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Bass Fishing in Mexico is STILL Safe!
Posted on April 29th, 2009 No comments[Editor: this article first appeared on www.ronsfishingblog and may only be used by permission of Ron Speed ]
Today we are going to talk about POOR OLE MEXICO. This just has not been Mexico’s best year. First came the travel advisory by the US State department which kept most Americans from travel to the resort areas. Now they have had the swine flu breakout in Mexico City and that is really hurting Mexico’s tourist business. Very understandable. So far we have been fortunate in our area of the lakes and Mazatlan and have not had any reported cases.
If you all remember a couple weeks ago I wrote in this blog how crazy and ridiculous the travel warning was for the whole country of Mexico. Well guess what our State Department in Washington said last week: “WE ARE NOT ADVISING PEOPLE NOT TO GO TO MEXICO,” says Heide Fulton, a State Department spokeswoman. She went on to say the only areas of concern are the cities along the border. That is exactly what I reported to you two weeks ago, but a lot of damage had already been done to the rest of the country. All the resort cities reported a 50% drop in reservations and travel all over the country is down by 50%.
This lack of credible information from the US State Department has dealt a terrible blow to the country of Mexico and it was so uncalled for as the only problem area was Juarez, and a couple other smaller border towns.
Mike Ackerman, a security expert and president of the highly-regarded Ackerman Group, says that tourists can safely travel to Mexico as long as they stay clear of the border cities. Also, the Mexican Tourist Board has launched a new site showing the trouble areas and it also has a video of Americans talking about their recent trips to Mexico. The site is mexico-update.com and I advise you all to pull it up and get the correct info on what is happening.
My brother Jere Speed lives in El Paso, across from Juarez and he told me a couple days ago that things were calming down in Juarez since the soldiers arrived. I feel like things will return to normal along the border as time goes by, so don’t fear about travel to Mexico because of the drug wars at the border.
HAVE FUN WITH YOUR FISHING AND WEAR THAT LIFE JACKET!
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How To Be A Fly Fishing Blog Superstar* Part I
Posted on April 24th, 2009 No comments*tongue firmly planted in cheek
So you wanna start a blog, eh? Or, maybe you’ve thought about it, but the whole idea of being a “blogger” turns you off from the whole idea. Do you feel you don’t take nice enough pictures, or that you can’t write well enough? Do you feel like you’d have a tough time figuring out what to write about every day? Are you afraid no one would read?
Ya see, I always get a little chuckle out of people who make some of the above remarks when the idea of starting a fly fishing blog pops up. Most of the same people are extremely active on fly fishing or fly tying message boards. They’ve got a facebook or myspace page (or both), and a couple are even on twitter. They’re already blogging. The thing is, their content is scattered across the web.
If any of the above apply to you, then this series is for you. Actually, it’s for everyone. Because everyone has a story.
Why?
The first thing you want to do is figure out why you’re doing it. I’ll use myself as an example. I write this blog cause:
- I enjoy the creative outlet
- I enjoy having my own place to talk about the stuff I’m interested in
- I enjoy the feedback, both positive and negative
- I like sharing information
Not to mention, I’ve meet some kick ass people through this blogging thing. Seriously cool people who I’d share a boat with any day.
One other reason that is often overlooked deals with the ability blogging gives you to help protect the waters you care about. After your blog has been up a while, and you’ve got a sizeable readership, you’ll have an equally sizeable voice. For example, if there were a new threat to my homewaters today, I can get the word out to hundreds of daily readers in an instant because of this blog. Some of those readers have blogs, or visit internet message boards, and chances are good they’ll let others know about the threat my homewaters face. Just like that, I’ve helped that body of water tremendously by just getting the word out.
Who are you writing for?
Let’s be honest, everyone blogging wants people to read. If that weren’t the case, they wouldn’t be publishing their content on the interwebs. So now that we’ve admitted we want people to read, we can figure out who we want to be doing the reading.
