It's time again for the Stony Creek Anglers Trout Tournament, and as such my annual commercial for the event. If you're in the Norristown, Pennsylvania area (or have the time to make the trip over), fishing starts at 8AM on Saturday the 27th and 7AM on Sunday the 28th.
DISCLAIMER: This is my trout club's annual fundraiser - which pays a large portion of the annual operating costs to feed the fish we raise on behalf of the State for stocking of the creeks and streams in and around Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1997, the Stony Creek Anglers are Montgomery County's first co-operative trout nursery, and an IRS recognized tax-exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Yeah, I don't typically use big words like "mitigation" or write about stuff like this, but I thought it was kind of interesting, and probably overdue in terms of sharing. See, a lot of my site traffic comes from my affiliation with the Stony Creek Anglers of Norristown, PA.
In 2011, a major stream restoration project was started on the Stony Creek, and it involved the removal of a popular landmark, the Norristown Farm Park Dam. Now this dam wasn't some giant dam like the ones you see in the videos from out West. Rather this was a smaller dam, one that garnered quite a bit of attention because it created two large fishing holes (above and below) for local fishermen to enjoy. This year's trout tournament (the club's primary fundraiser) was the first tourney without the dam, and honey holes. Its absence created a lot of confused anglers...with the most common question being "Why'd you remove the dam?"
The dam in it's former "glory"
Well, the Stony Creek Anglers didn't remove the dam, several organizations including the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission, and American Rivers all have a hand in this project. Basically the dam goes away to allow for better fish passage (& to be honest it was a bit of a safety hazard), and the turnpike folks are involved because they need to create some additional wetlands to replace those that were removed during turnpike expansion. All that said, the SCA has endorsed the work, and has been kept abreast of all activities on the Stony to date.
Here's a few overview documents that explain the project in some detail (click to enlarge).
To learn more, check out THIS LINK that redirects to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission's website.
Holy smokes...it's Stony Creek Anglers Trout Tournament week! Yup, time for my annual commercial.
No, I don't fish in it...I work it as a member of the club, and boy should it be an interesting tournament this year. Why, you might ask? Because the old dam (and the super deep holes) that everyone used to congregate around were removed by the State since last year's tourney.
That means different fishing holes to find up and down the creek, and possibly trickier fish to catch. Either way, it's usually a great time for young and old, and I'm pumped that we finally got some rain this past weekend to make it a possibility. Fish can't swim without water if you know what I mean.
Kiddie Pond
Even if fishing for stockies in an environment like this isn't your thing (and honestly, it isn't mine), the tournament serves as themajor fundraiser for our club each year. As a cooperative trout nursery for the State of Pennsylvania, we have to foot the bill for pretty much everything but the fish...the biggest cost being food. And believe me, it costs a lot of money to keep fish healthy and fed each year. Club membership dues only go so far...
For details on the 2012 Stony Creek Anglers Trout Tournament, check out the SCA website HERE, or the tournament flier below.
Great Swamp Fish & Game 7th Annual Pre-Season Trout Derby
With Pennsylvania approved trout water closed for the month of March to allow for pre-season stockings, this is one of the few opportunties to get out this month and chase some fish. Plus, stockies are stupid and to be blunt, this is easy pickin's. I'm not one for derbies, but Great Swamp is a friend of my trout club, and they run a top notch event. Even if you're not fishing, it's a great excuse to get the kids outdoors!
Speaking of which...
My trout club, the Stony Creek Anglers will be hosting the 26th Annual Stony Creek Cleanup the same weekend...
Stony Creek Anglers 26th Annual Stony Creek Cleanup
Yeah, we pick up a ton of trash from Stony & Kepner Creeks, and to be honest, it's just a really fun time. It's amazing the stuff you can pull out of an urban watershed...one of the big ticket items from last year being a hot water heater... The 2011 event was covered locally by several news outlets and our club also does a pre-season stocking immediately following at noon for anyone that wants to swing by the nursery and help out.
So...Stony Creek Clean Up on Saturday, Great Swamp Pre-Season Derby on Sunday...sounds pretty trouty to me.
As the Treasurer for my local co-operative trout nursery, I have to fill out a ton of boring paperwork, pay a ton of bills, and try to balance books that for whatever the reason really don't like to be balanced.
