Winter was officially over and it was time to open up the Ranch for the 2014 season! What a shock we had on arrival when we found our boardwalk 6 inches under water! Our neighbours tell us that the water level at Ruth Lake is the highest it has been for at least 40 years, and indeed it was high.

So a few relaxing days of fishing and doing odds and ends turned into a full assault on raising the level of the boardwalk! Two full days of blood sweat and tears, 56 pounded posts and extremely sore shoulders = dry feet for the future. Hooray!!!!

Thanks to the work team of TEAA, Rum and myself we were able to raise the boardwalk 12 to 14 inches. Hopefully that should do it for future high waters.

We did get out on the water to do some fishing. Current standings in the 2014 Warm Springs Ranch Fisherman of the Year are as follows;

1ST Place   – RGT    with a 2.5 lb Rainbow

2nd Place    – TEAA   with a 1 lb Rainbow

All in all, though fishing was slow, we lost a few, including a big one which broke Tracy’s line and took her new Shellie hook! Chronomids were hatching everywhere and we did give it a try and had a couple of bites – a technique that I will definitely work at improving and learning – the art of chronomid fishing.

What a beautiful bird! We had a visit from a couple of Western Tanagers at the Ranch! First time we have seen them there. So much colour!

The Sandhill Crane is a regular at the Ranch. Infact they will often nest on our property. Very exciting to see a flock of them flying over and it is quite incredible the noise they can make!