This sort of goes hand in hand with the stuff under What? (below), but basically, the people who read your blog will most likely share the same interests as yourself. It only makes sense. A perfect example is if you’re really into fly fishing for roughfish such as The Roughfisher , then the majority of your readers will also share a passion or interest in fly fishing for roughfish.
What is your blog gonna be about?
The best advice I have is to write it about the stuff you’re interested in. Maybe you’re really into rod building, or entomology, or one of the dozen other sub-hobbies in fly fishing. Maybe your passion is fly fishing for small stream brook trout, or Great Lakes Steelhead, or [insert your locale here} fly fishing, etc. Or maybe you just want to chronicle your season . I can assure you, if your blog has a specialty niche, no matter what it is, it will have an audience.
But, you don’t have to specialize. If you’re interested in all aspects of fly fishing, write about them. In fact, it will make the process of finding something to write about a little easier.
Where to find content?
Probably one of the biggest hurdles to any new blogger is the process of regularly coming up with new content. I won’t lie, it can be tough. But blogging is no different than going to the gym. Once you start doing it, it gets a lot easier, eventually becoming part of your daily routine.
There are plenty of places to find content. The first I’ll mention are Google Alerts . Just enter a search term you’re interested in and Google will send you an email whenever it’s bots come across that term. You can have alerts sent to you as they happen, daily, or weekly. For example, I’ve got alerts for all sorts of terms, including every river I fish, or have interest in. One of those is the Battenkill River. Now, whenever “Battenkill River” is mentioned on someone’s blog, or a newspaper article, or a website, or video title, etc., I get an email with the link to that story. Literally nothing is written about on the Battenkill that I don’t know about.
The other obvious places to find content are the blogs and websites you already visit on a daily basis. If you see something that you’ve got an opinion on, or you find interesting, write about it.
There are plenty of other places to find content. Going fishing, local events, friends, etc.
Getting Readers
Eventually, you might want to attract more readers. The best place to start is by letting your friends and family know you’ve been writing a blog. They’ll read, and probably let other people who are interested in fly fishing know about it.
The next group of people you want to target are other bloggers. The first way to get another blogger’s attention is to link to them- either in your blogroll, or in your content. They’ll see the referals(We’ll get into all the technical nitty gritty in Part II) and check your site out to see what you said. If they like what you’ve got going, they might add your link to their blogroll.
Another way to get the attention of other fly fishing bloggers is to read their blog and leave comments on their posts/articles. This does not mean you should spam their comments with obvious spam. Instead, only comment when you’ve genuinely got something to say. Not only does this help build friendships/contacts amongst other fly fishing bloggers, their readers who see your comment also find out about your blog.
If you frequent any of the fly fishing message boards out there, sticking your blog’s link in your signature is a great way to help people find your blog without spamming.
There are other places to get more readers, and we’ll get to those in part II
Speaking of Part II, I think this is a good time to end Part I.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO PART II
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Monday Morning Debris
Posted on April 24th, 2009 No commentsHustle and Fish
I had planned on writing my review on Rollcast Production’s most recent Fly Fishing DVD, Hustle and Fish , this morning. But I’m running short on time so it’s going to wait until tomorrow. However, I’ll foreshadow my review by saying it’s probably the best fly fishing DVD I’ve ever watched. Here’s a trailer . Click here to watch a different trailer and/or purchase it at the Hatches DVD Store.
Gone Fishin’
Fishing was decent over the weekend. 4 species came to hand, plus a monster, pissed off snapping turtle.
Where’s the Water?
After looking at area stream flows last week, I couldn’t help but notice all those orange dots on the map. This week looks even worse as many of the orange dots are burgandy, or red. As much as I want to fish, we really need some rain or things could get pretty scary this Summer.
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DVD Review: Hustle & Fish
Posted on April 24th, 2009 No commentsClick here to view the embedded video.
