Mary's River Watershed Council Meets Nov. 4th for introduction of new E.D. and "Wild in the Willamette" event

(via MRWC mailing list)

Marys River Watershed Council welcomes incoming Executive Director Deb Merchant at the Block 15 Taproom, from 3:30 to 5 pm on November 4th.

Afterwards, the Benton County Library hosts Wild in the Willamette.

To join the Mary's River Watershed Council mailing list:
Mrwc-l@maillist.peak.org
http://maillist.peak.org/mailman/listinfo/mrwc-l

Deer walks into hunting blind

To view this article and watch the video, please visit the Wide Open Spaces website:

Published on October 13th, 2015

http://www.wideopenspaces.com/doe-wanders-ground-blind-hunter-nowhere-found-video/

Getting Skunked (and being Humble about it)

Sometimes the harder we try, the harder we fail. A depressing reality, but the sweet just isn’t as sweet without the sour.

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After being told by a local guide that “everywhere is easy to launch,” we showed up just before dark and Wickiup Lake was drawn down so far that the water was nearly a mile from our camp where I had intended to launch the boat. Apparently it’s illegal to drive below the high water mark. Thankfully another camper was polite enough to inform us after we drove around lost for a couple miles and banged up the boat on bumpy potholes. We figured out the launch near the dam was the only place with boat access.

The wind was too much the next day though, so I scouted out a slough on Crane Prairie that was a little more protected from the wind and I was able to launch a drift boat from our campsite. Most of the lake was experiencing a pretty awful algae bloom, with the exception of the fresh water flowing from the Deschutes, but too windy to access from where we launched. Just after dark, we shined a light in the water and noticed there were hundreds of tiny catfish swimming along the shoreline and decided to try some worms on the bottom. No luck.

Talked to the guy at the tackle shop the next day and he was pretty vague and not very helpful. After talking to a few anglers, I learned that North Twin lake has a good population of brook trout. I didn’t catch any or see any caught though. South Twin was full of recreational boaters, so I purposely avoiding fishing there. I tried fishing a few areas of the Deschutes, and got a couple tugs but didn’t hook anything. I was also told Little Lava Lake has a good population of brook trout as well, and when I got to the boat ramp to check it out and see if it was worth pulling the boat there to launch, I noticed fish rolling and surfacing near the shore. There were schools of some kind of baitfish roaming around picking off aquatic insects from the bottom. It was my first time fly fishing for trout, and I presented a chironomid that got the attention of the baitfish, which got the attention of a nice brook trout that also hit the fly, but did not set the hook. This happened several more times right there at the ramp. I was so preoccupied with fishing the boat ramp area that I decided to wait until the morning to launch the boat and put in some effort to fish that water after exploring the other areas. Then I woke up to cold rain,  and decided to throw in the towel and come home.

In the midst of my frustration of being skunked, I was humbled not only by my experiences on the water, but within my camp. I was one of a half dozen or so campers that just came to enjoy the outdoors. While I was excited about exploring the area, I had a quest to catch fish and lost sight of the simplicity of enjoying my surroundings. My frustrations spilled into the camp, and after acknowledging my negativity I figured it’d be best if I just spent as much time away from the group, continuing to fail on the water. Each failure presented me with a learning experience. A different way to change my rigging. A different approach to an area of the lake. A different state of mind to bring back to camp in the company of people who just came to be there. I’ve often mocked the guys who say “I didn’t catch anything, but sometimes it’s just nice to be on the water.” At some point, all of us are due for those times.

This article was published by The Good Men Project on October 18th, 2015http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/getting-skunked-r5b/#sthash.pgWN0toY.dpuf

Daughter Drops Crab in her Father's Lap (video)

"Hold on Tight!" Daughter Drops Crab in her Father's Lap (video)

Published 10/13/2015

To see this video, please visit the Wide Open Spaces website:

http://www.wideopenspaces.com/hold-tight-little-girl-drops-live-crab-dads-lap-video/

Alligator Traffic Jam (video)

Alligator Traffic Jam in River Slough

Published 10/13/2015

To see this video, please visit the Wide Open Spaces website:

http://www.wideopenspaces.com/youve-never-seen-gator-traffic-jam-like-video/

How to Troll Like a Pro For Salmon

How to Troll Like a Pro For Salmon

Published 10/16/2015

To read this article, please visit the Wide Open Spaces website:

http://www.wideopenspaces.com/troll-like-pro-salmon-pics/

Woman Attacked by Bear Near Yellowstone River

Published 10/15/2015

To read this article, please visit the Wide Open Spaces website:

http://www.wideopenspaces.com/woman-attacked-bear-near-yellowstone-river/

Boat Collides with Truck on Arkansas Roadway [VIDEO]

Published 10/16/2015

To see this video, please visit the Wide Open Spaces website:

http://www.wideopenspaces.com/boat-collides-truck-arkansas-roadway-video/

Corvallis Co-op Members - Vote to keep Mary's River Watershed Council in the Beans for Bags Program

(Forwarded from the Mary's River Watershed Council)

Greetings All,

Last year the Mary's River Watershed Council was elected to a slot in the First Alternative Food Co-op's Beans for Bags program. We've been nominated again the year. If you are a Co-op member please consider voting for the Council this year. Being part of the Beans for Bags program provides a small (but useful) cash award and helps raise awareness of the great work the Council does. Ballots and descriptions of all the candidate programs are in this month's Thymes. Ballots are also available at both stores.

Note: you need to both fill in your membership number and sign your ballot and turn in your ballot at either store by the end of the month.

Thanks,

Thom Whittier

Deer Cause for Concern in Ashland, OR

To view this article, please follow the link below to Wide Open Spaces:

http://www.wideopenspaces.com/ashland-residents-address-problem-aggressive-deer-video/

Published 10/11/2015

Brave Divers Remove Hook from Shark's Mouth (Video)

To see this article, please visit the Wide Open Spaces website by following the link below:

http://www.wideopenspaces.com/brave-divers-remove-hook-florida-sharks-mouth-video/

Published 10/11/2015

Pacific Northwest Fall 2015 Mushroom Hunting Tips

(You must visit the Wide Open Spaces website to view this article)

Published 10/7/2015

http://www.wideopenspaces.com/pacific-northwest-fall-2015-mushroom-hunting-tips/