Fishing's 'Off-Season'

Winter has finally marked itself upon the Pennsylvania countryside with more than half a foot of snow last night on top of several inches from the previous night.  I had entertained thoughts of going down to the creek and practicing my fly-casting and perhaps fooling one of the trout remaining in the creek into trying out one of my San Juan worms or midges.  A morning of shoveling followed by a trip to the vet for one of my dogs (he's developed painful arthritis in his rear hips) has made the idea of standing creek-side in calf deep snow unappealing.  Instead I made a stock pot full of chili on to cook and settled down to read one of my Austen spin-offs (as in Jane Austen).  In the background the TV is on to the World Fishing Network and I look up from time to time when they discuss particularly interesting tactics/patterns for bass or walleye fishing.  I wonder what kind of fishing Jane would prefer?

It might seem at first to be somewhat incongruous that a Janeite (an admirer of Jane Austen and her literature) also loves to fish but only to those unfamiliar with the universal appeal of Austen's Books.  Austen's books are currently thought by many to be the province of women, but historically that is not the case at all...in fact there Kipling wrote of a group of soldiers during the Great War (WW I) who considered themselves Janeites.  Regardless, like Jane I take my daily pleasures where I can and while with Jane a walk about the countryside was one of her chief pleasures, with me it is fishing.

Life is not all fishing though and it is a joy to have the chance to catch up on my reading...especially my favorite Austen works.  Here's hoping that you use fishing's off-season as a balance for the rest of the year.

Hooke's Law and Fly Fishing guest post by Zedd

In order to serve a broad range of expertise and skill levels, I'll be inviting guest posts from time to time.  Here's the first by Zedd:

Whilst out fly-fishing this weekend I got to thinking (a dangerous thing, wrought with mischief to be sure) that maybe we should take lessons from the largemouth bass. Unlike the vaunted trout, a fish known for becoming dogmatic in its eating, the largemouth doesn’t really care about its chow. If it moves, makes noise, and generally appears to be an organism big enough to digest, the largemouth will hit your lure. This got me to thinking about fly-fishing in general.  What does it mean to ‘fly fish’?

I define ‘fly fishing’ as use tools (fly rod, fly line, leader, tippet, fly reel, etc…) which allow you to use lures too light for typical momentum casting such as with spinning or bait-casting equipment. This definition helps me to think of the fly-fishing equipment as a whole as opposed to a series of individual ‘categorical casts’. For example, fly-fishing has literally dozens of types of casts; back casts, forward casts, side-arm casts, bow cast, vertical casts, false-casts, roll casts, curve casts, S-casts, ad infinitum. I think it’s best to do away with naming the cast, and learn what  happens when I apply different techniques during the cast. A wholistic  approach if you will.

First, what ‘happens’ during a fly-cast?  Instead of the weight of the lure pulling the line off the reel, the weight of the line is pulling the fly along for the ride. The most basic means of this happening is sometimes called the bow cast, where the fly is carefully pinched between two fingers, pulled back against the fly rod-causing it to bow, and then released. The action of pulling the fly back causes the fly rod to flex. In reality, the fly rod is a material that exhibits both rigidity and elasticity, a spring:

In mathematical terms (Hooke’s Law):     F=-kx

During the compression phase (pulling the fly back) the rod stores mechanical energy and a force is generated in proportion to the length of the pull (X). Upon release, the rod de-flex’s and releases its force in a torque like manner; that is it rotates in an elliptical movement, increasing speed, and imparting this rotational torque into the fly line in the form of centripetal force, shooting the fly line and its rider, the fly. Fly Fisherman call this storing of mechanical energy into the fly rod as ‘powering up the rod’.

This may seem a little technical, but it is the rotational torque part that is important. Fly fisherman say by way of good fishing, ‘tight loops buddy [ma’am]’. This is a reference to the importance of learning the fly rod technique of casting with a tight loop. The ability to create tight loops is the first important skill a good fly fisherman needs learn. Remember the rod tip will de-flex in a curve? Centripetal force teaches that the rod tip will tend to want to impart energy into the line in a continuous and constant cycle throughout the energy release. The effect is that when the rod is held in a stationary manner, the loop will become large rather than tight. The trick with casting with a fly rod is to first learn how to move your rod tip as it releases its force in such a manner that the rod tip stays in a fairly straight line. The straighter the stroke of the casting rod tip, the tighter the line. To be sure, there are many times when you will want to make a broad round stroke, thus imparting a curve, or even multiple curves of different widths into the fly line. However, it is important to start off with the basic ability to cast a tight looped line, and this is only accomplished by casting in such a manner as to keep the rod tip in a constant straight line as it unleashes its force in a rotational manner.

This sound tricky and it is. Still, remember there are millions of fly-fisherman the world over who have mastered the technique. Once this stroke is learned, experimentation with manipulating the rod will teach you how to make the loops and casts needed for an infinite variety of presentations your favorite bay, lake, pond, river, or stream will offer you. The wholistic approach to understanding the what happens when will lead to a more instinctive cast without having to memorize and implement a variety of individual methods.

Not quite a novice, definitely not an expert (in other words: 2012 Goals)

With a skim of ice across all the area lakes and reservoirs, I've been going a bit stir crazy since Christmas.  I mean, from March until November of last year there were only 4 non-work days that I didn't fish!  Having responsibilities at home, it wasn't like I was out all day, but I was out before dawn and usually fished until shortly before noon - 5 or 6 hours per day of fishing. 


