In Search of Brook Trout

Saving the Brooky's Closest Relative in Maine

2010-05-24T08:55:00.000-07:00

http://www.pressherald.com/news/Restoration-raises-hope-for-future-of-native-fish-.html

Brook Trout 1, Golf Course 0

2009-11-23T18:31:00.000-08:00

In western North Carolina, where developed comes face to face with highland environments including brook trout streams, a court ruling sides with the environment (and fish) to limit the environmental impacts on streams. The ruling specifically ruled that the development could not clear stream buffer forests and bury the stream (I am not kidding) using underground pipes. This ruling will have far reaching positive environmental effects on large-scale resort developments that are starting to dominate much of western North Carolina.

http://www.southernenvironment.org/newsroom/press_releases/n_c_trout_breathe_easier_after_court_ruling/

Random

2009-11-18T12:40:00.001-08:00

I tried to tell Barb she wouldn't catch fish if she is "standing" on her head, but she would not listen. Success later though!

This can't be good for trout in West Virginia

2009-11-18T11:47:00.000-08:00

Massey Energy recently announced the purchases of 15 TONS of coal reserves in West Virginia. Now I don't know much about Massey Energy, I do know that they were sued for constructing a coal silo next to an elementary school. Also, in early 2008, the company agreed to a $20 million settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency‎ (EPA) to resolve thousands of violations of the Clean Water Act for routinely polluting waterways in Kentucky and West Virginia with coal slurry and wastewater. They are also one of the largest coal mining company in Appalachia. So I imagine this latest purchase is not only bad for trout in WV, but also bad for overall environment. There is NO such thing as clean coal. I don't care how many people are employed or how much political clout King Coal has in Appalachia, there is NO such things as clean coal.

>http://www.dailypress.com/news/virginia/dp-wv--masseyacquisition1117nov17,0,6564285.story

More Protection for Brook Trout Streams in New Jersey

2009-11-16T06:45:00.000-08:00

New Jersey often gets bad publicity because of its industrial pollution, but northwestern New Jersey is another world compared with the eastern portion of the state. And the wild areas found in that region just expanded thanks to voters. Even in tough economic times, the folks in New Jersey had enough vision to vote for funds that will be used to purchase land and streams, including Clove Brook, a critical headwater area that houses brookies. For the story, see the link below:

http://www.jacksonnjonline.com/2009/11/07/new-jersey-voters-say-yes-to-green-acres/

The painting shown in this post was done by Bob White. His amazing art can be purchased here:

http://www.whitefishstudio.com/index.cfm

Brook Trout "Land" Protected in Maine

2009-11-15T07:53:00.000-08:00

Maine has developed a national reputation for outdoor activities, outdoor culture, and environmental conservation. And here is a story why that reputation is so deserved:

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/greenblog/2009/11/a_missing_link_of_land_purchas.html
As development pressure creep in and threaten even remote, northern Maine, these land acquisitions become even more critical. Bravo to all the folks such as the Appalachian Mountain Club for making this latest action happen.

Hemlocks R.I.P.

2009-11-15T07:37:00.000-08:00

Next you are hiking in the high Appalachian Mountains, enjoy the sight and fragrance of the Eastern Hemlock. The appreciation may be short-lived. Throughout much of the eastern US, the little, fuzzy, nasty creature known as the wooly adelgid is killing the hemlocks. Most folks don't even notice it until the hemlock is dead. But this imported pest is threatening to destroy one of the east’s most emblematic species.
It is recognizable through its white, frosty-looking egg sack found on hemlocks. These insects, which found their way to the Pacific Northwest from Asia in the 1920s, suck the sap of the hemlock, robbing the tree of vital nutrients which eventually kills it.

These pests are related to brook trout because they kill trees that shade streams, so as trees die, streams potentially become much warmer. And warm water and brookies don’t mix!

State and federal forestry workers are trying various strategies to beat the adelgid, but so far, the tide has not turned in the favor of the majestic trees. Like the disappearance of the American chestnut, this latest assault on the eastern forest will have profound consequences on forest structure, species composition, and related community ecology.

