May 24, 2016 – Wild Browns, Wet Wading in May, and a Month Out of Warranty!

I landed a couple good ones on midges before tragedy struck...

In case the stars aligned later in the day, I threw my wading boots, 3 weight rod, and my pack in the Subaru this morning.  I had a meeting at work that was supposed to end around 3 PM, but I had a feeling that my part could be finished before 1 PM.  If so, I was going to Valley Creek for a couple hours before I had to go get the boy at school.  I am fortunate enough to work within ten minutes of two or three of the best access points on the creek.  Well, the plan worked out, and I was suited up to wet wade this 80 degree May weekday by 1:30 PM, and I had the place to myself.  

A couple ate a scud right off the bat, but water clarity was not great.

Valley was still stained up from the rain over the last couple of days, but I had early success on a scud at my first drop.  With all the rain and warm days, the creek temperature was reading a balmy 61 degrees, which felt comfortable on such a hot day, but I hope it cools off again soon.  After getting a few great drifts with the scud through a hole that I know holds fish and not getting any attention, I rigged up a soft hackle with a size 20 mayfly nymph below.  I caught a couple very small browns with that rig, but mostly in clearer pockets.  The plant life is really growing on the banks and in the creek.  A few respectable-sized fish were sitting right in the vegetation.  I decided to put my polarized lens in front of my phone and snap a shot of one such fish, just suspended in the current waiting for an easy meal, though not rising to anything.  

See him?

When I arrived at a favorite deep hole, I swapped out the mayfly for a black zebra midge as the anchor fly and landed at least 3 more on the midge, a couple of them solid Valley trout, before minor tragedy struck.  As often happens on a small, overgrown creek, my backcast hung on a leafy branch, so I gave it a short tug.  At first I thought the top section of the 4 piece rod just slid out of the ferrule, but when I examined closely, the top section had snapped.  This was the only rod I had with me, so end of trip.  Despite the broken rod, 8 fish in about 90 minutes was not a bad afternoon, even if it ended too soon.

How about now?

As bad luck would have it, when I got home I learned that the rod only had a one year warranty that ended a year from April 19, 2015.  This same model used to have a 25 year warranty prior to April 13, 2015!  And it gets worse:  I bought it on sale for 125 dollars, and now it retails (the new and improved one, of course, still with only a one year warranty, however) for $189.00.  It’s a shame because I loved the rod, even if it only filled a small niche; it was an 8’ 3” 3-weight that was perfect for small creeks like Valley.  It is not one of my go-to rods that gets regular use, but I may still try to return it and see what happens.  I didn’t fall on it or break it in a car door, so maybe Big Brother is getting even for all my disparaging remarks about big business in previous posts.  Maybe the company will prove me wrong?  People are still good, though: Kenny offered me the use of his 3 wt, but believe it or not, I have another, a short 6’6” toy that I use even less and which might now see some action…

May 19, 2016 – Sweating it Out on the Monocacy Creek Trophy Trout Section

After a lot of walking, I found some water that I wanted to fish!  Got one here...

After a lazy morning, I decided to explore a creek that I had not visited before.  The lower Monocacy Creek is stocked and ends up flowing right through Bethlehem before it enters the river, but upstream there are good populations of wild fish.   I saw plenty of little guys today, and few decent fish in the 12 inch range.  I only landed two trout and neither one got a photo.  One wild brown about 10 inches long who hit a sulfur nymph was a victim of my swampiness on a 75 degree afternoon, and it ended up looking like a big gray blur.  The other got off a barbless hook while I was digging around for my phone to take a picture.  He was about 12 inches and colored up nicely.  I took pics of the spots after cleaning my lens….  The fished lived there and there.

One lived here too

Not knowing the parking situation above the lower limit of the special regs section, I parked near the Illick’s Mill Park and walked upstream for a couple hours.  I had to cover a lot of ground to find water that I thought looked fishy.  There was a lot of shallow water and muddy and silted up spots in between good looking spots.  If I had more time, I may have done better, as I had to quit at what looked like the most promising stretch for a nymph fisherman.  Before quitting, I ducked under a bridge and fished a bit below Illick’s.  I missed two fish on a midge in a deep hole at the outlet of a drain pipe, and I figured today was just not meant to be.  Like Cedar in Allentown, I am glad I saw this urban/suburban wild trout creek.  Not sure it made the short list, but I will try again upstream someday.

