In The Outdoors

When we launched Roger’s boat, the sun had yet to clear the mountains on the Gold Butte side of Lake Mead’s Overton Arm, but it was already warm. One thing was certain, it was going to get only hotter as the sun continued to rise.

Despite the severe heat that enveloped the Las Vegas area Saturday, hundreds of anglers made their way to the valley’s urban ponds to take advantage of Nevada’s Free Fishing Day. And why not? That is the one day each year when anyone can fish in the Silver State without having to first procure a fishing license.

If you miss your first shot at a monster buck or a large bull elk, having a second chance to make that shot is a good thing. Likewise, if you were unsuccessful in Nevada’s big-game tag draw, a second chance can be good thing, especially for those willing to try something or someplace new.

Preliminary results of Nevada’s 2013 big game tag draw have been available online since Friday, and final results will be available in another couple of weeks. Unfortunately, while some of my friends are celebrating the draw results with tags for critters such as bighorn sheep, deer, elk or antelope, things in the Nielsen household are little more subdued.

Trusting completely in a weather forecast can be an iffy proposition. Anyone who has spent considerable time outdoors knows weather conditions can and do change unexpectedly and rapidly, so failing to double-check the weather forecast before leaving on an outdoor adventure is a foolish misstep at best. Failing to plan for the possibilities is another.

You know the years are going by when you look at your youngest son and realize for the first time that he can no longer be referred to as “The Wild Man.” Such is now the case with my youngest son, Hyrum, almost 17, whose outdoor adventures — and sometimes misadventures — have often become the subject matter for this column during his growing up years.

Most outdoorsmen and women spend their time, and often their money, trying to outthink or outmaneuver their game of choice. Recognizing this tendency, the outdoor industry spends its time and money trying to outthink and outmaneuver outdoorsmen and women. The results of their efforts can be seen in stores, catalogs and wherever we stash our outdoor gear.

Larry Brinker has been fishing for Lake Mead’s largemouth bass most of his life, but unlike those anglers who tend to hold their hard-earned knowledge close to their vests, Brinker is one of those rare souls who doesn’t mind opening his tackle box of learning for the next guy.

While many of us have personalized license plates on our vehicles that tell the world what we would like to do, Larry Brinker’s license plate tells the world what he actually does, which is catch bass. You might even say his truck is just “4bassin.”