HIGH AND WILD

[Music] the waters of silkus lake on the oregon coast give up a five pound bass the hand belongs to an expert fisherman that will make six casts and catch six bass a cameraman and his guide take a close look at a thousand itchy sea lions with a breathtaking ride in a dune buggy for extra thrills this is our florence story [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] hi don hobart your cameraman host with another high and wild adventure and this week something a little different we're going to the oregon coast and the town of florence now florence oregon is famous for its sand dunes the dunes cover an extensive area that almost surrounds the city on one side of the dunes the pacific ocean roars against the long smooth beaches on the other side are freshwater lakes and these lakes are teeming with fish top bass fishing is found in silcoos lake with rainbow trout catfish and silver salmon thrown in as extras north of the city the rocky cliffs and caves become the home of the sea lions now these caves are the only known place on the entire pacific coast that the sea lions come ashore to have their young all right let me introduce you to some of the most interesting country you'll ever see the city of florence on the oregon coast has a population of 1642 during the winter time in the summertime it will double triple in quadruple this is a family playground [Music] looking down on the highway bridge highway 101 crosses the siuslaw river at this point the city of florence is almost completely surrounded by sand dunes huge sand dunes on one side of those sand dunes is the roaring pacific on the other side freshwater lakes like this one [Music] the lakes takanish wohink silkus you're looking at silkus lake probably one of the best bass fishing lakes on all of the oregon coast roy mccurdy is showing a prospective customer [Music] where to find a bass [Music] he will mark on the lake on a map exactly where to find the best bass fishing he's going to show us three different fishing holes x marks the spot it looks easy doesn't it all you have to do is go there and catch a bass well not quite [Music] roy mccurdy he's probably one of the best bass fishermen i've ever seen we head out across silkus lake the day is a little dreary it has a tendency to rain and it does this occasionally on the oregon coast [Music] we're heading out directly across silkus lake to the first spot that he marked on the map i must point out that he approaches this certain fishing spot in exactly the right direction look at the little whiskers on this weedless hook this keeps it from getting hung up in the weeds on the bottom roy has fished this lake for years he knows how to fish it and with what a live water dog through the lip this is probably one of the best bass fishing baits there is easy does it watch his gentle cast and his unique retrieve you'll notice his fingers on the line the line passes through between the thumb and forefinger he has a touch that is amazing [Music] that water dog is out there swimming through the weeds on the bottom and suddenly he takes up the slack [Music] fighting bass he reaches down and retrieves him by the lower lip but he's a small one as a bass go and silcoos and he releases it [Applause] [Music] [Applause] that's number one bass number two coming up watch this he takes up at least 16 feet of slack he stretches way out over the water and takes it all in at once [Music] there is a bass about five pounds of big mouth bass other fishermen move in see that button there it's called the panic button you use it when you cast out [Music] take up the slack now that touch comes in you push the panic button and let the bass go with the bait until he has it well into his mouth then you stretch way out over the water and take up the slack again bass number three he did this six consecutive times [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] now you think you have it watch this the line is running through the thumb and forefinger now believe me this takes a touch it's a delicate touch the panic button let the bass run with it he did it six times and there's the proof we're heading out across the lake to that second spot now you can't beat that's fishing like this even if you move all over the lake it seems like but don't fish out one fishing spot always move this is roy's motto and it's a good one [Music] you're watching a professional lineup you have piling in that big fur tree then you drop a double anchor this is how it's done [Music] we've just shown you one of roy's special secrets the bass fishing then after that i'll ride in a dune buggy the careful line up and here again the panic button this is what roy mccurdy calls it the delicate touch he can tell the exact moment that that bass takes the bait he lets him go with it for a short distance then takes up that 19 feet of slack that he can get when he leans way out over the water and then comes all the way back in slow motion [Applause] [Music] yes [Applause] [Music] this is why they're called a big mouth bass and it's a pleasure to watch an expert fisherman go after them roy is probably one of the most expert we turn and head back across the bay we will be returning down to the outlet of silkus lake [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we get away from another fisherman on the bridge as we pass underneath and make our landing this is the outlet river up this river will come the silver salmon they come across the beach through very shallow water hit this stream and go into silkus lake hallie and roy mccurdy look over his catch and it's an excellent one when the sun pops out on the oregon coast it's a place of glittering beauty [Music] a couple of more fishermen come in they've been out all night fishing for catfish and look at the string of catfish they have all of them fair size and excellent eating [Music] we had to stop them before somebody really got hurt florence has a beautiful golf course an excellent golf course if you can hit a ball straight it has now this gentleman plays golf much the same as i do you set up face the pin and hook it buddy you are now in one of the biggest sand traps in the world [Music] [Applause] [Music] you are now in 385 acres of sand trap now uh if you're real careful we'll get out of here in 498 strokes [Music] my [Music] next the unique sea lion now to the rugged cliffs of the oregon coast just opposite the city of florence the long sand beaches lay 15-20 miles long this is the mouth of the siuslaw river but about 25 to 30 miles north of the city of florence is a very unique cave known as the sea lion caves [Music] this is the one spot on the whole pacific coast that is known where the sea lions come into the shore to have their young down on this rocky beach the giant sea lions move in and gather their harems which will be from six to twenty females or cows as they are called there's only one way that you can get good pictures of them and that's to climb down the cliff directly hanging over the pacific because this is where you will find the sea lions [Music] on a sunny day they move out of the giant cave where they have their pups and sun themselves on the rocky shore and uh there's something about this salt water that makes everybody itch mostly the sea lions this is anything but a peaceable or quiet spot [Music] oh [Music] the ring around that lassen's neck was probably caused by a crab ring that he stuck his head in and then couldn't get it off so it just finally rusted away notice how delicately they can scratch behind that right ear they use those flippers like fingers say that it's moved around a bit this is probably the lousiest bunch of sea lions i have ever ever photographed [Music] uh [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] a sea land pup weighs from 30 to 40 pounds at birth and he must be taught to swim he's afraid of the water so his mother must take him down and show him what the ocean looks like here's one of them feeding they will nurse from their mother from a year to a year and a half sometimes more he's switching buttons on the vest so to speak [Music] after a feed there's nothing like a little nap and they stretch out on these rough rocks and nap and scratch a male bull will weigh from hundred to two thousand pounds the females go from six hundred to a thousand pounds so as you can see oh that it's moved right up there under that flipper i just had to scratch this nobody's standing on that one's foot [Music] when two big male sea lions get into it things can get really rough some of them how they can stand bouncing off of these rock walls i don't know but they will launch themselves out into the air and drop 40 feet into that cold pacific and this one doesn't seem to want to get into the water at all and i don't blame him it's very cold [Music] [Applause] [Music] they launched themselves out into the air and two thousand pounds of bull sea lion hitting the water is quite a sight [Music] some of them wait for that next wave this is the way they get onto those rocks they'll ride that tall wave in but now it's time for us to move back up the rocks back up the face of the cliff [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] and so the massive sea lions there will be a thousand of them here on these rocks at one time and then they all move away but this is the amazing florence story [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes the florence area is unique with its sand dunes and the sea lion caves the soyuz law river famous for its steelhead or the freshwater lakes if you prefer bass trout or the lowly catfish a real family playground until next week this is don hobart wishing each of you good fishing and hunting and good luck [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Applause] you