May 16, 2016 – A Successful Lehigh River Gorge Brown Trout Adventure

Kenny out pushing the limits of his waist-highs on a perfect spring day in the Gorge.

Kenny and I headed up to the Lehigh River this morning for some hiking and fishing on a gorgeous spring morning.  The morning low was around 35 degrees, and it was windy and cool all day, perfect for the aerobic activity required to fish the mighty Lehigh.  We parked at Rockport and started walking upstream to get away from the “easy” access points, hoping to find some quality wild and holdover browns. 

A spinning rod and plugs kind of day.

The Army Corp of Engineers did a “fishing release” on May 15 from the Francis E. Walter dam (and a whitewater release on Friday for the Saturday rafting and kayaking festivities), so water was running pretty well, but not unsafe to wade out a little in some stretches, probably 500 cfs and falling.  I actually used my wading staff once, and Kenny got a little “how’s your father” over his waist-high breathables one time.  The water temp was only 50 degrees, but the fish were very active, many hanging right in the current behind unseen boulders and hangups.  With the exception of one fat, lazy rainbow, it was all browns, most of whom took to the sky when hooked.  One memorable one that I ended up losing even took an eff you jump after he shook off the Rapala CD 5.

A beauty male and, look ma, (almost) no beard!!

There was little room to backcast, and we often had to perch on rocks on shore, so the spinning rods were the way to go today.  Some bugs were active, but with stained water, very few fish were rising to them anyway.  We were shocked that we didn’t hook up at our first drop.  It was a particularly pretty piece of pocket water at a substantial bend in the river.  However, it may have been the cold water and weather because by our second drop at around 9 AM, it was warming up, and I heard Ken whooping it up as a nice wild brown leaped on the end of his line.  I ran down to assist and take a picture.

Ken with a pretty and healthy one, the first of the morning,

Having thrown the fly rod exclusively for two months or more, and using a seldom-employed seven foot ultralight from my arsenal, I had two heartbreaking losses of fat fish before I finally got on the board.  With all the driving, hiking, sliding down steep banks, rock-hopping, and dangerous wading, we would have called it a success with the first couple of fish.  Trout in fast, deep water, whether they were stocked as fingerlings, adults, or born there, are tough!  Seeing a 14 or 15 inch brown go skyward is about as fun as it gets (unless he’s 18, of course).  The best fish of the day, a pretty-colored male I am holding above, only broke the surface once, choosing to try and beat me in the current.  With Ken’s help, I won, but a handful of fish did beat us today, coming off after short, leaping battles.

Kenny's porker rainbow!

We continued to make our way upstream, sometimes rock climbing out of the gorge and back onto the trail, sometimes picking our way through the brush and shallower banks.  When we decided to head back at 11:30 AM, we were shocked at how far we had traveled from the parking area.  After a break for some water and snacks, we decided to put in one more 90 minute effort, this time downstream.  

Average brown for the day.

After a shorter walk this time, we found a trail that diverged from the railroad bed and angled down a gentler slope to another good bend in the river.  I was shocked that more fish were not in some of the good water here, but the easy access probably made them smarter (or dinner).  I did miss a fish here and turn another before I landed our last trout of the day, a fat, healthy brown that chose to bulldog and make runs rather than jump.  We thought he was going to be bigger based on how tough he thought he was.  Still it was a nice, fat brown.

Last brown of the day, a tough guy.

After both of us starting stumbling a bit and feeling the effects of all our effort (besides Kenny’s bath, I had a nice slide on my butt down an embankment), we decided to walk back to the parking lot and call it a day.  Of course, we had to try one more hole near Ken’s Subaru, but it only yielded a creek chub, barely half a size bigger than the CD 5 Ken was throwing.  On that note, we called it a day and made the ride home.

Ken with a nice one.

Having never fished the Lehigh River Gorge, I understand why it is both respected and under-fished.  It is tough water with a lot of variables to consider when planning a trip (and I consider the Brodhead one of my home streams, which is no picnic)!!  Ken and I estimated that we hooked and/or landed just over a dozen between us, and most were quality fish.  It was a good day followed by a good, albeit sore, night’s rest.

Deep Thoughts #3 – Buy Me a River – Obsessive Consumerism in Fishing and Life

Is this what stops us from caring for the greater good?