Brook Trout out West

2009-11-03T17:44:00.000-08:00

While I (we) celebrate the presence of brook trout in the eastern US, they are invasive species in the western US. Similar to the imapact that brown trout have on native brookies in the east, brookies in the west displace native cutthroat trout.

This was clearly evident on a recent trip to Montana. While hiking up and fishing a tributary of the Gallatin River, brook trout dominated pool after pool. Where native cuts should have been, non-native brookies were found and eagerly took fly after fly.

Are they less valuable because they are non-native? They serve a very similar ecological role, they are beautiful fish, but they are not native fish. There is great value in native, original, appropriate species.

Global Warming and Brookies

2008-08-06T09:19:00.000-07:00

One of the constant threats to brookies brought up by fisheries officials and TU members on this trip was global warming. There was not necessarily a consensus about how much warming has or will take place, but most agreed that temperature increases have taken place and rainfall is less consistent, more flashy.

Now that I am back in the Deep South, the heat has inspired a post about global warming.

Fish found in spring-fed headwater streams fair well in normal drought situations. They are fed by cold, underground sources. But for headwater streams to remain perennial versus ephemeral, rain and snow has to recharge these watersheds. And today in the Deep South, the recent drought has alarmed many because rainfall has significantly decreased. States such as Georgia, North Carolina and eastern Tennessee have all been in drought conditions over the past several years. All one has to do is visit a reservoir in northern Georgia and take a look at lake levels to understand how bad the drought has been.

Brook trout are resilient, but as stream flows decrease, fish will be lost even in cold headwater streams because fish obviously need a minimum flow to survive tough years. Smaller pieces of water can heat up more quickly during hot summer days. It it not yet known how significant this drought will be regarding brook trout range in the South, but if this current pattern of heat and lack of rainfall isn't broken, the prognosis isn't good for some streams at the southern edge of the brookies range.

What does Tiger have against trout?

2008-08-01T17:31:00.000-07:00

Tiger Woods has helped design and given his name to a development called The Cliffs at High Carolina in Asheville. Sounds nice doesn't it? It is luxury development high in the Appalachian Mountains with stunning views that just happens to have two native brook trout streams. But, given the steep nature of mountains, the mountains are being completely altered/leveled to make room for the golf courses and huge homes. Driving by it today, it resembled a strip mine. It was once a lush mountain with native trout. Given the barren hills I saw today, it's unlikely the property still contains streams with trout.

Does golf really belong in mountains? What does Tiger have against trout?

Now I doubt Tiger Woods knows his development has trout, and probably doesn't have anything against the brookie. But these are the types of projects that have reduced the range of the brookie in desirable areas such as western North Carolina. Aren't there enough golf courses already?

According to fisheries biologist Doug Besler, these types of developments are all but impossible to stop. But, in order to change behavior, he has proposed that the state create a green certification program for builders who plan developments that take trout (and other plants and animals) into consideration. While this program won't save Tiger's trout, it may save streams in the future because development isn't going away around Asheville.

Acid Rain in North Carolina

2008-08-01T17:23:00.000-07:00

I am in North Carolina, a state that still contains extensive brook trout. But, like Virginia to the north, the recent heat and drought has constricted brookies at lower elevations. On the other end of the mountains, acid rain remains a problem in North Carolina (see picture). See the dead trees that stand out in this high elevation forest. So brookies are getting squeezed at low and high elevations.

Hot Water

2008-07-30T19:59:00.000-07:00

I am now in Virginia visiting with state officials and private individuals about brook trout in the Shenandoah National Park. It has been hot, which means the streams are also getting warmer. As the water warms, fish move into spring holes, deep pools, or higher in elevation. As a result, I too have had to chase them higher up (see pick).

Brookies are doing pretty well in Virginia overall. But, given Virginia's Southern location, recent dry spells coupled with rising temperatures threaten to constrict the brook trout into higher and higher streams. It is unlikely brookies will ever disappear from the Old Dominion, but it is one state where it is likely range will shrink in the future if current temperature and precipitation trends continue.

More on Virginia later, I am beat! The fish are beautiful here!

NJ Fish!

