Tag Archives: exercise

Hand Weights and Bicycles

bikeWeightWith another drought plagued, fire prone, and unseasonably warm trout season headed our way, it’s time to jettison the fly tying gear and double down on weight lifting and increasing the morning bike ride.

The hand weights and sudden fitness kick aren’t to sculpt my sagging frame into something attractive to local cheerleaders, rather it’s to mitigate what I know is coming this season; low water and unseasonably dry conditions will force us to fish further from the parking lot.

With California’s snow pack was at 55%, and only a sliver of Winter remaining, it looks grim for the coming season and little increase can be expected from existing levels. Continuing drought ensures that our creeks and waterways will be scrawny – and pools that would have supported a couple of anglers for a couple of minutes, will fish a single angler for a handful of casts.

Moving frequently due to the “skinny” water will put additional strain on aging muscles and require us to be in better shape to handle a full day’s fishing.

Lakes and impoundments will act similar. Walking the banks will prove easier as low water offers few obstructions other than accumulations of driftwood and plastic water bottles, but what was shallow last year will be dirt this year, and we’ll be forced downslope to find the water’s edge. That means climbing upslope on the return and having to negotiate all that loose cobble enroute to the parking lot.

Those of us unfortunates that will be lugging a 105 pound kayak, will have to drag the Beast an additional 100 yards to get to the water, and on the return, will have to pull it upslope to get the boat back to the truck. Wheel assemblies make this easier, but the uphill slope and uncertain footing will make boat recovery much more arduous than negotiating a paved launch area.

… hence the emphasis on increasing the legwork and overall tone needed for our preseason workout.

Each of the last couple of years have proved devastating in terms of fire severity and impacts – and this year will be no different. The back country will likely be under additional restrictions (based on COVID and fire weather) so we should plan on issues associated with feeding, housing, and campfires.

I lost access to my local fisheries for most of the 2020’s summer due to fires and the debris field that followed. 2021 is likely to be a repeat as the ground is parched already and what didn’t burn last year is ripe for a dropped cigarette butt or lightning strike.

The Pandemic also resulted in a questionable boon to Fish & Game as an 11% additional folks bought or renewed their fishing license this year. Frequent lockdowns and being stuck at home means outdoor activities are the only approved flavor of social interaction. We may see a small uptick in traffic to the Piney Woods as a result.  Restaurant occupancy and motel / campground availability may also influence by demand, so it’s appropriate to factor into your trip  a few additional bodies attempting to get fed and housed.

These pesky COVID variants offer the remaining wild card in the outdoor mix. Should their increased virulence cause an uptick in the caseload, we may have existing restrictions persist throughout 2021 – despite the boon of vaccinations. Most of California is still bound by the Governor’s Tier Structure, with dining and lodging subject to local county issues, so plan on camping,  and washing down that Beef Jerky with a little branch water … should accommodations prove to be in short supply.

If the choice is sex or fishing, the fish will get screwed

Ask your average angler whether he’s contributing to the steady decline in fish numbers and you’re liable to get a supersized serving of righteous indignation.

Most fishermen agree that hooking and landing fish generate some  mortality, but they’re just as likely to rationalize the money they donate to conservation organizations, licensing, and taxes paid on outrageously expensive terminal tackle, more than make up for it.

Likewise for the angler that eats fish. As fishermen are keenly aware – our sporting fraternity is among the few groups anxious to see fish propagate, and while we admit to our kill (although understandably quiet about what is freezer-burned and tossed), we’re just as apt to quote similar avenues of compensatory dollars that lessen the impact of our hammy feet on the environment.

Unfortunately those dollars are outweighed many times over by the angler’s yearly outlay on Doritos, Ho-Ho’s, double-decker Bic Mac’s (dripping with plasticine GMO Cheddar), greasy Chili Cheese fries, great slabs of charred red meat, and the butter necessary to slide of that mass down his gullet.

While anglers protest with a pathetic bleat, “… at least we get a little exercise,” – the reality is that we’re fat, and growing fatter by the minute.

And as a by-product of all that questionable gastronomy, our collective diabetes medications are accelerating the feminization of male fish downstream of every sewage outflow.

Estrogens from birth control medications in wastewater treatment plant effluent have been cited as the likely cause, but research has shown that endocrine disruption is not solely predictable based on hormone receptor interactions. Many other non-hormone pharmaceuticals are found in effluent at concentrations orders of magnitude higher than estrogens, yet there is little data indicating the impacts of these other medications. The widely prescribed anti-diabetic metformin is among the most abundant of pharmaceuticals found in effluent and is structurally dissimilar from hormones. However, we show here that exposing fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) to a concentration of metformin found in wastewater effluent causes the development of intersex gonads in males, reduced size of treated male fish, and reduction in fecundity for treated pairs.

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Given that anglers are never prone to accept blame for more than a few milliseconds, and based on what the medical profession insists we do to correct our behavior, it appears as the act of fishing is now a life saving measure, and should be advertised as such to any spouse insisting on lawns being mown or chores being done …

It’s important we do our part to minimize the effects of our diabetes meds mixing with the existing slurry of birth control and female hormones in wastewater. While we can agree to sacrifice an occasional cheeseburger, we’ll waive any chastisement of female additions to wastewater, as we can all agree if the choice is between fishing and “tail” to save a watershed, the fish will definitely get screwed.