Call me a commie, but I am so tired of being marketed to, and as I have little faith in corporations, American, “green”, TU friendly, “official sponsor,” or not, the marketing bothers me even more perhaps than the average consumer.  I have documented my experience with Rapala and my love/hate relationship with Countdown Minnows and their fragile plastic bills.  I have had similar experiences with lemon reels from Daiwa.  I feel like these companies test the durability of their products on consumers (we are the beta testers) and we (and they) have grown so used to the consumer mentality of always wanting new that they act shocked that folks have expectations about how long a product should last.  

What is the life expectancy of the average consumer product these days?  Do more expensive reels, waders, cars last longer and have fewer problems?  That may have been true at one time, but does Orvis want you to buy a $2,000 dollar rod and reel and never buy another one?  Does Simms want your repeat business or are they hedging their bets that you will come to accept that their products will wear out and you’ll be satisfied enough to buy from them again?  Or, more likely, will you the consumer be lured by something better, shinier, newer, even if your $2,000 set has weathered the years of use?  Companies, even those that make quality stuff, have to always tweak and modulate expectations and quality.  Even a company that makes a durable product like a Van Staal surf reel wants you to wonder if the lighter VR model might balance better on your rod than your “old” VS (at least since a major international corporation took over production, one that owns Char-Broil, Lamplight, Zebco, Quantum, Rhino, Lews, Martin, Van Staal, Tiki, Thermos, Grill Lover's, Cajun Line, and Fin-Nor).  A dating web site would be out of business if it was actually as good as it claimed to be at finding you a soul mate, right?  They have to manage your expectations and satisfaction with the site to keep you around long enough to make money or have you come back again after a failed relationship.  It’s a form of control, and it’s un-American to question it. 

A couple things happened recently that made me more conscious of the amount of marketing to which I am personally subjected.  The first was getting into a little online tiff with a guy about liberally availing myself of the 100% Satisfaction claim at LL Bean to return leaking waders and worn out wading boots and so on.  All waders leak, so I do not spend 350 dollars for “American Made” Simms that will still leak in 3 years.  I buy 150 dollar LL Bean’s, and when they leak, I take them back.  I am vocal about endorsing LL Bean’s policy, if not the product.  The product is decent, but unlike, say, the same priced Field and Stream waders I can get at Dick’s, I can take the Bean’s back if I feel they did not live up to my expectations. 

Gov't = Corporations at this point.

The other poster implied that this business model creates incremental increases in the costs of items, and I agree, but I am not satisfied with a product that wears out in 3 years, I am sorry.  And, arguably, corporate America helped create this attitude of self-interest.  Should I think that my returning of products decreases company profits and therefore passes the cost onto my fellow citizens?  Maybe, but it’s more complicated than that.  The model, even one as “honorable” as a 100% Satisfaction one, is set up so I act in my own self-interest.  I am not content with spending roughly 100 dollars a year for the use of something that is supposed to keep me dry, but only does so for a finite time.  If LL Bean has this policy, and I use it when I am not satisfied, it is up to other consumers to do the same and make the company produce better products, not “improve” them with untested add-ons, which is usually the case. The current answer to shitty reels or waders from companies is to relegate the defective stuff to the Bargain Cave at deep discount (but not deep enough not to make a profit) and then come out with new version (the Emerger XII) with surface improvements and the accompanying incremental increase in cost.  I have returned several pairs of waders over the years.  Some have lasted less than a season, some have lasted 3 years, but they were leaking when I returned them, and I was not satisfied with that.  I would argue that too few people return products with which they are unhappy, and corporations don’t always make it as easy as LL Bean.  Rapala has metaphorically stopped returning my calls.  Daiwa wanted me to foot the bill to send and insure a reel to California from Pennsylvania after I already paid an authorized dealer to not fix my reel.  The reel with the faulty anti-reverse only lasted a year in production and was replaced by a more expensive and awesomely arcane-named reel in a different color.  Most people don’t want to bother or are embarrassed to return something.  It gets easier every time you do it, trust me.

