Tag Archives: brook trout
Rock Creek Satori
The Zen Buddhist term satori means “insight” or “enlightenment.” I know it’s dangerous to apply the term to fly fishing experiences because, as everybody knows, fishing is a recreational activity and not typically a spiritual event. Leave it to a … Continue reading
The Apolitical Tree-Planter
Judging by the underwhelming response I got from my last post, I take it people don’t want to hear about the quagmire where enthusiastic nature folks inevitably butt heads with corporate and political powers. Well, I can’t blame them. It isn’t a lot of fun. Silence is a critic and … Continue reading
Rose Brook Reverie
I pulled off the gravel road in the lower Rose Brook valley, one of my favorite native trout streams in New York. A raven flew across the valley and croaked its one-note greeting. A phoebe flew out from its nesting … Continue reading
Speckled Trout: More Views From the Hill
“The streams were full of speckled trout until they built the saw mills.”– Dennis McGraw, Pioneer Life in Greenwood, 1888 The term “speckled trout,” in this report, does not refer to the saltwater species of that name, but refers to Salvelinus fontinalis, … Continue reading
from The Wild Trout
In anticipation of the coming fly fishing season I looked back to a 24-page chapbook I wrote on the subject back in 1987. I was finally settling down to a serious interest in fishing for wild trout with a fly, … Continue reading
The Triple Divide (3)
“The season isn’t open yet, is it?” I explained to the landowner at the Genesee rivertop near Gold, PA that the extended fishing season for his stream lasted till the end of the month. It was okay to fish, but … Continue reading
Brook Trout and Beaver Dams
Vandermark Creek is a trout stream feeding the upper Genesee River in western New York. I have fished the headwater section of the creek occasionally over a period of many years, particularly for native brook trout in the area of … Continue reading
A Two-State Tributary Shuffle
For a guy who likes his rural traditions, I also get a buzz from breaking them every now and then. One of my traditions is to fly-fish the Allegheny River on New Year’s Eve, assuming the water is free of … Continue reading
Headwaters Cycle (2)
The house in the hollow sits at 1600 feet above sea-level. The house has seen about 160 autumns, and the same house has been our home through thick and thin for 30 of those autumns. Ah, the midst of nowhere. “Franklin … Continue reading
Autumn Journal: October 9
I took advantage of a golden Indian Summer day to fish for brook trout in the Genesee River headwaters. I began at Orebed Creek, walking upstream through the forest on the banks of this little known stream. With a seven-foot … Continue reading
