daverichey September 18th, 2009

A boast sometimes rankles other people, especially when two or more anglers are on a trip together. Almost always, one of the people is big on himself and wants everyone else to know it.

Most people could care less what people have done. The trick is to be courteous and helpful, and if asked, answer the question as well as possible without bragging yourself up.

For instance, I know how many deer I've shot over 55 years. It's really too many, and I seldom bring up the topic. I've been fortunate to have deer hunted in many states beside my native Michigan but choose not to constantly dwell on myself and my deeds.

On the other hand, I dislike being in a group that is being monopolized by an ego-freak who is determined to quote numbers, sizes, the width of a rack which invariably is larger than anyone else has taken. After a short time, the egotist discovers he no longer is preaching to the choir. They've left.

Mentoring other writers …..

I mentor younger outdoor writers. All are making or have made many of the same mistakes I made when I started, but in my case, there was no one who offered to teach me any of the things I didn’t know. I struggled, made more mistakes, and trust me – when I tell people how to avoid making these mistakes, there is not a word of a brag to it. I tell them about my mistakes and how long it took me to correct many such errors. They learn fast or struggle for a long time.

A friend stopped by yesterday, and he is looking forward to drawing a turkey tag next spring. He wanted some calling advice, and I told him I am not a good turkey caller. I also told him that many, many hunters can call ten times better than me, but I can call turkeys. No brag involved when I downplay my minuscule calling skills, but others can associate with my lack of such because they have their own foibles. Some of these beginners are far better callers than me.

I showed him a couple of tricks I've learned, told him how I do it, and repeated what he'd been told before. Don't call too much, don't call too loud, don't move and be patient.

A quick lesson …..

Years ago, I gave my twin brother a five-minute lesson on turkey calling. I took my gent out, and the bird I tried to call came in behind us, stood there drumming and spitting, and we couldn't get a shot. My brother was hunting a mile away, and we drove over just in time to watch him call in and kill a gobbler with just five minutes of instruction.

He got a well deserved pat on the back. My gent was disappointed for a bit, but he shot his gobbler that afternoon.

The lesson to all of this is that bragging long and hard on oneself is boring to others. If I'm asked, I'll answer a question and quickly turn the conversation back toward them.

Beginning anglers and hunters need to boast a bit over their successes, and that's OK … up to a point. But if you've shot 100 bucks with a bow, it means that you've hunted far more than most people. It also means, if you dwell on that number without teaching, those people often think you are lying, boring or a game hog.

None of which may be true. I'm a good deer hunter and a good steelhead fisherman, and have spent 55 years at both endeavors. Unless a person is blind or stupid, it stands to reason that they should have learned something along the way. Share that knowledge with others but spare the bragging.

A guide teaches a gentle lesson …..

Forty years ago I drove to New Brunswick to fish Atlantic salmon with a guide. I sought his advice on which salmon flies to buy, and he pointed them out. I sought his advice on which fly to start with, and he picked one out for me.

Two hours into fishing, my guide said softly: "Begging your pardon, sir, but I suspect you've washed that fly long enough. I'd suggest changing to a brighter pattern."

He didn't have to dwell on the fact that I should have changed flies earlier. He offered a suggestion that I gladly accepted, and when I hooked a 10-pound salmon on a brightly colored fly, he didn't claim any credit. I'd been the one to choose the fly, and luckily, it produced a fish.

He could have bragged about his knowledge and skills, but instead, offered me a pat on the back for "choosing" the right fly. I had no clue what I was doing, and it was his suggestion that made that cast a success.

Even today, I enjoy giving credit to him for me catching my first Atlantic salmon. He poled the boat into position, told me where to cast, how long a cast to make, and all I did was manage to land the high-jumping fish once it hooked itself on the strike.

Stow the bragging, and if possible, share your know-how with another person without trying to make yourself look important. I labor in a business where there are more egotists than I ever believed possible, but I check my ego at the door when I leave home. It works for me.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Tags: bragging, dave richey, fish, fishing, Michigan, outdoors

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daverichey September 13th, 2009

It’s a malady that can put a man to his knees faster than a sucker punch, and it can happen to anyone, at any time.

It can strike young and old alike. It’s called seasickness, and early fall salmon trips on wind-swept waves can cause problems.

My buddy was deep in the throes of this marine illness. He was gut-wrenching seasick. Knee-walking ill. Puking his guts out. A feeling of dizziness overwhelmed him. His face was pale, perspiration dotted his brow, and he was sucking air like a person after running a 1,500-meter race. He was in sad shape.

We were 10 minutes out of port, and the boat was rolling in five-foot swells pushed by a stiff northwesterly wind that was blowing foam off the top of the whitecaps. Five minutes after reaching open water, he was hanging over the rail while I kept him somewhat upright by grabbing his belt and hoping it would hold.