Not being an accountant, nor really having an interest in numbers, it's not the most fun of volunteer jobs I could have, but as "they" in their infinite wisdom always say..."somebody has to do it."
When I stopped by the P.O. Box on Saturday to get the latest round of bills, invoices, and death-by-paper cut, there was one envelope that reminded me why I do this unforgiving job, and why all of the associated nonsense is worth it.
Hey, thought I'd write a blog post today. Novel idea, right?
I got some photos via email of the dam removal process over at the Stony Creek. Yeah, I mentioned that the dam was coming out in a previous post, but the real heavy lifting finally got started this past week.
While dam removal is viewed as pretty important, this one is a bit controversial because the dam is kind of the centerpiece for recreational fishing on the Stony Creek. No dam = two less deep holes (above & below) for the stocked trout.
I mean check out this "before" picture from this year's Stony Creek Anglers Trout Tournament as reference:
And here are some "after-ish" pictures (courtesy Ray Duff):
It's going to take a little while for the Stony Creek to settle down and find its new flow...but it will definitely look very, very different a year from now.
Took the day off from the blog scene yesterday because I wanted a break. Am I rested & recharged? Maybe, maybe not. Who cares, it's Wednesday, which means the Nibbles, which is a pretty random selection of posts that I don't have to work that hard to compile. So there.
First off, got a nice little note on Twitter. Evidently introduced somebody...or at least convinced them...that Tenkara was worth a try. He even wrote a blog post about it. Nice. Pin a button on my chest that says "tenkara ambassador" or something, right?
So just remember Daniel, Paul, Igor, or maybe even Adam...I want my 15% "affiliate fee" when MusketCreek buys his first rod. Okay?...cool.
You see this?...yeah, Fabio challenged the Old Spice Guy the other day to a duel. At first I was apprehensive, especially considering I was such a big fan of the old Old Spice Guy...but Fabio is really great in the role. (& for some reason reminds me of Bolton on SNL) If you've got some time to waste...watch the string of videos HERE. If you don't want to watch...here's a tease of the trash talk.
Back to fishing. Ye Olde Trout Club...aka the Stony Creek Anglers...had our annual Open House last Sunday. Considering it was 95 degrees and humid, followed by a downpour of rain, I think the turnout was pretty good. Not sure if we ended up recruiting a bunch of new members, but lots of kids showed up which is kind of the point.
Checking out the pens
Did I mention we have another blue trout fingerling this year?
Also had a fun time talking to the guys that stopped by from the Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School Fly Fishing Club (why didn't my school have clubs like that?). They were really excited about fishing, conservation, and tied some mean flies.
One more stupid video. No words necessary.
With that out of the way, time for the blog love. Actually, none of these blogs are likely going to be new to you...rather I'll toss some love out to the guys that made the TU/OBN trip this past week - Sanders, Owl, Mike, & Travis. Watching from afar it looks like these guys all had a great time and I'm sure over the next week or two as they all return home they're going to be posting great recaps of the outing from their respected points of view. Oh, and I'm sure Chris from EMBT will have something to say too.
Actually, while I'm certain the pics of the scenery & fish are going to be great, I think we're all going to need more info on Travis' trip ending "hike with a local resident." Atta guy...us fishermen are all about chasin' tail.
First the business part. The SCA Trout Tournament wrapped up late Sunday afternoon. In its wake were two days of dawn to dusk fishing. Unfortunately not really for me. As club Treasurer it meant two days of 4AM wakeup calls, hawking memberships, hats, & t-shirts, and reconciling cash boxes from the various stations of the event. Lots of big fish were caught, even more smiles on little kids faces, and from all early accounts, a success from a fundraising standpoint.
Lots of people = Not ideal fishing conditions, but lots of money
As for the fun part, Lilly showed up for a little bit on Sunday afternoon with K.C., and we met up with one of her friends from school and her father. As such, I took a little time out from my duties to go fishing with Lilly and try to catch her a fish. First stop was the kiddie "pond," but she wanted no part of it whatsoever. For real. Not sure if it was too crowded, or she just knows that isn't real fishing. So we just left the kiddie pond snagging fishing to the other little kids' dads.
