Stripers Forever

If you are a fan of striper fishing, or know someone who is, then consider helping to fund Stripers Forever by purchasing this cool t-shirt. Stripers Forever is an organization working to have striped bass designated as a gamefish. This designation will stop commercial exploitation across the Eastern Seaboard. Patagonia will make a five-dollar donation to the group for every purchase of the Striper T-Shirt. Renowned artist and angler, Alan James Robinson created the original artwork (back graphic) displayed on this soft, 100% organic cotton tee. The neck rib contains a touch of spandex to help retain its shape. Check with a Patagonia dealer or retail store near you or click on the striper t-shirt link above to make a purchase.

McCloud River Rainbow

Photo by Billy Smith Polaroid Images by El Pescador

The Complete Angler - Final Chapter

James Prosek (artist/writer), Fritz Mitchell (producer/editor) and Peter Franchella (cinematographer) produced a Peabody Award winning film documenting Prosek’s travels in the footsteps of the 17th century English writer, Izaak Walton.

Way Upstream now brings you Part 7 of the mini-series - The Complete Angler. In this Final Chapter - James visits Izaak Walton's grave in a chapel in Winchester Cathedral, and discusses the last years of his life. Then he sings a song in a meadow by the river and returns to the fishing at the pond near his home in Connecticut.

Way Upstream hopes you've enjoyed this unique mini-series. Special thanks goes to James Prosek, Crist Costa and Drew Story for their creative and technical support. It wouldn't have happened without them.

Way Upstream Productions Copyright 2008

Coyote Crab

I lost my last Pheasant Phlounder the other day to a hefty fish. Later, I got my materials out to tie up a few more and after finishing up some Phlounder variations I experimented with using coyote tail fibers to create a crab pattern. The post image is the result. I'll be testing it out soon as well as doing more tying experimentation. Click on the photo and then mouse over the image for more Coyote Crab details.

Photo by El Pescador

Waves, fish or butterflies

This is a photo of artist and fly designer Tim Borski and his boys proudly displaying their catch. This shot got my thoughts flowing about how there are many people who are passionate pursuers of their sport, but that there is a smaller breed within that passionate subset who posses a developed "catching" skill. I guess you could call them Catchers (I think Tim is a Catcher). Catchers are individuals that catch often and consistently no matter if it's crowded or quiet, or whether they're catching waves, fish or butterflies. Lucky are the Catchers, but lucky are the Fishers too. Fishers are the passionate pursuers who only catch occasionally...or not at all. The reason Fishers are lucky too is because all Catchers were once Fishers who just started catching. So keep fishing Fishers because a Catcher would declare that it's only a matter of passionate pursuit and time. Tomorrow could be the day.

Photo courtesy of Tim Borski

Upstream

Spotted Tail Productions produces films that attempt to capture the full experience of "the Quiet Sport", documenting angling success alongside utter failure - all with the fervor of a preoccupation turned obsession. STP has recently released a DVD called Upstream. Upstream is about Alaska, our country's last frontier. It is home to some of the wildest water and biggest freshwater fish that you can chase with a fly rod. Upstream's essence captures a guide season on film and it tells the remarkable tale of the Alaskan salmon spawning ritual that plays such a large part in the state's ecosystem and economy. Check out the 3 minute Upstream trailer. Drop by the Spotted Tail Productions web site for more information.

Tip of the cap

I received the following contribution from Way Upstream community member Dylan Tomine after his recent visit with Bill McMillan of the Wild Fish Conservancy. Dylan wrote;

"Spent a wonderful day with Bill McMillan of the Wild Fish Conservancy near his home up on the Skagit River. Bill is a true steelhead guru, probably most famous for his dry line techniques described in his influential book on the subject. But more than that, he is a hardcore steelhead conservationist, biologist and probably the foremost expert on historical steelhead and salmon run size estimates. He’s also a hell of a nice guy.

Yesterday, we fished the home water in front of his house—he with (of course) a dry line, and me following with a sinktip. With the serious work out of the way, we headed up some of the nearby spawning/rearing tribs and he showed me how he conducts his stream surveys and juvenile fish research. He often uses an old cane rod (with silk gut line) and a small barbless dry to catch fish for DNA sampling—a quick snip of a nearly microscopic fin sample and the fish are released unharmed.

Then to find out what the productivity of recent spawning classes is, he dons wetsuit, mask and snorkel and actually counts fish in the icy water. He’s done this on hundreds of streams and rivers over the decades, and says the best time is actually in the winter. At night. I don’t think I’m up for that, but I hope to join him soon on some of his underwater research. It’s an amazing process, and I’m looking forward to it.

Anyway, I just wanted to give a tip of the cap to one of our great fish conservation heroes. Bill has dedicated his life to saving wild fish, and if there’s hope for wild steelhead in the future, it will be because of the work people like Bill are doing. Spending the day with him and watching him work is inspiring, to say the least."

If you have a special person in your community that you'd like to call attention to, feel free to submit it to me at Way Upstream.

Photos and contribution by Dylan Tomine

Sparklers

Photo by El Pescador

The Complete Angler - Chapter 6

James Prosek (artist/writer), Fritz Mitchell (producer/editor) and Peter Franchella (cinematographer) produced a Peabody Award winning film documenting Prosek’s travels in the footsteps of the 17th century English writer, Izaak Walton.

Way Upstream now brings you Part 6 of the mini-series - The Complete Angler. In this segment James visits Victoria Wakefield who helped him secure fishing on the renowned chalk streams, the Test and Itchen in Hampshire. She introduces him to Roger Harrison, who owns a beautiful stretch of water on the Itchen with lots of wild trout. There, James encounters a milkmaiden.

Way Upstream Productions Copyright 2008