A Great Fish
This article is another in Dave Weaver’s on going “Casting through History” series. His previous article in this series was John Brown’s Bass.
Over the years many of you, if you’ve visited Yellow Breeches Anglers in Boiling Springs, have probably gazed at one particular dusty old mounted brown trout. When I was a kid, I’d look at this fish and think that it wasn’t the best taxidermy job. If you’re a Cumberland Valley regular or otherwise familiar with the writings of Charlie Fox and others, you’re probably aware of the story behind this fish. If not, we’ll re-tell the story behind this dusty old trophy…..a veritable sacred relic of Pennsylvania fishing history.
Ed Koch is part of Pennsylvania’s unique fly fishing heritage. His book Fishing the Midge is a classic and, like many of the writings of his generation, is always worth a re-read. Ed was also the long time owner of the Yellow Breeches fly shop. Many of you may remember chatting with Ed in the shop. This was Ed’s great trophy, caught from Letort Spring Run in August 1962. Charlie Fox recollects the story in his classic, This Wonderful World of Trout: Ed had hooked the fish three times previously. Finally, he saw the giant again and, after several casts, the big brown rose and ate a Letort Cricket, a popular deer hair dry fly. After a tough, twenty five minute fight in the weeds, the fish came to the net: 27 and a half inches and over nine pounds. Fox describes Koch’s trembling hands when the fish was weighed and photographed. Shortly later, the Fish Commission announced that this was the largest brown trout ever caught in Pennsylvania on a dry fly. Does this fish still hold this distinction today? I don’t know - perhaps. I think every fly fisherman dreams of that fish of a lifetime; a fish that takes perseverance and...
Ed Koch is part of Pennsylvania’s unique fly fishing heritage. His book Fishing the Midge is a classic and, like many of the writings of his generation, is always worth a re-read. Ed was also the long time owner of the Yellow Breeches fly shop. Many of you may remember chatting with Ed in the shop. This was Ed’s great trophy, caught from Letort Spring Run in August 1962. Charlie Fox recollects the story in his classic, This Wonderful World of Trout: Ed had hooked the fish three times previously. Finally, he saw the giant again and, after several casts, the big brown rose and ate a Letort Cricket, a popular deer hair dry fly. After a tough, twenty five minute fight in the weeds, the fish came to the net: 27 and a half inches and over nine pounds. Fox describes Koch’s trembling hands when the fish was weighed and photographed. Shortly later, the Fish Commission announced that this was the largest brown trout ever caught in Pennsylvania on a dry fly. Does this fish still hold this distinction today? I don’t know - perhaps. I think every fly fisherman dreams of that fish of a lifetime; a fish that takes perseverance and...
Trip Report: Northwest Michigan Fall Fly Fishing
Bruno called fellow board member Acristickid on his cell phone as we headed up Route 79 North from Pittsburgh and Acristickid told us to turn left when we got to Erie and head for Michigan!
The heart of the fishing near Wellston in Northwest Michigan is 8 hours driving time from Pittsburgh which compares favorably to the seven hour drive to Pulaski New York for anglers in Western Pennsylvania. We fished October 10-12 in 2010 which was a little late for the salmon in Michigan.
This year Bruno, Brian Charlie and I made our way north again. We fished September 18-21 which was close to the peak of the Chinook Run. The Coho salmon also were out to play this year. Our trip was a little early for the steelhead, they run late October to late April. Part of the appeal of fishing in Northwest Michigan is that nearly all of these fish are naturally reproducing from ancestors stocked decades ago. The spawning gravel in these rivers and streams is immaculate!
We caught a few King salmon on our own, but the best day of the trip was our day our on driftboats with guides from Schmidt Outfitters on the Manistee River. They put us over a Coho hotspot. Bruno and I hooked and landed many of these wonderful fish that really love to take a fly. We also hooked a few King salmon with the guides, but the landing of Kings was more difficult.
What happens to trout during a flood?
This past weeks flooding from Tropical Storm Lee left much of region devastated. The rains produced floods that rivaled the 1972 storm of storms Hurricane Agnes. Sadly, there are countless tales of significant property loss as result of flooded waterways from the Susquehanna in the Wyoming Valley to the Swatara in Lancaster County. Hoping everyone has a speedy recovery.
A lot of questions have been asked on the site as too what happens to the trout under such conditions?
The short answer is it depends, but for the most part fish and the aquatic life recovery reasonably well in these situations. That is not to say there won't be some short term issues. Trout and other fish instinctually know how to respond to these types of floods.
During high water fish will get into the safest flow of a a stream or river, which would typically be at the very bottom of a stream. This is where the velocity of the flow is the slowest. Rocks and other structure can provide some needed protection.
“The fish tend to hunker down,” said David Lemon, fisheries manager at the NY Department of Conservation’s Cortland office. “They get behind current breaks, in deep pools ... sit on the bottom.”
Certainly severe conditions can leave fish in some bad situations. Floods can deliver pollution and heavily silted water that can cause additional challenges. More problematic for trout is they can find themselves outside the banks of streams when the water retreats.
