Author Archives: KBarton10

Singlebarbed unmasked, he ain’t a GearHead

Brownliner gear is not for the dainty. It’s largely genetic and we’re proud to be social Visigoth’s, uncaring which fork goes with what dish, which sleeve to wipe our nose with – and how many minutes a food item can roll across the floor before it’s officially undesirable.

Our gear reflects that mantra, it’s neither showy or flashy, usually inexpensive, and hopefully rugged. I use serviceable tackle that I can afford to lose.

Wandering some creek in a farmer’s “south 40” may get me afoul of any number of situations, so I gear with that in mind. Issues associated with trespass are never simple – nor will it matter who is right, it’ll be you waist deep in water and him on the riverbank with plenty of rocks, a herd of milling bovines, or some dimwit nephew with a hard on to evict you.

I’m fishing in the rural-urban interface, a fancy term that means the city is close to the woods. Come Friday evening I can expect anything from the “high-powered rifle hatch” to the Gang-bangers with a yen for white-meat. All of them will be powered by Jack Daniel’s or Budweiser, and it won’t matter whether you have to defend yourself or cut and run, that rod is a liability.

Inexpensive rod so I won’t cry if I lose itMy rod is a Fenwick Eagle Graphite 8.6″ for a 5 weight line. It was the rod I kept for clients to use when their tackle was poor quality, back in my guiding days. It cost $80 new (circa 1990), and throws a nice tight loop. The epoxy is lumpy, the guide trim is painted on, the reel seat is all metal, and it fishes smooth.

It has survived horrific damage, everything from my ample unguided posterior to a trolling motor battery dropped on it.

I am a control freak, one of those demon-possessed folks that white knuckle the passenger side arm rest if I’m not driving – naturally the suitable reel is “anything with a rim control.” I learned painfully that mechanical drags should never be tinkered with while playing a fish, so my fingers provide what the reel lacks.

Scientific Anglers System7, by Hardy BrosMy favorite is the Scientific Anglers System 7 made for SA by the Hardy Brothers of Alnwick, England. They also marketed these under the Hardy label, calling them the Hardy “Marquis.” The reel is the only expensive item I carry when Brownlining, as poor quality can handicap you badly if you’re lucky enough to hook a big fish. These have a butter-smooth simple ratchet and pawl drag that is augmented by my bruised knuckles.

For those interested in following suit, your tackle should be chosen by quarry and surroundings; sized for the quarry, and keep damn alert to your surroundings.

Brownlining ain’t for the faint of heart.

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First Blue, then Brown, now Whitelining

I can only imagine the effect on the fish The War on Drugs has a silver lining for the Miskito Indians, as a unique combination of wind, tides, and interdiction has caused one of Nicaragua’s desolate coastal areas to be the recipient of tons of adrift cocaine.

Villages that once eked an existence on shrimp and red-tinged lobster have been transformed. In place of thatched wooden huts there are brick houses, mansions and satellite dishes.”They consider it a blessing from God. You see people all day just walking up and down the beaches keeping a lookout to sea.

Colombian traffickers and Nicaraguan middlemen trawl villages offering finders $4,000 (£1,960) a kilo, said Major Perez – seven times less than the US street value but a fortune to a fisherman.

I’ve never heard the words, “fishing” and “profitable” used in the same sentence before, I guess there is a first for everything.

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To Hell with Fishing, Gadgets are much more fun

So, what color is pissed anyway’s? Phillips Electronics is interested in feedback for their “emotion sensing jewelry” – that’s right, jewelry that changes color based on the emotion of the wearer.

I’m thinking strictly of fishermen here, as the only emotions fly fishermen exhibit are; pissed, optimistic, and skunked. Who wants to walk in the door and be pre-empted by the spouse, “Oh, didn’t catch anything again?”

Worse yet, if lying stretching the truth exaggerating a fish story has a color, none of us would buy it …would we?

House in a shipping crate “Glampers” are folks with too much disposable income insisting on roughing it so long as maid service and a Jacuzzi are present. Outdoor innovation has caught up with the trend, and yields something truly fashionable to tow behind their 700 series Beamer…the House in a Shipping Crate.

I want one. I figure 1/2 an acre near a trout stream with a flat spot and Internet access and I’m done. Property taxes? Exactly how much will I owe for parking a rusting shipping crate on my property?

I’m not sure Singlebarbed readers have the maturity necessary, but with the decline in home prices, real estate near airports and busy freeways may be your ticket to financial independence.

