salvelinusfontinalis
Active member
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2006
- Messages
- 7,284
I was unable to attend the 2012 Newbie Jam and give this presentation due to work obligations. I apologize and really put a lot of work into my presentation. I know some of you had been looking forward to it and here is the written version I've been sitting on for awhile. I hope you enjoy!
Part 1:
"Tim Johnson reached the side street that ran in front of the Radley Place, and what remained of his poor mind made him pause and seem to consider which road he would take. He made a few hesitant steps and stopped in front of the Radley gate; then he tried to turn around, but was having difficulty.In front of the Radley gate, Tim Johnson had made up what was left of his mind. He had finally turned himself around, to pursue his original course up our street. He made two steps forward, then stopped and raised his head. We saw his body go rigid....Come here...Don’t you go near that dog, you understand? Don’t go near him, he’s just as dangerous dead as alive."
The above was some quotes from to Kill a Mockingbird published in 1960. It is you every second your on the stream fishing for spring creek trout. Its true.
As a Lancaster County angler I have forever been under attack by one of the most unpredictable animals ever made, farm animals. Ever been? These are not only creatures of burden and they have an angry curiosity that is extremely dangerous. Ever been attacked by something while fishing? Geese and ducks are the same way with nests and young. I can't even tell you the amount of times I've been chased, bit, kicked, completely wet from swimming away and almost had my heart explode! I have even been scared by a deer! It all comes down to one little word. Proximity. The Bull doesn't really hate me and I know not to fish wearing red, but he hates my location. He saw me, hes curious and I'm scared. I'm in is territory, so I really should be scared. Really though, take time to think about this now and not at the time it happens to you because then its only time to run.
Just pick a way to fish. The problem with you and nature is you are foreign. I don't know if it is our minds that have disconnected us from nature with the use of things like technology, but we have alienated ourselves. Indians were more in tune, just ask Manitou and a brook trout. So now your going to fly-fish for these amazingly shy fish. Honestly.....and you expect to have success? We are a walking cancer & virus on this earth and people are nothing more but king of it all to these animals. Stop and breath in the sweet honeysuckle for a moment or look at the flickering sunlit leaves. I'm proposing you take a trip to a classic limestone spring creek, knee deep in muck and leave your rod at home. That's right, don't fish. Enjoy nature, take your time...........slow down. Take the entire day and even pack a lunch. I want you to creep along somewhere in the transitional borders of shade and grassy wind swept sways, and prowl like a swamp tiger. Move slow and do not make a sound. Blend in. Sit still for long periods of time, watching and waiting. Sit still so long that you start to get the feeling the birds don't notice you, until you feel nothing short of accepted. See that dog, hes not barking is he?
All this time not trying to multitask on spring creeks as been more special than the trips fishing for the trout in them. Before you end up like Tim Johnson with the poor mind at Radley gate with a mean dog, take these trips and give yourself up to the Letort. She will show you vast wonders that boggle the mind. See poor Timmy didn't know which way to go, stutter stepping and turning around all hesitant and such. When you go without a rod things become easier because you now have one simple goal besides enjoying the day and stream. You will see more fish and as long as you stay back and observe, she just might let you peek too because Mrs. Letort, is a total tease. No reason to get “trout fever” and go bum rushing into a bad situation, just smell that sweet sweet honeysuckle.
Because she, well she's a total b*^%% to fish!
“Come here...Don’t you go near that dog, you understand? Don’t go near him, he’s just as dangerous dead as alive."
I think that dog is just as useful too.
Part 2:
The Art of Stealth
Spring creeks really are the proving grounds. Go there to test your medal they will tell you but its really testing your mental. They look at you funny when they tell you, “you do know that was never going to work” or well “you shouldn't have done that!” I just agree and then catch 100's of fish every year the same way I was told it wasn't going to work, sometimes right beside them too. Most of them are small trout, but then again they dominate the population. The art of not spooking a fish is very intricate and often harder than the art of spooking a fish which is highly over looked, both will work on many difficult Pennsylvania trout.
The Art of Stealth goes further than stay low and moving slow or what clothes you wear but these all are important. Those will be the first three pieces of advice someone will tell you to do on a spring creek. Well how low and how slow? Got a ruler or a dashboard attached to you leg? I think to begin this process we must look into what a trout sees.
