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By Anthony Naples, on February 5th, 2010
In the past I’ve tried to stick closely to fly fishing and related topics. This post is a little bit of a stretch. As a father of two young children I still get to think about dinosaurs , and share the enthusiasm that my kids have for them.
So my interest was peaked when I saw the news story that says scientists have solved the age old mystery of What Color Were Dinosaurs? Well – solved for at least one species, the tiny feathered-dinosaur, Anchiornis huxleyi. Check out the story: Prehistoric patterns: A dinosaur gets color from head to feathery tail, in Scientific American Online. Researchers were able to examine fossilized feathers and determine what color they were. And so create a fully-colorized rendering of this 150-million year old creature. It’s pretty cool.
Well, I need to try to make some tie-in to fly fishing so here’s a quote from the article:
“This was no crow or sparrow, but a creature with a very notable plumage,” Richard Prum, a professor of ornithology, ecology and evolutionary biology at Yale University, said in a prepared statement. Nevertheless, the coloring isn’t fully unfamiliar. Quite to the contrary, as the authors noted in the study, it is “strikingly similar to various living birds including domesticated fowl.”
This of course makes the fly tyer think “I wonder what dino hackle is like?” I know this fly fishing tie-in is a little weak, but I just thought it was a cool story.
By Anthony Naples, on July 11th, 2009
 Delicious? Think Again. Throw it back! According to this article, large trout taken from the Great Lakes are among the most toxic. Just another reason to practice catch and release.
The Canadian Press
TORONTO — If the huge trout you caught from one of the Great Lakes ends up on your dinner table you might be at risk from alarmingly high levels of toxins, says a new report from advocacy group Environmental Defence.
read the article here: CTV Toronto – Big Great Lakes trout the most toxic
By Anthony Naples, on June 15th, 2009
Another bit of bad news from the world of science. It seems that those hatchery raised fish aren’t all that we thought they were. I know we all thought that they were robust and great for the gene pool – turns out that’s not the case (please read this sarcastically).
ScienceDaily (June 13, 2009) — Steelhead trout that are originally bred in hatcheries are so genetically impaired that, even if they survive and reproduce in the wild, their offspring will also be significantly less successful at reproducing, according to a new study published today by researchers from Oregon State University.
read the whole article at Science Daily: Hatchery Fish May Hurt Efforts To Sustain Wild Salmon Runs.
By Anthony Naples, on May 8th, 2009
 Didymo: picture from WV DNR website (click pic to go to the Didymo (Rock Snot) Fact Sheet) Sometimes it can be too easy to ignore things when they are not so close to home. Didymo is one of those things – I’ve never seen it in the streams that I fish…yet.
Well didymo is in the news again – it is showing up in more and more places. I came across several articles recently confirming it’s presence in yet more streams.
A fourth West Virginia Stream is Confirmed to have Didymo.
Invasive Algae Didymo Confirmed in Seneca Creek
The invasive algae known as Didymo has been found in Seneca Creek near its confluence with Whites Run, according to Mike Shingleton, Assistant Chief, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Section. An angler fishing in Seneca Creek had earlier sent DNR a picture of what he believed was Didymo. DNR personnel investigated the Didymo report and collected samples from Seneca Creek. Whites Run was also inspected in its lower reaches, but nothing resembling Didymo was observed. The Seneca Creek samples were sent to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources for confirmation. All samples contained Didymo.
In 2008, Didymo’s presence was confirmed from Elk River, Gandy Creek, and Glady Fork.
Read the whole story at the West Virgina DNR Website
Also Didymo was recently confirmed in the Esopus in New York State. Previously, didymo had been confirmed in the Batten Kill and in the East and West branches of the Delaware River.
DEC Confirms Presence Of Didymo In Esopus Creek
Aquatic Algae Discovered in Popular Recreational Waterway
Monday, April 27, 2009: New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis today announced that didymo, an invasive species, has been confirmed in the Esopus Creek in Ulster County.
This is the first known presence of this aquatic algae, also called “rock snot,” in the Esopus and the third confirmed location in New York State…
DEC collected samples and confirmed the presence of didymo in the vicinity of several public access sites along a 12-mile stretch of the Esopus from the “Shandaken Portal” (which transfers water to the Esopus from Schoharie Reservoir) to New York City’s Ashokan Reservoir.
Read the whole story at the NY DEC Website
I guess the message is to assume that Didymo can be anywhere and to take the necessary precautions. What can the conscientious angler do?
The basic precautions consist of washing , disinfecting and drying all equipment. Including waders and wading shoes. Consider replacing any felt soled waders with the new “sticky” rubber soled (and cleated if you’d like) wading shoes or waders. I have a pair of Aquastealth rubber soled (with cleats) wading boots from L.L.Bean and they work perfectly – no slipping.
Rather than re-listing all the precautions needed to reduce the spread of Didymo in this post I’ll direct you to a good resource that has all the info you’ll need.
Also for some more complete info on Didymo check out the USDA link below – there are links from this site to many other places to get info.
By Anthony Naples, on April 30th, 2009
I’ve been enjoying reading this blog for a little while now: The Slippery Trout: A Fly Fishing Blog.
About the Blog In the writer’s own words
This blog is primarily designed to record my time fly fishing for trout in the northeastern United States; however, I write and post about anything I encounter during my fishing expeditions.
Just as it says, Matt, presents a sort of online fishing journal, complete with pics of more than just fish. In his latest post on Pennsylvania’s Penns , Elk and Fishing Creeks we get fish pics, info on the hatches and some wildflower pics (with identification).
The inclusion of insect hatch info and wildflower pics should be a great help to the fly fisherman interested in Phenology (as we all should be).
From Wikipedia
Phenology is the study of periodic plant and animal life cycle events and how these are influenced by seasonal and interannual variations in climate.
So, check out the wildflower pictures, review the hatch info and take notes. Next year when you see those flowers blooming you’ll know just what flies to tie.
By Anthony Naples, on April 29th, 2009
If you’re in the North Carolina Area check out the 2009 1st Annual Fly-Fishing Masters Tourney. The fishing tournament is part of the Hickory Nut Gorge Olympiad.
The tournament is touted as family friendly and takes place over May 2nd and May 3rd, 2009. The first day is at Lake Lure, NC and the second at the Rocky Broad River in Chimney Rock, NC.
The event is hosted by The Grandaddy Fly-Fishing Experience (click the link to go to their site and get full details).
By Anthony Naples, on April 24th, 2009
Ever wonder what it costs to produce a stocked trout in Pennsylvania? The PA Fish & Boat Commission (PFBC) released the results of a comprehensive cost analysis.
Results from a Fish & Boat Commission (PFBC) stocked trout cost study (appendices) show that the agency spends approximately $2.17 to produce an average adult trout, an amount less than that charged by commercial trout hatcheries. Overall, the Commission spends approximately $12.4 million per year to provide more than 6 million of the popular game fish, including fingerlings and adults.
From the PFBC Website
The question that I have is: What is the cost to the wild trout that are stocked over? Wouldn’t it be great to see a policy where wild trout streams are no longer stocked? I understand that this is a politically charged idea but why not dream a little dream?
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