Like all of you, I probably get catalogues (and smaller sales catalogues with the same stuff in them) every day in the late winter and early spring from Orvis, Cabela’s, Bass Pro Shops, Tackle Direct, LL Bean, and so on.  The magazine offers follow with ads from the same companies in them sometimes.  The same companies send me emails almost daily, and I don’t take my name off the list, because I hate paying too much for something I may eventually need.  That is a game they have rigged too: buy it now because the shipping is free and it’s on sale and you know you will need it later.  If you haven’t tried this one, I recommend you do (it’s sort of like shopus interruptus): Log into your favorite shop account, load up your basket  with stuff you may need like tippet, leaders, mono, drop shot weights, then don’t seal the deal, just leave it in the shopping cart.  Chances are that you will get an email offering you free shipping or a 20% discount if you resume your courting.  Either way, however, the pop ads will follow you throughout your travels on the internet for a few days after….

At least 3 per week...

The second thing that happened recently that had me thinking was viewing a documentary film featuring Noam Chomsky, a linguist and philosopher who got his start in the liberal leaning 1960’s and who has not changed all that much.  As a Gen X-er, he was sort of a philosophical idol for many of us, and I think the purpose of the film (which coincides with the zeitgeist surrounding Bernie Sanders) is to expose others to his legacy and spark the minds of his political and philosophical heirs.  I am finally comfortable again with the politics of the kids, thank god, because we are swinging back to the thinking of the 90s (and 60s), I think.  Some of my peers have changed their thinking, but I am still a dirty Liberal about many things, I guess.  The more you have, the more you want to protect it, I understand this, but what is it that we actually have as we enter middle age?  Stuff, isolated neighborhoods, debt, depression and anxiety?  Too many of my peers and I have Big Pharma to thank for our “happiness,” which is more like “just being able to deal.”

The film, Requiem for the American Dream, was organized around the 10 ways that financial inequality is maintained in America.  You can sort figure out what he’s getting at by the titles of the principles, but I have added my own comments because it’s my blog, yo: 

1. Reduce Democracy – Even the Founding Fathers didn’t want true democracy because the poor would vote to take away the property and control of the rich.  Americans have always thought that wealth makes you better or is a reward for being better.  Ancient Greece promoted social welfare to even the score, so the poor were happier and more cared for (less likely to revolt), but James Madison felt much differently.

2. Shape Ideology. – Public schools (and most privates) are in business to indoctrinate not create students who question and think on their own.

3. Redesign the Economy – Financial institutions that arguably create nothing of value make up 40% of our economy, while manufacturing accounts for less than 20%. 

4. Shift the Burden – tax the middle class and make them pay for bank bailouts and everything else.  Tax rates in the U.S. skew towards the middle and are wage-focused not focused on capital gains and investments, where the wealthy’s wealth comes from.

5. Attack Solidarity - Chomsky says, you have to drive the normal emotion of caring about others (and the greater good) out of people's heads so they think it’s normal to always act in their own self-interest when it comes to politics and social welfare. 

6. Run the Regulators – Laws are written by corporations, who fund the studies, and have oversight.  Nobel-laureates with dissenting views were kept out of the conversations about how to fix the banks after the crash in lieu of industry big wigs, for example. 

7. Engineer Elections – Corporations are people (my ass). 

8. Keep the Rabble in Line – Scott Walker, anyone?  How many think teachers’ unions are evil, that teachers are rich for working 10 months per year? 

9. Manufacture Consent – This is the most salient to my discussion above.  The point is that advertisers make obsessive consumers, fishermen who need a new reel every year (or “need” a new reel).  If people are caught up in superficial consumption then they can be kept in their places more easily.  Chomsky says, informative advertisements would result in rational decision making, but advertisements promote irrational choices and bury the details. This goes for election campaigns too.  What did Hope and Change mean?  How will Trump make America Great Again?  Where are the details of the policies?  Obama couldn’t push through universal healthcare; can anyone believe that Trump can build a wall?  Really?

10. Marginalize the Population – The government does not act in the best interest of the people unless corporations are people (they are not).

I would argue that corporations run our country, and we are made to believe freedom and capitalism are synonymous.  After 911, we were told to go out spend to prove to the evil-doers that they didn’t change the American way of life.  Perhaps I am acting selfishly when I return an item with which I am unsatisfied, and perhaps that loss is built into the profit structure of the companies, but if we all returned crappy products, perhaps the cost would still go up, but the quality would be better.  There is no motivation to improve anything when most of us will grow tired of a rod and reel before it proves to be junk.  Like mine, I bet your garage or basement if full of worthless reels and toys and tools.  Improvements are not often used to make things better but instead to make higher profits.  Men didn’t like little Toyota pickups (especially men with small penises—I drive a Subaru Forester, so you can assume I’ve been blessed) even though they got good gas mileage.  Then the materials used to make the trucks got lighter, which was a great chance to make those little “rice burner” trucks even more fuel efficient, but what happened instead?  Toyotas and Nissans got larger like their American counterparts and gas mileage stayed roughly the same, decent.   

