And the lady catches her first....

"A fisherman lives here, with his greatest catch"....
And we're not talking about the dog now.  The scruffy little brat that whines when the big guy gives me a kiss.    But she is the only one who will wear pink in this house so gotta love her!  Anyways, today was a big day for the big guy and his girl.  A lazy Sunday morning, complete with sunshine and birds chirping.  Met hubby under the bridge in town with a good cup of coffee and a great big kiss.  Had my fishing license in my pocket, my cute new pants (gift from the big guy) rolled up to my knees, what else do you need on a beautiful morning?  With a few quick casting lessons, I was on my way and caught not only one, but TWO fish.  A chubb and a smallmouth bass. From beginning to end.  No help from my guy.  Reeled them in.  Ok, didn't take them off, because I haven't gotten to the part where I am over touching slimy squirmy stuff.  But thats on my list of things to conquer.  Happening soon.  Very exciting.  And documentation below courtesy of the hubby.

Here's the Chubb.  (what the heck kind of fish is a chubb?)

Lets see, I think I'm supposed to remember the fly that I used (I think it was small), but can't seem to recall.  Maybe one of those wooly buggers?    End Result :  A fantastic morning with lots of good stuff.  Went home, grabbed the kids and everyone caught one.  Water was low and we walked the creek bed for a bit.  I'm on a roll now, Hubby watch out!

“Every day is a new day. It is better to be lucky. But I would rather be exact. Then when luck comes you are ready.” “Perhaps I should not have been a fisherman, he thought. But that was the thing that I was born for.” ― Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

Saturday morning, fishing with the hubby............

A touch of fog, another beautiful morning...

The day of the turtles.  We are taking a early morning paddle at one of our local favorites.  Stopped for a great scone at our neighborhood coffee shop, Enjoy!  Off to catch some keepers. Its early enough that there is a slight haze on the water, the sun hasn't taken care of that yet.  We put in and off we go.  On the sides are lots of fallen trees, where we usually have good luck at spotting sun bathing turtles.  We aren't disappointed today.  I paddle slowly and try and glide past the logs, snapping away at my camera before they slide in the water, trying to avoid me.  I have my pocket camera so the photos aren't quite as detailed as they could be.  Hubby patiently in the back of the canoe trying to fish as I am gliding away from his fishing spots, trying to catch the ultimate photo, while he is trying to catch the ultimate bass.....happening for me, but not for him.

Clear skies ahead.  Feels like you are in the middle of nowhere...

Three little turtles all lined up in a row.

Had to be quick on this one.  He was on his way into the water.

This time I was more successful in the photo taking.  I think we are going to be bringing 2 canoes the next time, so I can go off and do my photo shoots, and hubby can cast away.  What a great way to start the day, paddling with the big guy :)

"Hope your birthday is excitin..cause the fish are bitin'"--Hallmark

Can't let the blog go by without acknowledging the big guys birthday!  The kids just love picking out gifts for him.  Another successful birthday celebration.  The cricket flies were a hit.  Creepy looking but guessing the fish aren't going for looks. Went to one of our local holes and got some great shots.  Wish I could say the same about the fishing.  But making memories are what its all about!

If you'd never been born,
well then, what would you be?
You might be a fish!
Or a toad in a tree!
You might be a doorknob!
Or three baked potatoes!
You might be a bag full of 
hard green tomatoes!  -Dr Seuss

Hubby totally excited about his seam fixer for his waders.  Can't be walking around with a hole in your seams!  Hmmm..... 

Goofing around....the boys loving birthdays.  Especially the apple crisp,  one of hubbys favorite ..  

Hear no evil, see no evil

Speak much evil :)

This one keeps us on our toes ....

Now...there's the smile with the big guys dimple..

My Norman Rockwell picture.  Going to frame this on canvas.  Two peas in a pod.  Love them !!

Birthday Gifts ?  Have to admit though there were no standouts like in years past.  The gift that surpasses all others was the year that he received the brass, aborigine sans clothing posing on a ashtray shaped like Australia.  Who would have ever thought of making this unique gift for purchase. And yes, we still have it.  