I loved fishing at this time; no crowds (except the impromptu bass tournaments once bass season started) and the lake is so peaceful at this time of day.  If you fished later on the day there was alot more recreational users of both the water and shoreline and while it's great to see people enjoying such a great resource I am surrounded by people the entire work-week and it's great to not have to feel the expectation of anyone other than myself for a short time.  The wildlife are much more active at this time as well and while I missed many photo shots, because I either forgot my camera or I couldn't get it out of the ziplock fast enough, I was able to get quite a bit on film as well.


So back to the point of this rambling:  what to do during this "off" season?  First off I decided I should set some goals for myself.  It seems kind of funny to say in this 'modern' age but many people (mostly other women) were amazed I went out by myself fishing.  This was especially true of my mother, who lives with me, despite the fact that at my age she had been expecting her first grandchild.  But it wasn't just her generation that was amazed.  Women of both a similar age and younger also alluded to the fact that they didn't think they would be comfortable going fishing and/or kayaking by themselves.


I have to admit, there where times when it was still pitch black outside and I'm walking down to the lake edge and it is a bit creepy.  This was especially true the pre-dawn morning I went to turn over my kayak (I have it moored at a nearby lake) and a huge toad hopped away.  Or a couple of weeks later when I discovered that a raccoon had crawled under it to die.  I don't know if that is any different from how a man would feel or not - and I found I grew in confidence as the summer went along.


The fact was though that I fished the whole year at one lake with the exception of a couple of days on the creek that runs through town.  I did this because it was comfortable.  This year I want to try new things and new places.  So, after a kind of long and convoluted path here are my goals:

• Fish at least 5 new places, 3 of which from the kayak
• Increase my skill and knowledge of fishing tactics, presentation and patterns.
• Take my Mom, Aunt, and Uncle out to the lake fishing

I've already started taking steps for the first goal by researching the internet and visiting potential fishing spots.  For the second goal I've received and watched Jeff Little's Smallmouth River Tactics - Summer and plan on purchasing the Spring one soon.  I also plan to go on a guided kayak fishing trip that covers tactics, lures, and presentation on the Juniata river.  I have some training that I will have to late spring or early summer so I'm not sure when.  For the third goal, I took my Mother to the one reservoir that I plan on fishing this coming spring as it is quite pretty and one I thought to take my Uncle (I think she would rather go someplace where the "amenities" are present and close by).


So there you are, just a few simple goals which I can take active steps right now to make the most of 2012.  Fortunately I have the knowledge and expertise of my brother for all matters fly fishing and a co-worker for \ fishing in this region. 


So Good Casting to you in 2012!

Check out my 2011 Year in Review
Also available in high quality video at YouTube:
http://youtu.be/NhZYYOuFjD8

From uncertain beginnings...

I've thought about doing a blog for a number of years but who was I to be so conceited as to think I had anything to share with the world at large that would be of interest to those unknown faces out there.


Last year my brother encouraged me to share my experiences of fishing and kayaking.  I considered this for a few days but while I knew I loved kayaking, I wasn't sure if fishing would 'stick'.  After all, I only decided to give the fishing a try when it was suggested to me by my mother when she saw this big, fancy fishing kayak.  I figured the fishing would give that extra excuse to get out in the kayak when the conditions were not conducive to photography or I just plain got tired of paddling the same old lake.  Little did I know that the enjoyment from fishing would take precedence over the joy of kayaking.


I hadn't fished since I was a girl going with my Dad to Kahle Lake during the Bluegill spawn.  What could beat catching my limit and more, culling for only the largest.  Well maybe going to the pond, a mile through the woods, with my big brother and then cooking our catch over an open campfire-half burnt, half raw. 


Somehow those memories faded and as an adult I didn't understand the pleasure, not to mention the stress relief, that fishing can bring.  This changed from the first moment I went to the lake with the old rod and reels and the tackle box that my Uncle Bob gave me.  The amazing thing is it didn't seem to matter that I wasn't catching any fish...I still had a great time.  Each new skill- casting, casting without getting snarls in my reel, tying consistent, strong knots-brought its own reward.  Of course, I really did want to catch an actual fish.  And it was a really long time before I caught anything...like over a month.


Well, I did finally start to catch some fish...about the time the water actually warmed up enough for the fish to come out of their deep winter holes and in closer to the shoreline to start the spawning ritual.  That first bluegill was awesome.  From that time on I didn't come home without a collection of pictures and/or panfish.  Still as I paddled around or fished from shore I saw people catching crappies and even bass.  Not so for me!  Finally, about a week into June, I was fishing standing in the shallows (too windy for kayak fishing) and I hooked into something much stronger than the panfish I had been catching.  I reeled it in and jeez...it was a nice 16" largemouth.  But heck, just one more week and it would have been in season.  It was several more weeks before I started learning what would work in catching these and after that a day didn't pass without a nice catch...sometimes catch and release, sometimes for the dinner table.


Closer to fall my big brother, who had been encouraging me to learn fly fishing, sent me a fly rod and I started to learn some basic skills with it.  Fortunately he sent me some flies and the bass and panfish cooperated in throwing themselves on the hook.  Later I even braved the local trout stream...away from any laughing eyes, and managed to catch a couple of (baby) trout and losing a really nice sized one.  A trip to Texas and some personal lessons from same big brother greatly improved my casting skills and gave me the opportunity to try some of the surprisingly great urban fishing in the Dallas metroplex area.


Now fishing season is over...the lake is frozen over and I'm wishing I had recorded my experiences as they had occurred.  One of the biggest things that struck me was the scarcity of women fishing, much less kayak fishing.  Those that were fishing were there with their husband/boyfriend.  One of my goals with this blog is to hopefully motivate other women to take up the sport of kayak fishing and find out how liberating and enjoyable it is.