bonneville Dam to spawn.

I will be booking trips for trophy sturgeon through June 7^th then after that I will be heading to Alaska and working for a friend of mine in Thorne Bay, Prince of Wales. I am still going to book trips for the summer and fall even though I will be gone. I have 2 possibly 3 guides that I will be booking for while I am gone. I wanted to make sure that everyone that would have fished with me through the summer would be taken care of.� So, I lined up a couple of guides that are great guys. I would put my family on their boat any day. I will be helping them book their boats and at the same time know that my customers will be well taken care of. There are a few guides that I would not recommend at all and I want to make sure that my customers don’t end up with a bad fishing experience. If you are planning on booking trips through the summer and fall continue to contact me and I promise I will make sure you and your group are out with quality guides and you will have fun trips with them.

SPORTSMAN SHOWS

Here is a listing of the sportsman shows that I will be at. I will have 2 booths at each of them except the Pittsburgh PA. Sportsman show. I will have one for the Wyoming hunts and another for Oregon and Alaska fishing. Here they are:

Sacramento CA. - January 18-21, 2007

Puyallup WA. - January 24-28, 2007

Portland OR. - February 7-11, 2007

Pittsburgh PA. - February 14-18, 2007

Come by and see us. We always love shaking hands with all of you. You know how much my family and I appreciate all of you. Talk to you later and remember to get those kids out hunting and fishing.

God bless and keep a tight line, Jon & Stacy Ball

YEEEEE HAWWW!!! I passed my Wyoming outfitters test and I want to tell you that is a thousand pounds off my shoulders. I was so stressed over this but I did well. I have to make one more trip back over there the end of November and go before the Board. This is just routine so I am not too worried about it.

Back in July I got a phone call from the owner of the business we are buying and he told me to get on-line with the Wyoming F&G that they have leftover antelope tags available. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Leftover antelope tags? Living in Oregon we are used to 8-12 years of points before we can draw an antelope tag so I got my Wyoming tag as soon as I got off the phone with the owner. So while I was over there I got to do some hunting of my own and I shot a pretty good antelope buck. It was a dandy and not just because it was my first antelope but it was well over 15 inches. And to make the trip even better my 17-year-old daughter, Jennifer came with me and she shot a big antelope doe. I was more thrilled about her getting her antelope then I was for mine. I am getting them both mounted so we will always remember our father/daughter hunt in Wyoming. Here is a link to some photos of our last trip in Wyoming: www.kodakgallery.com/gimmeago

We will be taking the hunting outfit over 2007 and I am very excited about this. What a childhood dream come true. To hunt and fish for a living is so much more then my dreams even allowed. God has been pretty good to us.

Over where we are hunting you cannot believe the animals that are over there. Mule deer, Whitetail deer, Antelope and turkeys are like flees on a dog and to have left-over tags is unbelievable to me. Again, if you are from Oregon you know how hard it is to draw antelope tags and in the area we are hunting in Wyoming it is 100% draw. As soon as I can legally get brochures out to you I will do it. I have to wait until I have my license which I should have after I go before the board. If you have not booked with me then I probably do not have your mailing address. If you are interested in Wyoming deer and antelope hunts and/or Alaska fishing on Prince of Wales please email me you mailing address and as soon as I can send brochures I will. I have already mailed the Alaska brochures however if you have not received one I do have those available to mail out.

I am very excited about the archery antelope hunts in Wyoming. This year it was a 100% success and to get an antelope with a bow has got to be a thrill. I got to guide a guy over there for his first antelope kill with a bow and I think I was more excited then he was. But, if you have fished with me you know how excited I can get when a customer gets the trophy he/she is looking for. I love it. The guides over there are a great group of guys and it looks like most of them will stay working with me. The cook at the bunkhouse also is a great guy and does an awesome job and he also wants to work with me.

Starting this June I will be fishing for a friend of mine up on Prince of Wales Alaska. We will be in a little town called Thorne Bay. I want to tell you it is absolutely incredible up there and the prices of the packages he is offering are great. I will start the ocean trips June 10^th through August 25^th. The locals call this place “Alaska’s best kept secret” because of the lack of people that are around yet it has everything that Alaska has to offer. Prince of Wales has some the best Black Bear and Sitka Blacktail hunting in the World. It also offers World-class halibut and salmon fishing too. When we were there this last July, while out catching tons of halibut we would see whales and different ocean life every trip. The island has miles of rivers that are just full of hungry trout and when the rains come in August the rivers fill up with salmon. I am not a fly fisherman but I know enough to know that this is a fly fisherman’s paradise. You should have gotten a brochure in the mail this last week or so. If you did not receive an Alaska brochure from us and you are interested please contact me with your mailing address and I will get one out to you. You can also check us out at www.thornebaylodge.com The lodge will be open from April though the first part of September. This is great do-it-yourself hunts and fishing trips.