2008-07-25T20:34:00.000-07:00

Well I was a bit skeptical at first about New Jersey's trout, but having spent two days there examining streams and fishing, I am happy to report that the "garden state" does indeed have trout.

New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the US, so its rivers, streams, and brooks are heavily impacted by past and present industry, general development/sprawl, and any number of other human impacts. As the population of New York City continues to expand westward, so too does the impact on waterways.

So while New Jersey has trout, there are certain areas that as development continues, the fish will likely disappear (coupled with global warming). But, thanks to dedicated trout fans such as state Trout Unlimited personnel such as Brian Cowden (my host), wild trout at least have a chance.

I did indeed catch two brook trout in northwestern Jersey. So I can check NJ off my list!

Connecticut Brookies

2008-07-23T17:49:00.000-07:00

Connecticut is, in a nut shell, the battle ground for brook trout. On a recent visit, I spent time on streams that had been largely ruined by human activities through pollution and urbanization (which increases water temperature). As the land area around streams is cleared and paved, water running into streams dramatically increases both in flashiness and in temperature.

On the other hand, I also visited a stream that was protected, shaded, and full of brook trout.

In the end, it's pretty simple, brookies do best in rural, shaded streams, far from us.

Rapid River

2008-07-19T18:02:00.000-07:00

The Rapid River in the Rangeley Lakes region of Maine is a historically famous brook trout river because of the size of the fish. It has been a popular destination for fly fishers for more than a century.

But, the Rapid is not an isolated river, thus it has felt the hand of man and woman. Previous posts have discussed the impacts of acid rain, deforestation, and brown trout on brook trout fisheries, but the Rapid is being impacted by a new variable: smallmouth bass. Smallmouths were introduced to a downstream lake in the 198Os and have quickly moved up into the river.

Smallmouths are extremely aggressive, adaptable predators. They simply eat a lot of other fish. And now that they are established in the river, there is no way to get them out. The state of Maine requests that every smallmouth caught be killed, but this action only takes out a very small percentage of the population. So, increasingly, brook trout are relegated to more marginal areas in the river, displaced by the aggressive smallmouths.

I have killed no fish on this trip, but every smallmouth I caught on the Rapid died.

White Mountain National Forest

2008-07-19T05:27:00.000-07:00

I visited the White Mountain Nation Forest in New Hampshire and Maine to meet with fisheries biologist Mark Proudt to discuss brook trout habitat improvement projects that he has helped implement.

The White Mountains are a fascinating area because they are very nutrient poor free-stone mountain streams. Thus without good habitat (i.e. deep pools), the trout are small and few and far between. So in order to increase trout numbers and size, Mark and others are improving culverts to make fish populations more connected, and placing a great number of downed tree trunks in streams to create deeper pools and improve the productivity of the stream.

Downed trees in streams catch leaves, silt, sand, mud, which then attracts bugs. Which then attracts, you guessed it, fish!

Someone out there might be wondering why people have to do this. Well, as forests were logged over the past 150 years, few mature trees were left to drop large limbs and entire trunks into and across streams. Young forests don't have very much dead wood so-to-speak. If the trees are young, few snags are found in area streams. Thus until the forest ages and can do this on its own, humans have to help a bit.

In this photo, you can see all the leaves and other material that are accumulating in the snag. As physical complexity of the snag increases, so too does the bio-complexity (not just fish, many many other organisms as well).

The White Mountains are important for brook trout because as the globe warms, these high elevation, COLD streams may act as a refuge for future trout populations.

North Woods

2008-07-13T08:48:00.000-07:00

Maine's North Woods is a really amazing place. It is one of the least populated (with people) locations east of the Mississippi River. It does have one of or the largest concentrations of moose, bear, etc. I saw many moose and even one bear. The area is not pristine - it is owned largely by logging companies. But, most landowners have a long enough rotation system that forests are able to regenerate and provide habitat for many birds and animals.

Of course, it also has many brook trout. This is more of lake and pond brook trout system versus the mountain streams I have been visiting. These are really productive, cold ponds. Thus they grow big fish.

