It's the Terrible at Fishing Radio show on Cold Country Radio.
Here's your fishing expert and host, Michael Rafino.
Welcome back to Terrible at Fishing Everybody.
I am Michael Rafino and you're in Klamath Falls and we are going to talk about this weekend.
I'll give you an update on fishing reports and then on me and then about this weekend.
It's a special weekend, it really is.
So, fishing reports. Good ice. Oh yeah, good ice.
You know, the Bonanza Hot Springs with the cold weather has really made it very, very shallow.
You can go over by the Springs Park by the dam. There's a little deep water there. There's some fish there.
You can get some nice bass and pan fish right there and it's warm water but please dress warmly.
I ended up getting frostbite but it's a good warm water fishing in Bonanza.
The lakes are frozen which is great for ice fishing. Gerber Lake, Formile Lake, Fish Lake, Diamond Lake and of course Lake of the Woods.
Good ice on them but just like always be safe.
Address warmly and take precautions. Some of them you can't get there by car but so snowmobiles.
Fish Lake is catching some really good tiger trout. You can't keep them. Please put them back.
Those are regulated and stocked for population control. They're illegal to keep and Diamond Lake, you're not allowed to keep.
The Brown Trout put those back after you take your pictures and weigh them.
Lake of the Woods, you can catch about everything else including, well they don't have tiger trout.
Now, update on me. You can hear a little more gravel in my voice.
I usually have what they call RSV, respiratory something that starts with an S virus.
With my lungs as bad as they are because I have lung disease.
I've never smoked. It's just a luck of the draw.
It hits me a little harder than most everybody in my family. All five of us.
It's the first time I've ever seen all five of us really sick at the same time.
We're all sick and all coughing and hacking and doing that stuff.
When you have a lung disease, any kind of respiratory virus, it hurts. It just hurts more.
It's just a bother.
My left hand, I mean you guys know I've got frostbite on two of my fingers.
It looks like it's going to come around. My index finger though, I don't know.
At worst, we'll see. Looks like they might have to take about a half inch off.
We won't know for a few more weeks. You really need fingertips.
I will tell you that right now these two fingers feel like they have glue dried at the end of your skin.
Glue. That's what it feels like. It's got a little hat.
I've had RSV for a week and so I don't think I'm contagious, but I will probably wear a mask this weekend.
I will be in the kiosk booth at the Lake of the Woods for the fishing derby.
Ice fishing derby. I will not be able to get out on the lake with you.
I just protect my hand and my lungs, but I will try to organize and do everything from the marina.
It is a free event. This is a free event that we'll be giving away prizes for.
You just have fun. Just go out there and have a good time.
I did post a step-by-step video on my YouTube channel, Terrible at Fishing.
It's a featured video. As soon as you go to my page, you'll see it pop up.
We'll probably have that played over and over again at Lake of the Woods in the marina.
You guys can understand where to catch fish, what to use.
I will show you as much as I can in the marina how to fit the line.
Hopefully, with some assistance, we might be able to pop some holes in there for you.
We will have augers for rent. They're really cheap.
You can go out there and drill a hole.
Bring a chair. Please bring a chair. It's so much easier to sit out there on a chair.
I'll get a folding chair and a short rod or even a regular rod. It doesn't really matter.
Short rods are so much easier to fish with.
Go out there and have a good time.
We should have good weather. I'm looking at the weather.
We are looking for tomorrow, 46 degrees here in town, 47 degrees.
We actually have a beautiful weekend for us.
I will be there Saturday, tomorrow. Sunday, no.
I do have some beautiful prizes. I really have some gorgeous prizes.
You'll be able to buy my custom stuff at the marina in the gift store.
I've worked really hard, despite having one and a half hands and not being able to breathe.
These are handcrafted, hand-painted, the lures and stuff.
I actually did some games, and cribbage and backgammon games.
I'll be giving one of each away as prizes.
The cribbage board is a beautiful, beautiful board that I'll be giving away.
It is a full 120 and game board.
It is a three player, up to three players anyway.
It is hand-painted. It's round.
It's hand-painted of a belted kingfisher going after a fish.
It's beautiful. I'm a little partial since I created it.
I always enjoy my art.
That will solidify prize qualifications.
We will have a raffle. I want you to check in in the morning and grab a raffle ticket.
The raffle will be held at two o'clock.
We'll try to get as many prizes as we can out.
We'll have some fishing rods. We'll have some things like that.
You'll just have a good old time.
I love the kids. I love the children.
Don't get mad if I give the kids the better prizes.
Last year I had a couple of guys get a little upset.
I do have a one person ice fishing tent that I'll be giving away.
It will be perfect for a kid.
It's roomy for him.
For a big guy like me. Not so much.
We'll definitely give that away.
We'll see what we can do tomorrow.
It starts at 9am.
Meet me at the marina.
We'll try to get you guys set up and go out there.
I really do want you to watch that video on my YouTube channel.
It's the featured video on ice fishing basics.
