After eating dinner the other night, my wife and I took a ride by the local trout stream, now we were just going for a ride so I did not have my fly rod with me. I should be smarter than that. Any ways it was a nice warm evening and I knew that there would be at least a few spinners dropping but when we drove over the bridge the windshield was instantly smeared with may flys. Damn!!!... So I parked the truck and watched in envy as several anglers picked away at the trout sipping the spent spinners of the surface.That was a few nights ago.
Well today was my day off and I had an offer to join several other guys fishing the Delaware this weekend, normally I would jump at the chance to fish the west branch, but I could not get my lazy arse out of bed till almost 7am, to late to really make the run down for just the day, so I hit a nearby wild trout stream instead. I did ok, landing several nice trout,but I noticed something disturbing. Every spot I fished there were foot prints from other fisherman,not good, In the past I have gone entire seasons in some of these sections and never seen another angler, now it almost looked like the trails along the salmon river. Like another Blog I follow said "never ever , ever talk about the fight club", well some one apparently has. Seeing signs of that much pressure on that particular stream kinda of ruined the trip.
So after I got home and ate dinner I decided to go back out fishing, this time heading to a more well known stream, the same stream I witnessed the spinner fall several nights earlier. Conditions were very similar to the other night, very warm and calm, just about ideal for some great dry fly fishing. The only thing lacking was the flies, and the fish. No mayfly's, no rising fish. I guess that's why its called fishing.
If it's any consolation, those footprints may have been mine. You're right though, the more people talk the more pressure the river will see. People have been talking, and even more people are listening. Ten years ago, I would have had the entire river to myself. If I saw another fisherman, he was either a friend or an acquaitance. Those days are gone.
ReplyDeleteIt does take the experience down a notch - the tailwaters out here take a beating this time of year - every fair-weather fisherman and casual angler is out in force - whether you talk about it or not.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, during spring and summer, we have a lot of productive water only accessible by Jeep Trail or hiking - it's a little more effort to get out to these spots, but it's worth it in the long run.