All this didn't make him feel better. In fact, it made him feel even worse but I was trying to keep him from pitching head-first into the rolling foam-flecked waves.

“Oh, God, I’m sick,” he sputtered, vomit dripping off his chin. “How long will this last?”

The skipper, unsympathetic as most are to people who are afraid others will think they are a wimp if they take medications to prevent getting ill, said: “It will last until I turn this boat around and drop you off on shore.”

Bob’s ongoing vomiting brings truth to an old saw often spun by ancient and modern mariners — when a  person first get seasick, they are afraid they will die. After a prolonged bout with this malady and the dry heaves, they are more afraid they won't.

This is how Bob felt until we took him back to shore. Five minutes after his feet touched dry dirt, and he kneeled to kiss the ground, he experienced a miraculous recovery.

Seasickness can affect anyone, at any time, and its causes are many. The only sure cure is firm ground underfoot, and even then, nausea or queasiness in your guts can linger for hours.

What is seasickness, and how is it treated? I've never (that’s me knocking on wood) been seasick, although I've had an upset stomach several times. What causes the illness is hard to determine although there are many guesses as to its causes.

Boating sickness is another name for this problem. Motion sickness is another. It can occur in a car, boat, bus, roller coaster, Ferris wheel, or bumpy airplane ride, to name a few. Motion upsets the middle ear, which helps us maintain our balance or equilibrium, and this sets up a feeling of exaggerated movement. Rough water isn't the only thing that makes people ill.

One major factor in seasickness is fear. Few people readily admit they fear the water, but they may be very uncomfortable being on big water, regardless of the boat size or the captain’s skills. They subconsciously think about the boat tipping over, them being thrown overboard, and they become nauseous and ill.

This part is all in their head. They talk themselves into getting sick, and this is the one thing over which they have some control. Don a life jacket, tell your friends you’re a weenie, and go fishing and don’t think about the waves, motion and stomach queasiness.

What an angler or boater eats or drinks can trigger seasickness. What a person thinks or hears also can do a nasty job on those on the cusp of becoming ill.

Drinking alcoholic beverages before or during a boating trip is a major cause. A booming morning hangover after a long bout on the bottle can lead to a naval disaster.

Certain foods are known to precipitate motion sickness. Orange, grapefruit or other citrus juices are high in citric acid, which can trigger seasickness. Avoid tomato juice as well, and apple juice can make some people very sick.

Little or no sleep will hammer most people prone to this problem. Too much coffee or pop are major factors that lead some folks to becoming sick on the water. Eating fried eggs, hash browns and bacon or sausage for breakfast, and then chasing it down with a large OJ, is a great recipe for on-the-water barfing.

Sometimes, even talking about motion sickness makes people ill, and some old salts who never get sick take savage delight in talking about the illness. I once watched a father talk about getting seasick, and he literally talked his son into leaning over the rail to upchuck his breakfast.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," I told the father. "Sometimes that kind of comment will come back to haunt you."

His son recovered, and then the Old Man got sick. He got zero sympathy from his kid or me. Keep such comments to yourself, and it makes for a better fishing experience for everyone.

Impending seasickness is easy to spot. The victim begins to sweat and often feels nauseous. Gradually, skin color becomes pale or white, and cramps hit the abdomen.

Sucking noises are heard as the victim tries to take in more air through the mouth to offset hyperventilation and to ease stomach cramps. The next step – nausea — continues until the stomach is emptied and dry heaves set in.

It's no fun for the victim. Frankly, others never enjoy watching the results of this malady in other people. It can be contagious, and if one person gets sick, that causes others to do the same.

What can be done to prevent seasickness? Numerous over-the-counter medications such as Dramamine are available. One or two pills should be taken the night before a trip and one should be taken at least 30 minutes before leaving the dock. Check with a doctor to see if Dramamine or any other motion sickness pill is right for you, and prescriptions are needed for some medications.

Don't take anti-motion pills after becoming ill. Scopolamine, an anti-motion sickness medicine, is released slowly into the skin through a behind-the-ear patch, and it works for many people when  properly used. The patches are obtained with a doctor's prescription. It's recommended that a patch be applied the evening before a boating or fishing trip.

If you start feeling ill, start doing some boating chores. Don't sit motionless and hope the queasiness will go away. It won't. Don’t go below deck and sit in the head (bathroom) because that will only aggravate the problem and make matters worse.

Rig tackle, watch other boats, study the rods or look at the distant shoreline or horizon. Stand in fresh air, hopefully with the breeze in your face, and breathe deeply. Don't inhale gasoline or diesel exhaust fumes, and do not sit or lay down. It only makes it worse.

Avoid unpleasant odors. A lack of ventilation and close quarters can cause an attack. Never go below or lay in a V-bunk if illness strikes. Stay in the fresh air, and remain upright, and look at the horizon. Never look down at the deck or down at the water.

