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Some folks are old enough to remember Artie Shaw -- Big Band-leader, clarinetist and arranger -- but most don't know that Mr. Shaw left music in part to work on his fly fishing. As this piece on NPR.org notes, "Shaw once said his epitaph should read, 'He did the best he could with the material he had.' Then he changed it -- to 'Go Away.'" Mr. Shaw died just after Christmas at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 94.
Brant Oswald follows up last week's introduction to fishing with indicators with a detailed look at the options for rigging fly fishing indicators. "One of the most commonly seen ways to rig yarn is to place a piece of yarn in an open slip knot loop and close the slip knot down to secure the yarn in place. This method will certainly work, but it has an number of disadvantages. If the loop is kept fairly open (around a thick chunk of yarn), the yarn may fall out or be launched out during casting. If a smaller piece of yarn is used, and the loop is drawn up tight, the leader will be kinked in the process." New on MidCurrent.
Peter O'Reilly, author of Trout and Salmon Rivers of Ireland, describes the advantages (easy access) and disadvantages (dredging) of fishing Ireland. "Well over 30 years ago I fished a river that was to have a lasting impact on my fishing life. The river was the Suir in County Tipperary and it made such an impression that since then hardly a year has passed when I have not gone to Ireland to fish for wild brown trout on its limestone rivers. The Suir is a big and famous trout stream, but increasingly over the years I have turned my attention to the smaller and less well known rivers which are to be found right across the Irish limestone plain." On WildTrout.org.
"'Fly fishermen can recognize hundreds perhaps thousands of insects in the pupal, larval and adult stages,' Tosches writes. 'Bass fishermen, meanwhile, can sometimes recognize their own house (Generally by the color of the propane tank in the front yard ...)'" Bryan Lee quotes some of Rich Tosches's unrelenting humor from Unzipping My Fly: Moments in the Life of an American Sportsman in the Tucson (Arizona) Citizen.
Montana State University researchers strapped a laser radar and camera to the bottom of their plane and took photos of groups of spawning, non-native lake trout that threaten the native cutthroat trout population in Yellowstone Lake. "This fall, Shaw and Seldomridge flew 500 feet above the lake's West Thumb area, where fisheries biologists had indicated they would find schools of spawning fish, said Seldomridge, a graduate student in electrical engineering from Colorado. Lake trout usually spend their days 30 meters deep where lidar cannot penetrate because of murky water, he said. But during September's spawning season, the fish swim in about 10 meters of water." Jean Arthur in the Bozeman (Montana) Daily Chronicle.
One of the benefits of writing the daily fly fishing news is that we get to talk about days, rather than months or weeks, of importance to fisherman. None ranks more important in our eyes than the winter solstice, if only because we believe that fish are happier when days are getting longer (though we understand there might be more than a little anthropomorphic projection here). Most religions founded in the northern hemisphere have marked the beginning of longer light with a major celebration or two. Regardless of culture, it's one of those coincidences that people who enjoy the out of doors welcome, because we feel it in our bones.
The return of light can mean just about anything you want it to. It's traditionally celebrated as a birth of something new, a feast to mark better times ahead, and a reason to give back to those who've meant something important in the year past.
We'd like to suggest starting the season this year by bringing something new into the mix. Try something you haven't tried before. Engage someone who wouldn't normally be pulled into your orbit. Or just promise yourself that you'll step back one or two steps and see yourself as a smaller part of a much larger game in which we are all lucky participants.
Most of all, MidCurrent hopes you have a wonderful holiday. It's only going to get better.
