Invariably this time of year, someone asks the question on a fishing discussion board, usually someone honestly excited that trout season is opening after a long winter: Who’s going out Opening Day?
The answers are so predictable and run the gamut from
self-aggrandizing to snobbery to genuine excitement: I don’t chase
pelletheads! I am going to catch some
and use them for cut bait. I will be
there as I am every year because it’s a tradition with my dad or buddies or
kid. I will be there for tradition but I
would rather be a) striper fishing, b) catfishing, c) bass fishing, etc. I am bringing my kids because that’s how I
started. I will go to see the zoo, but I
won’t fish until next week when I will clean the place out with a) my fly rod,
b) a lure no else knows how to fish, c) corn, minnows, etc. I will have my limit by 8:45 AM and be
sleeping off a hangover in the truck.
And so on….
First of 2016, my Opening Day, January 7th. |
Because I trout fish all year long, I no longer have an
opening day, per se, though I do mark the first fish of the new year, usually. As a kid who slept in my dad’s pickup cap all
night in the Bell’s Mill parking lot the evening before Opening Day (try doing
that now!) I have to wonder what time, enlightened science, “enlightened
science,” social media, changes to stocking procedures, and propaganda from
both sides have done (don’t get me started with the GoPro!). I am 47 years old later this month, so
despite the number of posts I have made to a discussion board or forum, I am no
newbie. Here’s what’s happening from my
point of view:
A lot of fly guys hate
bait chuckers because they leave trash behind, bait guys trying to catch dinner
hate fly guys for tossing them back (and not even taking them out of the water
anymore), and spinner guys who have run-ins with fly guys on Class A creeks are made to feel like intruders. They both hate Powerbaiters. I don’t bait fish,
but I don’t fish exclusively in one way or another, either. I still like a spinning rod, and I treat the
stream and the fish with the same respect I do when I fish with a fly rod. On a
day where a guy who fishes exclusively with a fly rod (or wouldn’t cheat and
throw “meat” at them) would be home because the stream is too high and muddy, I
am catching trout that are usually ghosts, seldom scene and less often caught. If you fish for wild fish with a plug or
spinner, you get less than a second to set the hook. I rarely have more than 1/3 of a treble hook
in the fish’s mouth, and many get a long distance release after a short battle. To me, if a 5 foot spinning rod and a trout
magnet is the right tool for a tiny mountain trickle, then what’s the different
between a jig with one hook and a nymph with one hook besides the fisherman’s
preference? I am willing to bet fish
mortality with a trout magnet is on par with the fly, and I don’t tie a dropper
to a trout magnet, so there is no chance of hooking a fin or eye ball with the
trailing dropper fly either…
I have an ATW/trout stream literally 500 feet from my
house. It is stocked. It is 4 miles from Philadelphia, and it is
one of the reasons why I moved to this neighborhood. If I don’t fish it, I am an idiot. I do fish it, and I make it as challenging or
fun for myself as I can. When the water temp gets close to 70 degrees, I stop fishing it. Sometimes I
just walk it, and I think about fishing.
The boy having fun on my local ATW. Although, if he breaks the tip of my St Croix, I am garnishing his allowance...... |
Like most fisherman, I started with bait as a kid, then moved to the fly rod, then spent 5 years throwing spinners until they got too easy or too limiting, then I spent 5 years or more throwing plugs until they got too predictable or limiting, then I picked up the fly rod again after an absence. And now I rotate between artificials on the spinning rod and flies on the fly rod. Surf and stream. Boat and bank. Wild and stocked. Near and far. This is the same reason there are guys who only dry fly fish or only throw plugs in the surf. My buddy Jeff and I, even at 12, were sort of pissed that the Inquirer photographer caught us not in our waders in the creek, but instead acting like kids on the bridge. We were finished fishing for real and just waiting for my dad to catch up to us before heading for home. It’s the fisherman’s choice of how to fish legally, as I said above, and it's his or her own internal rules and self-imposed limitations on how it should be done. I know where trout live because I fished for them a long time before I used a fly rod to fish for them. I try not to judge, and we really shouldn’t if we all want the resource to remain. Honestly, the offenders, the polluters, the yahoos, all disappear by May 1 (most after the first week or two), and there are still fish in the ATWs convenient for a short hour long excursion near home before and/or after work. My buddy Eric and I caught fish last night within sight of our neighbors’ houses, for example. There are never going to be wild trout in the mighty Wissahickon, but I am glad I have a creek near my house where I can have some convenient fun, and my kid can experience a bit of what I did growing up. I don’t even have to drive to it, so is that environmentally friendly and evolved or what?
Things have changed in other ways too, and I know it’s
hard not to judge others and their methods.
Many young bucks don’t want to trick wily trout; they want to hold up a
30 lb flathead or striped bass that they caught on cut bait, as if putting a
rod in a forked stick is some great accomplishment. Fishing or angling to me is paramount most
days but not all the time. How one
catches a fish does matter, sometimes, even if it brings about harsh judgments
from the different camps. There are guys
who sneak after skittish carp with a fly rod and there are guys who bait a hole
for two days and then show up with the same bait, just to hold up a 20 lb carp
on social media. I don’t get it. Standing on third thinking you hit a triple,
as I have heard Reverend Al Sharpton say.
I don’t get it, but I don’t let it provoke resentment in me either. Fishing a private section of Spruce Creek and
holding up trophies like they were tough to catch. Fishing exclusively with a guide and thinking
you had an equal share in the success of the day. Chumming.