With neon text enabled roof tiles this may turn into quite the cash cow.

Did I say your maturity was in question? I meant mine – as my airport house will say, “You’re missing an engine!”

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What are 14 Named Pools and 415 salmon worth?

The River Tay, ScotlandA lot. $3,162,000 by the current exchange rate.

The Upper and Lower Kercock of the Scottish river Tay is on the market. This is 2.5 miles (both banks), comprised of 14 named pools, divided into 12 beats. Included in the price is two “well appointed” fishing huts – sorry, no castles or titles come with the property.

The 2006 season yielded 415 salmon and 40 sea trout. The fishing is handled by a third party, with two full times ghillies and two boats. The per rod fee is $50 per day. The season is 235 days long as Sunday fishing is not permitted.

Anna Thomas, of Savills in Edinburgh, said: “This is not a high price at all for this kind of thing.

“Salmon fisheries can sell for up to £10-12,000 ($20,000-$24000)per fish. This one has produced up to 300 a year for the last five years.

“At £1.55m, that works out at just over £5,000 ($10,000) per fish.”

I have always been interested in the reverence and precision that is European fishing, it’s my theory that our blue ribbon fishing will move to the same model over time. Restrictions on anglers are listed below:

Fishery Conditions

1.All Anglers must report to Dennis Buchan, the Ghillie, before fishing, and they should meet at the top Fishing Hut.
2. Fishing is from 9.00am to 5.00pm. Evening fishing is at the discretion of the ghillie. The owner reserves the right to fish an additional rod throughout the season at any time.
3. The Kercock Fishings are fished with a maximum of 12 rods. A boat is available at the discretion of the Ghillie, the cost is included within the rent.
4. At the discretion of the ghillie, if there are more than 6 rods fishing a rotation arrangement may be imposed, alternating between the upper and lower beat (formerly Upper & Lower Kercock) on a daily basis, with changeover at midnight. If the rotation is in place, each party will use the hut pertaining to that beat.
5. Life jackets should be worn at all times, and these will be available from the top Fishing Hut. Tenants who do not wear life jackets do so entirely at their own risk. A charge of £20 will be made for replacement gas cylinders.
6. Pools are fished in rotation, starting at the top and gradually moving downstream. Do not enter a pool downstream of fellow Anglers.
7. Sharing of rods is not encouraged and, if it is done, must be on a half day about basis and not on a shorter period. Notice must be given in advance of the intention to share a rod.
8. All salmon/sea trout caught must be reported to the Ghillie, who maintains fishing records. All fish remain the property of the tenant. Should the ghillie be absent, tenants are requested to leave a note of catches in the top fishing hut.
9. The Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board is undertaking a conservation initiative, particularly of spring fish, and we would be grateful if you would adhere to the Board’s catch and release recommendations. Details available in top Fishing Hut. All foul hooked/unseasonable fish must be safely returned to the river.
10. Any legal method is permitted (includes fly fishing, spinning and worm fishing).
Please note that shrimp and prawn fishing are prohibited, as is the use of a gaff, fixed rods and set lines.
11. No litter to be discarded. Please bring it back to the Fishing Hut to be disposed of by the Ghillie.
12. Follow the Country Code, particularly in relation to dogs, risk of fires and gates.
13. Be considerate to fellow Anglers.
14. The tenant shall not be permitted to assign his tenancy or to sub-let except with the express permission of the proprietors or their agents.
15. The ghillie’s word is final. The proprietors shall not be bound to refund any rents paid in the event of cancellation for whatever reason.
16. Rents are payable as follows: a 50% deposit, which will be non-returnable, must be paid to confirm a booking, and the balance will be payable before the end of the month prior to that in which the fishing is booked or, where bookings are made in the same month as the fishings, the rent is payable in full to confirm the booking. Please note that all rents are quoted on a fully inclusive basis, and include agency commission and VAT on commission only.
17. The proprietors will accept no liability whatever for damage, injury or loss to the persons or belongings of the tenant, or those in his party, from whatever cause arising, nor can they be held in any way responsible for adverse weather conditions or acts of God.
18. The tipping of the ghillie is a traditional part of British etiquette and tenants are encouraged to do so. As a guide we would suggest a minimum of £10 per rod per day.

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Seduction of the Innocent, Singlebarbed lures Angler across the Brownline

Brownliners love all them barbaric male rituals, like football players we pat each other on the bottom after a good fish, like Indians we name each other after some act, deed, or singularity.