I have “needed” a new fly line since the early spring, but I have resisted dropping 90 dollars when I don’t have the money to drop 90 dollars.  Instead, I put my 5 wt spool on my reel and am throwing 5 wt line on my 4 wt rod.  It’s not perfect, but the 5 wt line is in better shape and floating higher.  I am teaching a class this summer, and I can wait until I actually have the money to purchase the new line.  I also gave LL Bean a break for a while and bought a pair of Orvis wading boots.  However, Orvis also has a generous return policy….  Sorry if their waders keep getting more expensive.

It is hard to resist those glossy catalogues and daily marketing emails, but I am really trying.  I have to keep reminding myself that I would rather have money for gas and tolls for my fishing adventures.  I would rather have money for a dinner out or a vacation with the family or tickets to a show at Union Transfer.  While it lasts, the stuff I have is good quality, bought after digging through what Chomsky would call the “irrational advertising” for the information to make a good decision.  As often as they reinforce the herd mentality at times and allow advertisers to masquerade as average members, these blogs and forums are sometimes good for that, for ferreting out what is true about a product below the noise.  Aren’t companies losing money to the after-market sale of quality items, things like old Penn reels and used Van Staals, or is it just the sharpies who search for the good stuff?   Perceived quality and quality: there is a dance they have to do to make things good enough, but not so good they will be the last reel you ever need.  If we put as much R&D money into things that matter as we do things that don’t, a lot of society’s ills would have been solved a long time ago.

But what if the pond is rigged?

Questioning the decisions and policies of corporations is not un-American, any more than questioning your own government.  Jefferson, I believe, said dissent is the highest form of patriotism.  Chomsky points out that no other democracies in the world bandy that un-American concept around.  Instead, “un-Soviet” was tossed around under Stalin.  And the social changes that we all enjoy always start on the fringe.  In 20 years, who will care about gay marriage except those outside the societal norms?  Doomsayers point to the demagogue Trump as a sign that we are ready for Hitler part two, but I say there are just as many Bernie supporters, most of them young and who will be running the world soon, and we are ready for another 60s.  I am too old to think someone like that can make a difference in office, but his ideas can make a difference in the long run.  Corporations are not America and stuff can’t be what it’s all about.  I am making an effort to buy what I need not what I “need.”  Wish me luck!  It will not be easy, and I will falter.  I have had my eye on a 11 foot Euro-nymphing rod…

May 9, 2016 – Beautiful Conditions on the Wissahickon

Philly pocket water.  Got to love it.

Every year around this time, I take a walk into to Fairmount Park and feel profound, unexpected gratitude that this beautiful place exists so close to my home.  Yes, there are folks running dogs off the leash and the odd worm container here and there, but the gorge section of the park is one of the prettiest places around.  The trout fishing is strictly put and take for most, but I release them all, and I have caught them into August while targeting bass on particularly wet, cool years .   After the rains this weekend, the flows were perfect for nymphing this morning.  The higher flow and the slight stain left the fish hungry and cooperative.  I saw a few caddis dancing around, and I even saw a couple sulfurs taking flight, but the fish didn’t seem to be keyed in on the surface activity quite yet.  Another day of rain tomorrow, but maybe later this week, they will start looking up.  

Perfect conditions to nymph, and the fish cooperated.

I fished pocket water with a caddis larvae and size 16 dropper with some yellow in it in case the sulfur thing wasn’t just an isolated incident.  The fish were strong in the current with leaps and bulldog tactics in the riffles.  I caught all browns except for two bows, and one of the bows was a good, healthy fish.

Caddis larvae accounted for most of the fish.

I had spent the morning grading papers and submitting final grades, and then I even went to the grocery store for some things, but I managed at least 3 hours of good fishing, ending up with about 14 trout and many sunfish, rock bass, and a nice smallmouth of about a half a pound.  This may be the last available trip this week with final exams in progress, so I made the most of it.

At least 12 browns and a couple bows.