I think the process and the journey do matter, sometimes. But, I don’t hate either. And sometimes I just like to catch fish. I have fished with a guide. I have chunked for tuna, chummed grass shrimp
for weakfish, soaked bunker for bass, soaked chicken livers for channel
cats. I may have even caught trout on Velveeta
cheese and bluegills on hot dog. I have
fished a long time and did not arrive to the sport fully formed. All those experiences are formative. Not everyone evolves completely. Kenny and I will still yell at my old man
when he doesn’t think and tosses a butt in the water in Canada. He does think most of the time though, and he’s
a self-proclaimed retired ditch digger from Olney with a high school education, and it’s
because he has wanted to evolve. And sometimes he just wants to catch fish.
I like when I hear stories about fly fishermen gently
educating the ignorant or, better yet, uninformed. Honestly, I do. To get all indignant does no one any
good. Here’s an analogy I come back to
from time to time. It’s based on a real
experience. As a college administrator who
works primarily with freshmen, I have had male students roasted by female faculty for their uninformed,
ignorant misogyny and/or sexism. But is
it fair to demonize an 18 year, working class kid because he doesn’t yet have
an informed sexual politics or wasn’t aware that his paper was revealing him as
a woman hater? Isn’t an 18 year still in
his formative years and could still learn about equality from a strong woman? Do we really expect the average LAX bro to
show up as a freshman and be a feminist?
If someone is new to fishing and chucks Powerbait on a bobber is
treating him like the enemy going to get him to respect your point of view and
the resource? Do you make future fly fishermen
by making everyone think the fly fishermen are intolerant?
My younger brother and I below the "Trust" before there was a "Trust." |
Wild, stocked, holdover, green weenie, any less fun? |
The snobbery extends to wild fish verses stocked fish,
too. Pelletheads, is a favorite
disparaging remark thrown around. The debate
has gone on forever. People like to
think stocked fish are stupid and wild fish are smart. Stocked trout are easy to catch, and wild
fish are hard. I found a story in the
Philadelphia Inquirer from 1991 that shows how the bias starts. Here is the link: Stocked Thugs Looking for Handouts.
The basic premise is that hatchery trout are bullies who chase wild fish
out, which may be true, but I have also found that browns and rainbows prefer different
water and there are plenty of ATWs that have been found to carry a Class A
population of wild browns despite the thugs from the West Coast and the European Union relatives they left behind. Also, stocked
trout will eat out of your hand, basically.
That was a good one. Mistaking how
fish act in a hatchery for how they act after a short time in the wild is bad
science, and promoting the observation as book is also irresponsible. Also notable, Valley Creek stocking ceased due to the health risks of the water, not any high minded ideals.
If native trout are
so hard to catch, why do brook trout sometimes hit my indicator as hard as they take my
nymph? I have switched to a dry fly many, many times after being prompted by a wild or native trout hungry for pink plastic or orange foam. If wild trout are so hard to
catch why can a spinner fisherman like PA
Angler contributor Frank Nale regularly catch over 100 wild browns in a
day? Are fly guys aware that there is a
community of spinner fishermen who “tie” their own lures too, that haunt the
same remote, wild trout streams they do, usually in higher water than the fly
guys would fish with dry flies? A quick perusal
through a community like HuntingPA.com’s trout and salmon forum will reveal
many fishermen catching wild browns like they were sunnies at the local
pond. Here is one trip from this year,
already, his first of many, I am sure: Trout/Salmon Forum on HuntingPA.com
I guess the point of my ramble is, Can’t we all just get
along? Can’t we all learn a little
something? If I get my news and opinions
solely from PAFlyfish or MSNBC am I any better than my neighbor who watches Fox
News and thinks all fly fishermen are rich snobs? Ignorance happens on both sides, and progress
stalls when the Other becomes unworthy of empathy. Granted, there are always going to be a-holes
on both sides of the aisle, and there's always going to be politics in science, but those in the middle, those capable of deeper thoughts, need to work together so my
grandkids can catch trout down the street from my house.
Yes, my son and I were out on Opening Day with my childhood friend Jeff and his kids trying to keep a tradition going.
Yes, my son and I were out on Opening Day with my childhood friend Jeff and his kids trying to keep a tradition going.
Interesting read! As a jack of all trades kind of fisherman, and having been a snob and the target of snobbery I get your point. Threw out my powerbait when I picked up on your rapala posts on a forum. No problem with stockies except that they bunch up in a hole for the opening day slaughter. I see you use many lures and flies. If you ever get bored, write a little bit about lures/techniques for when the stocked water is low and clear. I'd enjoy reading it. I might just dust off that fly rod!
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Sorry to get all philosophical this week Ron! I will see what I can do with your request.
ReplyDeletePhilosophical is cool. Getting to be in Delco the ATW's offer oneof the last places to fish after work. Most of the old spots are no longer open to fishing. They represent some of the last places for our youth to fish.
ReplyDeleteBeen reading a lot of Frank Nale's reports in the past few years, got a few of his spinners to try this year. :) I'll check out your blog again next week.
Are you talking about a certain lake that AQUA closed? That does suck! I have heard so many guys talk fondly of that place.
DeleteYes. And also West Chester Reservoir, and much access to the Brandywine. (last 2 actually chesco) Darn Shame.
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