Rural/Farm Life
Related: About this forumTrout fishing yesterday 18-19 -16 went full Kirk Gowdy.
Fortunate as in this area we have so many choices in streams freestone and limestone streams as well to fish. Or even to travel to fish where I grew up in small very small Burg in the Allegheny state forest and then later we moved to the farm Bedford Fulton county A.O. as young teens , and we go back to these two areas at times to fish as well.
Yet we also have streams quite a few choices actually that run through farms as water supply for the herds. And they are great places to fish for trout the main reason is that very few people fish them no pressure none. Yesterday we started fishing the west branch concocheauge up near Doylesburg pa and ended our day fishing west branch of laurel run in Tuscarora state forest.
And in between these two fantastic fisheries I showed my crew a pasture stream. I havent fished in years actually 18 remembers fishing it reason is he asked dad is this the place we saw those copperheads good memory he may have been five.
You know that like I dont know any other way to explain it the cabbage smell copperheads give off Ive always taught our kids one eye on ground one where you trying to get to. At that time we were fishing by this old blow down of trees near tree line of this pasture stream , and I smelled that smell of like cabbage sure enough snakes were in the blow down brush.
Anyway we asked the farmer yesterday if we could fish sure go ahead and it was decent. Sixteen who just started hanging out with us over guitar lessons at Dunc pup institute of Music / drivers education has never been fishing before and she caught a nice size brown trout from the go in this pasture stream.
Even my not so brave Golden pup had great time especially after he realized that the herd of cows were not predators that would murderize him. Although he did keep a close side eye on the Holsteins in the pasture about 200 meters from us you just never know man they may charge us and Im telling you right now mister if it goes down every Dunc pup for themselves and any survivors will regroup at the 4 runner.
On the way home I showed the crew a house we were gonna buy when we moved to the area from a small town from Cambria county area 26 years ago reason was union outfit I drove for had change operations and i followed the work then to the terminal over in Hagerstown Maryland.
Actually I was looking at it because then I still deer hunted and small game hunted squirrels bunnies and I thought that place be great for dove hunting there was quarry nearby and doves use the stone to help digest I was told once as kid my one uncle told me that dont know if its fact. Yet one place I used to dove hunt had several quarries and water retention ponds and it was good hunting.
Liz was from South joisey originally across from Philly Walt Whitman where its all paved ,and her words no absolutely on buying that house in the sticks. So we bought the home which we still live in close to Gettysburg area. I told 19 slow down see that old stone house thats the house I wanted.
To quote your mother no fucking way I am not moving from desolation to desolation so you can fuck off all the way to fuck off mountain with the very rural home idea. And I dont give one shit if they have seen Bigfoot in Tuscarora state forest she actually said that because jokingly I brought it up as a good reason on buying that house on my VA bill option.
You know Id joke with her all the time and I remember responding to her in my Christopher walken impersonation, fine will move to apple country, and I am going on a gut feeling a hunch my dear that Bigfoots prefer chasing down deers for food instead of picking apples. I do think there is something to Bigfoot all these sightings cant be bull shit although Ive never seen any.
It was great day we packed sandwiches peanut butter straight for Dunc. Sixteen had blast fishing although drivers ed yesterday stunk shes really really tiny hobbit tiny and she had troubles in driving 4 runner seeing out window to reaching the pedals comfortably so 19 took over as driver.
She does ok in Mazda 6 and especially the work commute Corolla, I tell her Toyota Corolla built for hobbits. And Dunc totally into sixteen he loves her leans into her in backseat of 4 runner rests his muzzle on her yea total Dunc Gollum vibe my precious.
MLAA
(18,654 posts)Did you catch enough for dinner? Or did you have to order in pizza?
We had turkey yesterday
ggma
(711 posts)Or did you guys catch and release?
gg
Duncanpup
(13,740 posts)barbtries
(29,915 posts)i love fishing. and the tales you tell.