After fishing for a few hours after work on Friday, I came home to find a package from the Hatches DVD Store on the counter. I ripped it open and found Rollcast Production’s new fly fishing DVD, Hustle & Fish. My wife was taking a nap at one end of the couch while my son was putting the smack down on the computer in Wii baseball at the other. Popcorn in hand, I popped Hustle & Fish in the DVD player.
Only seconds in, I realized that this wasn’t the typical fly fishing movie. Instead of trying to squeeze in as much fish porn as possible, Hustle & Fish has a story to tell.
Anywhere on the web where you can buy fly fishing books or DVDs, there’s a blurb; that short paragraph telling you what the book or movie is about. A typical blurb for Hustle & Fish reads something like-
A one-of-a-kind experience featuring breathtaking cinematography, high stakes adventure, gut busting humor, big fish, bears, sharks, wolves, extremely strange characters & tons of fish porn! Filmed in Alaska, Canada & Washington. 80 min.
Fulfilling Steve’s life-long dream of getting paid to fish should be simple. Make a fishing movie, fish, sell the movie, fish, make loads of money and fish… but will anyone want to buy a hilarious movie about fishing? Will Steve get to go on the epic fishing adventure of his dreams?
Words like that sell this movie short in so many ways.
A little further in, my wife slowly woke up. You could tell she wanted to fall back asleep, but something had caught her interest. “No way in hell it’s this movie.” I thought. In the past when I was watching the newest fly fishing DVD, she’s either left the room or asked me to watch it when she wasn’t home. But like most other times in my life when I’ve thought I could decipher a woman’s body language, I was wrong. It might have been the movie that woke her up, but the movie is also what kept her up.
Now, like a family gathered around the radio listening to the Bob Hope Show in the late 40’s, it’s the three of us sitting there watching.
Click here to view the embedded video.
The Review
Honestly, I can’t pinpoint exactly what it is about Hustle & Fish that makes it so special. What I can say is that after watching it, my wife might actually understand why I’ve devoted so much of my time, and myself, to fly fishing. This movie captures something that just can’t be put into words- it’s also really funny.
The music is pretty good, too. Not that you’re gonna buy this for the soundtrack, but if the soundtrack was available, I’d buy it.
The only knock I have on this movie is the long fish porn section at the end. Not that it’s bad, it’s just that I’ve seen and caught fish before. I’ve seen them jump and take line. I’ve seen fish splash water and rods bend and fly line go through the air and spey casts and all that other stuff that happens when you go fishing. Maybe I have a short attention span, or have been desensitized, but watching this kind of stuff on TV just doesn’t hold my interest for very long anymore.
It’s not that I don’t appreciate good fish porn. Many of the movie’s best moments were during the many fishing sequences earlier in the movie. The only difference being the narration leading into, or during, them. The narration really sets the tone, and by it’s self would make a damn good essay.
Something else worth mentioning is the fact that I have already watched this movie again. I’ve seen pretty much every single fly fishing movie thats come out during the past 5 years, and this is the first that kept my full attention the second time around- except for the long fish porn part at the end.
Specs
80 minutes long
$24.99 plus shipping at the Hatches DVD Store
Conclusion
I can’t emphasize enough how much I enjoyed watching Hustle & Fish. Seriously good stuff- probably the first fly fishing movie that has the ability to transcend being liked by more than just the fly fishing crowd.
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Local Banter
Posted on April 24th, 2009 No commentsAnyone else in New York’s Capital District noticed the weather forecast for this week?
While fishing the Mohawk with my son the last three days, we watched the water levels fall significantly. I don’t know how many times I told him that any time the fishing is gonna be off the hook. We just need a few consecutive days of warmer air temps to get things moving. Seeing the forecast above this morning tells me that by the end of the week, there will be no excuses for not finding fish.
This is what we’ve been waiting for- at least those of us who target the area’s warmwater species. For trout and steelhead I’d like to see more mostly cloudy days, but I’m not complaining. In fact, I feel pretty good about how the the next few weeks should fish.