I think I've given you enough instructions.
As well as in the past shows to get a fish online for you guys.
I'll show you what my video shows you and asks you to do.
I'll bring some of my stuff.
I'll show you in the marina the type of gear that I use.
How to catch a fish through the ice.
Please dress warmly.
We expect a fairly warm day for ice fishing.
It's not minnowsold or with colds.
If you want to rent a...
Lake Lewis has everything to rent.
You can rent an entire outfit for $40 or something.
I don't know. I can't remember.
It's a sled.
It's an auger and a tent.
You can set up a living room with the kids and everybody.
If I could go out there and visit you guys, I would.
We really got a baby set in my hands.
It is the worst prescription I've ever got.
I've defeated death eight times and been on life support.
I can't remember a worse prescription than dope fish.
I've even had the prognosis of death once.
I think this is worse.
It is crazy.
I can't get over the fact that I can't go fishing.
Terrible at fishing is truly terrible right now.
I made some beautiful stuff for you guys.
I really did.
If you guys can make it up to see what I have done,
I would greatly appreciate it.
There's nothing more enjoyable than having an artist
see the reaction on people's faces when they see his work or her work.
Some of it will be for sale and some of it will be given away as prizes.
I love...you will learn this about me.
I love giving stuff.
It's just what I do.
I just love giving stuff to people.
My wife says that's kind of a fault of mine.
Because it cost me too much money.
But there's nothing more enjoyable.
Crabbage is an adult game, I guess.
It's not really a kid's game.
I got a beautiful backgammon set that I created.
I made a very complicated...
Well, it's hard to make.
We all know how to play battleship, but it's called Fishfighter.
I'll show it to you guys.
It really isn't for sale.
It was really hard to make.
A lot of holes, pieces, game pieces.
It was all made of wood.
I think you guys will enjoy it.
The baits that I made are just gorgeous hand-painted.
I do have a collector set.
That will be, I guess, for sale.
I'm not going to figure things out yet.
I got till tomorrow morning.
Stay tuned and we'll talk more about this weekend.
Alright, welcome back to Terrible At Fishing.
I pre-recorded this week's.
I got sick.
Maybe doing out when it was negative 11 was a really, really, really unwise thing.
I will not say stupid.
I will just say unwise.
So, this weekend, we have the kite festival at Lake of the Woods during free fishing weekend this week.
I know this weekend is free fishing weekend.
Normally I do my fishing derby during free fishing weekends,
but because the kite festival, it just didn't line up this year.
So, may I please excuse my nose blowing.
So, the kite festival should be beautiful.
Always is.
There will be a lot of fishermen out on the ice, too.
So, don't worry about those kites.
They'll go around you.
Don't worry about it.
There's big kites, too.
I went head up to Lake of the Woods this weekend as well as other lakes.
Fish lakes doing really well with some tiger trout,
and Diamond Lake's doing really well.
If you can get out to Gerber, great for that.
Now, like I said in the last segment, I fished the hot springs over at Bonanza.
So, there are some really interesting things you can do right now when it comes to fishing.
And you don't need a license for this weekend, Saturday and Sunday.
So, get out there tomorrow and just have fun.
You know, Bonanza is not very far away.
If you just want to go to the park there and toss it in the warm water and catch a few fish,
that'll be fun for the kids.
They can play in the snow and you can catch some fish.
As for Lake of the Woods, you can catch some fish and above you are these 50-foot, 80-foot, 100-foot kites.
I mean, how cool is that for you to enjoy this weekend?
I'm sorry.
Yesterday, I went to one of my doctor's appointments.
This lady was stuck in the middle of the road on the ice in her car.
And so, again, I parked my truck and I don't have a push bar on my truck.
So, I'm a big guy.
I'm a human push bar.
And so, I get out and I look at our tires and they are as bald as bald gets.
So, I push her and get it going.
And I told her, I said, you really have to buy some new tires.
So, these tires could, you know, pop at any time, let alone they have zero traction on this ice.
Y'all, hopefully, if your vehicle is unsafe and you can't afford new tires, then don't drive it.
It's just not worth it, you know, jeopardizing somebody else's safety because you want to get someplace.
So, I would, you know, call a friend.
Call a friend.
Yeah, it's been something else this week, hasn't it?
We got all this snow and then hard freeze.
And this hard freeze really did ice it up.
Today we even got some more snow.
And so, it's something else.
Now, on Tuesday, I went to my fly fishing club meeting and it was at the Waffle Hut every Tuesday
or every second Tuesday of the month.
Second Tuesday, Waffle Hut, 7 o'clock is the fly fishing club.
And they had three master fly tires there this week and they were demonstrating how to tie flies.
And everybody had fishing reports.
There was somebody from the reclamation group, you know, they removed the dams.
And we have salmon in Stillhead all the way up to Kino right now in Spencer Creek.
182 was the coat.
So fast, the return of salmon in Stillhead.
There's really no good explanation of how these fish came so quick and found their way home.
