Spring is in Full Swing!

Another glorious New England spring is in full bloom in the wake of the best winter season I have ever experienced, and I couldn't be any happier.  A devout winter sports enthusiast to the core, I have no qualms hanging up the skis when the weather turns here in Connecticut.  Sure, the Greens and Whites may harbor pockets of rideable snow into June, but I'll leave those outings to the locals.  They don't have to drive too far at $4.20 a gallon to ski marginal backcountry routes.  

Cape Pogue...a poetic juxtaposition of sky, sea, and sand.

Anyways...spring!   I regard this season as our annual reward for enduring months of iced-over windshields and heating bill-induced heart palpitations.  Few complaints are lodged during these fleeting weeks of flowery transition between winter and summer; even the most curmudgeonly opponents of "weather" seem to embrace the live-affirming spring rains and silence their atmospheric grumblings, if only temporarily.  The days are warm, the nights encourage open windows for deep sleep, and the gentle rains and tumultuous clouds lend a dramatic backdrop as biology reestablishes seasonal dominance over the reticent geology.  I have found myself engaged in an endless fury of activity spurred by the abundant daylight, and as a result I have made good on some of the aimless goals which I presented in an earlier post.

Can you believe I lived with this salty dog for four years?

The warmer weather and emergent foliage bring out the travel bug in me, so I indulged my fancy with a weekend trip to Martha's Vineyard to visit some old friends and catch a few early season fish.  I am vastly fortunate to have roomed with Captain Roberto during my college days, and not only is he one helluva nice guy, but a skilled fisherman taboot.  The first order of business was to pursue some Morone saxatilis in one of the Vineyard's most scenic and secluded backwaters.  The shallow waters of the pond proved to be the perfect environment for the Gheenoe, the Vineyard boys' recent Florida-inspired small craft acquisition.  With a 15-hp outboard, shallow draft, stable casting deck, and ample beer storage, the Gheenou got us into the goods in the most stylish of redneck fashions.  Armed with a carbon-fiber pole, Roberto skillfully piloted the craft around the edge of the marsh where the stripers were feeding in various inlets.  We met success with a topwater Jumping Minnow and soft plastic baits.  The time spent in the salt pond was a highlight of the season so far...great conversation with a great friend, a fun boat, and good fishing all framed by the pristine coastal dune ecology.

Capt. Roberto at the helm.

To top off an already great outing, the following day found me in the company of the island's elite sportfishing charter guides, the boys of http://fishingthevineyard.com/ (minus "Carl", who was otherwise "engaged").  Captain WBC was eager to show off his new ship, a 22 Pathfinder outfitted with a custom poling platform.  Talk about a humbling experience, fishing with these guys!  All I could do was hang on tight and cast where they told me, with expected success, though  I'm sure I'm not the first amateur from Connecticut they have brought to sea.  Anyways, if you enjoy great fishing photography and well-written prose, you must check out their blog at http://fishingthevineyard.blogspot.com/.  And if you don't know what FTV are talking about in their posts, you must i.) meet Kevin and/or Hoagie, ii.) listen to more Grateful Dead than you currently do,  iii.) book a charter and find out what it's all about, or iv.) listen to Grateful Dead while on a charter.

If Ted Kennedy drove a Gheenoe on that fateful day on Chappaquiddick, he might have been president.

Though the weather surely looked like rain, we found the wads of birds and, between bouts of hurling insults at dejected Phocidae, hooked into some striped bass and entertaining bluefish before the schools of bait gave way to fruitless casts and a fine dockside lunch in Woods Hole.  After two days on a boat, I was thoroughly tired, sunburned, and dehydrated, but the spiritual well was replenished and the cosmic batteries were recharged.  

 Here are a few more from the weekend.  Enjoy.

The Woods Hippie gets one.

If the thunder don't get ya then the skull knob will...

Roberto finds fish in the strangest of places if you look at them right.

30 knots and no skipper to be seen...

The lawyer hooks up on his first cast of the season.

Sustainable Fishing

Captain Rob's creations, circa 2003.

