Gavin's Pocket

When we rolled into Forteau, my two sons, Drew and David, and I weren't long hearing about the Atlantic Salmon fishing action so far that summer.

"Gavin's been 'avin' a good season, Skipper!" said Doug. "'e's got a 'oney 'ole we calls 'Gavin's Pocket'. By Jeezus, 'e's 'auled a 'few outta dat, da year, eh Mona?"

"'e's not da only one - I say ye got yer share, if ya wants to know da truth" cried Mona.

We geared up and headed for the river, with Gavin as our guide. At one pool, we saw fish, but got ne'er a raise. A good walk downstream, Gavin showed us his 'pocket'.

"I was fishin' in da middle, dere, " he said. "I always gives dat a flick on me way d-d-d-down by. Dis one day, it was blowin' a gale. I'se just after tyin' on a bug when da wind takes it clean outta me 'and. She lands right in dat pocket dere, behind dat rock, and kinda d-d-d-dances across da surface. Outta da corner of me eye, I seen dis fish make a d-d-d-dodge fer it - fired back and B-B-B-B-Bango! I 'ad 'im!"

Gavin had indeed found a 'honey hole' in a place most people would walk past without wetting a line. Close to shore, it was hard to believe that a salmon would lie there, but Gavin's Pocket produced fish for us all week. There are lessons in this:

• There is no substitute for a good local guide, especially when you have a limited amount of time to fish. It takes much of the guesswork out of the equation. A good guide will put you on fish - it will be your job to catch them.

• Don't ignore shallow water, or water very close to shore - big fish will rest there if there is some cover. That cover could be a corrugated surface caused by wind, or current. It could be the cover of darkness, or an overhanging limb.
  

• For an added bonus, salmon lying in shallow water can be more likely to take a fly, particularly a dry fly, than if they were lying at the bottom of a deep hole.
  

Good Luck and Good Fishin'!

- Random Phrump

Photo by: Random Phrump

HalfBeak - the UnderBird

HalfBeak is a crow - with a handicap. The upper half of his beak, from the nostrils forward is missing - a casualty of some freak accident. Perhaps he stuck it where it didn't belong, and ended up paying the price. HalfBeak's mishap occurred about 3 years ago - before that, he was just one of the neighborhood crows. One thing is for certain - since the Missus laid eyes on him and his mangled beak, he's never had a hungry day. She's a sucker for an underdog... I mean, an underbird.

HalfBeak is a loner. Crows are usually gregarious and exhibit fascinating social behavior, but this bird is often alone. I wonder if others of his clan shun him? Crows, after all, are all about the Schnozz. Sure, they have a striking black mantle, but they don't have what anyone would call a beautiful voice. The Schnozz - that's what crows have - that's crow mojo!

HalfBeak sits on the garage roof where he can peer into our kitchen window. He waits on this conspicuous perch until the Missus brings out his dinner - stale bread or popcorn, assorted leftovers - anything except tomatoes. Crows, we have noticed, will not touch a tomato. (I wonder what they know, that we don't?)

The Missus has confessed to buying day-old bakery items to feed HalfBeak and his clan - nutritious, whole grain food at the lowest possible price. They have a little routine at feeding time. First she throws the choicest tidbits on the walkway directly under HalfBeak's perch. Then she scatters the rest in the driveway for the clan. We have come to know HalfBeak well, and look forward to daily visits from the UnderBird.

Good Luck and Good Fishin'!
-Random Phrump

The Price of Salmon Fishing in Nova Scotia - Part 2

Acid rain is a by-product of our addiction to fossil fuels, particularly, coal and oil. Smokestack emissions combine with atmospheric moisture to create sulfuric and nitric acids. These ultimately fall to the earth as acid precipitation.

Nova Scotia is particularly affected because of our geography. We are directly in the path of prevailing winds and weather systems from the smog belt of North America. In addition, parts of our province have little or no naturally occurring limestone to buffer the effects of this toxic rain and snowfall.
I'm not implying that Nova Scotia is an innocent victim - there are four coal-fired electric power generation plants operating in this province - in Sydney, Point Aconi, Point Tupper and Trenton.
In addition to acid rain-causing emissions, these four coal-fired plants emit an estimated 150 kilograms of mercury annually, according to the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, October, 2006.