If you've been lucky enough to nymph fish under the tutelage of someone who's mastered spring creek fishing, you've probably quickly latched on to the value of fishing with a strike indicator. What seems at first uniquely absurd ("We are fishing with flies, right, not bobbers?") suddenly makes all the sense in the world. This week, MidCurrent adds a new article about strike indicators written by veteran fly fishing instructor and spring creek expert Brant Oswald. "Even among the fly fishing community, the sport is defined variously. Some anglers fish choose to fish nothing but dry flies, others refuse to fish a sinking line, and still others fish weighted flies but turn their noses up at split shot on a leader. What we need to recognize is that these definitions carve up the sport along arbitrary lines, and that one angler's vision of fly fishing is not morally superior to another."
Sasquatch Books released a title back in 1997 that doesn't get much play in the press but which deserves more notice. I Don't Know Why I Swallowed the Fly, by Jessica Maxwell (Avon, 1997), is the author's lyrical take on becoming a fly fisher. Set on the northwest coast of the U.S., it's a light-hearted look at what it means to transform oneself to fit a sport. "Waves build and crest and break with a one-two-three waltzing grace. The spaces between them let you breathe, little aquatic mezzanines where your mind can sit back, put its feet up, smoke a cigar. Rivers offer anglers no such luxury. They hit the ground running, and run non-stop, 24 hours a day, year after panting year, and you are expected to keep up with them. This, I think, explains the inherent hyperactivity of fly-fishing, the merciless casting, the endless exchange of one perfectly good fishing hole for another, the chronic wading when sitting on the dock of the bay, so to speak, would do just fine." Jill Cassidy reviewed the book in the Arizona Republic.
"The fly rod has long been accepted as a first-class snook-catching tool in mangrove country. You can put your bug where you want it, strip until you feel you’re out of the feeding zone, then pick up and in one quick shot move it a few feet down the line. A caster who’s donated a few pints of blood to the mosquitoes knows how to thread the tangles without getting snagged. He forms needle-tight loops on his cast and tucks a fly into the darkest recesses." Jeff Weakley writes about feeding flies to snook in Florida Sportsman.
If you're lucky enough to own a house in the town of Hungerford in Berkshire, England, you also own rights to fish for trout in the River Kinnet. "'This is the best chalk-stream fishing in the country,' says Jon Roots, who is this year's Constable of Hungerford, and whose own house has fishing rights. 'Records are kept of all fish taken and 5lb trout are regularly caught.'" In the U.K. Telegraph.
Lots of factors, including generational changes, are causing big rainbows in the Missouri below Holter Dam to become increasingly scarce. But Whirling Disease and drought are taking their toll in recent years. "Montana's rainbow trout numbers peaked in 1999, when all fish thrived from several years of high water, but began to fall last year when symptoms of drought surfaced and anglers reported finding whirling disease in many trout. The disease infects young trout and destroys their nerves and cartilage. The trout whirl in circles and are either consumed by predators or starve. The parasite leaves the dead fish to invade others." From the Associated Press.
Bass fly fisher Bob Miller of Sandusky County Ohio saw a wake coming after the bluegill he had just hooked on a small popper and knew he was in trouble. Steve Pollack in Ohio's Toledo Blade.
Sometimes great resources can be dug out of government Web sites. The U.S.D.A. Forest Service hosts quite a bit of detailed information about the lands and campgrounds in the National Forest system. Here's an example of the kind of display it offer on California's Upper Sacramento River. (Thanks to reader Bill Kiene for this link.)
The Distinguished Order of Permit Angling Purists added photos of a bunch of newly lost souls to its Web site in late November. (For some reason, entries about this site always evoke the lurid jabber of National Enquirer headlines.)
Dr. Aaron Adams, author of the recent Fisherman's Coast and co-author of Fly-Fishing for Bonefish, sent us this description of the most current bonefish research being conducted with the help of Bonefish & Tarpon Unlimited, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and Turneffe Atoll Conservation Fund. Among the more interesting data: there are atleast two bonefish species to be found in the Caribbean; and Keys bonefish grow at a rate two to five times faster than Belizian or Bahamian fish.