Kiddie pond of death
Instead, we tried to find some room on a bank to do some fishing, but since it was shoulder-to-shoulder in all the promising spots it was more about uncrossing lines than it was about fishing. (Yeah, I'm sure the hardcore guys to our right were lovin' us!)
Lilly pretty much lost interest when she figured out she really couldn't do her long (but inaccurate) "grip it & rip it" casts like she does at the sunfish pond we frequent, so she just picked up rocks, played with her tackle box, and chased her friend around the surrounding trails a good portion of the time.
Crappy cell phone picture of the 10 or so minutes Lilly & her friend fished.
So no fish for Lilly today. At least she had fun with her friend and from what I can tell from the smiles, a good experience overall. Fortunately, I don't think the lack of action discouraged her from fishing again.
On the walk back to the car she looked up at me with bright eyes and a sneaky grin and we had the following exchange:
Lilly: "Daddy, can we go 'Family Fishing' at the pond tonight?"
Me: "Tonight? No, not tonight Lilly. Daddy won't be home until late."
Please excuse me as I use this this space to advertise my trout club's (the Stony Creek Anglers) annual signature event yet again. I know...it's a re-post, yuk...but it's only a few days away and it's now or never.
So...rather than posting here, today's hijinks will take place over on Facebook & Twitter. "Like" and/or "Follow" and you'll be in "the know."
14th Annual Stony Creek Trout Tournament
Saturday, April 30th- 8AM to 5PM (Gate Opens at 6AM)
Sunday, May 1st - 7AM to 4PM
Rain or Shine at Norristown Farm Park & Norristown State Hospital Grounds
Enter Gate 5 (Stanbridge St.)
**No Camping**
BROOKS - PALOMINOS – BROWNS – RAINBOWS
(Prizes Awarded for Tagged Fish)
Advanced Ticket Sales Available
Adults (Over 16) - - - - - Donation $20.00
Teens (Under 16) - - - - - Donation $10.00
Children (12 & Under) - Donation $5.00
Breakfast/Lunch & Drinks Available
Handicapped Section & Childrens' Section
(Special Pond for kids 6 & under)
Bait, Lures, Tackle Available - Fishing Rods for Kids
*Proceeds will be applied to the operation of Montgomery County's first co-op trout nursery & our childrens programs
1st, 2nd & 3rd place trophies for longest fish
Trophies awarded for Adults, Handicapped Adults, Children, Handicapped Children, and Kids 6 & under at the end of each day (30 trophies total)
When I was at the Greater Philadelphia Sportsman's Show in February, I met Mike Gogal from Gogal Publishing at his booth. Up until now, his company was primarily known for making print (paper) maps of regional Pennsylvania trout & bass waters. Well all of that changed, and what he's concocted as the next generation fishing map is pretty damn cool.
This new gizmo is a little SD card that fits inside your Garmin Nuvi car GPS unit, and instantly transforms it into a fish finding machine. What do I mean? Say you're driving around one Saturday afternoon (& happen to have your fishing rod in the back of your truck) and get the urge to fish for trout. With the software uploaded, your Garmin will not only tell you where the closest trout water is, but also tell you what kind of water it is (i.e. special regulations), what the seasonal limits are, and all kinds of other good info.
You can search by species
Or by body of water
and pull up tons of information
But no...the software isn't limited to trout. That would be silly. You can pretty much bring up any type of game fish in Pennsylvania and it will tell you where the closest water is (or how to get to a distant location). Shoot, if you've got a bass boat, it'll even tell you where the ramp is, and if there are any motor regulations.
Yeah, I'll Go! here
The GPS Fishing Guide is really a tight piece of technology, and I'm not the only one who thinks so, as several local news outlets have also picked up on it too. You can read their articles HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, or HERE.
The only thing it doesn't do is actually find the fish in the water for you...if you need something to take care of that, I'd suggest checking out say, Fishfinders.com.
Now for the somewhat fine print. If this sounds a bit like a commercial, well, it kinda is. Here's the deal. For every sale of the GPS Fishing Guide on the Gogal Publishing website that comes from Troutrageous! using THIS LINK (or the one in my sidebar), they've decided to make a 12% donation of the sale back to my non-profit trout club, the Stony Creek Anglers (not me). Basically, it will help us feed the fish. Actually, the club gets 12% on any purchase, so if the paper maps get you excited, use THIS LINK too.