"Mercury is a toxic, persistent, bioaccumulative substance. It converts in water to the highly toxic form, methylmercury, which accumulates in fish and other species, damaging the central nervous system and causing reproductive failure among loons and river otters.

Human exposure to mercury – primarily by eating contaminated fish – may cause neurological and developmental damage. Low exposure to mercury may cause problems, such as learning disabilities in children. Women of childbearing age, pregnant women, children, and populations who depend on fish as a traditional food source are most at risk."

Double whammy! To put this in perspective, worldwide emissions of mercury from human activity were estimated at 2400 tons in 2000, with Canada's contribution pegged at 8 tons.

So what is the price of salmon fishing in Nova Scotia? From where I stand the answer is: PRICELESS! It looks like the best hope for a return to the kind of productivity once enjoyed by Atlantic Salmon in Nova Scotia rivers is to 'kick' our addiction to fossil fuels!

As inconceivable as that sounds, ultimately, we will not have a choice in the matter. James Howard Kunstler believes we are on the brink of a collapse that he refers to as the "Long Emergency", a collapse brought about by dwindling oil resources. I heard him speak on CBC radio's show, Sunday Edition, February 17, 2008.

Kunstler is an articulate doom sayer - there's no denying it, but I have faith in our ability to survive as a species. At the same time, I don't believe in leaving the hen house door open. We need to examine the problems of fossil fuels, acid rain, and mercury emissions somewhat more seriously, perhaps... as if our lives depended on it.

Good Luck and Good Fishin'!
-Random Phrump

The Price of Salmon Fishing in Nova Scotia - Part 1

The history of salmon fishing in Nova Scotia for the last 5000 years looks broadly like this:

3000 BC - 1600 AD - Aboriginal Food Fishery - salmon in abundance
1600 AD - 1750 AD -First European contact - salmon in abundance
1750 AD - 1850 AD -Widespread Settlement - salmon in abundance
1850 AD - 1900 AD - Industrialization - logging, dams - salmon at risk
1900 AD - 1950 AD - Acid Rain, pollution - salmon in decline
1950 AD - 2000 AD - Commercial factory fleet ocean fishing - salmon in peril
2000 AD - Conservation efforts - salmon extinct in some rivers, remnant populations in others.

The scenario deserves a better analysis than I have sketched, but the trend is towards extinction. The cumulative effect of habitat degradation in rivers and oceans, and the pressures of commercial fishing, poaching, and angling have created a catastrophic decline of Atlantic Salmon in Nova Scotia rivers. Conservation efforts, including grilse-only retention for anglers, promotion of Catch and Release angling, and buy-outs of commercial salmon fishing licenses have only slowed the rate of decline.

Habitat improvement is the focus of conservation-minded anglers, but the cost of recovering acid rain-impacted rivers is beyond the scope of individuals. Expensive to build and to operate, lime-dosers such as those in use in Norway and on the West River Sheet Harbour are viewed with optimism. They have the ability to raise pH levels in river water by adding limestone to mitigate the acidity. It puts me in mind, however, of trying to save frogs from slowly boiling in a pot of water, by adding ice cubes, when the obvious solution is to turn down the heat.

Good Luck and Good Fishin'!
-Random Phrump

How RSS Can Save You Time and Improve Your Fishing...

What's all the buzz about RSS? I'm sure many of you know about and use feed readers, but I thought I'd devote a few lines to the topic. I am not going to explain how it works - only what I use it for - saving time, and learning about things like fishing.

With the amount of information available on the Internet, it's impossible to keep tabs on it all. I use a web-based piece of software called Google Reader to help me find and remember things that interest me. I'll give you an example. I wanted a good, used 12' aluminum boat. I was willing to pay up to $400 or $500 for it, but I ended up paying nothing - actually, I traded a Zodiac for it - thanks to RSS. How did that happen?