You remember seeing this picture on the forum? Ed was kind enough to post this and it really is a good base measure for what a trout sees. It tells me that for every 19.685 feet I better only be 3.28 feet off the ground. Simple. If im not the fish will see something. Easily accomplished without a fly rod. Your tool is the issue men!:-D
So figure your casting side arm! Low most the time and way ahead and side of the fish. Your going to spook fish because its a crap shoot people. Unless you go often and think you know where most the fish are, there are 1500 of them. You don't see them all. Now it gets complicated because one spooked fish can destory a hole. Sunlight is your friend when you do not take a rod, you can see the fish but they cannot see you, it is your enemy while fishing. So are the trees and grass and muck and cress and the tickle on your nose or the bird that almost attacked you........ All of that doesn't even matter except for the bird.
Just stay back and respect the fish your targeting. Remember a failure is never the problem only lack of determination.
The one thing lacking in the photo you see is water depth, clarity, recent weather event, sun refraction due to time of day, time of the year, shadows and broken water. Wow thats a lot. So suddenly angles and other things are worse or they are better. I would go over all of this but frankly, you can find plenty of resources online to help explain all of these variables.
The Art of Spooking a Fish
Its a thing of beauty.
I suppose you could call this my Letort Thesis, but that is to say one can own anything about the Letort. She has many faces and changes them on you all the time. Her bittersweet carass can change the way you look at things in fishing and in life. It really is unusual and its what makes these streams unique. I showed you one way I got the trout to part like the Red Sea on Volume One. The Art of Spooking Fish is a fun thing to watch. Nice fish flying downstream, rod pointed down like a weapon just before you unhook the fly from your rod and all in the glory of the overcast dreary day. The bigger target fish just upstream, didnt even know you were there. There are two types of spooked trout IMO. The one that just sits there and you didn't see him till he was right beside you and its too late. This fish you almost can learn nothing from. Its the one that sees you from a distance, an instantly moves flying down stream. This runner tells you two things, distance and height for those given conditions. You can use this too your advantage when targeting a specific fish. One thing you can do on your local freestone or limestone streams is mark all the conditions in a log book.
Ex.
March 12th 2012 12pm
Little Lehigh
CFS: 100
Clarity:
Part 1:
"Tim Johnson reached the side street that ran in front of the Radley Place, and what remained of his poor mind made him pause and seem to consider which road he would take. He made a few hesitant steps and stopped in front of the Radley gate; then he tried to turn around, but was having difficulty.In front of the Radley gate, Tim Johnson had made up what was left of his mind. He had finally turned himself around, to pursue his original course up our street. He made two steps forward, then stopped and raised his head. We saw his body go rigid....Come here...Don’t you go near that dog, you understand? Don’t go near him, he’s just as dangerous dead as alive."
The above was some quotes from to Kill a Mockingbird published in 1960. It is you every second your on the stream fishing for spring creek trout. Its true.
As a Lancaster County angler I have forever been under attack by one of the most unpredictable animals ever made, farm animals. Ever been? These are not only creatures of burden and they have an angry curiosity that is extremely dangerous. Ever been attacked by something while fishing? Geese and ducks are the same way with nests and young. I can't even tell you the amount of times I've been chased, bit, kicked, completely wet from swimming away and almost had my heart explode! I have even been scared by a deer! It all comes down to one little word. Proximity. The Bull doesn't really hate me and I know not to fish wearing red, but he hates my location. He saw me, hes curious and I'm scared. I'm in is territory, so I really should be scared. Really though, take time to think about this now and not at the time it happens to you because then its only time to run.
Just pick a way to fish. The problem with you and nature is you are foreign. I don't know if it is our minds that have disconnected us from nature with the use of things like technology, but we have alienated ourselves. Indians were more in tune, just ask Manitou and a brook trout. So now your going to fly-fish for these amazingly shy fish. Honestly.....and you expect to have success? We are a walking cancer & virus on this earth and people are nothing more but king of it all to these animals. Stop and breath in the sweet honeysuckle for a moment or look at the flickering sunlit leaves. I'm proposing you take a trip to a classic limestone spring creek, knee deep in muck and leave your rod at home. That's right, don't fish. Enjoy nature, take your time...........slow down. Take the entire day and even pack a lunch. I want you to creep along somewhere in the transitional borders of shade and grassy wind swept sways, and prowl like a swamp tiger. Move slow and do not make a sound. Blend in. Sit still for long periods of time, watching and waiting. Sit still so long that you start to get the feeling the birds don't notice you, until you feel nothing short of accepted. See that dog, hes not barking is he?
