Sunday Morning Session

Was miserable when I woke up this AM.  Allergy season is hitting me hard, despite medication, and my head felt like it was going to explode from congestion.  My remedy (as with most things) was to go fishing.

It was a beautiful morning.  Even, might I say without sounding like a wuss, a bit chilly.  When I hit Valley Creek this AM, the thermometer in my car said it was 57 degrees.  Haven't felt an autumn chill like that in a while, it felt really good.

Look at the focus & intensity on this idiot

If you read my blog regularly, there was nothing revolutionary (get it?...revolutionary...Valley Creek...Valley Forge National park...) about my morning of fishing.  I fished my standard nymphs below dries and landed more than a handful of little Valley brownies.  Here's two, they could almost be brothers.

I also thought I'd do a little exploring, so I hopped in the car and drove 5 minutes over to Little Valley Creek, which I guess is an offshoot or tributary of Valley Creek.  I had never been there, and it was some really tight fishing.  It was very difficult to maneuver my tenkara rod for casts, probably would have been better off with a 5 foot spinning outfit.  Most sections were maybe 6 or so feet wide bank to bank, but it did have some really cool pockets and eddies that held some small trout.

The biggest trout I encountered were hanging out under this neat stone bridge, but I wasn't able to bring any Little Valley Creek trout to hand.  Maybe another day.

Another light weekend session in the book.  In case you haven't noticed, I love fishing Valley Creek.

Hour and a Half Getaway

I went to work on Friday just like any other day, but left a few hours early; in the neighborhood of 2:15ish. The office was already half empty with the long Labor Day weekend coming up, and everyone that was there...well, they were there in body, but their minds were clearly elsewhere.

When I got home, Lilly was taking a nap and K.C. asked/told me "Why don't you go fishing?"  Well, you don't have to tell me twice.  Unfortunately, my favorite trout stream is only five minutes from my office, but 20 or so minutes from my house.  While a 20 minute drive isn't far, I didn't want to go back toward work, so I decided to hit the Schuylkill River at the Limerick Area boat launch (a few minutes from my house).  Hadn't fished there since last July, and I've hardly fished warm-water species this entire year.

When I got there, the river was low.  Really low.  We haven't had good rain in quite a while, and it showed.

View from the bank

Looking downriver

Unfortunately, since this was going to be a quick trip I wasn't wearing the right stuff to go wet wading to get out towards some of the deeper water.  Since I probably wasn't going to get into any smallmouth bass shore fishing a foot or so deep water, I downsized my lures a bit and went after some sunfish instead...as they say, when in Rome...

A trip down memory lane:  My first "adult" rod & reel
Purchased when I rediscovered fishing in my mid-20s

Here's a sampling of my "haul" today:

I could have photographed a ton more of these tiny fighters, but what's the point?  I was having too much fun catching one after another, I left the camera in my pocket after about the first 20 minutes.  What a great way to spend a quick hour and a half before dinner.  I probably need to remind myself to go back to this spot more often to get a quick fix.

My Hunting & Fishing Blog: Win a $35 Burton Backpack!

There's a great giveaway over at nimrod243's "My Hunting & Fishing" blog this month.  He's holding a story & photo contest where all you need to do to enter is submit a story of a hunting or fishing outing.  I figure since most of my readers are fellow bloggers, this shouldn't be that difficult to do, right?

The prize is a Burton Treble Yell backpack valued at $35.  That sounds perfect to me for this time of year...anybody got kids going back to school?

Check out his blog here for additional details on how to enter, as well as to submit your stories!

What's Your Opinion On Lead Fishing Tackle?

This issue never seems to really go away - to ban or not to ban lead in fishing tackle.

Image Courtesy www.dec.ny.gov

Seems there's some good arguments for:

An estimated 10 million to 20 million birds and other animals die each year from lead poisoning in the United States. This occurs when animals scavenge on carcasses shot and contaminated with lead bullet fragments, or pick up and eat spent lead-shot pellets or lost fishing weights, mistaking them for food or grit. Some animals die a painful death from lead poisoning while others suffer for years from its debilitating effects.

Full Article Here:
http://tinyurl.com/proleadban

And some good arguments against:

The petition was presented with the aim of reducing bird deaths caused by the ingestion of lead sinkers and jigheads; however, a study conducted by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service found that less than 1 percent of all waterfowl and other birds such as eagles are killed by lead sinker ingestion.

Full Article Here:
http://tinyurl.com/antileadban

Me? I try not to use anything blatantly made from lead if I can help it. I stopped using lead split shot a few years ago, now opting for tin. I also don't use leadcore fly lines, so it's easy for me to make a decision like that.

On the flip side I also primarily fish for trout, not say...catfish, where giant lead weights are commonly used to get the bait down in the water column where it needs to be. If I did, I might have a much different point of view.  I also don't hunt, and lead in ammo is included in this debate.

I don't know...we took lead out of paint years ago, at least until the overseas factories tried to sneak it back into children's toys.  Other than the potential price ramifications, or maybe some sort of "Big Brother is controlling us" complex, why not remove it from fishing tackle too?

I'd love to hear what you think, your thoughts are welcomed in the comments section below.

Where I Get My Water, Part 2

Yesterday I made a brief post about a watershed conservation pamphlet I received with my water bill.  I also made a lighthearted comment about not knowing where my water comes from, or really who my water company was.
Well guess what...they contacted me to introduce themselves.

We really appreciate your posting and comments about the "Protecting Our Watersheds" insert, and like you, hope more people read the material before quickly tossing it in the trash. You might be interested to know that your drinking water comes from several sources: the Schuylkill River and three groundwater wells. For more background, I'm atttaching the link to your system's Water Quality Report from PA American Water's Web site. (http://www.amwater.com/files/PA_1150166_CCR.pdf)

Sorry to hear that you don't know more about our company, beyond getting a monthly water bill. For example, we sponsor an annual "Protect Our Watersheds" Art Contest for fifth-graders across the state, and Spring-Ford Intermediate School students have earned the top prize for three consecutive years. (See link) In addition, our Environmental Grant Program has supported a number of watershed protection/improvement projects in SE PA, including a kids' education program by Audobon Pennsylvania (based at Mill Grove) this fall with the Norristown Area School District.  (See link)

Thanks again for the mention, and we hope you'll follow us on Twitter (@paamwater) for news, updates and activities from PA American Water.

Huh, how you like that?  Some pretty cool stuff going on there.  Glad I wrote that post yesterday after all.