There is a nifty Buy-and-Sell site called Kijiji (pronounced, Key-gee-gee) - a very popular service, available worldwide, for free. It works exactly like the classified ads section in a newspaper, without the fees. People post items they want to sell - other people search for them - they negotiate a final price, then exchange items. But, who has time to spend browsing through classified ads? it was far more appealing to me to automate the whole process.

This is where RSS comes in. The icon in today's illustration is the universal symbol for RSS. If you see that symbol on a website, it means you can subscribe to receive notifications whenever the content on the site changes. In my case, I searched Kijiji for 'boats for sale' in the Halifax area. Then I subscribed to the search results feed by clicking on the RSS symbol. Every time someone listed a boat for sale on Kijiji in Halifax, I received notification through Google Reader. After I found the boat I wanted, I simply canceled the feed with one click.

I use RSS feeds to subscribe to sites on fly fishing, on education, and technology - anything and everything that interests me. Google Reader collects and organizes all of my feeds into a kind of personalized online newspaper. So, what do you need to get started?

Just one thing - a feed reader. I like the web-based readers because you can access them from any computer, anywhere in the world. I recommend Google Reader - it's free, and my experience indicates that it is 'idiot-proof' - easy to install, easy to use, and reliable. Now, how about some content to go with that feed reader?

I enjoy reading Steve Dobson's Fisherman's Blog. He's an engaging writer with an 'outside-the-box' perspective on fly fishing. His subscribe link doesn't feature the RSS icon, but you'll find the link in the right hand sidebar where it says "Subscribe to Posts [Atom]". Simply click there, and you will be notified whenever Steve fires off a new post.

Another enjoyable read is the Global FlyFisher - a wealth of information for the traveling angler. It's published by Martin Joergensen, Steve Schweitzer, et al. You'll see the RSS icon prominently displayed. Click to subscribe.

I hope you enjoy the world of RSS. Using a feed reader will definitely save you time, and if you read some of the great tips and stories on these two sites, you may even improve your angling experience.

Good Luck and Good Fishin'!
-Random Phrump

The Fishing Derby

I have been to only one Fishing Derby in my life. It was more commotion than I like with my fishing, but it wasn't all bad...

The first week of July, 1994, my wife was away with the kids - off to Ontario, visiting her family. Our good friends, Chuck and Debbie Taylor, had plans to attend a Saturday craft show as vendors. Would I babysit their 10 year-old son, Clay?
As long as he didn't mind going fishing, I agreed.

The day before our fishing excursion, I had to travel to Bridgewater. Passing by the Italy Cross Fire Hall, I noticed a large sign out front, heralding tomorrow's Fishing Derby. On a whim, I wheeled into the graveled parking lot and entered the fire hall. In a few minutes, I was back in my truck with two "Italy Cross, Middlewood & District Fire Department WHITE PERCH FISHING DERBY" ball caps.

Saturday morning at 6 AM, I picked up a sleepy Clay. He had been too excited about our trip to get much shut-eye. I had spent some of the previous evening getting 'geared up', and asked Clay to help me go over our list of equipment:

"Canoe?" "Check."
"Paddles?" Check."
"Lifejackets?" "Check."
"Rods and reels?" "Check."
"Flies?" "Check."
"Balloons?" "Check."
"Uh, Mr. Phrump, why do we need balloons?"

I didn't know much about White Perch, but I'd caught a few. I knew they fought like hell for the first minute - you'd swear it was a bigger fish than what would surface. I thought they were schooling fish - but I wasn't sure. I needed more information.

My idea, in the name of science, was to release the first White Perch we caught, with a slight modification - a small balloon, tethered to its back. Clay blew up a bright yellow one, the size of his fist. I tied it to about 6 feet of 2 lb. test tippet, and hooked it lightly through the skin behind the dorsal fin with a #16 hook. Now, we could test my hypothesis. If White Perch lived in schools, we should be able to observe the motion of the balloon around the lake and know from that, where the fish would be found.

It worked like a charm! We caught and released more than 20 White Perch that day - most of them on a weighted Black and Yellow Marabou fly. By the time we weighed in, Clay had five fish, totaling 925 grams in the live well. After releasing the fish, we had time to eat, then waited around to hear the results.