All this time not trying to multitask on spring creeks as been more special than the trips fishing for the trout in them. Before you end up like Tim Johnson with the poor mind at Radley gate with a mean dog, take these trips and give yourself up to the Letort. She will show you vast wonders that boggle the mind. See poor Timmy didn't know which way to go, stutter stepping and turning around all hesitant and such. When you go without a rod things become easier because you now have one simple goal besides enjoying the day and stream. You will see more fish and as long as you stay back and observe, she just might let you peek too because Mrs. Letort, is a total tease. No reason to get “trout fever” and go bum rushing into a bad situation, just smell that sweet sweet honeysuckle.
Because she, well she's a total b*^%% to fish!
“Come here...Don’t you go near that dog, you understand? Don’t go near him, he’s just as dangerous dead as alive."
I think that dog is just as useful too.
Part 2:
The Art of Stealth
Spring creeks really are the proving grounds. Go there to test your medal they will tell you but its really testing your mental. They look at you funny when they tell you, “you do know that was never going to work” or well “you shouldn't have done that!” I just agree and then catch 100's of fish every year the same way I was told it wasn't going to work, sometimes right beside them too. Most of them are small trout, but then again they dominate the population. The art of not spooking a fish is very intricate and often harder than the art of spooking a fish which is highly over looked, both will work on many difficult Pennsylvania trout.
The Art of Stealth goes further than stay low and moving slow or what clothes you wear but these all are important. Those will be the first three pieces of advice someone will tell you to do on a spring creek. Well how low and how slow? Got a ruler or a dashboard attached to you leg? I think to begin this process we must look into what a trout sees.
You remember seeing this picture on the forum? Ed was kind enough to post this and it really is a good base measure for what a trout sees. It tells me that for every 19.685 feet I better only be 3.28 feet off the ground. Simple. If im not the fish will see something. Easily accomplished without a fly rod. Your tool is the issue men!:-D
So figure your casting side arm! Low most the time and way ahead and side of the fish. Your going to spook fish because its a crap shoot people. Unless you go often and think you know where most the fish are, there are 1500 of them. You don't see them all. Now it gets complicated because one spooked fish can destory a hole. Sunlight is your friend when you do not take a rod, you can see the fish but they cannot see you, it is your enemy while fishing. So are the trees and grass and muck and cress and the tickle on your nose or the bird that almost attacked you........ All of that doesn't even matter except for the bird.
Just stay back and respect the fish your targeting. Remember a failure is never the problem only lack of determination.
The one thing lacking in the photo you see is water depth, clarity, recent weather event, sun refraction due to time of day, time of the year, shadows and broken water. Wow thats a lot. So suddenly angles and other things are worse or they are better. I would go over all of this but frankly, you can find plenty of resources online to help explain all of these variables.
The Art of Spooking a Fish
Its a thing of beauty.
I suppose you could call this my Letort Thesis, but that is to say one can own anything about the Letort. She has many faces and changes them on you all the time. Her bittersweet carass can change the way you look at things in fishing and in life. It really is unusual and its what makes these streams unique. I showed you one way I got the trout to part like the Red Sea on Volume One. The Art of Spooking Fish is a fun thing to watch. Nice fish flying downstream, rod pointed down like a weapon just before you unhook the fly from your rod and all in the glory of the overcast dreary day. The bigger target fish just upstream, didnt even know you were there. There are two types of spooked trout IMO. The one that just sits there and you didn't see him till he was right beside you and its too late. This fish you almost can learn nothing from. Its the one that sees you from a distance, an instantly moves flying down stream. This runner tells you two things, distance and height for those given conditions. You can use this too your advantage when targeting a specific fish. One thing you can do on your local freestone or limestone streams is mark all the conditions in a log book.
Ex.
March 12th 2012 12pm
Little Lehigh
CFS: 100
Clarity:
