DAN SIMMONS Sportsman's Quest MORE COLUMNS Special to the PVT Bargain-basement sailfishing off Nicaragua. Advertisement

This is an exciting time for sportsmen, a time of hot fishing opportunities, and time to prepare for the coming hunting seasons.

We're all concerned and affected by the extreme fuel prices. Airlines have added extra fees for everything from baggage to peanuts.

But figure this one out -- overseas and foreign flights have many bargains as do local flights to some of the best outdoor destinations.

Fishing pro and friend Ron Cross, owner of Shadow Mountain Feed store, has even picked up a handful of $5 and $7 flights (that's right) to places like North Dakota for pheasant hunting and great bargains to Texas and Missouri for fishing tournaments.

He's just lucky that wife Patty lets him go and holds down the fort while he's off having fun. This lady needs to be cloned.

I've booked my Nicaragua fishing trip for $338.00 round trip. Last year's trips were $700 and $1,000 respectively.

So get on the Web and search out great hunting and fishing venues, rent a car (also at great discounts) and plan your adventure.

If driving is your preferred mode of getting there, plan on a shared trip.

Grab a buddy or two, share expenses and the camp chores. Forget about thinking "outside the box" (what box?). Think outside the SUV and the way you've done things in the past.

What the heck, give me a call and we'll share expenses on a marlin, sail and roosterfish trip to Nicaragua, where the dollar still goes a long way.

These discounts apply to those African safaris too. It's all about supply and demand. A lot of folks are staying home waiting to see what happens and the European sportsmen are taking advantage of the bargains.

Gas, food and transportation have always been expensive there, so they travel to affordable places, while many of us seem to be paralyzed with fear of the unknown.

Ocean fishing is still active with white sea bass off the California coast and albacore season heating up. If you're planning one of these, book now or you may be left out of these popular trips. Again, go with a couple of pals and share hotel and transportation expenses.

Another money saver is to leave the bus, SUV or truck at home for those trips where you're covering a lot of miles in a short period of time. Rent something that gives you better mileage and burn the wheels off of it.

You can even leave the camper or trailer home and negotiate a great rate offered by many hotels, lodges and guest houses.

How do you find the bargains and opportunities? Online and/or on the phone.

Call local sporting good stores and hotels in areas where you would like to hunt or fish. Go online to fish and wildlife branches in other states. Many have "over the counter" tags.

Combine a hunt with some fishing and you may still come out better than you would locally with our limited opportunities and success rates.

Other valuable resources are your local conservation organizations like the Safari Club, Fraternity of Big Horn Sheep, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation or Trout Unlimited. Give them a call, go to one of their meetings, or banquets, make new friends and discover new opportunities.

Dove, upland game and waterfowl season is also fast approaching.

In our recent past these were group and social experiences, but as we've lost contact with friends, family and "home," we have become isolated and often gauge our trip on kill success. Yet, all true sportsmen know, it's not all about the kill.

It's called hunting and fishing for a good reason, and besides, meat is always a lot cheaper at the supermarket when all things are considered. This is a great chance to rekindle old ties and establish new ones.

The hunter tradition from its beginning has been to go where game is plentiful, take advantage of opportunities and share. This is a great time to return to that heritage, share your experiences and thoughts. If you have an adventure, a story or a comment on this or other articles give me a call 775-727-9777 or e-mail me at dansimmons@usa.net.

Sportsman's Library

Dedicated hunters and fishermen will enjoy what Sean Hemingway has done in editing hunting references from all of his grandfather's novels and correspondence in "Hemingway on Hunting." Nick Lyons, has done the same with Ernest Hemingway's references to fishing in "Hemingway on Fishing."

These are not literary masterpieces, and one would obviously do better by reading the complete novels and stories, but they are fascinating and contain many hours of enjoyable reading for the hunting or fishing aficionado.

From his early childhood Ernest Hemingway was a passionate hunter and fisherman. He began at his home in Michigan and his trail led him to Canada, Europe, Africa and around the world.

Both of these will sit comfortably next to Ernest Hemingway's novels and are published by Lyon's Press and available at the major book stores, on-line or through your local book dealer.

Upcoming Events

Fraternity of Desert Bighorns Annual Banquet is this Saturday, July 12, at South Point Hotel & Casino. Doors open at 5 p.m. with dinner at 7 p.m. The auction will start at 7:30 p.m. For more information visit www.desertbighorn.com or call Paul Harris at 702-596-6849.

ICAST, the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades, will hold Follow your Instincts, the world's largest sport fishing trade show, July 16-18 at the Las Vegas Convention center.

Recipe of the Week

Here's a great system. By preparing precut ingredients in zip-lock bags and having them available on your outing one can easily prepare quick and delicious meals for groups large or small.

While this takes the work out of cooking, you still have the arduous task of catching the fish (I'll volunteer).

This recipe has worked successfully in the far north on salmon and rainbow trout and equally well in warmer climates with mahi-mahi, tuna and rock fish.

This concept comes to me from trips with Ol' Seldom; his wife Blondie of course prepared everything for us, but we did catch the fish.

Ol' Seldom is a pretty good cook, acknowledging that he seldom washed his hands and seldom cleaned the utensils, but there was seldom any food left at the end of a meal.

"Camping-out Fish Packets"

Eight 6-ounce fresh fish fillets of your choice

4 Tbsp olive oil

4 cups sliced asparagus spears

4 cups thinly sliced carrots

2 cups thinly sliced green onions

2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced;

3 Tbsp. lemon juice

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

8 tsp. chopped cilantro

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. black pepper

2 lemons, thinly sliced.

Tear off eight 18-inch long pieces of heavy-duty foil; brush one side of foil with olive oil; dividing ingredients between pieces of foil. Place two slices of lemon and asparagus on one half of foil, top with mushrooms; sprinkle with a little salt and pepper; layer fish fillets, green onion and carrots on mushrooms; sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper, lemon juice, garlic, cilantro and remaining lemon slices.

Fold other half of foil over the ingredients and crimp edges to form packets, making sure they are tight and juice does not leak out.

Grill over medium coals for 12 to 14 minutes, turning once.