The Middle River Group, LLC

fly fishing, conservation and politics.

Fly Fishing

Road trip to Mich.

By

Shot a couple of images while i was waiting for the rain to stop.

I was in Michigan to teach fly fishing to some MSU grad students and their friends.

Had hope to fish the day before but it looked pretty wet out that morning.

This is where i spent the morning waiting to go fish.

The Super 8 in Houghton Lake, Mich.

Waiting out the raain
Waiting out the rain

That actually was probably just as well since i had a column due and it was little more than a rough draft at that point…

When the rain broke around noon i headed up to Grayling and over to Lovells.

Had time for a late lunch and a beer since the rain had started up again.

Gotta love a bar with “Welcome Fly Fisherman” banner

aka "the bar"
Lovells Riverside Tavern aka "the bar"

Seems my kind are welcome at the corner grocery too….

Caid's Corner Grocery
Caid's Corner Grocery

Finally made camp here for the next couple of days.

lookin out on Big Creek
lookin out on Big Creek

The National Fish Habitat Conservation Act

By

The National Fish Habitat Conservation Act, H.R. 2565 was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on May 21, by Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI).

The National Fish Habitat Partnerships are one step closer to congressional authorization. The legislation provides $75 million annually for fish habitat projects. The funding will help existing partnerships like the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture and the Western Native Trout Initiative do more on the ground projects. Future fish habitat partnerships will also be able to tap into these funds as well.

A companion bill is expected to be introduced in the Senate in early June. 

Fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

By

its not about the fishin, its about the friends...
it's not about the fishin, it's about the friends...

A couple of weeks ago I was in Tennessee on a fishing trip with three of my best friends. This was the second trip we have taken together as a group. Like last year, we spent four days fishing for trout in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The park is only about a five and a half hour drive south of here and contains over 700 miles of wild trout streams. The terrain features and watershed are not that different than what you find here in the Valley in the George Washington National Forest or the Shenandoah National Park.

What is different is the variety of trout you can fish for. All the trout in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are wild. They stopped stocking in the early 1970’s. You can fish for rainbows, browns and brookies there.

This year, like last, we started our trip at Little River Outfitters, Byron and Paula Begley’s shop in Townsend.

I have been in many shops over the years and this is one of the best. Not only do they have the gear you need, they have the local knowledge. Most importantly they share that knowledge willingly. If you decide to head down that way you really should check in with them.

What I really enjoy about the GSMNP is fishing for rainbow trout in the mountain streams. Rainbows, like brookies, are quick to take a well-presented dry fly. Catching these acrobatic fish in fast-moving mountain streams is a thrill.

According to the folks at Little River Outfitters “Rainbows are found at almost every elevation in the Smokies with the exception of some high elevation brook trout streams. Rainbow trout generally average in size from 4″ to 10″ and on rare occasions up to 14″”.

On this trip we spent a lot of time dodging the rain so most of the fish we caught were on nymphs tied behind a dry fly. Little yellow stoneflies, March Browns and light Cahill’s seemed to be the most prominent. We started to see a few sulfurs come off as well.

We stuck with pretty standard nymph patterns, pheasant tails, copper john’s and gold-ribbed hare’s ears. My “go to” nymph and all-around best producer was the shop-vac.

Last year we had a map marked with prime fishing spots. Our plan had been to fish the same areas again since they had lived up to our expectations last year.

The water levels this trip forced us to seek out new spots to fish. Waters levels were three times the normal flow, blowing out the larger rivers and making even the moderate sized mountain streams dangerous to wade.

Since many of the streams are easily accessible from the roads and trails we were able to look over the map and plan each day’s fishing based on the current or forecast water conditions.

This type of fishing is a bit more challenging than what we had wished for. Last year we had split up into pairs and fished different sections of the streams. With water conditions as treacherous as they were we opted to fish together as a group.

Needless to say this not only allowed us to scout around for potential fishing locations it also gave us a chance to offer each other some good natured “critiques” of each other’s fishing abilities.

Our evening destination was the Little River just up stream from Metcalf Bottoms. This section of the Little River boasts large pools, long runs and lots of pocket water. This is where the big brown trout hang out and we were hoping to find one or two.

Given the water conditions we opted to fish a long run near one of the picnic areas. For three of the four evenings of the trip we swung streamers and nymphs in the swift murky water.

Each evening we were rewarded with a good hatch of mayflies and stoneflies giving us some great fishing to rising browns and rainbows.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. Fishing is a great way to join in the celebration.

The Jim Range National Casting Call

By

On Monday I was in Washington, D.C. to participate in the Jim Range National Casting Call. I also had the privilege that evening to be the Master of Ceremonies at the event celebrating the life and conservation legacy of Jim Range, my dear friend who tragically died in January from cancer.

This was the ninth year that the American Fly Fishing Trade Association had gathered on the banks of the Potomac river to celebrate fly-fishing and an aquatic habitat success story, the return of prolific runs of American and Hickory shad to the Potomac river.

This was a special year for those of us who, under Range’s leadership, started the Casting Call. AFFTA’s board of directors, after conferring with the Range family and his friends, decided to rename the event in Range’s honor.

Jim Range was a widely recognized conservation visionary who represented AFFTA in Washington. He was a hero to many in the hunting, fishing and conservation community.

I wrote in this column at the time of his death that he was like a brother to me. The best man in my wedding, a hunting and fishing partner of many years, and the voice on the other end of the phone keeping me strong when trouble came. I still feel that way today and know many more who do as well.