By the way, if you a considering a charitable contribution this year or next, most of the research surrounding important saltwater game species is funded by independent organizations -- like Mote Marine Laboratory where Dr. Adams works -- which struggle to keep their top scientists employed. If you need contact information you can communicate with us or with Mote Marine directly.
With the support of Bonefish & Tarpon Unlimited, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and Turneffe Atoll Conservation Fund, we have been studying bonefish ecology in the Caribbean since 2003, with three major topics of interest: juvenile habitat use, populations genetics, and age-growth. At each step of this research, we are finding new and exciting information.
1) Juveniles. Almost nothing is known about the juvenile life stage of bonefish. We have been sampling for juvenile bonefish (less than 3") in the Florida Keys and Turneffe Atoll, Belize, to establish which habitats they use and what times of year they use these habitats. We have captured more than 400 juveniles in the Florida Keys - all along medium-energy sandy beaches - but none at Turneffe Atoll. This was a surprise given the high numbers of adult bonefish at Turneffe. Recent results of genetic analysis of the captured juveniles provides clues to why our findings differed so much between the Keys and Belize.
2) Genetics. There are at least two species of bonefish in the Caribbean. Albula vulpes is the species that traditionally has been considered as comprising the regional recreational fisheries. Albula garcia is extremely similar in appearance, but is supposedly smaller maximum size, matures at a smaller size, and inhabits deeper water than Albula vulpes. To date, Albula garcia have only been found in the Florida Keys and Brazil, but sampling effort in other locations has been minimal. It is incredibly difficult to distinguish these species by sight, so we have been using genetic analysis to positively identify our specimens.
We have taken tissue samples from 140 of the more than 400 juvenile bonefish captured in our Florida Keys sampling. 139 of those juveniles were genetically identified as Albula garcia - the 'other' species. In other words, we identified the juvenile habitat use (and seasonality) of Albula garcia.
It is assumed that the fishery in the Keys and the wider Caribbean is for Albula vulpes, but that hasn't been fully tested. It is possible that some of the smaller fish in the fishery are Albula garcia and larger fish are Albula vulpes. This is extremely important information for fisheries conservation and management. To determine the species composition of the fisheries, we have initiated a fin-clip program in the Florida Keys: anglers take a triangle of tissue from the rear portion of the dorsal fin (it will grow back), and we use that tissue for genetic analysis. We are also taking fin clips of bonefish in other locations in the Caribbean.
Even if most of the fisheries are determined to be Albula vulpes, genetic information can be used to determine the extent that bonefish in different locations are related. (Bonefish larvae can float in the open ocean as plankton for up to 72 days, so could potentially be transported a very long distance. This would mean that it is possible that bonefish in Belize and the Florida Keys, for example, are closely entwined.)
3) Age and growth. Genetics are also important in making sure our estimates of bonefish growth rates and ages are accurate and correspond to the correct species. During our research we sacrifice some bonefish and retrieve their ear bones (otoliths), which, when sliced into sections, reveal growth rings (like trees). We can read these growth rings and determine a fish's age. Some of our research to date has revealed some amazing results:
Fin clips collected at Turneffe Atoll, Belize were identified as Albula vulpes (what we think is the primary species of the Caribbean).
These fish were all approximately 16" (fork length).
In the Florida Keys, a 16" fish is 3-4 years old. The 16" Belize fish were 8-10 years old! So, it appears that Belize bonefish grow 3-4 times slower than Keys bonefish!
Fin clips collected at Eleuthera Island, Bahamas were also identified as Albula vulpes.These fish were all approximately 12" (fork length).
In the Florida Keys, a 12" fish is 1 year old. The 12" Bahamas bonefish were 5 years old! Similar to the Belize results. So, there are more bonefish in Turneffe and Bahamas, but it appears they grow more slowly than in the Keys.
We continue to work with BTU in pursuing additional funds to support this research that will contribute directly to bonefish conservation. We are determined to make this research program a success, and are making progress with each step.