The fish populations are in good shape overall, mainly because this is a really remote area that doesn't get a lot of fishing pressure. Bottom line, if you want big fish, you have to have either strict protection/management, or the fish must live in remote areas.

The North Woods

2008-07-04T12:45:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I leave for Maine's fabled North Woods. This area is largely owned by the state, by private lodges, and by logging companies. So there are very few people - mainly spruce woods, moose, black flies and brook trout.

This a region that houses the most intact wild brook trout fishery in the eastern US. I am staying at Libby Camps - an old time Maine sporting camp that has been in the same family for 5 generations. So I am anxious to hear their thoughts on brook trout management and conservation. Their livelihood depends on good fishing, so they should have some interesting perspectives on brookie management.

This is really the end, geographically speaking, of the brook trout trail for me. I can't go any farther north in the US, and I can't find any better environment for brookies.

Small Fish?

2008-06-27T05:40:00.000-07:00

I have received a few comments about how small brook trout appear to be. Yes, in most cases in the east, catchable brookies are in the 5-8 inch range. The CAN get bigger in the right conditions. These include:

1) live in a stream with a lot of food. Seems pretty obvious. But, many high elevation mountain brooks are pretty barren in terms of aquatic insects.

2) live in streams that don't contain brown trout (originally introduced from Europe). Brown trout are aggressive predators that eat brookies, and will also dominate the best parts of the streams with more food (deep pools) which then relegates brookies to marginal areas where they can't get very big. In areas with big brook trout, there are NO brown trout.

My question for y'all is, why are there so many streams with brown trout?

2008-06-23T15:08:00.000-07:00

"If we follow the gallant fisher's life, we will be free of the torments invented by money-getting men."

By Izaak Walton, in The Complete Angler, published in 1653

Tanic Trout Continued

2008-06-22T17:21:00.000-07:00

See the above picture for a tanic/acid stream. The local Trout Unlimited chapter is paying for the lime (on the left) to be added so as to reduce stream acidity. See in the distance how tea colored the stream is.

Tanic Trout

2008-06-22T06:45:00.000-07:00

One quick point to make, some of the smaller streams I have fished are very tanic stained because of the forests they are draining out of (spruce, hemlock). As a result, some of the fish have adapted to this by developing darker coloration. A nice little example of natural selection.

Granite State Fish

2008-06-22T06:34:00.000-07:00

I spent the last several days in New Hampshire (the granite state). I was in "southern" New Hampshire. Many of the streams are marginal for brook trout because they war up quite a bit in the summer, but I found one little brookie stream and caught a bunch of small fish (check NH off the list).

I met with Steve Perry, who is the director of the Eastern Brook Trout Venture. He is also a state fisheries official. One point I want to relay from our conversation is that New Hampshire brookies don't have a lot of competition with brown trout and rainbows (as in most states and which often leads to the disappearance of brook trout) because most of New Hampshire's streams are pretty acidic. New Hampshire is the Granite State after all, thus the smaller streams have very little buffering capacity to reduce acidity, both natural and human influenced from acid rain. In other words, there isn't a lot of soil or geology to intercept or mitigate acidic H2O
as it enters the streams.

Brookies are more tolerant of acidity because they evolved in mountain top areas where acidic conditions are more likely to occur. This doesn't mean they are immune to the effects of acid rain, but they can handle it better than brown or rainbow trout.

Maine Continued - Stocked Fish

2008-06-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

Duties as a father have delayed my posts recently, but I am back at it on a rainy cool day (and Father's Day).

Yesterday, we drove up into the White Mountain National Forest on the Maine side (it is mostly located in New Hampshire). We were literally right the the state line border (see pic). I fished a small brook and the larger Wild River. It was nice to be in an area with plenty of public access. I get tired of seeing No Trespassing signs.

The small stream produced a lot of small fish, no big surprise. The bigger stream, Wild River, produced some nice big brookies. The largest fish was 12 inches, which, as you can see from some of my previous photos, is a big brook trout.

The smaller fish were wild (meaning bred in the stream, no stocking). The larger fish were likely stocked fish. Maine stocks many streams with good size fish.