Daddy-O;s got a new pair of shoes.

LLBean leather water shoes... adopted by #2, very comfy!

Well, the big guy thought they were his.   Nice leather.  Way better than his rubber Merrills.  Ahh.... but....hey, you have to be quick around here....When the LLbean box came into the house, out came #2 and on came the shoes.  Ouch !!  The plus of being the same size as your growing son = you can have his hand-me-downs.  The down side = #2 lives life with so much gusto that everything he wears is falling apart by the time he can hand anything down.  So maybe Santa will bring the big guy a new pair of shoes for Christmas that will be all his, and maybe #2 will be a size 14 next year and leave the big guys shoes alone!

Anyways, off to our super secret spot on Irondequoit Creek to try out the new shoes.  Armed with a zippy bag of oatmeal raisin cookies (just out of the oven, thank you) and a couple of bead head pheasant tailed nymph (size 16), the boys got into the water to try their luck.  I wasn't there when the "fish of the night" was caught, so no camera documentation from an independent source.  (but see photo below by the big guy)  When I came later with the cookies and my camera, the fish were being more elusive.  Probably all the cookie crumbs dropping into the water, looking like foreign flies.

Brown caught with pheasant tail on the Echo 3#

Under the bridge off Fishers Rd.

After a bit they moved to the other side of the bridge to check it out there.  Yikes ; they scored !  Oops, only a monster crayfish.  And actually, #2 found it in the water while the big guy was casting.... oh well.

Monster crayfish!!

Check out those cool magnifying glasses, the big guy looking just like the  pros on the TV fishing shows!

What a great cast by the big guy... #2 is in TOTAL AWE !

So lets wrap this up...while they were unsuccessful for the remainder of the evening, the shoes were a go, the cookies really hit the spot, the hubby was looking hot with his magnifying glasses on, and my new lens that the big guy got me for my birthday was tried out.  Who needs fish with a night like this?

Black-eye Susans on the bank of the stream

I sat upon the shore Fishing, with the arid plain behind me Shall I at least set my lands in order? (T.S. (Thomas Stearns) Eliot (1888-1965),

#2 landed the big one.  The boys went out for a quick fish and came back an hour later with this photo. They saw this fish (or his brother) last week, and have been stalking it ever since.  Tonight they scored!

Apparently it was quite a fighter.  It took both of them to reel it in, and they came home exhausted (but happy) from it all.  It was in a very precarious spot, and without waders a little sketchy whether they could land it without a splash.  Great night, guys !

"Give a man a fish and he has food for a day; teach him how to fish and you can get rid of him of the entire weekend." »

Kettles of Fish....

Gosh, he could have been Indiana Jones with that whip of the wrist.

Vacationing in Vermont...Days 1-3.
Lots of water, lots of fish.

We started off in Lake Iroquois, or Hinesburg Pond.  This is a pretty pond with lots of different fish, huge frogs, some moose sightings,  (unfortunately, not by us)  and some awesome sunsets!  The accommodations here are 4 star, with fabulous food by hubbys sister, we'll call her the Paula Deen of Vermont.  Great goulash, ribs, and beef from the farm.  She spoils the kids rotten with her choc chip cookies, chocolate milk and treats. Great coffee, bacon and eggs like nobodys business.   And yes, there are fish in her lake, too!
Sequence below of the fabulous fish fight on our first night there!  Way to start a vacation.....

He's got one!!  The Shilling shirt must be his lucky charm..

All those pushups have helped the big guy pull this fighter in..

The big guy pulls it off....and #2 is ready with net in hand.  

Hhmmm,, what was all the fuss about....why did the big guy have trouble hanging onto this one?

Our happy camper!  We'll be celebrating tonight!

Whew.. that was tiring for the big guy.  Even all those noisy frogs won't keep him awake tonight !!!!

