When I was stuck in Boston during my college years in the sixties and seventies, I used to dream of the waters along the Blue Ridge Parkway. I had spent some of my youth fly fishing the streams there.
The Charles River was not exactly a trout stream during my college time. I eventually wandered north, found LL Beans before it was a household word.
Finding Bean's meant that I also found Maine where I ended up on the Bluenose ferry to Nova Scotia. After college, Nova Scotia became home for a while, but the north mountain of the Annapolis valley where we settled was not much of an area for streams or growing hay crops. We eventually ended up in New Brunswick about twenty miles north of Fredericton, New Brunswick.
The little village of Tay Creek was set in the foothills and small streams were abundant. We had two on our farm. The back one was full of native brook trout. We had some fun over the years catching the brookies. We even made a small pond along the other stream and stocked a few brookies in there.
Now anyone who has lived in central New Brunswick can tell you horror stories of black flies. The black flies were so bad that the cattle grazed at night. The only way you could work in the woods was with a covering of Old Woodman's which I alway felt was the first step to being tarred and feathered.
After ten years we dispersed our cattle and eventually I went to work for Apple Computer which took us back to Nova Scota. This time we ended up in Halifax instead of along the shores of the Bay of Fundy. Still we could see Halifax harbor which probably sealed our fate.
While mountain waters are enjoyable, there is something about the ocean that really inspires the soul.
Perhaps it is a difference of scale. Living by most eastern streams means you are living in the woods. There are of course exceptions, but usually you have to jump to a river to get more space.
I am going through my ocean phase currently. I enjoy the big waters, the variety of fish, and the absence of black flies.
The first picture in the post is the Roanoke River. There has been much improvement in the Roanoke in the twenty years that we have lived in the Roanoke area. It runs beautifully clear. This summer with its cooler temperatures might be a good year for the Roanoke. Still summer is far from over, and it appears dry conditions have once again returned to the area. Low water flow does not help trout populations.
Tomorrow I plan to be standing in the Atlantic Ocean near Emerald Isle surf fishing. I think what I like the most about surf fishing is that I get to be in the water. This time of year, the water is warm and casting into the surf lets you enjoy the water and fishing. I have fond memories of mountain waters, but I think the ocean has stolen my heart.