Every so often, the Outdoor Blogger Network puts up a topic that member bloggers can discuss on their respective webpages.  It's a cool idea and generates some interesting writing on topics that most of us wouldn't normally include in our blogs.  This week's topic has to do with the following questions.  What does sustainable fishing mean to you? What fishing practices do you engage in that help fisheries? Any other thoughts you might have on this subject?

This blog entry is my submission for the GreenFish and Outdoor Blogger Network Writing Prompt Giveaway

Hmm, so what does sustainable fishing mean to me?  Well, harkening back to my undergraduate days as a biology major, my first response is that sustainable fishing is harvesting an appropriate number of fish of the desired age and size so as not to affect the ability of the remaining fish to reproduce and maintain the current population.  If the fish had a say regarding sustainability, I suppose this definition would be their stance.  As I think deeper, however, the concept of sustainability varies according to the end user and is ultimately selfish in that each user’s definition of sustainability serves to enhance their chosen pursuit.  I’m thinking in black and white terms here, which is not the reality of the situation, but bear with me.  Let's look from the standpoint of the devil's advocate at the examples of two user groups who are heavily interested in sustainable fishing.

Savage lands a whopper.

Okay, so the sport fisherman wants rivers and oceans teeming with healthy native fish.  That is great for the fish populations and fun for us, too.  The gold standard would be to eliminate commercial fishing to ensure these populations are allowed to flourish.  But let’s be honest here, for most of us, sport fishing is basically a leisure pursuit that we enjoy on our free time.  Is it fair to shut people out of their jobs as commercial fisherman so that we can enjoy a nice weekend of angling?  No.

The commercial fisherman wants every net to be full of fish so that he can pay the loan on the vessel, fill the tanks with diesel, and send his children to school.  However, filling every net means that sooner rather than later, the native fish stocks will be depleted to the point of economic extinction, and no user group will have any opportunity.

Devil’s advocacy aside now, the goals of the sport and commercial fisherman are seemingly at odds, and that is why state and federal agencies have stepped in to (ideally) make science-based decisions to balance the needs of all user groups while ultimately protecting the reproductive viability of any given fish population.  I think they’ve done a fair job, though there is always room for improvement.

Woods Hippie lands a whopper.

So, how do we as sport fisherman go about sustainable fishing?  There are many approaches, but I am going to go with education and participation.  We must educate ourselves as to the biology of the fish so that we may understand their behavior in the wild and the effects our tackle has on their bodies.  We must understand the sampling methods by which the agencies determine the size and health of the populations to promulgate sport and commercial regulations so that we may intelligently comment on their actions.  We must understand the needs of other user groups and realize that the overall goal should be the well being of the fish populations, not our individual needs, and all groups must be willing to compromise.  Further, we must participate in the process, whether that involves joining an advocacy group, attending agency hearings, or simply making friendly talk with a commercial fisherman on the water. 

Favorite Outdoor Places

Outdoor Blogger Network currently has a photo prompt to encourage bloggers to post pics of their favorite outdoor places.  Here are a few of mine throughout the years...

Mt. Hope Bay, Bristol, RI.

Calves Island, Connecticut River, Old Saybrook, CT.

Mt. Madison, Presidential Range, NH.

Vermont/Massachusetts border, somewhere on a gravel road. 

Lihue, Kauai.

Yellowstone National Park, WY.

Porcupine Rim Trail, Moab, UT.

Mt. Marcy, NY.

Martha's Vineyard, MA.
Thanks to Gut Feeling Charters

Somewhere in the High Peaks Region, Adirondacks, NY.

This blog brought to you by...Black Diamond!
Bolton, VT

Somewhere high on the Ammonoosuc Ravine, NH.

Colorado prairie east of Walsenberg.

Hanging garden near Corona Arch, Moab, UT.

Jenny Lake, Grand Teton National Park, WY.

Cold and wet in Yellowstone.

Missouri River, somewhere.

Mt. Frissell, MA.

Mt. Hope Bay again.  I like the lighthouse.

Na Pali coast of Kauai in a Hughes 500.