Medway Report 15 May 2008

Water temperature 14 C. Saw an almost white deer, a beaver, many ducks and cormorants, a great blue heron, an osprey. Shadbush is in bloom. Dark Mayflies with transparent wings. Caught & released five brook trout - from 9" to 11", and one salmon parr. The Usual #14, and RLM #8. Beautiful sunset. Blackflies a nuisance.

Good Luck and Good Fishin'!

RP

Photo by Random Phrump: View from the Water's Edge

The Landing Net

The Missus whispered something to me last night as I was drifting off to sleep...

It's not what you're thinking.

She said, "Marilyn and I are going to the city tomorrow. Is there anything you need?"

"Yes, I'm glad you asked," I replied. "I need a new landing net - a trout net, if you come across one."

"Don't you have one?" she inquired.

"I do, but a couple of years ago, I was fixing the well. I needed something to weigh down the foot valve so it would sink to the bottom. One-inch PVC pipe comes in coils, and won't straighten out worth a damn. I thought about tying a rock to it, but I couldn't tie a knot that would hold a big heavy rock. Then I thought of using a net to hold the rock. Not long after that, I cut the mesh off my old aluminum landing net - sacrificed it in the name of domestic harmony," I explained.

"Oh, how sweet of you!" she cooed.

"I release all of the trout I catch," I continued, "so it hasn't been an issue. But today, when Dad hooked that beautiful brookie and wanted it for supper, I was in a bit of a pickle without a landing net."

"I'll try to get you one," she whispered.

"Thanks, Hon - you're the best!" I murmured as I fell asleep, while visions of laminated exotic hardwood landing nets danced in my head.

Today when I got home from school, she and Marilyn were in the driveway unloading their swag. Out of the back of her car came cases of bottled water, 48-roll packages of toilet paper, and a four foot long aluminum handle with about three feet of black mesh dangling down...

"What in God's name is that?" I choked. "I asked for a trout net!"

"Well, it's a net! What does it look like?" she asked, indignantly.

I really should have known better... I was half asleep at the time... I was bushwhacked... I...

I know what you're thinking...

You're right - there is no excuse. A man who can't buy his own fishing gear deserves what he gets.

Good Luck and Good Fishin'!
RP

Fishing with Dad

I took my Dad fishing today. He told some of his classic stories - one I hadn't heard in a while was the story of how Dick Gardner outsmarted the warden.

Dick caught a salmon and while he was playing it, the warden, Irving Hirtle, stepped out of the woods and said, "Now, sir, d' ye want I should gaft yer fish?"
"Go ahead!" said Dick.
After landing the fish, Irving said, "If I'm not mistaken, that's a Newfie nickel on yer line. I'll have to write you up for fishing with an illegal spinning device."
"Just a minute," said Dick, "if I'm not mistaken, you gaffed the salmon. That makes you an accomplice. Write yourself a ticket, too, while you're at it!"

We had a good 3 hours on the Medway. I caught and released some small trout from 6-9". Dad showed me how to get the job done right with his spinning rod, by hooking this 15" Brookie. We had no net in the boat, so it was a bit of a struggle getting it in. A couple of times his line was fouled around my rod or one of the oars, but he played it cool, and ended up keeping this one for the frying pan. Another beautiful day on the Medway!

Good Luck and Good Fishin'!
RP

Empty Nest

They say that life begins at forty- actually, life begins when the kids move out and the dog dies. With our children grown and gone, the Missus and I find our minds are on retirement, and the cozy bungalow we want to build on our land upriver.

When we moved here from the hustle and bustle of city life, I never wanted to leave - couldn't imagine a better place to live. This house sheltered our family of five and a parade of house guests for the last 19 years... but our empty nest is getting to be too much house for just the two of us.

Situated on 3+ acres, we have water frontage, a big field for farming or for pasture, a four BR house, a triple RV garage, and four winterized cottages with a rental income of approximately $24,000 CDN / year.

If you know anyone who might like to live on the Medway River in Nova Scotia, leave a comment below... I'll tell you more.

Good Luck and Good Fishin'!

-RP

The Lost Keys

You learn to bite your tongue when you love someone. Last night, my son, Dave, told me he'd lost his keys, and I stopped myself from saying, "How do people lose their keys? I never lose my keys."

