Bill does a good job on his fishing line articles. Today I would like to discuss a couple of things, but only one from the Fishing Line. He also writes “For The Birds”, so I will discuss that briefly also. I am not going to quote the complete article: Annual Eagle Nest Ice Fishing Tournament: Dos Amigos Anglers and the Eagle Nest Chamber of Commerce, in cooperation with the Eagle Nest Lake State Park and the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, will host the Sixth Annual  Eagle Nest Lake Ice Fishing Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 16. Further, he states you can register between 7 am and 10 am. Fishing begins at 7 and must stop at 2 pm. $10 entry fee per person. Prizes for the Biggest Trout (length) and Biggest Perch (length). Contestants can enter both contests. Only trout, kokanee salmon and yellow perch will be considered for prizes. Then he goes on about drilling the holes in the ice, starting at 7am and keep 10 yards between contestants. First angler to the spot has it. Ice shelters and electronic fish-finding gear is ok. Motorized vehicles allowed pursuant to State Park regulations. Now, this is me talking….I don’t know how many people gonna be on that lake, drilling holes every 10 yards, bringing out their shelters and electronic gear, pulled by their Ram 4 x 4’s. I don’t know Bill, do they allow slant drilling of holes on Eagle Nest? Ain’t no way I am gonna get out on that stuff, no sir, not me….I really do wish you people all the luck in the world…Only thing I could catch up there would be a cold….But thanks for the info, Bill, good job.

Now Bill Dyroff also writes “For The Birds” stating  the latest counts of migrating birds. I want to give one example of the count, from down south of Albuquerque a few miles:

Bosque Del Apache: As of Jan 8, Light Geese, 20,264: Canada geese, 245: Sandhill cranes, 4,261; ducks, 38,781; bald and golden eagles, 6; swans, 1; white pelicans, none.  Over in the Middle Rio Grande Valley as of the first week of January they have 43,550 light geese and 20,577 sandhill cranes. Now, this is me talking again. I feed birds in my backyard and in the summer I have a drove of dove, another sprinkling of sparrows, a host of hummers, and a really lot of robins…..No, way can I count those guys…The more feed I put out the higher the count…But, to my point, how, I repeat how in the world do you count 43,550 light geese without losing count with them little buggers moving around so…Well, Bill, I know you use the states numbers, but did you ever wonder about that? Keep up the good work Bill, I do read you every week and enjoy your work….. Mark Vandi of Los Lunas picture holding his 26 inch, 10 pound trout caught in Jicarilla Lake is nice.Landing that guy had to be work…..