I never took a water temp, but I would guess it is still around 60 degrees now that the leaf cover is starting to sprout.  We are supposed to get another shot of rain tonight and tomorrow, so I am sure the creek will fish well for another few weeks.  I want to get into some dry fly action on the Wissy this year!  I don’t usually see this much bug activity, but this year has been rather strong.  The midges are always constant, but the caddis are pretty consistent this year, and I don’t remember the last time I saw mayflies like sulfurs and BWOs hatching in any noticeable numbers.

A couple, including this rainbow, hit the dropper.

I did pick up at least one brown swinging a copper john with a soft hackle wet fly trailing, and a couple other fish grabbed the swinging fly but came off after a short battle.  It was such a nice day that there were a few anglers out throwing spinners and bait, but I had the pocket water to myself all morning.  I quit the first time at an even dozen, but I had to try a favorite hole before I left.  This is a difficult one to fish, a fast deep run with eddies on both sides at the base of a sheer rock formation.  I fished the tail out and turned one brown who got off quickly, and then I slowly worked my way up to the head.  Standing about waist deep so I could high stick over the fast current and target the eddy across the creek, I picked up one more feisty brown and the best rainbow of the day, and then I quit for real and hit the showers for a late night at work, grateful for a Monday close to home with great conditions in beautiful surroundings.

May 4, 2016 – Urban “Blue Lining” for Wild Browns

Yes, that is the reflection of an HD billboard in the water...

I had a rewarding adventure this morning, exploring a tiny creek that doesn’t even show up on most maps.  Although, I guess it can't technically be called blue lining if there are no blue lines on the map....  The creek is a spring fed tributary of another creek that I often fish, and it’s been on my radar to try for a few years, but I just never got around to it until today.  It is amazing where wild fish can thrive if there is a little bit of spawning habitat and cool water temperatures in the summer so they don’t go belly-up.  This place had discarded tires, and Doritos bags, and construction debris, and god knows what else in the stream bed, but it also had healthy wild fish and a good number of them in the prime holes.

One of the larger fish, one of over a dozen in less the three hours of fishing.

As if often the case, it takes a while to find un-posted areas to fish, and parking is often an entirely new challenge once you do.  I did some recon on this creek before, so I had taken care of the first part.  I eventually found parking that was a bit of a walk away from the access point, but it was legal.  I love getting the funny looks when I am all Orvis-ed up walking along a main street in a city and carrying a fly rod!  It's a bonus to see the blue tarpaulin of a former homeless resident of the creek as I descend into the valley too...

Not the prettiest hole, but it yielded my first fish .

Despite not being the prettiest place on earth, I quickly found a pair of deep holes, which were pretty stained from the run-off of a nearby highway but looked very promising.  The water temp was a good 57 degrees in an un-shaded, shallow area, so the fish were very active when hooked, some taking multiple leaps and runs.  On my 8 foot 3 weight rod, they were a lot of fun.  Even though the water was stained, my first fish had no problem finding a size 16 mayfly nymph.  I had no idea what kind of habitat was upstream, so I spent some time on this first hole trying to get another.  One decent fish chased a black bugger, but I missed the hookset.  Still, I would have been happy landing one and seeing another if the rest of the creek didn’t prove to be so fertile.

"Swimming" a scud or a soft hackle worked very well.

I continued to work upstream and found some more boggy deep holes, closer to the habitat of a true spring creek.  I decided to tie on a scud and a zebra midge dropper because I figured I could gently “swim” a scud back down to me.  That approach ended up working with a variety of flies.  I caught well over a dozen fish and dropped one or two more.  No hatching activity, but I did get fish to eat a caddis pupae in the film, the midge, several on the scud, and even a few on a soft hackle March Brown (also gently “swimming” it an inch at a time in quiet holes).  By approaching slowly and kneeling a few times, I was able to get multiple fish out of at least three deep, flat holes.

I think this was the first of the morning on a nymph.

I had to quit by noon and go to work, so I ended at a good spot, leaving a bit more water to discover next time, especially if I am up to traversing a highway culvert (I am, though probably not in the rain with stained water).  I walked a bit downstream from my drop in point to take a look around, but I didn’t see much life, and I appeared to be getting much closer to posted land.  These adventures always have the potential to disappoint, and I only had a small window of time in which to execute the plan, so I was very content to catch so many wild fish in such an unlikely spot.