Monthly Archives: August 2014

Of Science, Poetry, and Adventure

Posted on August 31, 2014 by rivertoprambles

The Pond Picking blackberries on my walk uphill, I came to the secret pond, the kind that everyone should have and never talk about– except as poetry. I loaded the short fly rod with a line, a leader, and an … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged adventure, fly-fishing, lake, mystery, nature, ocean, poetry, pond, popper, science, sunfish | 17 Comments

When the Swallows Fly

Posted on August 27, 2014 by rivertoprambles

Around here, it happens every August 27th, give or take a day. The barn swallows leave the site where they have been “our birds” since the end of April. On a late summer morning, the air above the old barn … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 3-fly cast, dry fly, migration, Pink Floyd, poetry, reason, Robert Frost, summer, swallows, transitions, wet fly | 12 Comments

From the Bucket List

Posted on August 24, 2014 by rivertoprambles

A number of experienced Pennsylvania anglers, in addition to fishing writers such as Charles Meck and Dwight Landis, have described Rock Run, a tributary of Lycoming Creek in north-central PA, as the most beautiful, spectacular, and picturesque trout stream in … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged beauty, bucket list, Elizabeth S. Benjamin, first woman fly-tier, fly-fishing, Loyalsock State Forest, Lycoming Creek, Ralston, Rock Run, swimming holes, wet fly leaders | 16 Comments

The Trout Addict

Posted on August 20, 2014 by rivertoprambles

Preparation: In the pre-dawn chill, he put on his old black hoodie and went to work. Three hours of sleep had not been nearly enough to make him feel well, but he thought of his Big Year on the Streams– … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged addiction, brook trout, brown trout, caffeine, demons, fishing records, fly-fishing, mayflies, music, the Residents, Tricos, withdrawal | 16 Comments

Like a Song by Taj

Posted on August 17, 2014 by rivertoprambles

To angle, as I see it, is to fish in an endless act of exploration and discovery. To angle, in a realm of small streams and rivertops, can mean an exploration of those blue lines on a topo map, those … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged angling, blues, discovery, exploration, fishing, mastodon, poetry, psychology, song, Taj Mahal, Thoreau, Time, wild trout | 16 Comments

Rivertop Photo Essay

Posted on August 11, 2014 by rivertoprambles

An assembly of August moments, recollected in tranquility….

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged August images, bamboo fly rods, beaver dams, gallery, mayflies, nymphal shucks, Pine Creek, sculpture, Slate Run, Straub Beer, sumac, turtles, vervain, waxwings, wild trout, wildflowers | 18 Comments

Still Life With Trout

Posted on August 7, 2014 by rivertoprambles

The Lily Pool I parked the car, suited up, and walked the half mile distance to the stream along abandoned railroad bed. I turned and crossed a field of chest-high goldenrod then dropped to the water like a sinner to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged art, Beaverkill, Cairns Pool, Catskill Fly Fishing Center, fly-fishing, friendship, lilies, Love, still-life, Summerfest, upper Genesee, van Gogh | 8 Comments

My Fishing’s Top 5 Curses

Posted on August 3, 2014 by rivertoprambles

I find that fly-fishing is a greatly rewarding activity, and I certainly don’t want to give the wrong impression here, but let’s face it: fishing can be work at times, no matter what society may think of recreational louts extolling … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged curses, education, fly-fishing, global problems, guitar solos, humanity, nature, overpopulation, Richard Thompson, salvation, self/psychology, stupidity | 31 Comments