Try eating dry bread, gingersnap cookies, lemon drops or mints. Eat slowly, do not swallow air and think about something other than a queasy stomach. Do not drink milk, alcoholic beverages or soft drinks. Bottled water and mints are good to rinse out a mouth after vomiting and the mints will freshen the mouth and relieve some of the aftertaste of vomit.

Seasickness can strike anyone, anytime. I've been lucky, but someday I'm sure my time will come. Hopefully I'll be able to follow my own advice, and conquer the problem before it overwhelms me.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Tags: boat, boating, dave richey, fish, fishing, Michigan, motion-sickness, outdoors, Scopolamine, sea-sickness, water

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daverichey September 4th, 2009

A major thrill when prospecting for those speckled little fish with a square tail, white piping along their fins and blue spots along a dappled flank, is finding them. They can be pretty good at hiding themselves, especially in early September as they head into their spawning season.

This is the time of year when I love old two-tracks through the woods, over-grown and faint trails, and following the twists and turns of a creek flowing through a cedar swamp.

LOCATION

Find flowing water, and follow it upstream or down, and when the trail doesn’t peter out at a bridge, then it becomes time to put on your hiking boots and go exploring. It’s also a time to carry a good compass, because I’ve been in some of these situations where it’s easy to get turned around or lost.

The fact you are  reading this piece is proof positive that I was able to find my way out. But, on occasion, it meant many miles of unnecessary walking through rugged country.

Often, it’s not a long walk but one never knows what they will find. It could be a beaver pond filled with muck and little water, or a gleaming one-acre pond glistening in the early fall sunshine and nearly as beautiful as the fish we seek.

Sometimes the creek remains a creek and is thick and overgrown, and here we dap a single-hook spinner in holes under the root wads of cedar or spruce trees. This water flowing through the roots is caused by centuries of flowing water seeking its easiest route downstream.

There are times when a brookie will be hiding under  every opening that gives access to the water, and these fish are always hungry. One moves from hole to hole, dapping a tiny spinner into each hole.

Some of these creeks will produce brook trout and some will not. That’s the thing about these game fish: they aren’t always where an angler expects to find them. Some will be found in an open stream hiding alongside a fallen tree branch; others may be in the deeper holes of a larger river; and most require a long and dedicated search.

EXPLORATION

Several years ago, after covering the AuSable River Canoe Marathon, I was heading for West Branch on business. Halfway between Tawas City and West Branch, an urge came to me and it took me down a dirt road for several miles.

The road eventually turned into a two-track, and it took me down a hill and I soon spotted a glint of sunlight off water. I checked it out, and there was a beaver pond. It was one I’d fished nearly 50 years before, and it produced trout again.

“Seek and ye shall find” is an old saying, and it is doubly true for September brook trout anglers. Brookies are easy — too easy — to catch once they have been found, but finding the fish can be a definite problem or the perfect reward.

I was lucky to again find that spot near West Branch after all those years that had passed somce I’d last fished it, but if I hadn’t taken the initiative, and followed my gut instincts, that experience would have been lost.

IT’S ABOUT BROOK TROUT

I’m a writer, and as a rule writers are curious and inquisitive people. They want to learn things they don’t know, and perhaps I was born to be a writer. Many things interest me, but none more so than tracking down a hot new brook trout hotspot.

There have been boot-sucking mud, old bogs that stink, and crystal-clear little creeks where the brook trout are easily seen. Some of these spots where brook trout call home are way back of beyond while others lurk closer than we think.

It’s the search that attracts me. It’s a bit like fishing, something like hunting, and often a pleasure when we learn that the spot holds brookies. In years gone by, when I was more up to such things, I’d often try to find five or 10 new brook trout hotspots in one day.

The next day I’d do it all over again but in a different location. After two days of searching, and marking spots on my maps, I’d start fishing each one in turn. Some produced only tiny little brookies that were the size of a finned jewel.

Other spots would produce 12 to 14-inch fish, and some were very darkly colored while others were a lighter hue. Often these spots would be within a half-mile of each other, and the fish wore distinctive coats of different colors.

That’s the fun and the joy of brook trout fishing. One never knows what color or size the brookie may be, but it’s always a pleasant surprise. Brook trout never disappoint me, even when the season ends at the end of the month.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Tags: AuSable, autumn, brook, dave richey, explore, fall, fish, fishing, Michigan, outdoors, trout, West Branch

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daverichey December 8th, 2008

TITLE: Death Roe

AUTHOR: Joe Heywood
PUBLISHER: The Lyons Press
DISTRIBUTOR: Globe Pequot Press, 246 Goose Lane, Guilford, CT 06437-0480
CONTACT: Globe Pequot Press, 246 Goose Lane, Guilford, CT 06437-0480

WEBSITE: Globe Pequot Press
WEBSITE: Authors Website
COST $24.95 + S/H; Hardcover book with dust jacket

This is the sixth book in Heywood’s highly acclaimed Woods Copy Mystery Series. The chief focus of each Woods Cop book is Grady Service, a hard-nosed, rawboned conservation officer and detective for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Most of his earlier books have dealt with Service’s painstaking challenges to enforce fish & game laws in the Upper Peninsula, but not this time.

