I just spoke to David who told me a Yellow Perch tournament is scheduled for this weekend up near Herb’s Tackle Shop in North East. It’s being called the CCA MD “Yellow Perch Appreciation Day” and is being held at North East Park from 10:00 AM till 2:00 PM. Registration for the tournament costs $5 for individuals and $15 for families. Before you head north, be sure to sign up on the National Saltwater Angler Registry. For more on the registry and how it will benefit every man, woman, child and fish give Chris Dollar’s Article from The Capital titled; “Outdoors: Registering Saltwater Anglers Should Give State More Clout”. For more on the, MSFCMA, (Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act), and it’s role with other initialisms like PIAFA, WPSFF, WPC, SFA, NAS, NMFS, NFMP, HSDMPA, HSDFE, EEZ and it’s implications on conservation and management of our valuable fish resources, check out the handy UNMCWL, (University of New Mexico Center for Wildlife Law) synopsis.
Archive for the 'news' Category
| March 13, 2010 | ||
| 11:00 am | to | 2:00 pm |
Please join us for a flyfishing school. On March 13, a Backwater Angler Guide will be teaching a fly fishing school that is ideal for beginners. If you’re planning on fly fishing in Maryland, or anywhere else for that matter, this course is a great introduction to the sport. The school covers knots, casting, gear, fly selection and an hour of on-stream instruction. Schools are held in a meadow overlooking the Gunpowder river by a Maryland state licensed and insured fishing guide. Class is held from 11:00 AM till 2:00 PM. Cost is $100 per person and includes the use of gear. A Maryland Non-tidal fishing license and trout stamp is required and may be purchased prior to the class with check or cash at the shop. Class size is limited to 4 and pre-payment is required. Please give us a call at 410-357-9557 or drop us a line at info@backwaterangler.com to register.
This morning I visited the Odyssey School in Stevenson, where I checked in on the fast growing Kamloops strain rainbows, showed the class lots of insects and a sample of Didymo, and generally talked about water quality and what Brookies, Rainbows and Browns need in order to live. On the way back to the shop I caught the last hour of the Diane Reihm show. Anders Halverson, Journalist and author of the book “An Entirely Synthetic Fish: How Rainbow Trout Beguiled America and Overran the World” was being interviewed along with guests, Curtis Milliron, a Senior Biologist and Specialist with the California Dept. of Fish and Game and Gerald Smith, Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan and Curator Emeritus of Fishes for the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology.
The show’s description, “An Environmental Outlook on the unintended consequences of stocking the nation’s inland waters with hatchery-bred fish and a look at the invasive species threatening the Great Lakes” got my attention.
Let’s just say it’s worth a listen, lots of talk about native fish, rotenone, and recreational angling and trout management, but I must warn you that it may change the way you regard rainbow trout-at least East of the Cascades.
Thanks to Meredith for the quick note and link!
Theaux,
Greetings! I hope that you are well. My father forwarded this article to me and asked me to send it to you. It’s about some researchers who recently made a very cool discovery about caddis fly larvae.Meredith Winks
Some compelling words from the article from laboratoryequipment.com titled;
Fly Glue Creates Bioadhesive:
Like silkworm moths, butterflies and spiders, caddisfly larvae spin silk, but they do so underwater instead on dry land. Now, University of Utah researchers have discovered why the fly’s silk is sticky when wet and how that may make it valuable as an adhesive tape during surgery.
We recently received four Sweetgrass Bamboo fly rods in the shop with two rods in two different series. The Sweetgrass Series 7′3” Pent, 2 piece 4/5 weight rod above features two tips, agate stripping guide, sterling silver hook keeper, nickel silver ferrules, and polished nickel silver reel seat hardware. The rod is priced at $2000.00, and without the 15 month waiting period, it is no surprise one of these rods already sold quickly. Rod #1287 is available, although with quality craftsmanship and unique components, like the banded agate stripping guide pictured below, it may go fast.
The two Mantra Series bamboo rods in the shop are roughly half the price of the Sweetgrass Series, although all series are built with the same tapers. The Mantra series rods come with one tip, Carballoy stripping guide, black steel hook keeper, nickel silver ferrules and black aluminum reel seat hardware. The Sweetgrass Series Bamboo offers “very high grade cane work,” while the Mantra rods feature “minor cosmetic imperfections.” The description below is off the Sweetgrass website:
These 1-tip rods represent an unparalleled value in bamboo rods. With the same taper as our regular, Sweetgrass Series, the Mantra rods will delight with the same action you would expect from a Sweetgrass Rod. And at half the price, it’s a bargain in artisanal craftsmanship.
The Mantra Series rod pictured above is a 7′9” Hex, 3 piece 4/5 weight bamboo fly rod, which retails for $1250.00. The Mantra Series rod pictured below is a 7′3” Hex, 2 piece 3/4 weight bamboo fly rod, which retails for $995.00.
These five and six sided bamboo rods are ideal for fishing our local rivers and streams in the coming months. All three rods are in the shop for those interested in giving them a closer look.
On Monday of this week it was time to put down the snow shovel and pick up a rod and head to the Gunpowder River. While the roads were clear, many accesses to the river were either not plowed, or plowed in with huge piles of snow. Masemore, Monkton and York roads had a few spaces cleared at each lot, and I saw a number of other anglers suiting up. Falls, Bunker Hill, Big Falls, and Blue Mount Roads had no parking, and much of Falls Rd was one lane. I parked at York and waded through the thigh deep snow to the river and snapped the pic above. The water temp was 38.1, clear and flowing at 120 CFs. After forty five minutes of fishing without a bite, I finally came tight to a brown in a deep hole, after countless other drifts in the same pool yielded nothing. I slowly worked two other pools for another forty five minutes without much action before heading home. Nymph fishing with heavy flies and long leaders will help get down to the bottom where the fish are holding and is one of the best options. Dead drifting buggers and streamers along the bottom has been consistently producing a few fish for patient anglers, versus anglers stripping streamers at faster speeds. Weather forecasts show possibility of more snow in the future, but the forty degree highs for the next few days may get the browns more active.
Tom Starrs sent in another fishing report and the nice pic above with a wild brown. Tom, nice fish and nice hat too!
I took off President’s Day and fished a little Frederick County stream. With all the snow it is hard to find access to any stream. I did take this nice brown trout wearing my Backwater Angler hat!
Tom Starrs
Happy Mardi Gras!
The shop will be closed on Mardi Gras Day, that’s Fat Tuesday, Feb 16, 2010 as our Backwater Angler guides get recertified in first aid and CPR-a handy thing to have on a day when beads and doubloons are being used as projectiles. The shop will reopen on Wednesday at 10:00 AM, by then the lots might look more like pavement less like snow, until then enjoy the Mardi Gras Art from Robert Seago featured in a rollicking poetic take on Mardi Gras, the Big Easy and all of it’s denizens titled Carnival in New Orleans, a Fantasy by Maurice Le Gardeur.
Related Post:
Mardi Gras Book Review: Carnival in New Orleans, a Fantasy
