WHAT IS IT?

November 9, 2009

I sat in the living room reading the latest editions of Northwest Fly Fisher and Montana magazines which Trav subscribes to and can’t help but have a little sadness that our fishing for the year is pretty much over. We still have some local salmon runs going, but that is more of a group grope than a lovely fishing experience. That said, there certainly is a thrill in hooking, playing and landing one of the big salmon.

Some years ago were we fishing at John’s Creek near Shelton Washington, again, loads of people, but not shoulder to shoulder like the ‘combat’ fishing at Hoodsport. (There is a state hatchery there and the fish return in BIG numbers, so do the anglers.) Spin fishers outnumber the fly anglers at Hoodsport big time, while other places, especially Chico Creek have large numbers of fly fishers. It is more fun to be part of the fly fishing than to be surrounded (and sometimes bombarded by spin fishers) and yes, I’ve had people cast over my line more than once. The numbers are pretty equal at John’s although I haven’t been there in a few years.

At any rate, my late husband Castwell and our friend Jim Sisson had gone down to John’s and there were huge numbers of quite fresh Chum salmon. Several people thought they had Silver (Coho) salmon but they were just bright Chum. When the weather doesn’t cooperate and produce the necessary fall rains the salmon mill around in the bays and estuaries until the rains come and produce deep enough water in the spawning streams for the fish to swim upstream. The longer they stay out waiting, the more changes happen to their spawning colors. The skin turns darker, developing very defined parr marks along their bodies. If they are out too long they begin to deteriorate with white patches which eventually will cover their bodies.  These fish die after spawning and their bodies break down to become food for the entire watersheds ecosystem.

We all caught fish that day; one of those rare days when you think your arms just might fall off. One of the big fish was in the 25 pound range and it spooled me, that is took all my fly line and backing, twice. Once it went under a boat which was fishing off the shore. The people in the boat saw what was happening and moved out of the way. I got the fish in, and Jim Sisson had to help me get the hook out. I couldn’t release it and hang onto it, it was just too big; maybe the thrill of a lifetime on salmon for me.

But the season for fishing is over for this year. Now what? We can’t live on memories of our past glories (or someone else’s in magazines either for that matter.)

Here is something entirely different. Start with what is it?

This my friend is just one little example of the benefit of getting off your duff (bottom) out of the house, maybe a nice walk or a drive to a park or place you can get out and about.

After Castwell’s death I was in terrible shape. Years spend working on a computer without the benefit of any exercise had allowed me to put on too many pounds. Even though I had quit smoking two years ago, I had no lung capacity only because I didn’t use them much. Slouching over a keyboard isn’t very good for lungs either. I didn’t ‘do’ much of anything.

We have to give my new husband Trav the credit for getting me out and working on being fit. I am in no way comparable to the condition he is, but I’m tons better than I was. I’ve lost about twenty-five pounds and can comfortably walk a couple of miles with him.

That means we can find a local beach and look for fish, or birds, or interesting driftwood or stones or even something like the photos above. (If you think you know what it is, you can post your answer on the LadyFisher’s column in Reader’s Voice on the Bulletin Board.)

Most regions have hiking trails of some sort of varying length. How about taking someone with you?  A nice conversation can still be had away from the house, car, family, television.  Lots of neat things to see - you might even discover something you didn’t know.

My point here is that we talk about how we can get our kids away from the computers and games and doing something outdoors. (We hope fishing will be one of the ‘something’s.’) But what kind of examples are we? We’re stuck inside, either with computers or televisions going and not doing anything for our bodies or our minds.

Here is the great Pacific Northwest it is a damp (rainy) and maybe cold depending on the day, but most of us have rain gear and certainly can be outdoors and still reasonably warm and dry. (You’d do it if you wanted to fish, right?) You may have snow where you are, there are still interesting things to see and do outside, even if it is just walking your neighborhood. It might be good to look around and see the state of your surroundings. When is the last time you spoke to a neighbor? If it’s been a while now might be a good time to do that too.

We don’t do much for our bodies or our minds when we spend our non-fishing months inside. Sure we can do some reading, some fly tying - but we all need to get outside and enjoy what our Creator has given us. A few days ago we were on our way back from a hike on the Dungeness Spit (Washington State) and stopped at a little waterside park in Sequim. The floor show was wonderful. A family of river otters, just being otters, were popping up out of the water to look around, popping back down and disappearing. Just a tiny bit of nature for us to appreciate and enjoy on a simple excursion away from the house.

What have you seen today? Where did you go? Do you have a ‘wonder’ to share? 

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