Dave Sherwood writes about the life of a Sheepscot River Atlantic salmon, a fish that along with many other populations of salmon in northeastern North America is experiencing a steady decline. There's some interesting observation here on "smoltification" and conjecture about why salmon parr are no longer able to complete the process successfully. Also mentioned is an upcoming book by James Babb on the natural and physical history of Maine's Sheepscot River. On MaineToday.com.
Maps are cool. And if you've been following what's happened among online purveyors of mapping services like Terraserver and MapTech, you've seen the increasing quality of data cross-referencing GPS coordinates and digital aerial photographs. Now Magellan is doing 3D topographic maps for the PC that synchronize with a GPS reciever. In other words, you can identify a location from a 3D perspective on your desktop (or wirelessly connected laptop in your off-road vehicle), enter it into your hand-held, and go find it (and get back to your rig). If you like to hike and fish, it sounds like a lot more fun than finding yourself in the maze of contour lines on a 3-foot wide topo map. The new service is a cooperative venture between Magellan, Trails.com and NavTech.
John Corrigan notes that TU's new booklet aims to "put brook trout in context" and educate readers about complex impacts of acid rain, urban sprawl, and invasive species on New England's native trout. In the Concord (New Hampshire) Monitor.
Looks like here in the U.S. we've managed to export our own invasive species: the signal crayfish. Colonies have been found in the River Ettrick, a main tributary of the Tweed. "It was introduced into England in the mid-1970s to farm for the table and has since established itself in the wild on many southern rivers, where it has wiped out the smaller native white-clawed crayfish. In Scotland we have no indigenous crayfish but signal crayfish, which grow to over 20cm, are omnivores and can prey on small fish and fish eggs. They also reach high densities per square metre and can bury hard, leading to unstable riverbanks and damage to salmon and trout spawning grounds." On Scotsman.com.
"A far as I am concerned, you can have your white Christmas. My late autumn wish is for a blue November and a blue December, too. Blue, as in blue-backed herring, the king-size bait fish that sometimes run along the coast of Long Island, bringing in their wake ravenous and enormous striped bass." Peter Kaminsky writes about the fast and furious fly fishing surrounding the big schools of stripers that appear off the east end of Long Island every early December. In The New York Times.
What did former president Carter decide to put on the cover of his new book Sharing Good Times (192 pages, Simon & Schuster, November 23, 2004)? A photo of himself and Rosalynn knee-deep in a Kodiak, Alaska, stream holding a salmon and a steelhead.
But in the book he describes his initial reluctance to accept that the best fun is had with a partner: "Few of these adventures have been especially newsworthy, and I still enjoy some of them in solitude, but the main lesson I have struggled to learn is that the experiences are more deep and lasting sources of pleasure when they are shared with others. It has not been easy for me to accept this fact. Perhaps like most other people, I have had to overcome a self-centered inclination to live on my own terms, sometimes obsessed with intense ambition, bringing others into the private recesses of my life only reluctantly." This looks like a great holiday gift book for anglers and sportsmen. Here's an audio interview at NPR, and a mention by John McCaslin in The Washington Times.
The second half of this interesting piece by Anna Minicucci in Warwick (Rhode Island) Online is a detailed tribute to Poul Jorgensen. (The first half talks about author Frank Daignault's deer hunting.)
"We determined that Jorgensen favored cocktail and dinner parties and rarely seemed to tire of talking with fly-fishing, fly-tying newcomers. He and his New York state neighbors and fishing pals (Leon Chandler, Walter Dette, Mary Dette, the Wulffs and others) reveled in good humor while enjoying a libation or two. Jorgenson, for me, would be around forever, as would Leon and Walter. Not to be, as the circle of legendary fly fishermen and tiers began to drift away permanently."
This is how Frank Smethurst -- winner, with Gifford Maytham, of the Outdoor Life Network Masters Flyfishing Tournament -- described the fish in O'Dell's Spring Creek in Montana. Elizabeth Heerwagen in the Telluride (Colorado) Daily Planet.
