Staying alive. Personal safety is high on my fall fishing list. The water temperature this morning on one of the big lakes I often fish is 51 degrees. Normally dressed, if I fall out of the boat there’s a good chance of death by hypothermia.

So a couple of years ago, I bought one of the Mustang Survival Jackets shown here. It’s a floatation coat/PFD with enough foam inside to also protect my body’s core temperature in the water. I figure that’ll be enough so I can either make it to shore or somehow struggle back into or on the boat on my own. The jacket is also plenty warm and comfortable while fishing.

This was not some free sample, by the way, but cost somewhere well north of $200. When I explained it to my wife, she who otherwise tends to parsimony immediately bought one too.

I have similar thoughts about river fishing. Neoprene chest waders aren’t as comfortable as the new breathables I most often wear, but unlike breathables the neoprene will act as a wetsuit if I take an inadvertent dive. So there would be some warmth during and after any... [ Read Full Post ]

Sometimes you read something that - to be perfectly honest - leaves you feeling hopeless and doomed. Something so depressing it makes you want to throw up your hands, shout "to hell with it all!" and head straight to the nearest bar. Something like this, from the LA Times.
 
The latest figures from Nielsen have children's TV usage at an eight-year high. Children's health advocates warn of adverse effects.
 
More than an entire day -- that's how long children sit in front of the television in an average week, according to new findings released Monday by Nielsen.

The amount of television usage by children reached an eight-year high, with kids ages 2 to 5 watching the screen for more than 32 hours a week on average and those ages 6 to 11 watching more than 28 hours. The analysis, based on the fourth quarter of 2008, measured children's consumption of live and recorded TV, as well as VCR and game console usage.

"They're using all the technology available in their households," said Patricia McDonough, Nielsen's senior vice president of insights, analysis and policy. "They're using the DVD, they're on the Internet. They're not giving up any media --... [ Read Full Post ]

I know this is a little off-topic for the blog, but it's too good. I had to share it. While looking at a few news sites this morning, I stumbled across this headline: "Woman Fries And Eats Pet Goldfish After Fight With Ex-Husband." Here's the story.

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I struggled how to work this image into a blog post about fly fishing for the past couple of weeks. Then it hit me...The caption contest. I mean, how could I not post this gem of a restroom sign? I found it while shooting a web story for F&S about stocking the high altitude lakes with airplanes (story forthcoming). I figure the bathroom was in a Department of Wildlife airplane hanger, and the pilot was stocking fish, so yeah - I can post it on a fly fishing blog. Right?

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Here's an interesting story on the New York Times environment blog about the plight of the possibly-extinct Chinese paddlefish.

From the story:
For Chinese Paddlefish, a Long Goodbye:
 
While some  wildlife seems to do better around civilization than in the wild, in earth’s most crowded places, like the corridor along the Yangtze River, there is a different outcome. First, scientists recorded the vanishing and apparent extinction of  the baiji, a dolphin species unique to that river. Now another denizen, the Chinese paddlefish, Psephurus gladius — which measures up to 20 feet long and decades ago was commonly seen leaping above the waters — appears to be on  the verge of extinction, if not already gone forever. A three-year survey of the fish’s normal haunts in the upper stretches of the river by Chinese biologists has turned up nothing. “It is strongly suggested that P. gladius is on the verge of extinction,” the researchers wrote, “and further rigid measures are proposed to save the very few remaining specimens.”
 
Besides being yet another example of the mind-boggling environmental destruction China is willing to endure in its push toward manufacturing primacy, it's also of concern to Americans because... [ Read Full Post ]

So how about the new biodegradable fishing lines and flyfishing-tippet materials? A little-known company called Bioline has for the past few years been marketing a corn-based polymer fishing line that is clear and that the company claims will biodegrade naturally within 5 years. This in contrast to common nylon monofilament that can persist in nature for as long as 600 years.

Wright-McGill has recently bought Bioline (or so I’ve been told) and is newly marketing the product as spools of flyfishing tippet. I guess they figure fly anglers will be most willing to pay a premium for an environmentally friendly fishing product. This is all so new that it doesn’t yet appear on Wright-McGill’s website. But when Bioline was selling 30-yard tippet spools, retail was about $10 each or roughly twice the cost of premium nylon.

So how does this stuff measure up? I obtained a size 4X sample tippet spool from some Wright-McGill reps at a recent trade show. The spool is labeled as .009-inch diameter and 6-pound test. On my own micrometer and line-testing machine, the 4X Bioline measured .011-inch and slightly more than 7-pound-test (dry).

A “normal” 4X nylon tippet will be .007-inch... [ Read Full Post ]

October is looming, and that brings thoughts of steelhead. River tributaries of both Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are within striking distance, and fall-run steelhead are even now starting to trickle in from the big lakes. The fishing will improve through October and into November.

One of the nice things about steelhead is that there are so many ways to catch them. From spawn sacks and plastic worms to dead-drifted nymphs and wet flies, some steelhead will eventually bite just about anything you care to fish with enough patience, care, and persistence.

In most years I’ve been drifting small nymphs deep with enough split shot added to the leader so the fly ticks bottom. This kind of high-sticking with a fly rod works pretty well but can also get tedious if too many hours go by without a taking fish.

So for this fall I’m going to be swinging some big ugly marabou streamers instead. At least in this case there will be more actual fly-casting involved instead of the endless lobbing upstream that deep nymphing requires.

I know that fresh-run fish, aggressive in the fall, will chase and whack these things. And there’s always the potential bonus of a big lake-run... [ Read Full Post ]

From NorthJersey.com:

The state Division of Fish and Wildlife has announced that John Viglione of Ringwood made his way onto the state record fish list recently by landing a new state record northern pike. Viglione was fishing in Pompton Lake when he reeled in the 30-pound, 8.5-ounce fish, eclipsing the old record caught 32 years ago in Spruce Run Reservoir in Hunterton County's Clinton Township by 6.5 ounces. . . .

Viglione was using. . . a Blue Fox Vibrax spinner.

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While rummaging through a box of old books not long ago, I found a marble notebook that served as my fishing log. It was from 2003, and the first 10 pages had 5 trips logged, all with meticulous info ranging from water temperature, to wind, tide, hatches, and air temperature. The rest of the notebook was blank.

You would think that since I'm a writer, I'd stick with a fishing log, but I guess on trip number 6 I came home dead tired and just said "eh, I'll skip it tonight." I never went back to it. But without question, I'd be a far better angler if I had kept it up.

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Though I'd love to tell you the reel below is the latest from Orvis inspired by the likes of Johnny Rotten and Joe Strummer, I don't think they've recognized the marketability of punk-inspired reels...yet. Yes, it is an Orvis reel -- my old 7/8 Rocky Mountain to be exact -- but the zebra finish with red brushed-aluminum spool is pure custom. How did such a thing of beauty come to be? Here's the scoop.

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I can remember extreme excitement at the prospect of eating trout I caught on opening day when I was little. But the truth is that it was all fun up until the actual eating part, where I'd take two bites and opt for the french fries on the side. To be honest I'm still not a huge fan of trout, especially the stocked variety. One day when I have kids, I can only hope they're as into eating fish as the lad in the video below.

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