"Generally speaking the populations do quite well, bouncing back quickly, or never seeing a reduction. Occasionally seen, populations decline substantially and remain down for a number of years. This has usually been true only when the storm or flood has ravaged the habitat and for the long term left it much worse than before. In those cases, primarily brook trout streams, many to most of the pools were lost. The populations in those cases found...
The short answer is it depends, but for the most part fish and the aquatic life recovery reasonably well in these situations. That is not to say there won't be some short term issues. Trout and other fish instinctually know how to respond to these types of floods.
During high water fish will get into the safest flow of a a stream or river, which would typically be at the very bottom of a stream. This is where the velocity of the flow is the slowest. Rocks and other structure can provide some needed protection.
“The fish tend to hunker down,” said David Lemon, fisheries manager at the NY Department of Conservation’s Cortland office. “They get behind current breaks, in deep pools ... sit on the bottom.”
Certainly severe conditions can leave fish in some bad situations. Floods can deliver pollution and heavily silted water that can cause additional challenges. More problematic for trout is they can find themselves outside the banks of streams when the water retreats.
"Generally speaking the populations do quite well, bouncing back quickly, or never seeing a reduction. Occasionally seen, populations decline substantially and remain down for a number of years. This has usually been true only when the storm or flood has ravaged the habitat and for the long term left it much worse than before. In those cases, primarily brook trout streams, many to most of the pools were lost. The populations in those cases found...
Book Review: Fly Fishing for Striped Bass by Rich Murphy
Fly Fishing for Striped Bass
Rich Murphy
Wild River Press, 2007
457pp
The claim that any book is “definitive” has always caused me to dismiss the reviewers glowing claims that inevitably follow – and I’ll not use the term in this review – but Fly Fishing for Striped Bass by Rich Murphy comes close to meeting this ideal. I’ve had the pleasure of chatting with Rich at the Somerset show in the past and marveling at his beautiful and innovative fly patterns. When I asked him if he’d ever caught a tautog on a fly (something I’ve tried to do for years, without any luck) he responded with a tone suggesting that it was downright easy.
Looking at his crab patterns, it doesn’t surprise me that ole Mr Tog would fall for ‘em. Anyway, this book, is simply put, a pleasure to read or just peruse. Replete with color photos on every page, it’s a coffee table book that reads just as well. In its 9 chapters, FFfSB starts with an intriguing chapter that follows the migration of “Sax,” a fictional, fifty pound cow bass on her migration up the coast.
Other chapters describe the various techniques for flats, rocks, bays, etc as well as Rich’s excellent flies and other gear. Murphy, a driven, rail thin runner and type A angler is highly intelligent and you can sense his intense focus on every page. The book can be difficult to read in a bit too many sections and sometimes it seems that Murphy tries a bit too hard by half to find a sophisticated voice, writing too many passages like this:
We know from Chapter 2 that a major physiological change happens in her eyes at sundown – the color receptors or cones on the surface of her eye’s retina retract and contrast detecting receptors, or rods are deployed in their place. This enhances her capacity to detect subtle changes in the contrast gradient of the water column around her caused by the movement of her prey or predators…My surface night patterns are configured to...
Rich Murphy
Wild River Press, 2007
457pp
The claim that any book is “definitive” has always caused me to dismiss the reviewers glowing claims that inevitably follow – and I’ll not use the term in this review – but Fly Fishing for Striped Bass by Rich Murphy comes close to meeting this ideal. I’ve had the pleasure of chatting with Rich at the Somerset show in the past and marveling at his beautiful and innovative fly patterns. When I asked him if he’d ever caught a tautog on a fly (something I’ve tried to do for years, without any luck) he responded with a tone suggesting that it was downright easy.
Looking at his crab patterns, it doesn’t surprise me that ole Mr Tog would fall for ‘em. Anyway, this book, is simply put, a pleasure to read or just peruse. Replete with color photos on every page, it’s a coffee table book that reads just as well. In its 9 chapters, FFfSB starts with an intriguing chapter that follows the migration of “Sax,” a fictional, fifty pound cow bass on her migration up the coast.
We know from Chapter 2 that a major physiological change happens in her eyes at sundown – the color receptors or cones on the surface of her eye’s retina retract and contrast detecting receptors, or rods are deployed in their place. This enhances her capacity to detect subtle changes in the contrast gradient of the water column around her caused by the movement of her prey or predators…My surface night patterns are configured to...
Earthquakes & Hurricanes. What's freakin' next?
It has been a pretty crazy week already with a once in a century 5.9 magnitude earthquake jolting the east coast on Tuesday. Our new threat is with Hurricane Irene which is bearing down on us and expected to strike North Carolina within hours. Already a Cat 3, Irene is forecasted to grind away at the coastlines from North Carolina to Maine. Unfortunately, many of the most Eastern streams in the Northeastern states are already above average for this time of year. More rain and strong winds will make for some pretty challenging conditions over the weekend.
I hope everyone takes appropriate precautions and prepares for what will be a wet and windy weekend for many. Maybe this storm will take out the swarm of [d]locusts[/d] stink bugs that is due to onset us next week.
Have a good weekend. I am off to get some gas for my generator!