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."

"They say you forget your troubles on a trout stream, but that's not quite it. What happens is that you begin to see where your troubles fit into the grand scheme of things, and suddenly they're just not such a big deal anymore." John Gierach

Fishing at the Big Eddy.  The big guy has got it again, landed 3 rock bass and one interesting carp.  The kids and I went exploring so no documentation.  Saw the remnants of some old woolen factories, and some foundations of the water raceways.  Grandma up visiting so put her in a chair so she could watch the action.  Perfect spring night !

My biggest worry is that my wife (when I'm dead) will sell my fishing gear for what I said I paid for it." ~by Koos Brandt~

Hmmm,,, So fly fishing is probably a pretty cheap sport, right?  All those cute little flies, even the pretty pink ones are under a dollar.  I mean really, how much could a wooly bugger really cost?  A fishing pole with some cork on it?  I remember the Mickey Mouse ones were under 20$ when the kids were little.  All those fake worms?  We can make those in our edible creepy crawler machine.  Feathers, gluesticks...  Michaels and AC Moore have those on sale every week.  My sister and some of my creative friends could whip up bunches of these fly things for pennies ... right ?  Brad Pitt in "A River Runs Through It" just grabbed his pole and went.  No fancy stuff.

But my adventure the last few days was stopping at The Fly Shack, in Gloversville, NY.  On my way back from Saratoga, took a small detour and picked up some product for the big guy.  This is one of his favorite web sites.  And imagine, its only a hop, skip and jump from my normal route back from my cousins house.

Gloversville is a quaint old town,   First known as "Stump City".. then changed to Gloversville in 1828,  90% of all the leather gloves sold in the United States from 1890 - 1950 came from Gloversville.  Over 200 manufacturers relating to the gloving industry dominated the towns of Gloversville and Johnstown.  I don't think the fly fishing industry will be taking the town over like that, but the fishermen have a good resource in town!

Other Gloversville trivia includes a few notables;  Samuel Goldwyn of MGM Studios in Hollywood emigrated to Gloversville and worked as a glover before making his mark in the movie industry,  Pulitzer prize author Richard Russo and physicist William A. Edelstein, a key developer of MRI scanning.

While the Fly Shack was getting together my order, they suggested I browse around at the antique shop on the corner.  Terry's Antiques is a really cool shop with lots of interesting treasures, especially their owners (Carolyn & Terry Brundige, props..) who I chatted with for a bit .  They had lots of great items, including a Fosteria square crystal cake plate that was gorgeous!  Never seen anything like it... I figured with all the basketball and ping pong going on inside my house I couldn't risk having something like that out, waiting to be hit by some un-identified flying object.  With three boys, you just have to be realistic.  Life can't be all tea sets and crystal.  Rubber and duct tape are sometimes much more practical.

The big guy will read this and wonder how I got from expensive fishing stuff to antique cake plates.  Seems a perfectly logical way of thinking to me :)

"Fishing provides that connection with the whole living world. It gives you the opportunity of being totally immersed, turning back into yourself in a good way. A form of meditation, some form of communion with levels of yourself that are deeper than the ordinary self." - Ted Hughes

No hatch on Oatka Creek yesterday.  The big guy only saw a couple rises. (using nymphs) .....

So, the big guy better get cracking.  An empty fishing net again.  Otherwise I'll have to start a blog about fishing fashions.  hmmm field trips to Macy's one day sales are going to cost more $ than photo hikes :) Ah... but no price tag can be put on a relaxing, fun morning with the hubby...  Saw a blue heron.  Wish I had my better camera with me, that would have been a great picture !

Not sure how these cars ended up here, but in line with the railroad bed so must have once had a road down here ?  They are right along side the hiking trail.