Posts Tagged ‘atlantic salmon’

Recently, I’ve written a couple of posts about where I’ve found errors in fact by so called “experts” in regard to fly fishing. In “Free Fly Fishing Advice,” I wrote about reading where an “expert” had answered a question about tippets and suggested you matched your tippet to the type of fish you were pursuing. In “Fly Fishing Giggles,” I reported on some absolute rubbish that was written by someone named “Markus Debra.” Debra talked suggested halibut was a freshwater species, and that bamboo rods were “common,” while graphite or carbon fiber rods are mainly used for catching “coarse” fish. It’s all kind of funny and a little sad to read stuff like that.

I was browsing the Wikipedia entry on fly fishing this morning and came across this in the first paragraph:

“Fly fishing is a distinct and ancient angling method, most renowned as a method for catching trout and salmon, but employed today for a wide variety of species including pike, bass, panfish, grayling and carp, as well as marine species, such as redfish, snook, tarpon, bonefish and striped bass. There are many reports of fly anglers taking unintended species such as chub, bream and rudd while fishing for ‘main target’ species such as trout. There is a growing population of anglers whose aim is to catch as many different species as possible with the fly.”

I don’t know who writes this stuff, and perhaps I’ve missed something, but it seems to me from the reading that I’ve done, focusing on trout and salmon is a fairly modern thing among fly anglers. The above paragraph is written in such a way that some folk might not realize that fly fishing in Izaak Walton’s day included pursuing a number of different fish species, including gudgeons, sprats, bleaks, herns, tench, roach, umber, loach, and sticklebag. Walton also provides a recipe for cooking eel.

It’s kind of funny – if Brown Trout were being introduced to North America today, there would be a hue and cry from many fly anglers about this “invasive” species that voraciously competes with the naturals of North America. Perhaps many still don’t realize that Brown Trout are not native to North America and were imported from Europe. And indeed, they have competed with natural species. In some watersheds, there is evidence that the browns feast upon the brook trout, and have lowered their numbers.

If we’re going to give fish “respect,” then perhaps we should take another look at Izaak Walton’s attitude. Many consider him the “father of fly fishing,” and use his name in all sorts of ways to promote businesses, clubs and associations. Let’s dispel those salmon and trout myths – and let’s remember that Atlantic Salmon were once “so respected and revered” that they were pitchforked during their runs up rivers from the Great Lakes by folk who wanted to make a meal of them.

By the way, there’s a copy of The Compleat Angler by Walton on this site.

A club that I am a member of has a hatchery.  Over the winter, the hatchery was home to tiny brown trout and atlantic salmon which were eventually released into the headwaters of a nearby river – a tributary of Lake Ontario. Today was a “work day” at the hatchery and several members showed up to help out.  One member brought along his daughter, and I had the company of Colin and David.

I’m so not a “morning person,” so Colin, David and I arrived a bit late after the scheduled start time but when we arrived, Colin and I helped shovel gravel into wheelbarrows – gravel that was used to raise and level the floor of the hatchery.  Many hands can indeed make for light work.

David had fun “warning” us all when empty wheelbarrows were on their way for another gravel refill with his “Yellow one coming through!  Grey one coming through!” and even helped by picking out his favorite gravel stones and putting them into the wheelbarrows by hand.  A fantastic picnic lunch was then served to the helpers.

Much later, after Colin, David and I decided to sit down and watch a DVD that I picked up at a local tackle shop.  It looked interesting, but let me tell you now that “the trout bum diaries – Volume 1 – patagonia” is not worth the 40 bucks Canadian or the hour and half length of time.  Well, to be honest, I guess I can’t say for sure about the approximately 90 minutes the movie takes, as by the half way point, we were so bored with it we simply all walked away from the TV.   It’s unfortunate, as it seems to me the concept could have a lot of potential for a great 90 minute diversion of fly fishing entertainment – but to be blunt, this movie sucked.  I’ll write up a full review shortly, and post it on All About Fly Fishing.

In the meantime, I think I’ll experiment with some fly tying and think about my own adventures I’d like to participate in that include fly fishing and fly fishing companions.