My brother, Steve, has an expression - "AAA" , which loosely translated, means, "A**holes Always Advertise". I'm thinking about that because, although I didn't make that comment about the keys to my son, I thought of it instantly, which reveals my critical nature. That must be hard on a son. Hard on the Missus too, I reckon.

Anyway, I'm sitting here blogging instead of fishing (which is what I really want to do) and instead of looking for my keys (which is what I really should be doing), because...

I've lost my keys!

I used them half an hour ago to unlock the garage. Now they are gone. I've looked everywhere I might have put them. I've retraced my steps. They're simply gone - vanished into thin air!

They're in that parallel universe with all my odd socks, and the jackknife I lost when I was nine. They're havin' a ball with Dave's keys - livin' large... on Jimmy Hoffa's money!

Good Luck and Good Fishin'!

RP

Photo by Random Phrump: Steve's Shangrila

Medway Report 23 April 2008

This time of year, I have to weigh my options carefully... do I go fishing, or go blogging? It depends on the weather, really, and the weather's been pretty fine lately, which means that I've been on the river most days after school.

The water temperature has gradually increased, a degree every couple of days, and today, it reached the magic number 10 C. In fact, it got all the way to 11 C in a protected cove. Not many trout have been showing since Opening Day, but I saw lots of rises today - and actually caught a dozen or more - I lost count. They were all small Brook Trout - 8"- 9" (20 CM) mostly, and they were dumb, too - but they were beautiful! The colors, are so vivid on a live brookie in your hand - mottled green and gold with red and blue spots, orange fins with white leading edges.

Beautiful and dumb! I used only one fly (#8 Rumsey Lake Minnow). Although these trout were feeding on or near the surface, they just couldn't resist the RLM cast to the rise form. Some trout took it as soon as it touched down, others gave chase and nailed it as I stripped it in. I did see a few larger fish and even hooked one of them briefly - long enough to know he was a beauty! I released all fish today - except for that last one - he finessed himself a LDR.

I've been putting this off - procrastinating, as the Missus calls it, but I'm going to have to break down and tie some flies soon. For 80 percent of my trout fishing, I use only 6 different patterns - 3 wet and 3 dry. Here's what I'll be tying:

WET
Royal Coachman Streamer
Rumsey Lake Minnow
Bob Root's Chili Pepper

DRY
The 'Usual'
Tom Thumb
CDC & Elk

The wets I tie in size 8 - the dries in 12, 14 and 16. Notice that the dry flies can all be fished wet and will still take fish. In fact they often are even deadlier, fished wet. I remember the day I waded up the brook between 1st and 2nd Christopher Lakes and released 30 trout on a wet #14 Usual! I guess I'm a "presentation" man - I don't match the hatch too much - except in size. I'm the leading proponent of what I like to call the Simpleton school of fly selection. As far as color goes, I think in terms of two - light and dark.

From this post, you should gather that fishing season is officially "on" here on the Medway. Why don't you take a kid fishing and give him a great memory before the blackflies get too thick?


Good Luck and Good Fishin'!

-RP

Photo by Random Phrump - "Spring Brookie"

Snarls and Loose Ends

I'm a bit of a recluse, so stories take a while to percolate down to my level, but I have news on two fronts - the Hurricane Noel Rainbow Trout and the Medway Catch and Release license.

There was some chat after today's staff meeting. I overheard the youngbloods talking about catching Rainbow Trout in the Mersey, the LaHave, and Petite Riviere. The catches have been fish in the 18" to 23" range. A particularly unlucky angler, reportedly, broke his rod on the one that got away. My thought is that these fish are spawning now, or will be very soon. They are probably in the feeder brooks already.

The other news I read in the Queens County section of NovaNewsNow. I had heard a rumor there would be a catch and release season for Atlantic Salmon this year. It seems that the Medway River Association has been granted 32 licenses to fish for post-spawn Atlantic Salmon. Apparently, the 32 members are out in force on the Medway tagging "slinks", as we call them. In addition, there will be 15 wild slinks surgically implanted with hydroacoustic tags. These tags emit a unique, identifiable sound that is picked up by receivers in the river system and in the ocean. With this technology, each fish can be tracked on part of its ocean journey.

Good Luck and Good Fishin'!

Random Phrump

Photo: 'Boat at the Swirl' by Random Phrump