Mostly because of the limited membership – no one is willing to remain downwind of us, so we’ve overcome our fear of societal censure, that coupled with our boring cocktail conversation has us on the outs with the balance of the social scene.

Note the clean mown far bank

Everyone else is too smart to accept an invite to fish with me, so I had to lure an “innocent” to go fishing. One of the lads at work is taking up the sport – and is untainted – at that rarified stage where he has no false idols, many bad habits, and hasn’t developed an inflexible opinion on anything. Fishing is still a source of mystery, and he hasn’t learned that the effluent water is anything other than great sport, better than sitting on the couch watching football.

The “Before” picture, note foliageHe’ll learn the horrible sin he’s committed later, right now he’s a blank canvas upon which the Brownline stain is starkly visible.

Meet “Dances With Bushes,” the man who showed me a thousand landscaping tips for 5X tippet, none of which are sanctioned by the vendor.

DWB was a good sport despite the time spent punishing The “After” picture, note missing foliageundergrowth, we all did it, some still do it – it reminds me of  sage advice my father gave on the eve of my first fly fishing trip, “Kid, you may want to leave the fly rod at home, you don’t want to learn casting while fishing.”

He was right, and I ignored him, thankfully I didn’t lose an eye – I just lost esteem, and most of the flies I brought with me.

Dance With Bushes landed 5 fish today, then promptly lost his Indian name by going golfing afterwards. Damn golfers – they never understand that if you lose a fly to underbrush you’re penalized a fish..

We’ll see you on the Brownline.

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Nature Conservancy purchases portion of Deer Creek headwaters

Nature Conservancy logo The Nature Conservancy purchased the 1440 acre Child’s Meadow parcel near the southern entrance of Lassen National Park. The Childs Meadow is an alpine meadow that forms part of the headwaters of Deer Creek, one of the few California streams that hosts both steelhead and spring salmon.

The property is located east of Hwy 89, just below Morgan Summit. The meadow will continue to be used as summer grazing for the horses of the Simmons Ranch, north of Chico.

Proximity to the Lassen National Forest’s southern entrance had caught the eye of developers, who proposed a conversion to vacation homes and golf course.

This alpine meadow acts as a sponge absorbing snow melt and releasing it during the warmer months when cold water is critical to the survival of fish in Deer Creek.

Golfers have plenty of real estate to hack away at already, draining the region for homes is not the best way to save Parr.

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What color wraps do you want on your transparent rod

Watch that car door They’d better be really bright or that new rod is going to be sundered cleanly in your car door.

Singlebarbed is used to nano-technology, most of our fish defy measurement in integer numbers, so we’ve used nano-terminology to make them sound really big.

The rest of you had better crack the science books, as the next big material in rod construction may have its roots in nano-science.

This effect, coupled with the arrangement of the nanosheets in a brick-and-mortar structure, make the final product (as thick as a piece of plastic wrap) very strong. The developers say that the product could be widely available in a relatively short period of time.

Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a plastic stronger than steel using nano-building blocks. It may even be strong enough to resist them big feet of your partially inebriated fishing buddy, details are still sketchy.

Only two certainties we can count on; your spouse will balk when you insist you need one, and somewhere in the process the “nano” will be replaced by “mortgage busting credit killer” on the price tag.

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Bullying the Brownline, how to salvage a battered ego by making others suffer

Still smarting from Upper Sacramento rejection, I sought solace in the Chocolate bosom of my Fortress of Solitude. No sooner do I step out of the car when the acrid odor of skunk hits me like an oily cloud. He couldn’t have been aiming at me, one whiff and he would’ve recognized a brownliner as blood kin.

Home. The Little Stinking in all her odiferous glory, I could feel my spirits lift even as my nose cringed.

I needed hungry and desperate fish, actually I just needed to get out of the skunk enrichment zone, as it was evident this furry bastard had been on a multi day binge, involving discarded Cheetos and warm beer.

I had never been upstream of the  “Conservancy” stretch, a small chunk of real estate donated to the county by the gravel company that mines the drainage for aggregate. I assume that they donated it after imbuing it with toxic waste, but needed a tax right off, and good press never hurts.

Caenis or Trico, no hindwing

A gravel conveyor dominates the skyline, I wade up above it while spitting spinners out of my mouth, each puff of breeze bringing winged reinforcements. I fought back with a cheap cigar – cigars make great bug zappers, first you hear the sizzle, then the smoking death spiral like an ME-109 during the London Blitz.

Now that something other than me was suffering, I was starting to feel better.

