Quote from: Hojoman on January 11, 2024, 11:32:30 AM

But unlike a hibernating turtle, frogs would suffocate without access to oxygen-rich water.

So, a hibernating turtle will not suffocate without access to oxygen-rich water? What does that mean? Maybe I need to consult ChatGPT to parse this sentence...

I have no idea what native turtles do when a lake is completely frozen over, but one time a small lake in Shasta County had frozen over. I had hiked into it to fish trout. One tiny little section in a pocket was not frozen so I went there to make some casts. The lake is in a deep canyon and the bottom is all decomposed granite. As I'm fishing, I noticed these odd rocks on the bottom. Well, one of the rocks detached from the bottom and very slowly ascended to take air and return very slowly to the bottom. Every Western Pond Turtle had congregated right there at that little open spot to take air when needed.

On the frog subject, Bullfrogs hibernate for sure. I was clearing out a tiny seasonal drainage one time of leaf litter in the winter. It was very waterlogged and a cluttered mess. I got to a flat spot and as I'm pulling oak twigs and leaves, I started pulling out big Bullfrogs. I was very surprised. At the bottom, about 150 yards away was a good sized pond. I guess that they had gone up the creek when it got cold and burrowed into the leaf litter as it would be the warmest spot and it would be oxygenated when flowing.

Ugh, I've started writing and erased 3 times now. I'm not trying to rain on your parade by any means. I don't think this a good idea. There are too many variables on a kayak in the salt with crab gear. That's the big one for me. Secondly, if something scary happened for her, even mildly, she's not going to want to do it at all for a long time.

I'd take her on a short-ish paddle if she's liking it, with immersion gear and snacks in some calm freshwater near the shore. Don't even take fishing gear, just go sightseeing and look for animals or whatever she'd like at 3 years old. And be prepared for the old,  "dad, I've gotta go potty," at any given moment. If she digs it, I'd give it a couple years, get her her own kayak, you carry the crab stuff and let it rip.

I'm interested to start fly fishing in salt water.   Anyone doing that here?

About a month and a half ago I had the fam out to North Jetty in Eureka. Bait had showed up and blacks of various sizes were blasting them on the surface. We caught quite a few on top water. Would be a perfect scenario for a streamer.

Selontra in a bait station works well.  It's what the majority of pest control companies use these days. They eat a small portion and die between 1 and 4 days later. A rat or mouse eat a small enough quantity that if a dog or other animal eats a dead rat or two it won't make them sick. Rats are pretty smart about traps and bait, but they gobble Selontra up even when other food sources are available.

There are plenty of good roads further up into B zone. I poked around up there a bit on the South side back in the day. There was a something diamond, black diamond or double diamond, I don't remember and rattlesnake something or another; it was decades ago.
Always worth the stop down there to get wildflower honey from Pendell Apiaries anyways. Road hunters do travel quite a bit and smart hunters don't camp where they're looking to hunt, so if you have a cool spot, I imagine you'll have some company. Hope you find what you're looking for.

https://oregoncoast.craigslist.org/boa/d/gold-beach-kayak/7638486392.html

Got out to whiskey sunday morning to practice some kokenee fishing. Following your guide I found a nice school of fish and connected on 4 bites, losing that many as well.

I've been trying to use this downrigger rod I bought and just clipping a weight to the line after a setback, but in the process of unclipping the weight I seem to lose a lot of fish, still fun to score fish on that noodle tho. Thanks for all the help! Pink hoochie killed it out there.

Here is a preview of the before/after

Google shuttle hawk by Shasta tackle

Catch you a shark. Cram a contractor bag down it's gullet. Keep it frozen until you go fishing and tow it around.