Of course I thought about going. There are big fish in the
Dream Stream right now. They have been there for weeks. Big spawning Rainbows, Cutthroats, and
Cut-bows that make their way up from 11 mile reservoir.
But then I think of the crowds. I think of the assault on
the fish. The fish are just trying to reproduce. Seeing the assault feels a bit
apocalyptic. Looks as though we are swarming the river desperately trying to catch the last fish
of the world?
Maybe it is more just the appearance of this assault than
anything else that keeps me away. People running to "their" holes. Sitting on those holes all day.with almost guard-like gestures.
So I leave them alone. I leave the fish alone. I impose this limit on myself. I haven’t always done this. But this year I hold back. I wait. I have seen this assault, even in catch and release fisheries, drive the fish out. I don’t know where they go. Some back to the reservoir. Some just go away. Many that die.
So I leave them alone. I leave the fish alone. I impose this limit on myself. I haven’t always done this. But this year I hold back. I wait. I have seen this assault, even in catch and release fisheries, drive the fish out. I don’t know where they go. Some back to the reservoir. Some just go away. Many that die.
I listen to the reports. I see the pictures. Friends fish it
often. I think of Thoreau when he said if a man does not keep pace with his
companions perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer and such a person
who hears that music should follow it no matter how far away.
From far away, I perceive a different pace as I feel the outer edge of winter pushing up
against the inner edge of spring. I am in the midst of seasonal transition and so are the fish. I can still wait. I can choose to wait. Let the fish spawn. Wait for them to revive
and start feeding again and responding to hatches.
I almost feel the urge to fish but not quite. I need the
edge of winter to move farther away and
the edge of spring to move closer.Need to allow the fish to move to new edges looking for food.
The edge of winter is receding. In the foothills I watch the
snow line moving away from the grass line leaving narrower and narrower strips
of snow. Some in the shadows are deep enough to still ski. Soon they too will
melt away. Then, if I want to ski I will have to go higher up on the Peak in
the colder air, to the bowls where blown in snow remains deep. But, eventually,
these will also melt.
Melt into the rivers we fish. Melt into the rivers I fish.
And will fish. Soon. But not quite
yet. I impose this limit on myself.
Wonderful quote by Thoreau, spot on. The choice not to follow the lemmings on a conquest of fish vulnerability takes patience; as well as loads of self-control. Allowing our local species to have this time of renewal, without massive pressure, is imperative. In this day and age, with dependence on stocking and less wild fish reproduction because of pressures, allowing the fish to have these delicate times has become even more important.
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting on this topic. I don't know what it will take to turn things around. While I do believe in Catch and Release I think it is naive for us to assume that this is enough, by itself, to preserve our fisheries. Something more is needed. I have watched fisheries collapse or at least severely changed by pressure even in catch and release waters.I assume you have fished the waters that I have fished? I remember the dream stream before it was called the dream stream. Do you? And thanks for the parallel to the lemmings.I have not read or talked about lemmings since my college days. Thanks again...
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