The bass are in that phase where they’re cruising the shallows; either solo or with a few buddies. The smaller fish are aggressively taking flies, but the big guys just aren’t ready to commit yet. Even my son who is fishing with live bait is having a tough time getting the bigger bass to suck in a glob of worms. I watched one Largemouth in the 18″ neighborhood come over to check out his wormy goodness, it’s tail came up as it’s nose literally touched those squiggly invertibrates. But he didn’t eat. While hauling in crappie after crappie yesterday, there were several bass that would repeatedly follow his crawler back to shore- again, not fully committing. I couldn ‘t help but feel I could have got one of them to take a small fly slowly hopped across the bottom, but it wasn’t my time to fish.
Word on the street says that the areas carp were active during our last little warm up, then they disappeared when things got cold again. I have a hunch that by the end of the week, I’ll have caught my first carp of ‘09.
Then there are those coldwater species to consider…
Most area streams are actually looking mighty tempting after the high flows we’ve been looking at. According to the Delaware River Club’s Blog , The Upper Delaware River System is seeing those typical early season hatches: stones, black caddis, BWO’s, etc.
The warm weather over the next week should motivate some of the Battenkill’s early season bugs to make their presence known. However, if I had a chance to get over there, I’d be flogging big streamers.
Then there are those migratory rainbows we easterners call steelhead, that are getting groovy in the Lake O tribs. Sure, every steelheader worth his weight lives for those days when you can’t feel your fingers, or you walk off the river drenched from storms that drop enough rain they could be classified as tropical storms; but you gotta love chasing chrome in a T-shirt.
Yes, us Capital Districters have plenty of options right now, not to mention those salty mofo’s who’ll be making their way up the Hudson any time now. I love this time of year. One night I’ll be tying #20 olives, 10″ woolhead streamers the next. It’s that time when you gotta have your 4wt and your 8wt with you at all times, cause you need them.
Tonight, when you get home from work, raise your favorite tall one towards the ceiling. Cause this is what we’ve been waiting all winter for.
Wintery coldness is officially over.
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Ripples
Posted on April 24th, 2009 No comments- Just watched “Hustle and Fish”, full review coming on Monday http://tinyurl.com/cojdw9 #
- Will it Blend? http://tinyurl.com/2t5trc #
- Looking forward to getting Hustle and Fish in the mail http://tinyurl.com/cojdw9 #
- Damn, I forgot how good 70 and mostly sunny felt… #
- trying to figure out where to find that first carp of the season after work #
- I am the king of internet checkers #
- Debate to save Michigan UP’s Coaster Brook Trout rages on http://www.detnews.com/article/20090416/METRO/904160461/1409/METRO #
- The Flyosopher spews venom towards PETA- hilarious as usual http://tinyurl.com/dlcqev #
- FAS posts excellent article on better understanding of reflection as it relates to photography http://flyartstudio.com/wordpress/ #
- Pennsylvania’s largest Brook Trout of 2008 http://tinyurl.com/ddrpk3 #
- Am I the only one feeling a little worried about the flows around NY being below normal already? http://tinyurl.com/c4gyqn #
- MI Environmental Council to award Rusty Gates w/ it’s Petoskey Prize http://tinyurl.com/dlqzup #
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It’s Time To Raise Awareness on Kennecot Mine
Posted on April 24th, 2009 No comments
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably at least partially framiliar with the ongoing battle against Pebble Mine in Alaska. Well, during that same time period, there has been another battle against a mining company to save a salmonoid’s spawning grounds.
The battle is in Michigan’s Upper Penninsula, probably the wildest region of the United States east of the Mississippi. Our opponent is Kennecot Minerals, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. What’s at stake is the Coaster Brook Trout’s last south shore spawning grounds- the Salmon Trout River.