3Hotdogs
(13,485 posts)First tale took place on Pyramid Mountain, Morris County. It was hawk migration season and Pyramid is one of the locations to see Broad Wings. So, 9 a.m., we are climbing to the top of the ridge. Already there, is a guy with his binoculars, back pack, and an easel to mark his tally for the day and report it to Audubon.
As we are approaching the ridge, he calls out to stay away from the rock, over there. "That's where the Copperhead is.
I get here at 6:00 and set up on my rock. He get's here around 8:00 and sets up at his rock. We both go home around 7 P.M. and come back the next morning."
There were two Copperhead bites in our area, last spring. The first was at Bald Pate Mountain in Hunterdon County.. The second was about a week later at Ringing Rock State Park, Pennsylvania. Snake bites are so rare that both of these made the paper.
Rattlesnake bites are also rare. One made the paper. It was around 1990. A guy was hiking up Mt. Tammany. Tammany is the large rock formation off of Rt. 80 as you enter N.J. -- part of U.S. recreational area.
Anyways, this guy is hiking Tammany with his camera and kid. On the way up, he spots a Rattlesnake, sunning itself on a rock. Great photo op, except the snake's head is not facing the Sun. So he did what every good photographer would do...
"I reached down to adjust the snake and he bit me."
Our hero spent 2 weeks in hospital for his effort.
jaxexpat
(7,794 posts)Copperheads are the real deal if you're too far away from anti venom. As a youngster I surveyed cross country in south Texas. Sometimes it was a toss up between them and moccasins for the most near misses in a single afternoon. Among my least favorite things, actually.
2naSalit
(93,115 posts)Spring showed up late yesterday morning so there was a lot to do. I had to plant my onions, they're live starts, hope they make it... was a bit long waiting to put them in the ground over at my buddy's house. He was nice and raked up the dead leaves and helped with th tilling. It's a small plot but it's still a lot of work for me to do alone.
After that it was help with little two person jobs on his antique trucks, immaculate 1947s fully restored. We have Sunday gig where in winter we spend the after noon making a big dinner and playing cards and dice, darts. But now it's coming up on time for outside things which means mushrooming and rock-hounding. Both activities require considerable amounts of physical exercise so we in our late 60s, are glad to have something fun to do while working out. There's nothing like hiking a couple miles to a "good spot" for either treasure and then packing up to 20lbs of bounty back to the vehicle for an aging body!
Yesterday was a beautiful day and after all the work was done we had time to do a lot of fun stuff so he had things to go look at, a vehicle he might buy and scope out new mushroom hunting grounds. Last year we had a massive flood, you saw it on the news, it closed Jellystone NP for a week. Well, a few thousand miles of river in the area flooded and there was a lot of ground that got really wet, wiped out some of our mushrooming spots, others had over two feet of silt deposited on them so now we have to go assess the damage. Do mushrooms grow through silt?
So my buddy and I jumped in the 51 Chevy and tooled around looking at places around the county. But then he decides we have to go check out a spot that required a 1.5 mile hike over flood detritus and uneven gravel through willows and whatnot! I didn't have my walking stick and I wasn't really prepared but handled it especially after I scored a walking stick out of a pile of stuff. It was worth it, we saw lots of wildlife, wild turkeys, eagles on nests, lots of deer and moose tracks and found a few new "shroomin'" locations to check out when the season starts up.
It sure was a nice day! Glad you and yours had one too! Spring has sprung, game on!
Duncanpup
(13,740 posts)2naSalit
(93,115 posts)It's good for the soul.
70sEraVet
(4,198 posts)Farmer-Rick
(11,505 posts)I would catch my limit and fry it up in the pan.
But now a days you can't eat your catch. There are warnings everywhere about the fish being contaminated. I still fish now and then but don't eat it. There are tons of rivers and streams where I live but almost all of them are polluted. It's a sad state of affairs thanks to Republicon rule.