Range saw the Casting Call and its venue, Fletcher’s boathouse on the Potomac, as the perfect opportunity for the fly-fishing industry to educate members of congress and administration officials on the important nexus between conservation and economic activity.

He knew as well that the partnership efforts that had gone into restoring shad to the Potomac were a model that could be replicated across the nation.

“The Jim Range National Casting Call gives us a chance to get government decision-makers on the Potomac to see and experience the aquatic resource we all cherish,” said Alan Gnann, Chairman of the Board of AFFTA. “It was our friend Jim who showed us that this was the best way to communicate the importance of aquatic habitat and fisheries and we will continue this tradition in his name and his honor.”

Around the time of the first casting call, the federally chartered Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council, of which Range was a member, recommended that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service develop a partnership effort similar to the successful North American Waterfowl Management Plan.

This effort, endorsed by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and supported by numerous conservation organization and federal agencies became the National Fish Habitat Action Plan.

The Action Plan is a science-based voluntary effort to address the challenges facing aquatic habitat and our nation’s fisheries. There are six regional partnerships, including the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture that works here in the Valley.

Range saw the newly created National Fish Habitat Action Plan as an exceptional example of how partnerships like the one that had helped the shad could be replicated across the country. He saw the National Casting Call as a great opportunity to showcase success.

“The National Fish Habitat Action Plan’s approach – teaming federal, state and local partners – is helping to bring fishable waters back to life in a faster more strategic way. We can see real progress in treating the causes of fish habitat decline, not just the symptoms,” said Kelly Hepler, Chairman, National Fish Habitat Action Plan. “The Jim Range National Casting Call gives NFHAP the opportunity to spotlight 10 specific projects that display on the ground work that can be held high as a vision of what quality habitat should be.”

The Action Plan’s 10 “Waters to Watch” was started in 2007. It highlights examples of aquatic habitat conservation efforts of the National Fish Habitat Partnerships. In addition the NFHAP board presents two group awards and two individual awards including newly renamed Jim Range Conservation Vision Award, given this year to world- renowned conservationist Yvon Chouinard, the founder of outdoor clothing manufacturer Patagonia Inc.

Jim Range was deeply missed at this year’s Casting Call, but his name and legacy live on in tribute to his memory.

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

Why social networking is like fly-fishing…

By

Twitter is one of my favorite tools for staying informed. Recently @karenrubin from @hubspot posed the following question.
“has anyone put their facebook profile public yet? if not are you going to?”

To which I replied, “@karenrubin don’t think I will be doing that. Might get 2 unwieldy. BTW hope you have great show on @hubspot tv 2day!”

In reply she posed another question.
“@troutscout thanks! I am worried about the un-wieldiness of it too, but at the same time want to promote my personal brand – what to do!?!”

I didn’t think I could do justice to her question in 140 words let alone 140 characters, hence this post…

My take on @karenrubin’s question about promoting personal brands is to use content to increase awareness. Something I hear repeatedly on @hubspot tv. from her and @mvolpe

@KarenRubin has content in at least three places. On @hubspot‘s blog, on hubspot tv and on her own blog gormandizing.

As a fly-fisherman I have to figure out what will get the fish to accept my presentation as food and commit to an action. The info cycle helps refine my presentation and improve my success. Content, in this case the right fly is key.

I have applied that thinking to my professional work as well. It works for me. CC Chapman – @cc_chapman – on twitter, made a similar point on @hubspot tv recently. If i provide valuable content, in my case lobbying skills and knowledge of conservation policy, then i will attact clients.

For me in my professional life as in fishing it is not a numbers game. What is most important is reaching the correct audience.  On twitter I really don’t care how many folks follow me. I follow who interests me so I can learn from them. I figure the same thing applies to those who follow me.

If they like the content then they follow. If the fish likes the fly they strike.

Because of her content @KarenRubin has me in effect promoting her personal brand by virtue of this blog post.

If on the other hand the question is where you want to send those people if they want more of that content then I think it requires making a distinction between personal and professional personas.

I believe it was Mark Drapeau aka @cheeky_geeky on twitter who wrote something along the lines that Linked In was his rolodex, and facebook was his scrapbook. I think that is a good way to look at it

Linked In is where I send colleagues, clients and potential clients who are interested in my background. Here is my Linked In profile. I keep that area strictly professional. This blog is there and I keep these posts relevant to my professional interests such as hunting, fishing, conservation and journalism.

Facebook is where my non-business persona resides. I don’t keep my facebook content from my clients but I don’t just add folks randomly either. I am happy to add folks when they become friends. I make friends pretty easily so I add people as I get to know them.

My clients know I am on facebook and have not asked to be “friends”. If and when they do I will explain they are now asking for something other than a business relationship and content on facebook does not reflect my professional life and should not be judged as such. If I think they can and will understand and accept the difference than I will “friend” them.

Opening up your profile on facebook will certainly increase exposure. That is true of a blog, podcast or live video, and you are more likely to attract folks who are interested in your content in those venues.

If I just cast a fly in the water, any water, I have to expect an unexpected result. Not always a bad thing. On the other hand if I want to catch brook trout I have to fish in brook trout water and use a fly I think, or experience has shown me, will increase the chances of a strike.

I like that element of control and structure in my fishing and professional life. For me content, be it words or flies, is the best way to increase awareness. I think I will keep it that way for now with facebook as well.