This book is a fictionalized account of a company contracted to harvest salmon and eggs at the state-owned weirs on Great Lakes tributaries where salmon run up-river to spawn in the fall. The weirs are manned by the contracted company, but all types of illegal shenanigans take place as the company bills for more fish than they harvest. And that’s just the tip of the ice berg.

A woman, employed by the company, tastes the eggs of harvested salmon and pronounces them acceptable for caviar. Soon the company is mixing New York salmon eggs, which contain Mirex, a deadly chemical, and those eggs are unsafe for human consumption. The contaminated eggs are added for “taste” to the Michigan eggs, which were fit for eating. The woman dies from the poison, and piece by piece, Grady Service and a female conservation officer begin to learn more about this company and its corrupt ways of doing business.

They uncover bribes, kickbacks, and other illegalities that compromise some state employees. The web of deceit and crime spreads to a host of Upper Peninsula Yoopers, officers of the New York state fish and wildlife agency, and then federal game wardens and IRS agents enter the case.

The book has 346 pages of hard-hitting, explosive twisting and turning plot shifts, and Heywood manages to keep the reader hooked on this fast-paced novel.

Not only is Service a target for the criminal enterprise operating on Michigan’s spawning streams, but his work on this rapidly developing case makes him a target for some of the DNR’s highest ranking personnel. In true Woods Cop fashion, he doesn’t slow down, and continues to forge ahead until the outlaw operation is put out of business.

This book has it all: page-turning suspense, a weird cast of characters who are just weird enough to be real-life people. The book moves along with crisp dialogue, fast-paced action, and some feelings for an aging officer who gets banged up a bit.

Heywood has a solid background in what goes on with Michigan conservation officers because he spends a great deal of time riding with officers, and this gives him a great feel for what the life of an officer is all about.

This is a good read, and like the other books in the Woods Cop series, it leaves the reader wanting another quick taste of what Heywood’s next book will be about, and that is always a major surprise.

Tags: "lyons press", dave richey, death roe, department, fish, fishing, Joe Heywood, Michigan, natural, resources, up, Upper Peninsula, Wood Cop

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daverichey March 31st, 2008

TITLE: Salmon, Trout & Charr Of The World
AUTHOR: Rupert Watson
PUBLISHER: Swan Hill Press
DISTRIBUTOR: Stackpole Books

CONTACT:

Stackpole Books
5067 Ritter Road
Mechanicsburg, PA 17055

WEBSITE: Stackpole Books
PHONE: (717) 796-0411
ISBN #: 1-8531—888-X (for bookstore ordering)
COST: $39.95+ postage; Hardcover w/ dust jacket and illustration with color photos & b/w drawings

This 312-page book should become the Bible for anglers who fish for these game fish around the world. These species, the author maintains, are mysterious fish spread across the northern hemisphere.

Let’s make this abundantly clear. This book is a major study that explains the origins, evolution, migratory instincts, diet, territories, breeding patterns, and management of these fish. The wider issues of the commercial fishing industry, over-fishing and conservation measures of these species are also covered.

Here in one book are in-depth chapters that focus on the Atlantic salmon, Pacific salmon, brown trout, rainbow trout, Arctic charr (the British spelling), brook charr (known in North America as brook trout even those they technically a char), and other salmonid species such as lake charr (lake trout) and cutthroat trout are covered.

Many of the color photos are spectacular. There are quality photos of limestone streams and other types of rivers, including some big brawling waters, and the maps show the current range of these game fish. Quite a bit of this coverage applies to fish found in the Great Lakes, which would make it of interest to Michigan anglers. The black-and-white illustrations are well done, and add a greater dimension to the text.

It’s been years since I fished for and caught cutthroat trout, but the illustrations of a Paiute and Lahontan cutthroat trout offer excellent detail that an angler should know when fishing these species.

Some relatively unknown salmon and trout species are included in this book. The Masu salmon is discussed, and trout species that are discussed in depth (besides those listed above) include bull charr, Arctic charr, white-spotted charr, Mexican golden trout, and the Gila/Apache trout.

Anyone who loves to fish for salmon and trout will find this book to be wonderfully informative. It is a great title, and deserves to be placed in a prominent spot on any angler’s bookshelves.

Tags: "angler bible", "swan hill press", book, char, fish, richey, salmon, scoop, stackpole, trout, watson

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