 |
| Icy tidal Skuke below the waterworks. |
In some ways, ice is preferable to melting snow and ice, but I am grateful that it’s happening finally. I posted these photos of the tidal Schuylkill locked up bank to bank on the fly-fishing forum, and a retired PFBC dude who worked in SEPA for many years had never seen the tidal river in this condition. Not that it has never happened, but it does underscore the rarity of the cold weather we experienced this winter. We’ve got a Nor’easter on the way Sunday into Monday, so it’s not over yet, but the cold has to lose eventually to longer days and shorter nights, rain over frozen precipitation. It’s still droughty as heck in some of my go-to counties, so rain, snow, sleet, whatever it takes to avoid the low water we had to deal with last year. The new job affords me a lot more time off now that my probationary period is over. I put in some PTO this week for a camping trip with Josh, Brian, and Larry this May in Northcentral, PA. They have never fished this particular area of Potter and Lycoming Counties, and I have not been there since I was in my teens! I caught my first dry fly trout and native brookies in this very area when my dad pulled me out of school for 5 days each spring. I also put into the ADP portal the dates for a booked trip on the Suskie with The Boy and Glenn later that same month. It will be a good May. The new job also allows me to take a nice long walk at lunch along the Schuylkill Banks trail, which is now fully repaired. I don’t think I will be carping at lunch or storing my 9 weight and striper flies in the office, but just walking along the river is therapeutic some days. And even though I am working in Center City still, I have met a few coworkers who are hardcore fly fishers, so meetings and convocations have involved the sharing of photos and intel, which is always nice. I will be seeing a lot of the trusty Wissahickon soon, too.
 |
| Some open water near the bank at low tide ;) |
We had our
first meet-up of the local chapter of the Mayfly Project at the Valley Green
Inn, and it was a good bunch of people.
We don’t know much, this being our first year, but we know an agency has
identified at least 6 kids in the Philly foster care system who want to learn a
new skill and get outdoors this spring.
We will be paired two mentors to a kid, and after some education on the
sport and conservation, fish-handling, maybe some entomology and tying, we are
going to try and help them all catch a stocker or two on the fly rod by Mentored
Youth Day. The kids get to walk away
from the five meetings over the course of five or six weeks with waders, a fly
rod and reel, flies, a pack, and likely swag, sunglasses, nippers, hemostats,
etc. All the funding is coming from the
Fly Fishing Film Tour local event, and TCO is helping with gear. The goal is to provide a good experience and
memory for a group of kids who’ve had interesting lives thus far, and if a
couple of them pick up the fly fishing habit or want to return next year, even
better. I think my teaching experience and
my professional experience providing accommodations for students with disabilities,
including psychological ones, not to mention being a dad, may help prepare me
for what’s to come. I also have tempered
expectations about outcomes, especially the first year. I’ve just wanted to get involved since the
first time I heard about the national organization and some PA chapters popping
up.
 |
| I little cold and dirty, but a walk in the woods with a fly rod on a Friday. |
Knowingly
prematurely, I cashed in a sick day on Friday for a walk with a fly rod. The websites and gauges are in transition
right now, and some of them freeze up in the winter, so I was going on gut
instinct with my stream selection. Flows
were great, but the snow melted really fast with a steady rain, so the water temperature
was frigid and the color was dreadful. I
spent a couple hours walking in the woods and dropping a black sculpin in a few
deep wintering holes. I had one soft
take in over two hours out there, but it was mild, quiet day in the woods. Plenty of wildlife was active with the
thaw. A deer seemed intent on passing
through the same gap where I had stopped to piss and retie my boots. Every time I ignored her and concentrated on my
own business, she crept closer. She did
not spook until I rezipped my rain jacket, and that noise sent her into a high-tailing
retreat. I think I had chosen the same
way through the woods that had become habit for the local heard, so she was going
to wait me out not chose another way around.
I also saw pileated woodpeckers and a great blue heron and two mergansers
in one of my winter honey holes. I just saw
no fish. By the time I left, visibility
was getting more fishable, so I considered fishing Saturday morning, but I slept
in instead. With stocking underway, most
local creeks are off limits until Opening Day, and the idea of driving an hour
to find the same snowmelt cold water made me slow my roll. An itch was scratched today, I guess. A lot more fishing to come, and very soon.