Now, the point of today's post is, I have been fishing enough on this trip to be able to actually tell the difference between wild and hatchery fish simply based on how they act on the stream. For example, hatchery fish will approach a fly rather lazily. If they miss it, you can usually keep casting to them and they will keep rising. I had a fish yesterday that would make a half-hearted effort at my large fly. Since it was to lazy to eat the big fly, I put on a small fly and wa-la, he/she ate it on the next cast and I had a nice 9 inch brookie. Hatchery fish also do not fight nearly as hard as wild fish. Not sure why, but they just don't.

While I understand the need for stocking in some rivers, it is always nice to catch a wild fish because not only for what the symbolize, but also because you know the river/stream/brook is healthy enough to produce wild fish.

My field assistants enjoyed the Wild River with its large boulders and long stretches of quiet water (see picture). There were also fewer bugs on the big water, versus the forest shrouded brook.

Maine Trout

2008-06-10T20:09:00.000-07:00

It's bug season here in Maine. They drove us from the woods a couple of days ago. Deet is no defense.

I had a chance to briefly visit a small stream in southern Maine that had brook trout. Big deal? Well, its great to see streams on private property with water quality that is good enough (clean enough) to house brookies.

Because so many Maine streams, ponds, and lakes house brook trout, there isn't a great deal of concern about them disappearing. But, similar to all of the states I have visited, humans are negatively impacting them through development, acid rain, etc. Over the next month, I am going to try and figure out where and how specifically brook trout are being negatively impacted by people.

Culverts Continued

2008-06-03T11:46:00.000-07:00

One reason I brought up culverts in my previous post is that in Vermont, designing and installing fish friendly culverts is one of the most important activities involving Vermont's fish biologists and managers.

If fish are cut off from larger populations, they are in the long run in a genetic spiral downward, especially of its a small stream and population.

Lesson Learned...

2008-06-03T11:38:00.000-07:00

As I sit here in Maine and think about my trip north, a few things stand out regarding brook trout conservation. First, there are many "big" problems impacting brook trout. Global warming will impact cold water species everywhere. Acid raid/deposition continues to poison waters in the east.

On the other hand, some very local, not so "sexy" issues impact brookies as well. Culverts, for example, isolate thousands of miles of brook trout streams from one another, limiting breeding and genetic exchange. This isn't one of the BIG global issues, but when it comes to conservation, often very small scale issues must be addressed in addition to the big picture issues.

There is also good news to report. Brook trout are resilient. I am amazed how impacted some of these streams are, yet brookies survive, somehow, someway.

Vt II

2008-05-29T17:11:00.000-07:00

I caught a number of nice brookies today. So I can check VT off my list. I spent most of the day high up in the Green Mountain National Forest. Many small brookies with tiny fish. Vermont has no shortage of protected area, so there is no shortage of potential brookie habitat.

But, no streams are "dedicated" brookie streams. In the morning, I meet with the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture VT representative.

I am having computer problems, so posts are short.

Sweet Vermont!

2008-05-28T18:35:00.000-07:00

I am in Vermont for a couple of days. Vermont is a special, special place. It is my favorite state. It is green both literally and figuratively. This is an outdoors oriented state to say the least. Small towns, farms, trails, rivers, etc. What a place. Green, green, green. And great micro-brews to boot!

The Green Mountain National Forest basically runs north-south in Vermont. The mountains are full of small streams with trout. Brookies appear to be found only in the upper reaches or headwaters. I fished the Tweed River today and caught a couple of small rainbows, but no brookies. So I am on the clock tomorrow (I need to catch a brookie in every state).

Vermont is really where, as an adult, I rekindled my interest in fly fishing and trout. I travelled here several years ago to hike and fish and ended up buying 15 acres in southern Vermont.

Adirondack II

2008-05-27T19:27:00.000-07:00

This part of New York state is really beautiful. There is no shortage of outdoor activities. People are healthy, the air is clean, the fish are big. What more could any mortal want?

Adirondack Trout

2008-05-27T19:00:00.000-07:00

Adirondack Park is an amazing place. It is literally tens of thousands of protected land mixed in with many small towns. So it's a unique combination of public/private lands, including Lake Placid, home of the 1980 Winter Olympics.

