Monday, October 27, 2008

West Branch

Unfortunately, I've been rocked by gastroenteritis. Good times, good times.

Not surprisingly, I haven't been around blogs or kept to my posting schedule. However, in the meantime, I thought I'd share with you some images from the West Branch of the Delaware River earlier this weekend.

A guy from work and I went up to the cabin for a little late season fly fishing. Here I am workin' it.



The West Branch is a premier trout water in Pennsylvania. The Cannonsville Reservoir (part of the New York City water system) feeds it via a bottom-release dam, which keeps the water cold even in the oven days of summer.

Since the wild, old brown trout were not rising, I tried a fly of my own invention, which I lovingly call the "Evans Special." Here is one of my early ones which is a bit larger than what I tie now and lacks some green flash in the tail that mimics scales.



Here is one of the granddaddies lurking down there. Beautiful fish.



After I released him, he hung out by my feet for a while.

So long fish friend. Perhaps we'll meet another day.

(Now if my intestines would just calm down. Geesh. The noises they've been making are downright Satanic.)

18 comments:

JR's Thumbprints said...

Catch & Release. That's the best way to fish. Catch & Release.

K.Lawson Gilbert said...

I can't help it. I have to use a hackneyed phrase. WHAT A CATCH!
oh...and the fish ain't bad either.

Feel better, Jason. ;P

Anonymous said...

re: the intestinal noises......were you and Ello twins separated at birth?????

Aine said...

Yes, he's a beauty! Could be a keeper, but hard to hold onto, that one. Best to let him be free.

Oh and the fish looks lovely, too.
;)

Sarah Hina said...

What a great fly, Jason. It looks just like a little bird. :)

Great photos! There must be something incredibly calming and centering about fishing (just guessing). A balancing act between patience and frustration.

Now if something could exorcise those intestinal demons and calm those gurgling waters... ;)

Anonymous said...

I have been laid up with a tummy bug too. I hate being sick. At least I got around some blogs though.
Glad you enjoyed your fishing anyway. Are you a "Fish Whisperer?"

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear you are ill. It's never pleasant to have a tummy bug. Take care of yourself.

Charles Gramlich said...

Hope you feel better soon. That can be unpleasant. I've been getting the urge to fish lately. This looks like wonderful fun. I used to fish all the time, but more for bass and bream than trout.

Ello - Ellen Oh said...

What a beauty of a fish! It looks like you had a great time.

Sorry about the gastorentiritis. Good luck with that. My diagnosis with it then lead to a subsequent diagnosis of ulcers and reflux. All under control now, except when times get overly stressed.

Kim said...

Looks like you had a great time. I hope you're noisy abdomen quiets soon.

Vesper said...

I hope you're feeling better, Jason.

I sighed in relief - you released the beautiful fish... :-)
And a beautiful "fly" - scary if it were real... :-)

Pearl said...

ow, hope that abates soon.

Anonymous said...

JR, I'm with you, man. I haven't kept a trout in years. Ocean fishing, now that's a different story....

Kaye, boy this flu has been a good one. I think I'm finally getting some upward traction, though. :)

Aerin, if Satan has visited Ello's innards too, then definitely yes.

Aine, oh stop. :) Too funny, though. LOL!

Sarah, I think that fly looks like a good number of things. Hopefully, they're all delicious. ;) Flyfishing is kind of like a dance, and that's calming. But yes, it has its frustrations.

Aggie, my sympathies, sister. That stuff is nasty! (If I'm whispering to the fish, I'm not sure they're listening. ;) )

Selma, you can say that again. I never look forward to these bouts.

Charles, nothing wrong with bass fishing! We used to do a good bit in a lake near us. Gorgeous clear water.

Ello, yikes! Sorry you had such bad fallout. Stress is so toxic. It wears us down in so many ways.

Kaycie, thanks for the well wishes. I'm not grumbling as often. :)

Vesper, thanks for the sentiment. :) As for the fly, it's the googley eyes, isn't it?

Pearl, thanks for the visit and the well wishes!!

Miladysa said...

I am beginning to think that Blogger is waging a vendetta against me because my comments keep disappearing into the blog ether :[


Hope you are feeling much better today Jason :D

Anonymous said...

Miladysa, I hate when blogger destroys comments!! Thank you for keeping it up until you got through! And thanks for the well wishes. :)

Frank Baron said...

Lovely brown! I'm going to disagree (mildly) with you and the first commenter, however. I'm all in favour of releasing most fish but occasionally keeping one or two for the pan is also a Good Thing. It lets our kids know that food doesn't just appear on styrofoam trays in grocery stores.

Hope you're feeling better.

AngelConradie said...

ooer... i do hope you're feeling better.
gawjiss fish dude, spectacular!

Chris Eldin said...

We have a pond with loads and loads of fish. My husband has been with the boys teaching them how to fish. The oldest is bored, but the youngest is really into it. Helps him to "clear his mind," as he says (he's 8).

When we first moved here, there were all kinds of people walking down our driveway with fishing poles in tow. It's almost like a community pond...

But the rule is catch and release. I don't think I could cook something that's almost a pet. But if hungry enough, yes...

Hope you're feeling better!
:-)