Potential donations aside, this really is an awesome piece of technology. I wish there was a video to show you (I'm twisting Mike's arm to make one), but believe me when I say I was amazed by how much info this thing contains.
EDIT (4/12/11 @ 11:42AM) - A video exists! See what I'm talking about below!
Please excuse me as I use this forum as a commercial for my trout club's (the Stony Creek Anglers) annual signature event. It's our main fundraiser of the year and the source of the majority of our club's income. Without a successful tournament, we would not be able to raise the fish or operate our youth programs.
14th Annual Stony Creek Trout Tournament
Saturday, April 30th- 8AM to 5PM (Gate Opens at 6AM)
Sunday, May 1st - 7AM to 4PM
Rain or Shine at Norristown Farm Park & Norristown State Hospital Grounds
Enter Gate 5 (Stanbridge St.)
**No Camping**
BROOKS - PALOMINOS – BROWNS – RAINBOWS
(Prizes Awarded for Tagged Fish)
Advanced Ticket Sales Available
Adults (Over 16) - - - - - Donation $20.00
Teens (Under 16) - - - - - Donation $10.00
Children (12 & Under) - Donation $5.00
Breakfast/Lunch & Drinks Available
Handicapped Section & Childrens' Section
(Special Pond for kids 6 & under)
Bait, Lures, Tackle Available - Fishing Rods for Kids
*Proceeds will be applied to the operation of Montgomery County's first co-op trout nursery & our childrens programs
1st, 2nd & 3rd place trophies for longest fish
Trophies awarded for Adults, Handicapped Adults, Children, Handicapped Children, and Kids 6 & under at the end of each day (30 trophies total)
Yeah, that's what I found out when I went through my mail this weekend to pay the bills.
Evidently somebody decided they wanted to be me and open up both Target & Kay Jewelers' credit cards in my name last week. Luckily, I'm a member of one of those credit protection services, so in addition to the "rejection" letter from Target (due to lack of proper background info) and a shiny new Kay gold card, I also got notices from Experian & Equifax that these jokers were up to no good.
Fear not loyal Troutrageous! followers, the credit bureaus have been notified and it doesn't appear that any of my real bank accounts or credit cards were hacked...just new lines of credit trying to be opened. And hey, identity thieves...I've gotta secret for you...click HERE and I'll tell ya.
On to more palatable news, I didn't get out fishing this weekend (we had like 150,000 mph winds on Saturday), but I was able to catch up on some blog reading, as well as hit a local Outdoors Show. The show was a pretty good time. I worked the booth for my trout club for a few hours, got to meet Matt from Functioning Fishaholics (& his eternally patient better half), and got to visit and chat with quite a few fishing manufacturers & retailers. The retailer conversations were fun as I didn't tell them who I was. I mean I didn't want them to be too intimidated by the aura that is Troutrageous!
Two of my favorites were Ultimate Fishing Maps and Shu-Fly Tackle & Fly Shop. I'm not really going to write up much about either right now, as I may save that for another time, but please take a minute or two to visit their websites. They both make some good stuff - I'm a fan of UFM's GPS technology & Shu-Fly's 6'6" 3-wt fly rod - and also seemed like honest folks, the kind you'd like to do business with.
Anyway, we'll see what this week has in store. With the recent hiatus, my inbox has been accumulating a nice amount of randomness. Not promising masterpieces of blog posts, but at least the material should flow freely...like when Howard remembers to take his fiber.
Got a couple of "cause" type messages in the old email inbox this week. The first was from Bill McWha (if there was ever a man more passionate about the plight of shad & herring, I've never met him). He sent an email asking everyone to "PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT AND TELL THE NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES MANAGEMENT COUNCIL TO PROTECT OUR BLUEBACK AND ALEWIFE HERRING". You can do that here if you so choose. I did.
Bill lays it down.
Also got an email from Martin Seldon about last September's Wild Trout Symposium X. Evidently all the goodness that came out of that summit will be posted on their website in the upcoming weeks. Worth a peek once all is updated. I mean who doesn't like songs about wild trout?