For those who don’t know, Coaster Brookies are to Brook Trout what Steelhead are to Rainbow Trout. They’re born in the river, then migrate out to Lake Superior where they spend most of their adult lives.
Back in the day, Coaster Brookies inhabited over 30 of the Upper Penninsula’s streams. At the time they were Lake Superior’s dominant near-shore trout species.
Now, the only south shore stream you can find them is the Salmon Trout River. The most current numbers I’ve seen on their current populations are truly scary.
The spawning population of Salmon Trout River Coaster Brook Trout is less than 200 individual fish. And are currently being petitioned to the US Fish & Wildlife Service to be formally declared an endangered species
Let me ask you, when has metallic sulfide mining ever been a good thing for a fish species, let alone, one that almost doesn’t exist?
While I’ve followed this issue for the past few years, I don’t feel I know enough about the situation to summarize what’s happened, what’s happening, and what needs to be done.
Yet…
So I’ve got some research to do. I’ve also got to figure out how to write what I learn without boring you to tears.
If you don’t want to wait for me to get my ducks in a row, please check out
SaveTheWildUP.org
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BIG NEWS! Hatches Launches “The Season, 2009″
Posted on April 24th, 2009 No comments
There is some monster news coming from the Hatches Magazine camp…Hatches has just launched The Season, 2009 . The Season is a contest aimed at encouraging you- that’s right, YOU - to share your fly fishing adventures throughout the 2009 fishing season.“The Season is for anyone who enjoys sharing their fishing stories and pictures with other people. It’s a contest for anyone who keeps a journal, or has wished they would have; chronicling their fishing trips to look back on during the long, cold tying season or 20 years down the road with their grandchildren.”
Personally, I can’t remember a better contest idea in the online fly fishing community- at least since I’ve been a part of it. And quite frankly, the prizes that are in the works are proof that this is no run of the mill internet fly fishing contest. Seriously, I’ve never seen this level of prizes put up in any fly fishing contest- period- and there are gonna be some really good “secondary” prizes, too…
Scroll down to the bottom to learn how to enter.
You can tell your story through: words and pictures, just words, just pictures, long posts, short posts, whatever- It’s your season, so you can tell your story however you wish! When the snow falls in December, you’ll have a great memoir to read through, reminding you of all your triumphs and lessons learned from the past season on the water.Only reports and photographs taken between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009 are eligible.You’ll also have the chance to win some excellent prizes…
A panel of judges will award prizes for:
- Best Photography
- Best Writing
- Best Overall Season
In addition, Reader’s Choice Awards will allow the public to vote in a variety of categories. Voting and prize details will be announced as they’re confirmed.
This doesn’t mean that the entrant who catches the biggest or the most fish wins, this is a contest meant to encourage you to share your adventures with your friends & family, or the rest of the fly fishing community.
Will Mullis, owner of Hatches says,
“Our blogging platform offers anglers and fly tiers a unique opportunity to share their adventures- and misadventures- with readers around the world. “The Season” is our way of getting people motivated and excited about chronicling their year. Even if someone is not interested in the competition or prizes, we hope it at least sparks an interest and encourages them to participate.”
Click Here to Register for a Free Blog, and start your season today
How To Enter
To enter, all you have to do is create a blog on the Hatches Blog Network(runs on WordPress) and start recording your adventures during the 2009 fishing season. Writing a blog is easy. In fact it’s no more difficult than writing a post on an internet message board. (Persons already part of the Hatches Blog Network are already entered.)
Want to get your fly fishing blog in on the action, but aren’t part of the Hatches Blog Network?
Well, you’ll be happy to know that becoming part of the Hatches Blog Network is a piece of cake- you can even keep your domain . It’s pretty much like joining a club of other fly fishing bloggers, your visitors will still be able to check out your content at www.yourdomain.com.
In addition, you’ll receive additional traffic from the Hatches Blogs Home Base . The Home Base is pretty much a content aggregator. When a featured Hatches Blogger writes a new post, the Home Base displays the first paragraph or so from that post, followed by a read more button which sends readers directly to your blog.
