Well, it is hard to believe I sit here once again this year detailing my adventures with you. Time has flown by, and it has been an interesting year!
For the first time in my fly fishing career, the economy has dictated my comings and goings. In the spring, I literally calculated how much the fish actually cost me by taking in to account the price of a gallon of gas!!! “When the times got tough the tough went fishing,” but often closer to home. A few times I caught fish that had a price tag of $40 or more each. Sad but true. Despite the tough economic climate, however, the local streams looked pretty good, and I had a super time hunting little brookies, our native species here in the East.
If you are ever near the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland, check out Little Hunting Creek. It is off of Route 15 near Thurmont. It is a small stretch of stream filled with beautiful brookies and some brownies as well! In June, I spent a weekend with some of my gal pals fishing the Rose and Rapidan Rivers. We rented a cabin on the Rose near Graves Mountain Lodge. If you are interested, contact them at info@gravesmountain.com or (540) 923-4231. You will have a great time.
Lea and I also and the pups took our annual trek to the Adirondacks to celebrate our birthdays. Naturally, we spent a few days at the Hungry Trout resort in Wilmington, New York. If you go, contact Jerry at the resort (518) 946-2217 or email hungrytrout@whiteface.net. Tell him I sent you. We later drove to a cozy cabin on Lake Auger in Keesville and hiked around the High Peaks.
Also in May, if I may back up a month or two, I participated in a “Two-Fly” contest on the Ausable River at the foot of Whiteface Mountain. Again nothing but a good time was had by all at the Hungry Trout. Yours truly garnered second place in the “Guide” division, losing only one of my flies. If you are interested in participating this year, it is May 16th 2009 and bring plenty of bead head hares ear nymphs!!!! They were working for me, if you get my drift (pun intended). For more info contact info@ausableflyfishing.com or info@whitefaceregion.com
As I said before, my comings and goings this year had a lot to do with the economy, so my annual trip out West was sadly put aside to save money, and I did not have enough frequent flier miles to get a free ticket! But good news, I took a trip to State College Pennsylvania to fish the famed limestoners – Spruce Creek, Spring Creek (including Fisherman’s Paradise), and the Little “J”. What a great time I had in the middle of August catching browns and bows on tricos and terrestrials. If you go, contact George Daniel at one of the many TCO Fly Shops in the area.at george@tcoflyfishing.com or call him at (814) 689-3654. Tell him I sent you!
Last but not least, I met up with my “Jersey Girls” and fished in the Catskills. Talk about fly fishing history! Stop by the Catskill Fly Fishing museum on the famed Willowemoc River, wet a line in the Beaverkill, and stalk the big finicky browns on the Delaware River. If you go, stay at the West Branch Angler in Hancock, New York. www.westbranchresort.com (800) 201-2557.
And there is more…if you have not fished the Gunpowder River in Maryland near Monkton, you have to put that on your calendar for this year! Contact Jason, Theo, or Rocky at Backwater Angler (410) 357-9557. And of course tell them I sent you!!
Happy New Year!
Kiss more fish,
Kiki