Butterflies, Beavers, and Barr's Meat Whistle

"For the supreme test of a fisherman is not how many fish he has caught, not even how he has caught them, but what he has caught when he has caught no fish." -- John H. Bradley

Yep, the big guy is out of his slump.  The fish have been physically flying in the air, trying to get his flies..  He's had to turn fish away.  And... we have documentation to prove it!

Nice fish, hubby :)

Small carp

We are at a local creek that is a great canoeing spot.  We spent two recent mornings here.   Grabbed some really good raspberry-white chocolate scones at Enjoy, our local coffee shop for our morning snack.  I think it was the scones that changed our luck.  Really.  Now we need to get them every morning we fish so we don't break our streak.  Yum.....

"My" spot on the island

Butterfly on the rocks

The big guy went off fishing and parked me in a chair with some fly fishing magazines to study. (see chair above ) I think he was planning on testing me on the material.   Yep, I was in the middle of the island above reading up on wooly buggers and lots of fun fishing stuff.  (Exciting day, the new copy of "Beyond the Fly" just came out ) At one point I escaped and took this picture.  Hadn't seen hubby in a while and wanted to make sure he hadn't gotten pulled in by a big one.  whheew... found him intact, and fishing up a storm.  (can't lose my guy, who would supply me with my blog material?) Think it was actually the Barr's Meat Whistle fly that got the fish going.  Worth the $4 at LLBean, for sure.  At first the hubby was shocked that I paid that much for a fly. (even a fly with a cool name)  Money can't buy you love but apparently it can buy you fish :)

Wow... its a big one!  And it was a fighter..

His better side.  (The fishes better side, that is).  Every side of the big guy is awesome!

So this local hole is really interesting.  You feel like you are in the middle of nowhere.  It follows Rte 251, a quietly traveled two lane road.  Your canoe passes by the backyards of houses off this road.  Only saw one other couple canoeing over the two mornings. (in a pretty powder blue canoe)  But saw deer, blue heron, geese, ducks, snapping turtles, and the picture below shows this beaver carrying its newly chewed wood to its home.

Beaver

As with a faint star in the night's sky, one can better understand fishing's allure by looking around it, off to the side, not right at it.
-- Holly Morris

First time we've gone here since our September sojourn.  Back then we took an evening paddle and brought a good Merlot and some cheese and crackers.  Canoed up the creek sipping our wine.  After our paddle, sat by the dam area and had a glass by the moonlight.  

Doe and Fawn walking on the "island".  They didn't spot me for awhile so I was able to get a good group of photos.

The fighting fish.  It was tough but we got it out without a net.

View of the waterway from the canoe

Great weekend, hubby...  in closing : "Soul mates. It’s extremely rare, but it exists. It’s sort of like twin souls tuned into each other."

- from "When Dreams May Come"-

"To go fishing is the chance to wash one's soul with pure air, with the rush of the brook, or with the shimmer of sun on blue water. It brings meekness and inspiration from the decency of nature, charity toward tackle-makers, patience toward fish, a mockery of profits and egos, a quieting of hate, a rejoicing that you do not have to decide a darned thing until next week. And it is discipline in the equality of men - for all men are equal before fish." ~ Herbert Hoover

The big guy and I went to a secret hole at a friends house the other night.  Not a bite, but an interesting winding path to the water with some stone statues, benches and iron fences.  Felt like you were in an English garden.  

The water was high after a rainy day.  I got in trouble with the big guy because I wore my purple sandals instead of my water shoes.  I had to borrow his gigantic size 13 water shoes.... to save my Nikes from the mud.

He clearly doesn't understand how important it is too match when you go out to fish. :)  The water we went to was a pretty stream that wanders through a little local hamlet.  Allegedly, lots of fish reside there.  I guess they weren't hungry that night !

Definatly want to make it back here with my better camera during the day.  Some good shots to be had and maybe the big guy will have better luck !