For you fly fishing bloggers out there using wordpress.com, Blogger, Typepad, etc.
You can switch to a Hatches domain in seconds. Basically, you create your blog at Hatches, then go to your control panel and under the tools tab, click
All of your posts, comments, categories, and even your tags from your current blog will automatically be at your new Hatches Blog. Instead of a boring domain name like: http://yourblogname.blogspot.com; you’ll have: http://www.hatchesmagazine.com/blogs/yourblogname. It’s just cool. And trust me, fish dig a cool domain name…More importantly, you’ll have more features and options than those free blog providers start you out with. Hatches gives you what they make you pay for . Free plugins, more theme options, etc. I should let you know that the default storage limit is set at 10MB. This is easily upgraded to make sure you can not only import all of your old content, but have ample room to keep doing your thing.
Fishing Tips adventures, angler, anglers, contests, fish, fishin, fishing, fishing trip, fishing trips, fly fish, fly fishing, hatchery, lead story, news, online, opinion, reports, river, steelhead, tags, tech, tools, urban -
Cramming
Posted on April 24th, 2009 No commentsTwo exams and a research paper have me slacking on the blog front this week. However, a little mouse has been whispering in my ear about something absolutely freaking awesome that I can’t wait to spill the beans on. The only hint I can give is that it’s one of the coolest ideas I’ve seen in a long time- and you’ll be involved . That’s it, you’re not getting anything else out of me; but don’t worry, as soon as plans are finalized, you’ll be the first to know.
Back to the books…
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Those Poor Kids…
Posted on April 24th, 2009 No commentsI had planned to do the next installment of How to Be a Fly Fishing Blog Superstar, but I read a story this morning that just kind of blew me away.
Yesterday afternoon, the NYDEC stocked about 1,000 Brown Trout in Geyser Creek, a local trickle running through Saratoga Spa State Park. It’s an annual event featuring live music and educational booths about fishing, local wildlife and renewable energy.
From the Saratogian -
“The annual event allows children to fill a bucket with water and a fish that was raised at the Van Hornseville Fish Hatchery, operated by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, and then release the fish back into the creek.
More than a thousand people waited for at least an hour in a line that snaked across the entire picnic area and along the creek for their chance to see a fish up close.”
I guess there are days when I happily wait over 8 hours to see fish up close, with no guarantee of reaching the front of the line- but at least there’s no line. So it wasn’t that part that bothered me so much- it was this one.
Noah Cowitt, 10, said this was his third year at the fish stocking. “You never really get to see fishes that close,” he said. “It’s fun to see them go into the river.”
I know it’s great that this event might have catalized this kid’s interest in fish, which could lead to his interest in fishing. But how sad is it that a 10 year old never get’s to see fish that close?
On a related note, my son and I have been hitting the local river on a daily basis. I haven’t been doing much fishing- mostly just removing snags, adjusting bobbers, removing fish and tying knots- but April has been a great month on the water. The other day I had triple duty as my daughter and one of my son’s friends came along. Despite their legs being half as long as my own, I could barely keep up with them on the walk from the car to the river. My daughter caught the most fish, and a snake. My son’s friend caught a few and loved every minute of it. The highlight of the day for my son was catching the fish below, a ~25″ Chain Pickerel- a big one.
Before I share the pic, I have to share the story behind the excitement in his eyes.
He has wanted to catch a toothy critter for years. When he was 4 he saw a guy on TV catching Musky. His quest for his own began the next day. We went to a lake and he cast the biggest spinner bait in his tackle box, non-stop, for 3 or 4 hours while I caught bass after bass. I don’t know about you, but I certainly didn’t have that kind of perseverance at that age, which is why I didn’t have the heart to tell him there were no Musky in that lake.
He has since broadened his quest for toothy fish to Pike and Pickerel, but until the other day, hadn’t got his unicorn.
