Outdoors with Don Q: Some personal resolutions for 2015

This is the first part of January and this is also a good time for all of us (including Donnie Q) to make some personal resolutions for 2015. Most importantly, remember that if you do make any resolutions, be sure to follow through with what you resolve to do in this new year.

Resolutions are easy to make, but sometimes hard to accomplish. I have a number of things I would like to accomplish this year, so without any further ado, here are my 2015 resolutions:
I RESOLVE TO:
Catch a Lahontan Cutthroat Trout that weighs 10+ pounds:
Pyramid Lake (30 miles north of Reno-Sparks) is currently producing some very impressive Cutthroat Trout that are up to the 20 pound class.

When we fish there, Elaine and I spincast with lures while standing waist deep in the chilly water in our chest waders. I would love to catch and release a double digit (10+ pound Cutthroat) on my 6-pound test fishing line, while standing in the water in my waders! It would be a tussle to remember. Wow, what would I do if I hooked into a 20-pounder?

Finally harvest apples from our cabin's apple tree:
For quite a few years, we have carefully tended to our one big apple tree at the Quilici Cabin, located at an elevation of 6,000' near Davis Lake in Plumas County, California. Late Spring frosts have snuffed the apple blossoms before they could develop into apples, until last year when we finally had dozens of apples growing to a nice size. Then disaster struck: We arrived one weekend to see how the apples were doing, and they were all gone. A miserable squirrel had taken every one of them. Darn critter!

Finally hit a Royal Flush on a poker slot machine
We are not big gamblers, but Elaine and I usually play the penny and/or nickel poker slots several times a week. You would think after all this time (several years of playing) one of us would have hit a Royal Flush, but no such luck. If and whenever I finally hit a Royal, I will probably keel over in a dead faint from the excitement of that rare event. For the record, my last Royal Flush was many, many years ago on a quarter slot machine at a grocery store, when I was betting five quarters and scored.

Not get so irritated at TV commercials:
In my less-than-humble opinion, my ever increasing desire to watch DVD movies rather than television programs is the ever increasing number of dumb and repeated commercials on every program on every channel.
You have to sit through commercial after commercial after commercial, etc. to continue watching whatever program you have on.
Those obnoxious advertisers must think viewers are dumb as bricks because they often run the same commercial several times in the same break. Hello!

Not get so irritated at the length of red light phases:
Again in my less-than-humble opinion, Carson City has excessive lengths of red light phases on the side streets that cross Carson Street. Whoever times those lights must get paid by the hour because it seems to take that long before the red changes to green. Some of the worse are at the intersections of Fairview, Fifth, Long, and William. Hmmm, I wonder if that timer has ever been stopped at a red light on any of those side streets, and has had to go to the bathroom. That would be poetic justice.

Photograph wildlife in the area of our cabin:
The cabin is located on a steep hillside near Davis Lake, California and that general area contains a variety of wildlife, including black bear, bobcats, coyotes, mountain lion, mule deer, raccoons, skunks, and even wild turkeys.

We have photographed bear, coyotes, deer, raccoons and turkeys, but would like to get photos of the elusive bobcats and mountain lions. Our all-time favorite photo op (to date) is the doe deer with her twin fawns who were frequent summer-long visitors to the cabin, several years ago.

Return to fish in Alaska:
Elaine and I plan to return to Alaska late this year to fish for salmon and halibut at either Sitka or Seward. Both locations provide great salt water fishing opportunities. However, recent changes in Alaskan fishing regulations, put a damper on how many fish you can bring home. It would be safe to say that it would be far cheaper to buy your salmon and halibut at a local grocery store than to travel to Alaska. But, what the heck, you only live once and you can't take your money with you.

Return to Virginia Lakes, California:
Last year, Elaine and had the personal pleasure of staying twice at the Virginia Lakes Resort (elevation 9,770') located six miles west of Conway Summit on U.S. 395. Our favorite cabin there is Cabin No. 07, where we can enjoy the comfortable accommodations for two, watch the fishermen at Little Virginia Lake, be visited daily by some friendly mule deer, and hike the short distance to Blue Lake for its super scenery plus catch and release fishing for small Brook Trout. It doesn't get much better than that!

Troll from my raft at Winnemucca Lake:
That large, crystal-clear, ice-cold, high altitude lake (9,000') is an easy two-mile hike from the top of Kit Carson Pass on California S.R. 88.

Winnemucca contains very nice-sized Eastern Brook and Kamloop Trout.
Fishing is usually slow from shore, but good when you fish from a float tube or a raft in the area between the islands and the back shoreline. The last six times I backpacked my small two-man inflatable raft to the lake, the wind has been blowing so hard we could not use it. Maybe this will be the year.
Try to finally catch a fish larger than Elaine's:

Whenever and wherever we go fishing, Elaine consistently outfishes me, especially in Alaska where she has caught some very large fish.

Through the years, she has outfished me at different locations such as Wildhorse Reservoir, Pyramid Lake in Nevada; Blue, Davis and Frog Lakes and Kinney Reservoir in California; Finlayson Creek in the Yukon, Sitka Alaska (three times), Lake Tahoe (four straight times), and even Walker Lake in the old days. What in the heck am I doing wrong?

Finally:
Why not make one or more of your own resolutions and then just be sure to follow through with them for 2015.
Good Luck and Happy New Year!

Bet Your Favorite Pigeon
Bet your favorite pigeon which of the above resolutions will be the hardest to achieve in 2015.
If he grins and says, “Heck, that’s easy – Don will have a hard time trying to outfish Elaine,” he could be one of our regular fishing partners.

— Don Quilici is the Outdoor editor for Carson Now. Don's wife, Elaine, is the Outdoor photographer. They live in Carson City and can be reached at donquilici@hotmail.com.