Often, I have been exhausted on trout streams, uncomfortable, wet, cold, briar scarred, sunburned, mosquito-bitten, but never, with a fly rod in my hand, have I been in a place that was less than beautiful." ~by Charles Kuralt-1990~

A few good evenings of fishin', a few days with empty nets.  The big guy scored this awesome picture of a fox carrying away his dinner, a newborn fawn.  We were on our way to the Oatka, and this was what we  saw in the parking lot of the park.

Then off to our local town hole,,, where the fishing is good and guaranteed :) ..  We caught a few of these interesting fish that the big guy couldn't recognize.  Any ideas on what these are?

They have a pinkish hue on the bottom.  very pretty for fish....  Night came quick so we were outta there fast.  Great little walking trail to lots of places on the water to fish.  Saw a blue heron several times.  This little village was the original site of the Seneca village of "Totiakon".  The village itself was founded in 1791.  On the banks of the creek, are two mills, with original buildings still standing.  A pretty waterfall runs through the village.  The big guy loves to fish here.  In the summer, bats swoop down at you, going after the bugs on the water.  A little creepy but you get used to it.   I tried my hand at landing the above fish and was able to bring it in.   Great night with the hubby !

"Cut down the trees and two-thirds of all the beauty of this region would depart. And how solemn it is to move all day through a majestic colonnade of trees and feel that you are in a boundless cathedral whose organ notes swell and die away with the passing wind like some grand requiem. Still more exciting is it to lie at midnight by your campfire and watch the moon sailing up amid the trees or listen to the cry of the loon, wild and lonely, on the wild and lonely lake, or the hoot of the owl in the deep recesses of the forest." Joel T. Headly

 Ahhh.. the Adirondacks... you are transported into a different world when you cross over the "blue line" and into the Adirondack Park.  The big guy and I found ourselves time for a quick impromptu trip to Big Moose Lake this past weekend.  Twenty-four hours of Adirondack bliss.  Way too short for such an amazing place.  Neither pictures nor words will not do it justice. (above; bridge over Moose River; below; fishing the Moose River)

"The lake's popularity derives from its remoteness, climate and beauty, as well as its notoriety as the location of the murder of Grace Brown in 1906. Alleged ghost sightings and subsequent media attention have added to the allure."  Wikipedia
Its an awesome lake.  Driving up from Eagle Bay its a winding road up to the Lake. Big Moose River on the left, camps dotting the right.  Lots of marked hiking trails on the way up.  Past Moss Lake (once a girls summer camp) which is a really cool place to canoe.  They offer 1st come, 1st served remote camping..
Big Moose Lake itself has had some issues with acid rain.  Really big ones.   DDT used in the 60's and 70's in Adirondack streams to temper the black fly population caused environmental damage, and just when that was on the mend,  it was apparent that acid rain was emerging as a major problem (around 1980).   Big Moose Lake, home to 20 different species of fish is now home to half dozen or so.  The Clean Air Act is lessening the impact of acid rain in some areas.  Lots of reading on that subject.  The Adirondack Museum has some good information on the effects of acid rain in these great Adirondacks.
(below: on the deck at Big Moose Lodge)

Another Big Moose claim to fame is the famous murder of Grace Brown on the lake in 1906.  A book based on the murder entitled "An American Tragedy" was one among many written along with movies, one featuring Elizabeth Taylor. (below; On bridge at Moose River)

Fishing ?  Yes, some fishing was done but the fish on Big Moose Lake never surfaced for the big guy, and our luck in the Big Moose River (pictures above) didn't produce anything on the hook.  Saw a few good sized ones though that just kept slipping through the big guys lures (along with a beaver)... The Big Moose River was lots of fun to canoe down, very picturesque and beautiful.  Lazy day relaxing on the water with the hubby paddling in pursuit of the elusive fish ! (below; sunset fishing at Big Moose Lodge)

In closing :
In a canoe a man changes and the life he has lived seems strangely remote. Time is no longer of moment, for he has become part of space and freedom. What matters is that he is heading down the misty trail of explorers and voyageurs, with a fair wind and a chance for a good camp somewhere ahead."