There are innumerable streams, trails, and small mountains to hike, fish, and climb. The Park is full of trout, because most of the streams are stocked (we are in New York). So there are no true "wild" trout, per se, but good fishing none-the-less.

I fished on a series of private ponds, found just outside the park. These ponds were stocked with Canadian brook trout - BIG brookies. I caught two 15 inch fish, and none were smaller than 10 inches. I also fished the various streams and caught many small brookies. The stream brookies can be harvested, so none of these fish grow very big.

This part of my trip has reinforced my opinion that brook trout will never get very big unless they are protected. The brookies that I caught were huge because very few people fished in the ponds. Brookies CAN AND WILL get big, but they need time.

Invasion of the Meat Fishermen

2008-05-24T19:14:00.001-07:00

This part of upstate New York is about two hours from New York City. Thus, on holiday weekends, Roscoe and the Beaverkill witness a huge influx of New York and New Jersey's finest "meat fishermen." I fished many streams today that were full of folks with non-fly fishing gear - bobbers and worms. A fisherman with a worm can clean out a trout hole in no time. The crowds are also amazing. Cars full of people with rods sticking out their sun roofs.

This state is SO far from any sort of forward thinking brookie policies! Where are the "no take" streams? Where is Maryland when you need it?!!!!

p.s. I have no picture today...

Empire State Trout Continued

2008-05-23T17:48:00.000-07:00

I spent about 12 hours on various streams today. My shoulders ache. I had very little success today other than a nice brown trout. I learned quite a bit from my guide today. For example, there are very, very few catch and release streams in New York. Most streams, including most of the Beaverkill, is a "put and take" fishery. In other words, the state stocks a lot of trout, and people get to keep and eat them.

Now, that is fine in many locations, but there are NO brookie streams that are managed for brookies as is the case in Maryland. Stocked fished are dumped into the best streams by the thousands, displacing brookies to higher up in the small streams.

Trout streams and stocking in New York are seen by the state as more of a fish farming activity than an environmental management issues.

New York trout

2008-05-22T18:36:00.000-07:00

Another day, another cold northern state...

I arrived in Roscoe, New York today - "Trout Town USA." The only problem with this title is it is based not on brookies, but on brown trout! And of course, we all know by now brown trout are from Europe, not the USA. Roscoe is a jumping off point for the Beaverkil River. The Beaverkill being one of the most famous trout rivers in the east.

I had enough time today to hike up a small tributary of the Beaverkill. I caught a number of small brookies in the occasional pools below small waterfalls. I also turned over some stream stones and found many insects/nymphs. The stream is healthy. The only thing keeping the local brookies from becoming a lot bigger is management and habitat...

This is a funny little town. Seems like any industry that did exist here is long gone.

More Penn Trout

2008-05-21T18:56:00.000-07:00

Today I met with Ken Undercoffer and Jack Williams in Clearfield, Penn. Both are leaders in Trout Unlimited's Pennsylvania brook trout restoration efforts. Both have been a great help from the beginning of this project. I contacted Ken a couple of years ago about brookies in Pennsylvania and he has been a great help ever since.

Here in central Pennsylvania the factors impacting brookies are pretty similar to those in West Virginia - acid rain and acid mine drainage. We visited a stream today that is targeted for mitigation through the addition of limestone to its headwaters.

Pennsylvania is an interesting place because there are still thousands of miles of brookie streams, but in most streams the brookies are small and relegated to headwater streams or streams too acidic for brown trout. Because there remains a lot of brookies out there, with proper management, Pennsylvania can again contain some truly special brookie waters. More on the management later.

Penn Trout

2008-05-20T16:55:00.001-07:00

I spent the day with guide and Trout Unlimited member Mike Heck in Chambersburg. Mike showed me a couple of brookie streams found in nearby state parks. These were great little streams with a lot of healthy small brookies. These streams provided an interesting contrast from those I fished in Maryland. While healthy, they lacked the big brookies in the 8-10 inch range. This is probably due to the fact that people can catch, keep and eat these tasty fish. It doesn't take too many worms and bobbers to remove the top tier brookies from small streams - thus the need for no take streams.

