That's why they call it Fishing,

and not Catching.

Four of us are back from a frustrating but fun weekend in New York. I truly enjoyed myself, got to know some new friends better, learned a lot, but have no fish to show for my extensive efforts. Jeff, the lone spincaster in the group, got one Steelhead (I'll post that picture shortly), but the fishing was slow for all of us and, as far as I can tell, most of the other guys on the river this weekend as well.

From my earlier ramblings you might recall that last month I fished in leaky waders and cold water, a combination I never want to repeat. I'm happy to report that my new neoprene waders from Cabelas performed wonderfully. Feet and legs stayed dry and, for the most part, warm while submerged in icy water for hours at a time. Saturday was not horribly cold, but rainy, which offers a different set of challenges. All four of us struggled to get organized and prepared for a full day on the water in those conditions, it seemed to take us forever to get to the river. After doing that on day one, yesterday went more smoothly, although conditions were easier to prepare for, a bit colder with snow in the morning.

It's amazing how quickly and totally float fishing has caught on up there. Almost everyone but us seemed to be using floats, and many used centrepin setups. The advantages - both in the quality of presentation for the fish and for the distance that presentation can be made on each cast - are obvious. Very, very obvious. I am intrigued about centrepin fishing and intend to research it extensively. I do have questions though. For instance, how is it possible to use this style of fishing in crowded stream conditions such as Great Lake tributary salmon seasons? And for that matter, how could you ever use it to fish for salmon? I'm sure you could hook up easily and often, but how could you hope to land a big salmon when he gets a thirty yard downstream headstart?

Regardless, I'm going to look into it more. I know some steelheaders check in from time to time, I'd love to get some comments from anyone who is centrepin fishing.

Headed North!

Tomorrow we're headed back up north to Pulaski, NY in pursuit of Steelhead! I'll report back in a few days, hopefully with some fish pictures. But certainly with some fishING pictures...

I wonder what the poor people are doing today...

I can remember it like it was yesterday, my Dad and I in a canoe on a lake in Quantico, VA. Me letting the occasional bluegill steal a worm from the hook suspended beneath the red and white bobber, my Dad leaning back with a cold Pabst Blue Ribbon, squinting in the sunshine and saying, "I wonder what the poor people are doing today." He always said it. Being a kid, I often repeated it (although it was decades later before I fully grasped its meaning).

Today I'm reminded of the wealth my Dad found in sitting in a quiet canoe not catching fish, as Ed Nabors of Rocky Face, Georgia stepped up to claim his half of the record $370 million Mega Millions Lottery jackpot. Ed said, as I would have, he plans to "do a lot of fishing." I had my share of Mega Millions tickets, and I have to say, if I wasn't going to win it, I'm glad it went to a truck driving fisherman whose first thoughts were to buy a new boat, a home for his daughter who now lives in a mobile home, and go fishing. He said he planned to drive a truck "for at least two more days." God bless him.

Did you know they made WATERPROOF waders?

Last month I went steelhead fishing in the 34 degree water of New York's Salmon River. My 'breathable' waders breathed cold water onto my legs all day until I could barely move. I wore those waders once more in warmer water for the trout stocking day described below, and again — after patching the only pinhole I could find — my feet got soaked and cold. Somewhere along the line they simply became not waterproof. I honestly ask only one thing of my waders: keep water out. My 2-year old Orvis Clearwaters simply don't.

Meanwhile, my new boot-foot neoprene waders arrived from Cabela's. This Friday I'm heading back to NY for steelhead. Considering the length of the drive (6.5 hours) and the shortness of actual fishing time (all day Saturday, half day Sunday), I really wanted to make sure I was prepared to comfortably fish in cold conditions for a full day. That, plus a case of post-NFL Sunday afternoon boredom, convinced me that I had to perform a wader test.

So I headed to a nearby stream and put the waders on. I was wearing jeans, which work horribly for breathable waders and twice as badly for neoprenes. The boot size on these waders is really, really big, I could wear two extra heavy pairs of socks and still have room for a nice warm kitten in each foot. So with just one pair of medium weight socks, my feet were moving around a lot. I clomped down to the water and was amazed to find that I couldn't feel the water AT ALL! I waded up to my knees and walked around and stood around for a while. Still nothing. I feel like an idiot for not buying these long ago. I mean, yeah, it's nice to have waders that are simply waterproof, but these things are toasty warm. I decided to snap the boot/wading staff photo above, and when I did I realized how cold that water was. My hand froze instantly and I was impressed even more by how well these waders were keeping the cold and wet off my legs.

This week the Korkers I ordered will arrive and I'll be ready to brave upstate New York once again. Even with the same length trip, I know I can more than double the amount of time I can stay in the water this time. And that simply has to improve my odds. I'll keep you posted!

Brown Trout Stocking in the Patuxent

I took part in a trout stocking for the first time today, and it was a great experience! This was a stretch of the Patuxent I was previously unfamiliar with, so it was an added bonus to learn, in great detail, about a new piece of water. Anyway, here's how it works:

The truck arrives. This stretch, about 2,500 to 3,000 yards, received 500 brown trout plus 30 really nice sized ones, probably 15" and very meaty. They came from the Musky Trout Hatchery in New Jersey, and they all looked good and healthy.

We had five boxes, and brought them down to the river just below Brighton Dam. We floated the boxes in the river and brought the fish from the truck in buckets until each box had over 100 trout! As I was dragging my box behind me it occurred to me that I was holding more trout than I'll see all season. But it really felt cool to be responsible for so many beautiful fish.

We waded well downstream of easy access points before we released any trout. Then we just took turns dumping out 10 or 15 trout every hundred yards or so. It was very interesting to look at the river from the standpoint of an angler, but with an entirely different motivation. Instead of finding 'fishy' spots to catch fish, I found myself looking for really appealing trout habitat in which to hide them. Places I'd have trouble reaching with a fly rod became prime territory to release fish, especially the big ones!

Some of the wading was difficult, and we had to do some creative problem solving to get past some obstacles. Here, Carl our team leader has boxes floated to him across a pool too deep to wade through.

Nick approves of the placement of trout in this, his home water. I'd be grinning too if I was getting 530 brownies in my backyard!

It was a beautiful stretch of water. These heron nests will soon disappear behind spring foliage.

Nick again, entirely too happy. I think these last few trout are heading back to his bathtub.

This is where we got out of the river. Someone noticed this bull noticing us with great interest.

So that's it! 530 more trout for fly fishermen to enjoy, and one more of those fishermen having a better understanding of the hard work that goes into stocking these waters. I encourage anyone who enjoys stocked fisheries to find the clubs responsible for stocking them, and volunteer one day a year to help out. You'll learn a lot, have fun and meet cool people. Plus it might just be your best shot at a 100 trout day. I know it's mine!