Here's the stoopid video of the week. I know you guys really like these more than the other stuff I post. This one has made the rounds, but in case you haven't seen it...it's an age old formula for comedy...a girl...texting...while walking. She takes one too many steps and hilarity ensues. Some people should be required to wear safety helmets 24-7.
I'll let you in on a secret. On one of the days (don't want to give away which specific day yet), I'll be there working the booth for my trout club, the Stony Creek Anglers. (Check out the SCA website here, or new Facebook page here). Yup, you can not only meet me, I'll actually let you shake my hand. Ask nicely and I'll even sign your wife or girlfriend's chest too. For free. How's that for being a man of the people?
Makes a great belated Valentine's Day gift
Did any of you guys watch the Golden Globes the other night? Nah, I didn't either. Evidently Ricky Gervais was the host and made a whole bunch of questionable jokes (especially the last one) and won't be invited back next year. Seriously? What did they expect when they hired this guy? What exactly are the Golden Globes anyway?
Kinda reminds me of how NBC torpedoed Conan after an all too brief stint as Tonight Show host. Maybe Jay Leno will be the Golden Globes host next year. Then Ricky Gervais can do the real awards, the Academy Awards. Leno would definitely improve the 90+ year old demographic...no offense all you old coots out there.
Finally some blog love. Actually, this is going to be a bit of a cop out because I want to send out some blog love to all of you - see, I've been so busy this week with stuff going on at work and at home I haven't been doing much blog reading. I'm in dire need of catching up on all the goodness going on out there.
That said, wanted to give a shout to blogbuddies Stephanie (& slient partner Dustin) at Antlers & Gills, for being named one of the OBN Bloggers of the Week. Congrats!
S&D don't mess around when it comes to fish tanks!
I wasn't sure why I saw a very large increase in local visitors to my blog around noon yesterday (Friday). Thanks to the magic of Facebook & the Pottstown Mercury, I now know.
Want website traffic? Add some T...a little A...and then stir.
I should probably take this up with the board of the Stony Creek Anglers at our next meeting; with the proper marketing, the ladies' attendance would clearly create record turnouts next year...
This Saturday, July 31st, the Stony Creek Anglers are hosting their annual Adopt-A-Stream Project on the Stony Creek in Norristown, PA. This year's stream bank restoration project will involve the construction of a log deflector reinforced with stone to decrease erosion and provide additional habitat for the trout near the "Meadow Bridge" site.
If you're interested in helping in this project, the meetup time is 7:30 AM at the Stony Creek Anglers trout nursery in the Norristown Farm Park. Any and all assistance is welcomed. Tools and work gloves will be provided, however please bring adequate waders or wading boots as most of the project will take place in the water. Food & beverages to be served afterwards.
For more information on the Stony Creek Anglers, including maps of the park and directions to the nursery, visit their website HERE.
Rolled out of bed this morning at around quarter till six. Headed out to go fishing for the first time in about 3 weeks. Felt great to be out again, even though it was going to be yet another day of 90+ degree weather. Once at the creek, the intermittent shade from the trees provided some relief and the water temps were in the low 60s. Despite the heat I expected the action to be good. And it was...
Most of the brownies brought to hand were in the 6-8 inch size; however this guy was the heavyweight champ of the day.
According to the handy Measure Net, that brownie came in around 12 inches. He slammed a size 18 Copper John. If you're interested in visiting him yourself, he lives here:
Once it started getting really hot around noon, I packed it in and headed home. K.C. & Lilly had gone to the swim club in the morning, and they had gotten home just around the same time I did. After a quick lunch, I took Lilly (to give K.C. some peace & quiet) over to the Stony Creek Anglers Nursery Open House.
Let's just say Lilly likes feeding the fish.
We spent almost two hours there. I couldn't get her to leave! Looked like there was a good turnout overall, which is a good thing for the club. I finally got Lilly away from the fish food and back to the car with one magic word..."playground."
Lilly liked it there too.
By that time it was almost 5PM and time to head home for dinner. Like I said in the title of this post, today was a nice, full Sunday. One of those days you wouldn't trade for the world.
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