We also fished the world class rainbow and brown stream Falling Spring. I caught two 'bows and missed a brown on a dry fly. This is a beautiful suburban stream. It runs through the front yards of many folks who have granted access to fly fishermen through the hard work of Mike and other TU members. This stream represents a great example of public/private partnership working to improve a stream while at the same time allowing people to enjoy it.

West Virginia Revisited

2008-05-19T16:07:00.000-07:00

Above is a photo by Chris Shockey. Note me in the corner for scale! This was one of the prettiest streams I have ever fished.

To see more of his great photos, visit his blog:

http://www.flyfishblogger.com/index.php?cmd=my_gallery_image&id=2012&blog=134

Yoga and Fly Fishing?

2008-05-19T15:05:00.000-07:00

After climbing up and over and jumping to and from many large boulders all week, I will give credit to Barb's yoga (and her pressure on me to participate in yoga) for my ability to imitate a small mountain goat.

I will say that as one ages, leg strength and flexibility are critical for fly fishing. Standing thigh deep in swift flowing cold water tests one's agility.

Namaste!!!

Maryland Brookies

2008-05-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

Maryland has some of the besy brookie water south of the Mason-Dixon line. The Savage River watershed contians many protected streams that house big brookies. Because so many of these rivers are found on protected land, the future looks bright for Maryland brookies. However, there are looming challenges. These include a potential coal mining project driven by higher demand and prices paid for coal. Also past mining contineus to impact certian streams through acid mine drainage. Global warming could also eliminate any brookie strems outside of the far western section of the state.

On to Maryland

2008-05-18T14:48:00.000-07:00

Rain, rain and more rain. The streams and beaver ponds were coffee with cream today. So what's a brookie fisherman to do? Go higher! I headed to a couple of headwater streams in the New German state park and caught two nice 9 inch fish.

Maryland seems more organized, or neat and tidy compared with states further south. Nice farms, beautiful state parks and forests. There are even highway signs warning motorists about Maryland wildlife.

Interesting...

Restored Stream in West Virginia

2008-05-17T18:47:00.000-07:00

Today I spent the day on a restored stream with Chris Shockey, a Trout Unlimited member and co-chair of the Back the Brookie program in West Virginia.

This stream was "dead" ten years ago due to acid rain or acid deposition. Its hard to imagine this beautiful tanic stream not having any life in it. But that's the way it was until Trout Unlimited began adding limestone to the head waters to reduce the acidity.

The stream today is alive with brookies! I am now heading to Maryland to check out there brookie efforts. My last day in West Virginia was great - sunshine, great scenery, and brookies.

West Virginia faces a lot of challenges regarding its natural resource uses and policies, but with people like the members of Trout Unlimited, the future is not all doom and gloom.

2008-05-16T15:14:00.001-07:00

I am staying in Slatyfork at Elk River Touring Center. Without a doubt, the best food in West Virginia! Close to many rivers, streams, and trails.

I highly recommend this place for all your outdoor fun - fishing, biking, skiing, etc. Check out their web page at:

http://www.ertc.com/

West Virginia Brookies

2008-05-16T14:26:00.000-07:00

I have had a great time in West Virginia fishing for brookies and trying to understand the various threats to these fish and their habitat. I have been in Slatyfork around the Elk River. Its a beautiful area but with great challenges related to development. Logging, tourism development, acid rain, etc all impact the brookie here. Riparian management issues are critical to healthy rivers, yet, there doesn't seem to be any zoning or at least enforcement of riparian set back laws that might exist. More later.

While fishing for brookies yesterday, I happened to catch this "nice" brown trout. It was a freaking hog!!!!

Brook trout or bust!

2008-05-16T09:07:00.000-07:00

Geographer Michael Steinberg is spending the summer learning about the brook trout and its environs. He left Tuscaloosa, Ala., with some peanuts, a fly rod and some clothes. The goal is to fish his way to Maine while meeting up with knowledgeable people willing to tell him more about the brook trout and efforts to restore streams. His first stop was Elk River, West Virginia.