Clay's catch was good enough for a Junior First Place finish! He won a fly rod-and-reel combo, some Coca-Cola products, and a trophy. When I dropped him off at the house, Clay showed his folks the loot he'd won, and proclaimed it the best day - ever!

Good Luck and Good Fishin'!
-Random Phrump

HMS Raleigh - Point Amour Light

In 1922, HMS Raleigh, the flagship of the British fleet, ran aground while taking evasive maneuvers to avoid an iceberg near Point Amour, Labrador. She was bringing the officers across the Strait of Belle Isle for salmon and sea trout fishing at Forteau. They tried in vain to salvage her - in the end she was scuttled, blown to smithereens by explosives.

84 years later, Doug Trimm took my son, Drew, for a stroll on the beach and showed him the wreck, and how to find pieces of cordite among the beach stones and shards of rusted metal. While they combed the beach, I couldn't help thinking,

"How drunk was the man on watch?"

He must have 'spliced the mainbrace' a couple of hours too early. It's only about 20 miles across the Strait and they went aground within a mile of Point Amour Light, the tallest beacon east of Montreal.

Today, the lighthouse is a fascinating museum - climb to the top and enjoy a spectacular view of coastal Labrador. You will see whales and icebergs in the summer months, and there are world-class angling opportunities for Atlantic Salmon and sea-run Speckled Trout to be had - almost worth banging up a battleship for!

Good Luck and Good Fishin'!
-Random Phrump

Photo: Drew at Point Amour Light - Random Phrump

Buckle's Point

What I like about my brother, Steve, aside from his penchant for puns, is his ability to 'go with the flow'. Take for example, the time we were sitting in my truck in the parking lot of the Northern Light Inn in L'Anse Au Clair, Labrador...

We had just come from a week of salmon fishing in Quebec, but weren't quite ready to head home. We decided to spend a couple of days exploring coastal Labrador. As non-residents without a guide, we were restricted to fishing for trout within 800 meters of the highway. Steve and I blundered along, fishing every pond on the way to Red Bay and back again. By chance, we stopped at a convenience store and the girl at the counter remembered us.

"How was your fishin'?" she asked.
"Not bad - lots of trout, but no size, " I replied.
"Well, it couldn't have been any worse than my luck last night," she continued. "I heard a splash, looked down - the handle of my reel had dropped right in the drink."
"What were you fishing for?" I inquired.
"Sea trout," was her response.
"Any size?" I asked.
"I've caught 'em t'ree and four pounds," she replied. My eyes got real big!!
"Where do you fish?" I queried.
"Buckle's Point."

The picture above shows Steve with a nice sea trout - one of several we caught that day. And that brings me to the next morning and that parking lot. We flipped a coin - heads, we go back for more sea trout action at Buckle's Point - tails, we make for the ferry and begin our long trek home. The coin came up tails.

"Two out of three!" I called. The coin was flipped once more - tails again!
"@#$% it! Let's go fishin!", said Steve.

Gotta love that guy!

Good Luck and Good Fishin'!
- Random Phrump

Dinner At The Parkview

Dinner at the Parkview in Oxford, was a regular feature of our fall fishing days on the River Philip. We'd shed our waders and wash up in the motel room, then trudge across the parking lot to the restaurant. It was nothing fancy, but always clean and warm, with good service and a great Hot Turkey Sandwich - exactly what we needed after a long day of salmon fishing.

As we waited for our food, we enjoyed browsing the place mats. They were reprints of historic front pages from the Oxford Journal - stories of floods, fires, and winter storms.

It was getting near Christmas when I thought of the perfect gift for my dad and my brother. I created a reproduction of the Oxford Journal, featuring a story about our fishing exploits, and I laminated it to create a sturdy place mat (click photo to enlarge).

It was a big hit! Dad still has his on the wall in his office. Steve's is on display in his fishing camp on the Medway. Mine peers out from beneath fridge-magnets on the side of a file cabinet in my study. Memories... memories...
Good Luck and Good Fishin'!
-Random Phrump