Letter
Does anyone else catch a whiff of contemporary red-baiting in the frequent use of "socialist" by conservative ranters who also like to use the term "liberal" as an insult? Given their shared roots in Marxist economic and political theory, it's easy to conflate socialism with the feared Godless communism of the McCarthy era. It's a little like lumping Roman Catholics with the Waco…
March 29, 2010
All signs point to an early spring. Blame my observation for any major storms that hit during what has been described as the snowiest month of the year. Standing near the summit chairlift at the Gunstock ski area a week ago, I surveyed Lake Winnipesaukee. If black can be called a hue, it would have applied to the ice on our largest inland body of water. The color shift from white…
March 14, 2010
If the "speed up and stop" is the key to effective fly casting, a good drift makes all the difference after the fly lands. Casting master Lefty Kreh has burned his ideas into the brains and mechanics of a generation of fly casters. If you understand that a fly line goes in the direction the rod tip accelerates before it comes to an abrupt halt, you can put your fly where it might…
March 7, 2010
For 10 bucks that will go to a worthy cause, local trout fishermen picked up some valuable tips last Saturday morning. Our local Trout Unlimited (TU) chapter, named after the late Basil W. Woods Jr., supports a program called Trout in the Classroom. It's one way the N.H. Fish and Game Department tries to connect kids to nature and the outdoors. To raise money for the program, the…
February 28, 2010
Are you a gear head or a paddler? The answer to that question will go a long way in helping you choose between a "SOT" or "SIK" fishing kayak. SOT means a "sit on top" kayak. After listening to Robert Willey of Plum Island Kayak during the recent Rockingham Fishing and Hunting Expo in Salem, I'm convinced that SIT could just as easily mean "stuff on top." SIK means the more…
February 21, 2010
Invisibility could well be a fish's best line of defense. And electronics are a fisherman's best friend. Fishing ultimately comes down to putting something that looks tasty as close as possible to a fish's mouth. An alternative theory is that an effective lure or fly can provoke a territorial strike. Randomly casting into the water will sometimes reward the lucky angler, but…
February 14, 2010
He was talking to the catchers in the river. Had Tim Savard attended, he would have described Nick Karas as "holding court" during the January meeting of the Basil W. Woods Jr. Chapter of Trout Unlimited (TU) in Concord. Unlike author J.D. Salinger of Cornish, who died the day before the Jan. 28 gathering, Karas is no recluse. He talked about brook trout for nearly an hour and…
February 7, 2010
It's a "glass-half-empty" kind of report. For a state with so much natural beauty and open land, a half-empty state park system can look pretty good for a while. Imagine what it would be like if the system could live up to its full potential. For those of us who don't own land on a river, stream, pond or lake, state parks form a key part of the network of places where we can fish…
January 31, 2010
How much knowledge and technology can sport fisheries take? Before I headed to the Fly Fishing Show in Marlboro, Mass., last Saturday morning, I read the announcement in the day's Monitor that the Winni Derby has been cancelled for 2010. It seems the landlocked salmon population in the big lake doesn't yield enough big ones to justify the May contest. It looks like a decline is…
January 24, 2010
Our local Trout Unlimited chapter is wading farther into cyberspace. Writing about fishing in the internet age provides so many opportunities for mixed metaphors and bad puns. I've used "on-line" allusions more than once in this space to describe web-based research leading to getting a fish on the line. Fittingly the news that the Basil W. Woods Jr. Chapter of TU has a new website…
January 17, 2010
By early Monday evening I was legal again. I now own a document showing that I have added my personal information to the National Saltwater Angler Registry. Most of us will think of it as the newly required federal fishing license. It's free this year, but N.H. Fish and Game will collect a $15 fee beginning in January 2011. Most years I go on-line in late March to purchase my…
January 10, 2010
Want to see what you didn't get for Christmas, or would you prefer to start making plans for the 2010 fishing season? Either way, the "hot stove" season of fishing trade shows begins next weekend with the first of the four major exhibitions in southern New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Events include the Rockingham Fishing and Hunting Expo in Salem next Saturday and Sunday; the Fly…
January 3, 2010
"He told us about Christ's disciples being fishermen, and we were left to assume, as my brothers and I did, that all first-class fishermen on the Sea of Galilee were fly fishermen and that John, the favorite, was a dry-fly fisherman." - Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It This one is for Uncle John. If you have waded through Angler's Journal in 2009, you know that it was…
December 27, 2009
It's time again to apply some fishing theory to the way pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists share the roads. Several bicycling issues have been getting public attention recently. Stories have included the crash that seriously injured a bicycle commuter on Clinton Street, news of a proposed bicycle route from Penacook to Bow, and plans for a bicycling master plan for our capital…
December 20, 2009
