The End

Yes the end of the season is very close only a couple of days left and the reluctant fish sitting around being coy! Art has been busy doing other things, football, meetings and work, but did catch a nice brown last weekend. Promptly declared victory and retired back to the couch for a busy football weekend. Summer will be over in a couple of hours and maybe a little fall fishing, fly tying and more football is in order. Not in that exact order!

Back to School

Yes it seems like everyone has gone back to school. Even the fish are taking courses! Latest observation is that some of the larger and older fish are teaching the young ones a fly ID course. Yes, I couldn't believe my eyes, but as my fly drifted by a small fish went for it only to have a larger one nudge it out of harms way. I thought it was a fluke or just some dominance being displayed, but on the next few drifts the behavior was repeated again and again. I could just imagine the conversation " no can't you see the hook" or "that's not an olive just a bunch of hair and feather" or "ant, no that's foam idiot, now go over there and lay down and wait for some real bugs". "That guy will leave soon and we can really chow down later"!
The three "R's", real bugs, right spot and really you think I don't see you there big guy! What's a guy to do, the fish are winning the battle.

Casting for Recovery

Now for a serious subject, no one likes to talk about  the "C" word and it always seems like it happens to someone else. We are inundated with request for money for this that. I find myself saying no out of frustration that what can I do! I received an email this morning regarding Casting for Recovery upcoming local event later this month. They didn't ask for cash just for a few volunteer guides to help the ladies fish. Such a simple and elegant thing to do. Stand there, change flies and point out good spots to cast to. Helping people out should be our highest goal and most notable achievement when we do. Got a local event, get involved and help someone out! The reward is gonna be there, just by being there.

Catch or Caught and Released

Once again Art has had too much time on his hands and you know what they say "idle hands are the devils workshop". Oh no Art not another lecture! Hardly just a random thought that popped into my head. Those fish we so nobly catch and release, do you think that after awhile they are just tired of all this sportsmanship BS and say I don't want to play your games anymore? OK you got me, whatcha gonna do big boy let me go, really this is getting tiresome. You fling some concoction of who knows what and I have no idea what you think it is and expect me to get into a life or death struggle over it. You have to be crazy, I can see you standing there, that line is huge man and you bugs really suck. Know if I was tired or lazy and didn't have to waste every second looking over every morsel that floats by maybe I would be up for it.  

Trivial Pursuit

Before we launch ourselves into a lather just take a moment to think and reflect on the peace and quiet that's rapidly disappearing. OK, minutes up!

So what's wrong know Art? Plenty! Everything now a days takes a committee and much debate to settle simple issues. Political correctness and form over function as opposed to good old fashioned Yankee (pardon  my Yankee roots ya' all) ingenuity.  Simple solutions to simple problems, not committee votes and discussion followed by more delays and inaction. Seems that I am surrounded and can't escape the bureaucratic beast that we have all become. Consider the news, use to be simple and something you sort of heard about. Today, everything and anything is flashed around the world, man bites dog!

So in conclusion what is the answer? Go ask the fish, yes those fish lying in the bottom of that pool minding their own business. Do you think they real care?

Wild and Scenic or Scenic in the Larger Sense and not so Wild in the smaller sense

After the third canoe passed through the wing dam and a dozen lazy trout resting on the bottom, I tied on a small nymph ( pheasant tail of course) and figured let's take a few cast once everyone settles down. They always settle down, they no longer scurry back and forth just lie there like good little soldiers waiting for some morsel of food to float into their mouths. One cast, a couple got excited and started to fin back and forth and second cast, two more looked around to see what's up! Third cast, I stopped short, the noise of an ATV was close by. ATV?  None allowed, who or what asshole? Fourth cast, the water turned muddy and it was over (the fishing). I took a walk upstream to follow the muddy flow and it seemed to go on for quite a distance. What did they do? Ride up and down the stream bed? I heard the noise real close up the trail back to a parking area and decided to retreat. No sense confronting some idiot or idiots alone.
A day of disappointments indeed, canoes, idiots and carelessness. One woman in one of the canoes asked her partner " what's a special fishing area, what kind of special fish ?" No clue what kind of stream she was in, nor that it has been in the news the last few years or that it's the only place locally where brook trout occur naturally. The message is lost, or just ignored? The last canoe contained two burly middle aged men, the were fully equip twitch a full tackle box, several bait casting rods, a trolling motor complete with battery and a large landing net. Considering this is a wild and scenic river, with limited access, permits required, numerous signs placed about regarding regulations and rules I would say disappointing is an understatement. A high note was one man in a very small kayak who apologized for intruding as he paddled by. His boat was loaded with trash he had picked up alone the way. He understands, he understands!