Free Men Free MindsBugs! Yea!
Most individuals are somewhat dismayed when bugs begin coming out when Spring’s grip begins to take hold over Winter. Not flyfishers, and as an avid flyfisher I have to admit that seeing the first hatch of black stoneflies on our creek this past week was a celebratory moment. I only noted about a half-dozen of them hatching, beginning about 3 p.m. in the afternoon, and on only one afternoon out of seven, but I was so pleased to take note of this that I sat at the creek’s edge for almost 2 hours simply noting where they emerged from, and hoping to possibly see a trout rise to take one as a meal.
While I did not get to see a trout rise to take a black stonefly, I did note a few trout moving in the creek to feed, though rather lethargically because Winter’s grip remains rather firm on northern Michigan waters.
Bugs! Yea!
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Some bugs, are wonderful! Unfortunately, our most notable neighbors with exoskeletons right now are mosquitos, ticks, black widows, and earwigs. Hopefully soon there will also be butterflies, so there’s that 🙂
Julie, the past few years we’ve had a uptick in ticks up at our trout camp. They are nuisance indeed, but as long as you check yourself out each day to see if any of those pesky ticks are reconnoitering you for a place to feast, you’ll be alright. Skeets, yeah, we have those in plenty numbers, but they’re just part of the territories we frequent. No black widows up our way, so I don’t worry about that. If you really want to test your mettle against all the flying insects while standing in a trout stream, do it at night, with your headlamp on while attempting to tie on a fresh dry fly. While bug spray will in large part keep them off of you, with your headlamp on, well, it’s quite the challenge to keep your focus on tying an improved clinch knot.
I haven’t stopped by here an a while. Beautiful country up there! I wonder, sometimes, how my life would have turned out if my folks hadn’t moved us to CA back in 1963. For sure, there’d be no surfin’, but…
Oh, on the bugs- Do you get Dobson flies up there? Some years back I was stuck with a few friends (locals) in the outback of West Virginia. We had to car-camp for the night. We sat around a little fire, talking when we saw one. FTHFTHFTHFTH the biggest scariest bug I ever saw buzzed into the clearing and landed on a nearby tree. I had never seen anything like it, and I did not like it at all. I spent the night in the car. (yeah, I’m a wuss)
JWM
JWM, I’ve not seen a Dobson fly up by my trout camp, but plenty of other unusual moths and such. Daily see beaver, mink, deer, the occasional Fisher, black bear on occasion, though they are quite think up there. Trout season officially opens on April 29, here. I’m ready.