Enough bugs were making the water that fish were rising. Not continuously, but enough to realize my dry fly box was perched on the tying bench and not in my vest. I had one #18 Pale Morning Dun attached to the fleece patch, and the lure of catching a trash fish on a dry fly overcame any thought of fair play.

The river had changed to include slots of deep water that slid under overhanging brush and trees, nice looking bass water – and the lure of rising fish made it doubly so.

I eased into the water above the working fish and sent the “too big too yellow” dry fly down amongst them. Thankfully it passed serenely through the working fish because I’m thinking “Selective Pikeminnow” has a Fly Fisherman magazine cover written all over it.

My hopes were dashed as the dry vanished in a swirl, and I set too late to feel anything. I got one more take a bit later, but it was half-hearted. I swapped out the fly to an Angelina Hare’s Ear and went prospecting.

Big Pikeminnow, 14-15″ fish that slammed the fly and and gave ground grudgingly, fast movers – reacting just like trout, running,  even jumping, and great sport, just the thing for a bruised ego.

A fast ship going in Harm's Way

If the fly was within 6″ of the tules, the smallmouth were on it, if the cast landed further out the Pikeminnow fought themselves to eat it. The smallmouth ranged from about half a pound to a pound in size, and would always spin out of the water immediately when hooked.

Pikeminnow school to size, they had been disappearing steadily downstream, and apparently had moved upstream to more favorable water.The first I encountered was the 9″ to 18″ school, about 100 fish milling below an overhanging tree. If the fly “fell” out of the tree into their midst it triggered a feeding frenzy. You could even follow the swing of the fly by the parade following it, and each fish hooked would have 5 or 6 curious fish following throughout it’s struggles.

Another nice pikeminnow succumbs to Angelina

I saw some enormous fish, landed a couple in the 15″ range – but saw 2-3 that would approach 18″. The California record for Sacramento Pikeminnow is nearly 30lbs – so an 18″ specimen may be large for the Little Stinking, but it’s not exceptional.

Thankfully Bass aren’t timid – as the only way to outwit the smaller Pikeminnow was to slam the fly into the bass’s living room.  After bolting out of the way they would pick the fly off as it swung away from the brush. 

I was now about 3 miles from the vehicle and most of that was wading upstream. The fish had been increasing in size as I moved farther upriver and each new stretch looked better than the last.

I figured enough time remained to eyeball one last stretch, then throw myself on the mercy of the Court as to why the lawn was ignored. I’m thinking a couple bottles of cheap red and she’ll forget my transgressions…

Gravel conveyer dominates the Conservancy skyline

I fought my way overland through the snarl of brush, burst onto the edge of the creek; a deep slowmoving run, 300 yd’s long and 4 foot deep. The hardpan of the streambed was visible and channeled, I could see movement in the shadowy clefts and as I approached, a pod of huge largemouth bass slides out of the channel and bolts downstream.

It’s midafternoon and I’m in trouble already, I stayed long enough to stick two fish, one broke me off and the other was on only for a couple of headshakes.

This is where I’ll start this weekend, what’s needed is a closer access point so the walk isn’t so time consuming. Then again, that may be why there’s big fish – as the distance eliminates them beer guzzling lightweights, and only the unshaven recently scolded sorefooted brownliners get to play.

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Not Jailbait, real Bait – and suddenly the Dry Fly Purists know humility

billIf you were bait what piece of you would be irresistible? A UK fisherman wants his corpse ground into chum so his pals can catch fish.

Donating your body to science, that’s passe’ – what better way to make nice with the Big Guy Upstairs, neutralize all that negative karma by having the fish chew on your ass for a change?

I’d say this bloke is ahead of his time.

I would do likewise, but my pals know that my flesh would repel fish, not attract them. Factor in all of the self inflicted toxins, the orgy of fast food that factored in my demise, and all of the transgressions of youth that stunted growth and eliminated brain cells, and you would have to file an environmental impact report before disposal of any kind.

In either case, here’s a fellow worth mourning. Hat’s off if’n you please.

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The "Tiger Woods" of angling?

Big Musky This may be a rare glimpse of the next legend in the sport. Poppa hands kid crappy rod and minnow, kid says, “Dad, I got one” – naturally he’s ignored. Poppa is expecting trash minnow, looks down to see a 20lb Musky caught by 3 year old on 6lb test. (MSN Video)

Dad gets seriously Owned!

Likely the poor tyke will never get another invite – it’s still great stuff.

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