But it is quite remarkable.
I was a pessimist.
If you go to my channel, I was a pessimist.
It was all conjecture.
I'm a sort of under promise over deliver type of guy.
Well, they were over promising.
But even now, it now it seems like they were under promising because the salmon in Stillhead are back.
And some have seen some of them go up to Kino Fish Ladder.
So that puts them, you know, puts them in our front yard really.
I don't know, just wait another year or what.
But we'll be fishing Stillhead and salmon in the Yawana fairly soon.
And it's crazy that the dam removal has produced such great results so quick.
Even biologists are amazed by it.
They're just, you know, well, they're Tickle Peak as in salmon meat.
Tickle Peak and it is, well, you just got, when you're a fisherman, this is exciting.
Like I said, I was a pessimist and I eat my words and either those videos, you know, I leave them up there just to show you how much of a pessimist I was and how wrong I was.
Now, there were some things I was right on, not completely an idiot.
But without the Link River Dam, you know, and you see videos and photos of the Link River back in the 1800s and 1900s where it just dried up.
So in dry seasons, there's no way Salmoner Stillhead can get past Clameth Falls or Linkvilla as it was called back then.
So we have some pretty exciting times ahead of us, everyone.
I mean, in our front yard, in our yard, we're going to have, you know, Chinook salmon in Stillhead soon.
If that doesn't get a fisherman excited, nothing will.
This is going to be fun.
Usually I'm going to go to the Rogue for that.
But yeah, I'm very, very, very excited.
Now, next weekend, a week from tomorrow, I'm kind of glad I got sick this week because I don't want to be sick next week.
But a week from tomorrow, the 22nd is my fishing derby, the ice fishing derby at Lake of the Woods.
And last time I held it, which was two years ago when we had good ice, bit really good ice, had about a thousand people show up.
And if you're a fisherman in fairly good shape, I want you to contact me at TerribleAtFishing.com.
TerribleAtFishing2019.com.
That's TerribleAtFishing, all one word, and it's AT, you know, not the symbol AT.
So TerribleAtFishing2019.com.
And see if you can volunteer to help me.
I'm kind of scared because I haven't received any volunteers yet to help me drill holes.
And I have augers, power augers.
And so we'll get out there and we'll start punching holes for everybody.
And I will feed you.
Okay, we'll get you fed and I'll probably get some nice freebies for you.
I give a lot of freebies away at the derby.
I try to make sure all the kids are taken care of.
I have some really nice custom baits.
I'd be happy to make you a custom bait for bass fishing.
I'm a bass fishing guy, as you guys know, and I paint and design baits.
But I'd be happy to make sure that you guys are taken care of.
It's a free event. It's a community event.
I just need volunteers. Just need volunteers to go out there with me.
And if you've got a fish finder, great.
I do have a fish finder.
I have several, but the one for ice fishing is a flasher.
And I usually drop it in people's holes to make sure that they know where their bait is
and where the fish are so they can catch fish.
And so we go from hole to hole to hole to hole, just making sure all the kids are catching fish.
And it's just us. I mean, it's quite a time.
It's something more enjoyable than watching a young one catch a fish.
Whether it be through the ice or open water or rivers, whatever, it doesn't matter.
Because to that young one, catching a fish is the best moment of their life.
And you get to give that to them over and over again.
If you've got a snowmobile, bring that up.
So I'll be very, very busy during the event.
Again, a volunteer is designed to make sure people are smiling.
Sorry, guys.
That's the whole point is to make sure everybody's happy.
And if you can help me put more smiles on people's faces, that would alleviate a lot of stress.
Because there's nothing more stressful than worrying about people's happiness on the ice.
So anyway, we also...it's just going to be a fun day, you know, on the 22nd.
And it's a fishing derby. We're going to have, I think we'll have some loaner rods for the children.
And just to use for the day. And they will give away a lot of rods and fishing equipment.
And maybe some games, some puzzles, some stuff like that will make sure...
I mean, I try to make sure that everybody gets a prize.
I haven't been painting as much lately as I usually do.
But I've been freezing my tail off, but at the same time enjoying my fishing.
And you know, where do you bring to a fishing derby?
A chair. In a rod.
Bring a chair in a rod. And you will...
You're just going to sit by a hole and just start pulling them up.
That's the fun part. We usually punch the holes on the top of the drop-off.
And usually about a 15-16 foot depth is our Goldilocks depth.
And we perforate the ice all the way down the drop-off.
And we get people set up for it.
So you'll be surprised. I will make sure as much as I can to get you guys fish.
It's the most joyous day that in the children's derby that we have in June.
So anyway, I want to thank you guys for stopping in and listening to my show this week.
I will see you guys out on the ice soon as I'm healthy enough, but definitely on the 22nd.
So you guys take care. And this is Mike Ruffino, Terrible at Fishing.
Please check me out on YouTube on my YouTube channel.
And you will see that I am as terrible and crazy as I said. Thank you.
Thank you.