The Middle River Group, LLC

fly fishing, conservation and politics.

brook trout

Counting coup

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Fall

It is not always the best time for fishing, at least in the mountain streams here in Virginia. The water levels can be iffy and more importantly the brook trout are going about their biological imperative. Don’t want to upset that apple cart!

So with time on my hands I like to go scout out some of my favorite streams or pick a new blue line to investigate.

When I am fishing I tend to get a little tunnel vision. I am looking through the water so hard that I sometimes forget to look around and enjoy the view. I probably know my location on many streams by what the bottom of the stream looks like rather than what the banks or surroundings look like.

For me fall is a great time for hiking and sight (site?) seeing. I still look at the water but I really have a chance to see what is surrounding all that water. A chance to see where I am fishing not just what I am fishing.

Of course I tote my tenkara rod and a few flies. And while I am not looking to fish, if the brookies happen to be rising then I just might decide to float a dry their way. But in the fall I like to just count coup on them.

How to count coup

During the year some of my flies will get the hooks broken at the bend. I keep the Adams’, BWOs or  Wulffs  and use them in the fall. I am not trying to catch the fish, just trying to get them to take the fly.

Counting coup.

Kind fun and let’s them get back to the more important business of reproduction.

almost like a neon beer sign

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Shin Deep

My copy of Shin Deep by pal Chris Hunt arrived this week. Haven’t read very far but not surprisingly there is already a turn of phrase about brook trout that deserves quoting:

In the last few moments of the day’s light, I was able to glimpse the brilliance that makes brook trout, no matter their size, so wonderfully rewarding to the fly fisherman. Its deep colors seemed to provide a beacon of light in the near darkness of the evening, almost like a neon beer sign in a dank, dark, but wonderfully familiar tavern. You can’t help but stare at it.

Yup, brook trout water does have that familiar tavern feel, is it any wonder we care so much for these fish?

R2 bellies up to the bar

Recapping the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture Annual Partnership Meeting

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Orvis News Conservation Blog

My friend Phil Monahan shot me an email asking if I would write a recap of The Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture Annual Partnership Meeting for the OrvisNews Conservation blog. It was a great opportunity to help tell the EBTJV story so naturally I jumped at the chance.
[Read more…] about Recapping the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture Annual Partnership Meeting

Rick Bach, Tenkara and the EBTJV

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When I got a note from Rick Bach asking about trout fishing in Maryland I wrote back saying I was not much on Maryland but would be happy to take him to the mountains in Virginia to fish for brook trout with a tenkara rod. Rick being an adventurous young man, after all he is fishing his way across the country and blogging about it for OutdoorLife.com this summer, took me up on it. We had a ball, Rick picked up tenkara style fishing right away. He moved through the casting and fishing options with ease going to a two fly rig and sling shot cast and landing a nice fat brookie in a tricky spot at the end of the day.

You can see his gallery and commentary from his adventures in DC, the Chesapeake Bay and the Rapidan. I really appreciate Rick giving a shout out to the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture!

Photos from our trip on the Rapidan start at number 15

Smith Creek watershed honored

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On a recent, beautiful June afternoon local farmers, federal, state and local officials, conservation organizations and area residents gathered for an announcement by the United States Department of Agriculture naming the 67,000-acre Smith Creek watershed as Virginia’s Chesapeake Showcase Watershed.

The announcement was made on Gary and Ellen Lohr’s Valley Pike Farm overlooking the Valley in Broadway as part of the implementation of the Obama administration’s “Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed” released last May.

Ann Mills, USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment, made the announcement.

“Making these announcements from a local farm is more than a symbolic gesture,” Mills said. “Nearly 75 percent of the land in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed is in private farms and forests. The showcase watersheds strengthen USDA’s commitment to funding priority conservation practices in places that will do the most good for water quality in the Bay and its tributaries.”

In May 2009, President Obama signed The Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration Executive Order declaring the Chesapeake Bay a national treasure and requiring a coordinated strategy for restoration and protection.

The executive order directed federal agencies to “define environmental goals for the Chesapeake Bay and describe milestones for making progress toward attainment of these goals.” The strategy focuses on achieving four essential priorities for a healthy Chesapeake ecosystem — restore clean water, recover habitat, sustain fish and wildlife and conserve land and increase public access.

One of the goals in the strategy that caught my attention and led to my attending the announcement on the Lohr’s farm was to, “Sustain healthy populations of fish and wildlife, which contribute to a resilient ecosystem and vibrant economy”.

One of the outcomes for that goal was “restoring naturally reproducing brook trout populations in headwater streams … by 2025.” Because of my involvement with the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture I was thrilled to see brook trout recovery efforts as a key outcome for Cheasapeake Bay Watershed efforts.

Eighteen months ago I wrote about the efforts of the EBTJV and the National Fish Habitat Action Plan, noted the work at Smith Creek and what it means to the Valley. At the time I wrote “Working cooperatively with ten diverse partners, the project is helping restore riparian habitat at the headwaters of Smith Creek. This project connects to Mountain Run in the George Washington National Forest as well, providing additional spawning habitat for those Brook Trout.”

Smith Creek also gained national attention in 2007 as one the first of the NFHAP “10 Waters to Watch”.

Now Smith Creek will be getting additional attention and funding and can serve as a model for other efforts across the state and country. Of course having Smith Creek as a Showcase Watershed adds additional incentive for implementing the National Fish Habitat Action Plan.

The NFHAP can build upon the successes of Smith Creek and the two other Showcase Watersheds, the 23,000-acre Upper Chester River Watershed in Maryland and the 34,000-acre Conewago Creek Watershed in Pennsylvania and leverage those models into additional aquatic habitat conservation across the country.

Now is the time for Federal agencies with responsibility managing aquatic habitat to increase their efforts to implement the National Fish Habitat Action Plan. Coordination among those agencies will promote stewardship and improve the health of our Nation’s aquatic habitat.

Perhaps it is time for an Executive Order to implement the NFHAP.

If the administration leads the way then maybe Congress will get the message and pass the National Fish Habitat Conservation Act.

It should come as no surprise and serve as a point of pride that conservation efforts here in the Valley get national recognition. There is a long and treasured tradition of stewardship and respect for the land and the natural resource bounty it provides.

That tradition and the connection to the land were never more evident than on the Lohr’s farm last week.

You can read more of my columns at the News Virginian.com.