Euro-Nymphing with a Crappie Pole?

Posted on July 11, 2021 by Ed Mitchell

Euro-Nymphing with a Crappie Pole?

Euro-Nymphing with a Crappie Pole

By buddy Phil is always figuring out new ideas. You may remember a few posts back he showed us how to use an ice float for fly storage.

Well recently he has been fascinated with learning how to euro-nymph. Hey why not? It is a deadly way to fish. We all know that. But Phil wasn’t about to drop 900 buckeroos on a new super duper euro-nymph rod.  So he did a little hunting around instead and came up with this clever work-around.

He bought a 10 foot, 2 piece, bamboo pole at Walmart. Sold under the brand name “B’n’M Pole Company 10′ Jointed Bamboo Fishing Rod” it cost a whopping 3 dollars and 35 cents. Reasonable to say the least. Then he took it home and wound on some guides. Attached a fly reel, fly line, a long leader, a heavy nymph, and set off to the stream. He tells me it works!

 

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Dolphins and Nets

Posted on July 9, 2021 by Ed Mitchell

Dolphins and Nets

This post may seem a bit odd, in that it has nothing to do with fly-fishing, kayaking, or any other outdoor sport for that matter. Still I feel compelled to write it.

Recently my son was on Martha’s Vineyard. On a remote stretch of shore, he came across a dead dolphin. I believe it is a spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris), at least the markings and long beak hint at that. The dolphin had no obvious signs of trauma, other than an eye poked out likely by gull. No indication it had been attacked by a shark, or hit by a boat. And that raises the very real possibility it was killed offshore in a net.

The worldwide commercial tuna fishery has killed and continues to kill an enormous number of dolphins. Studies indicate that between 1950-2018 over 4 million dolphins were caught as bycatch in the world’s tuna fishery. How does that happen? Dolphins school with tuna. Commercial fishermen realize that and set their nets around the dolphin, hoping to catch a large number of tuna as well. Obviously that has a devastating effect on the dolphins. In the Indian Ocean it is estimated that over 100,00o dolphins are caught annually as a bycatch in the tuna fishery. And that the dolphin population in that ocean has declined 90 percent!

Thankfully, here in our country  measures have been taken to greatly decrease that bycatch. Our canneries now only except tuna caught with dolphin-safe methods. And you will see that info printed on cans of tuna in the marketplace. That conservation effort has made an enormous decreased in the number of dolphins killed each year in our waters. But the number is still in the thousands.

During my years in Florida, I saw dolphins nearly every day. And I often kayaked alongside of them. They are amazing, intelligent critters, and deserve our respect.

 

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A Trip to the Great North Woods

Posted on July 5, 2021 by Ed Mitchell

A Trip to the Great North Woods

How it Looked in the pre-covid Days!

In the previous post I told you about the effect of climate change and covid on my trip north. Damn, quite a bummer. The river was overrun with anglers. Completely overrun. The photo above shows you how things looked in the past. Hopefully these saner days can return to the Great North Woods. Got my fingers crossed.

But truthfully there were some good points too. The State of New Hampshire does a wonderful job stocking the Upper Connecticut River with beautiful brook trout. The brood stock ones are three year old brookies, running upwards of 4 pounds! While we were there the state stocked, net full after net full, of brook trout in the 1.5 to 2 pound range. Gorgeous fish. Great on a fly rod.

Delivering Beautiful Brook Trout to the Great North woods

The “Bridge Commander”

No top of that the Great North Woods supplies a breathtaking backdrop of forests, mountains, moose,  and lakes. This is indeed wild country. And along with it there are some wild characters living in this hills. Such as a guy, I met on a bridge over the river. Lets call him call the “Bridge Commander”. Looks the part doesn’t he? Full of stories, jokes and spinning pure bullshit. You gotta love it. Life in the Great North Woods will do that to you.

 

A Great North Woods Brookie

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Climate Change and Covid are Affecting our Fisheries

Posted on June 28, 2021 by Ed Mitchell

Climate Change and Covid are Affecting our Fisheries

I just got back from a trip up to the Great North Woods. A place I love and have been going to since the mid-1980’s. But I was totally unprepared for what I found.

The river was running extremely low. Lower then I had seen in decades. Asking around, I learned that over the winter the region had received 80 inches less snow than normal. That’s right almost a 7 foot deficient. Crazy. And to boot, they were experiencing a lack of rain as well, placing them in a serious drought. In fact the water table was at a 39 year low. Now I was well aware that out West water problems are going on big time, but I had zero idea its was happening so close to home.

If that weren’t enough, there was a fourfold increase in the number of people in town. Crowds, the likes of which I had never witnessed before. Every car and pickup you saw was filled with canoes and kayaks. ATVs and dirt bikes everywhere. And every pool was packed with anglers. Total mayhem. Once again I started asking around. Like myself, veterans of the area were all in shock. Scratching their heads. Then I heard that across the country all the National Parks were full. The state campground near the river was no exception. It was packed. After our year-long cabin fever, courtesy of the pandemic, people were busting out, desperate to get away, desperate to have fun, desperate to canoe and kayak, desperate to run their ATVs, desperate to dirt bike. And desperate to fish!

The trip was quite an eye opener. I headed south concerned and disappointed. No question, climate change and covid are affecting our fisheries.

 

 

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Dave ‘s 18″ Brown Trout

Posted on June 18, 2021 by Ed Mitchell

Dave’s 18″ Brown Trout

Dave’s 18″ Brown Trout

My friend Dave got himself a nice 18″ brown trout. No this isn’t famous the Dave I speak about all the time – the redfish king, down in Punta Gorda. This Dave lives here in Connecticut.

Anyway this Dave was up on the Farmington River in New Hartford, a few nights back. He tells me the fishing was slow until the light faded. Well we have all seen that scenario. Dusk and dawn are frequently the best action, especially as summer comes on.

In the ebbing light some fish began to rise. So Dave tied on a small yellow spinner. Bingo he latched onto this beautiful 18″ brown trout. Fought well. Nice going Dave.

Notice anything about this brown’s coloration Its silvery with only black markings. No obvious red or orange spots. A bit unusual, I’d say.

Over the years, the State of Connecticut has stocked several different strains of brown trout including – Cortland, Bitterroot, Rome, Seeferellins, and more recently a “Survivor” strain from holdovers in the Farmington.

Yellow Spinner

Which strain does this trout look like? Well the Cortland fish have big red spots ringed by blue. And the “Survivor” is similar. I’m inclined to cross both of them off. Romes I’m unsure about. But both Bitterroots and Seeferellins are silvery with black spots. May look like we have it narrowed down, but Seeferellins are mainly stocked in lakes. And to the best of my knowledge Bitterroot browns aren’t stocked anymore. So I guess it will have to remain a mystery.

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