|
Gearing up: It's tiny, light and casts well; whether it catches fish is up to you
At first blush, the Compact Pen-Sized Collapsible Fishing Rod and Reel from gofastandlight.com looks like something Ron Popeil would hawk on an infomercial. Though it costs about the same as the Pocket Fisherman (Pocket Fisherman is $20; Pen-Sized Collapsible is $19, including a choice of reels: spin, fly or casting), this tiny gizmo might really have some backpacking applications. We took it along on a six-mile hike into the Echo Lake chain and cast it a few times. It fits quite nicely into a pack, and the rod expands to 36 inches. It weighs only 2 ounces (about the same as nine quarters, according to a news release). Granted, this isn't something you're going to use at a Bassmaster's fishing derby, but its compact size and light weight underscore the company name: Go Fast and Light. Did we catch anything with it yet? Well, uh, no.
Like shooting fish in a barrell
I just got home from a week-long road trip and I think I may have found some of the best fishing on the planet. That is if you like yanking on halibut until your arms feel like they're full of wet cement and hooking so many coho salmon that it seems a little like bluegill fishing out of a 5-gallon bucket.And the best part of the deal is this angling paradise is relatively close.My base of operations was Juneau, Alaska which is a short three-hour flight from Sacramento, with a stop in Seattle. On assignment for Fish Alaska Magazine, my orders were to explore and report back on the fishing opportunities available in the waters within easy striking distance of Alaska's capital city.On day one, my assistant Khevin and I rented a car and buzzed around the Juneau road system, where we found massive amounts of salmon in all the small streams we visited, catching more than we could count on fly and conventional tackle.
Heat wave has driven local stream temps to dangerous levels
The big brown trout lay belly up at the tail of the bridge pool. Even though he had been dead only a few hours, his distinctive markings had already started to fade, and several crayfish were working on the 22-inch carcass. The record and near-record air temperatures, sunny weather and warm nights of the past two weeks have combined to stress trout populations and even eliminate them in the worst cases. Trout are cold-water fish. They prefer stream temperatures below 66 degrees and water with a relatively high concentration of dissolved oxygen. Shade and an influx of ground water are important factors in keeping stream temperatures low. Since cool water holds more dissolved oxygen than warm water, cool water temperatures and turbulence (riffles and waterfalls) keep dissolved oxygen at a healthy level.
|
|
|
|
|
Bookmark
(Ctrl + D) |
|