"When you feel your fly tying cannot improve, it's time to get rid of your tying stuff and take up golf." That was one of master fly tier Poul Jorgensen's favorite sayings. Jorgensen was author of the classic Salmon Flies, Their Character, Style and Dressing (Stackpole Books, 191 pages, revised edition 1999) and other well-regarded books on fly tying. Richard Ross writes this tribute to one of the world's greatest tiers on Flyfisherman.com.
Before the inevitable devolution there were some interesting choices for best unrecognized music on the FlyFisherman bulletin board:
Radiohead - Kid A
Flaming Lips - the Soft Bulletin
Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
The Flaming Lips - Clouds Taste Mettalic
Jayhawks - Tomorrow the Green Grass
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (this is a MidCurrent selection as well)
Billy Bragg and Wilco - Mermaid Avenue
Grandaddy - The Sophtware Slump
Son Volt - Trace
Belle and Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister
Air - Moon Safari
Drive By Truckers - The Dirty South
Sparklehorse - It's a Wonderful Life
Radiohead - OK Computer
Beck - Sea Change
Bjork - Vesperitine
Steve Earle - El Corazon
Kings of Leon - Youth and Young Manhood
Radiohead - All of it
White Stripes - All of it
Liz Phair - Whip-Smart
Nomeansno - All of it
Fugazi - All of it
Frank Black - Teenager of the Year
Phish - Story Of The Ghost
Bob Dylan - Time Out Of Mind
The Samples - Transmissions From The Sea Of Tranquility
Bela Fleck - The Bluegrass Sessions
Pink Floyd - The Division Bell (just over 10 years)
Neil Young - Silver and Gold
Live - Throwing Copper
Mark Olson - December's Child
Smashing Pumpkins - Melloncollie and the Infinite Sadness
Granted these are mostly iPod generation tunes and many of us wouldn't have them plugged in during a mayfly hatch -- or if we did Aaron Copeland's "Fanfare For the Common Man" might be our choice -- but it is worth noting the descriminating tastes. (Perhaps manufacturers could take something from this and produce more eclectic rod actions, for example (just kidding).)
"I'm beginning to feel like a trout myself, suspended in 30 feet of water at the bottom of Firehole River, as I watch cutthroat dart to the surface, hit mayflies and sink back with a silvery flip of their bodies to rejoin the school in the current line above my head. A diver's bubbles usually alarm trout, but this bunch doesn't seem to care." Here's an interesting bottom-up view of the Firehole and other Montana waters by scuba diver Steve Chapple. On ScubaDiving.com.
Been a bit of buzz among permit anglers lately over the Skittal fly, a pattern developed by guide Will Casella at El Pescador's Ambergris Caye lodge in Belize. The fly is fished with a continuous strip -- a technique that seems to be in increasing favor in Belizian and Mexican fisheries. The name comes from a common Caribbean label for a prostitute ("A woman who avoids being thought of as the lowest-level prostitute imaginable by not charging money" according to Skettel.com), continuing the tradition of off-color names for permit flies (e.g. the "merkin") and reminding us people who fly fish for permit are not what we'd call "mainstreamers."
There's only one way into this remote fisherman's paradise in central Chile: a bumpy dirt road completed in 1983. "When I stepped outside the first morning, I was stunned by the looming snowcapped mountains and rock spires hanging above the valley. The hillside on which our log cabin was perched dropped sharply away to the valley floor below. A sheep ranch was cradled between the peaks along with the meandering Rio Azul that joined up with the Futaleufu River less than a half-mile downstream." Will Rice describes the clear water and varieties of trout anglers will find when fishing this unspoiled area. In the Denver Post.
MidCurrent is an independent provider of fly fishing news, literature and advice. We are experienced anglers and guides who enjoy helping others learn. Want more information? You can send us an email here: info@midcurrent.com
