I have been on the Rail to Trails and fishing over the past two days. I've seen quite an assortment of wildlife as a result - seeing more rattlesnakes than I've seen probably in the last 20 years! First, I heard from my neighbor say that he saw one crossing Pine Creek about a week … Continue reading Last Brookie Of Summer

My friend Harry stopped in today. I've been fishing with him since the mid-1980s. The water has been so low for so long that we thought it best to not go fishing. So he said he was going to go hiking up in the Algerine Swamp Natural Area. We talked about this for a little … Continue reading The Algerine Swamp Natural Area

I've been back in Slate Run now for a few days and have things pretty much caught up. So I decided to take a drive up into the mountains. We recently got a new (one year old) vehicle and I thought I'd break it in by driving up to Cushman Vista. Just as a I … Continue reading Meteorological or Astronomical… Fall?

We've all read the stories of the guys that look at topo maps, (ok, so I'm a little dated here, get over it) - alright, or their iPhones, and they find these obscure trickles of water. They go hiking miles to get a chance at catching Brookies in very remote places. That's about what it … Continue reading Remote Places, Cool Waters, and Long Hikes

Slate Run Sportsmen was formed with the intention to make Slate Run a Fly Fishing Only stream. That goal was attained with a lot of hard work by the founding members. The Brown Trout Club (BTC) was formed relatively recently and I believe many of my fellow SRS members also support this endeavor. At this … Continue reading This Is What Stressed Trout Look Like

I was thinking that I was going to go for a hike today. But a friend of mine reminded me that this particular hike, the Dragonback, was pretty challenging - especially on the way down. Since I am still officially recovering from hip replacement surgery, I reconsidered my plan. So I went 'hiking' up a … Continue reading The Tributary That Must Not Be Named

My friend took his fly rod for a walk up Cedar Saturday afternoon. He realized that the water was too warm and just hiked his way out. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon - maybe not what is expected, but we can modify our behavior if we want to protect the things … Continue reading The View From Here

I'm planning on getting back to Slate Run in a week. Fishing is going to be questionable at best - unless there's some much needed rain that arrives a few days before I do. Low water levels and temperatures that near the 70 degree mark make it exceptionally difficult for trout to survive. Best to … Continue reading Sometimes We Seek Nature, Sometimes Nature Finds Us

What IS normal these days? Certainly we're not so far gone that we have to ask ourselves this... are we? I'm coming from a view-point of being raised by parents that lived through the depression and World War II. So, if I seem insensitive, please, accept my apologies. I don't know what normal is I … Continue reading Under Normal Circumstances…..

I've heard this crying out call for many years. And there are even a few years when it is true. But the habitat where Slate and Cedar exist is just too ideal to not see trout thrive. I'm not ignoring that predation can affect trout population - it certainly can. I'm not blind to realize … Continue reading There’s No Fish In The Runs … 😉