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2009:The year of Murphy's Law The season begins with... After helping Fish & Game stock fish with their new air boat on the Connecticut River at the end of May I ended the day falling off of a pile of fence posts and breaking my elbow. This put me out of commision for 6 weeks at the beginning of some of the best spring fly fishing of the year. Needless to say I had to cancel and/or reschedule all the trips I had booked during June and the first week and a half of July. After visiting the doctor on July 8th she informed me that it had not totally healed at that point. I told her then that I had no choice but to guide the dates of July 12-14th as I needed some traveling money for a trip to Idaho planned on the 15th. On top of that The Idaho trip was in honor of my inlaws 50th anniversary and who was I to argue knowing that I was bringing home a new 16' Clackacraft at the trip's conclusion. The elbow felt fine on the three days that I had guided in NH and my sister in law had me scheduled to take a raft down the Snake River out of Yellowstone Park on scenic trip for some relatives one day and a couple of white water trips down the Snake River canyon South of Jackson the next day. All went well but needless to say at the end of the 2nd day I was kind of beat being as out of shape as I was. After returning home at the end of the month I had missed a total of 6 weeks of guiding back here and the income that goes with it. Ouch ;( 'Murphy' finally left Needless to say the month of August was one of my busiest ever and fishing was spectacular right through the fall. And I forgot to mention that the most of the early season was as rainy as 2008 with many unfishable days on both rivers. After getting back from Idaho on July 29th I was told that the Connecticut had only cleared up a couple of days earlier. Whether its 'global warming', 'El nino', 'El nina, or a guardian angel it made me feel a little bit better about having missed all that time on New Hampshire's finest rivers. In Retrospect... The new 16' dory did spectacular on both rivers at everthing from high to low normal water levels. The second knee brace and extra room in the stern make it far more comfortable for the angler without any stress on the legs. The two tubular rod holders keep backup rods ready but safely out of the way. Come give it a try in 2010 as I am sure you will agree. OTHER RIVER NEWS Didymo... Rock snot continues to be put at bay by the high water. Perhaps it isn't getting enough sunlight on the bottom due to the depth of the high water and the increased siltation who knows. Perhaps the campaign to inform fishermen has had some effect who knows. May it stay at bay in 2010. Both the East and West branch of the Delaware River in upstate New York, another superb Eastern fishery, has also fallen victim to D. geminata, a.k.a. 'rock snot', so all fishermen and river enthusiasts that wade or paddle any body of water contaminated by this invasive species are advised to sterilize their footwear and oars/paddles before stepping foot or setting paddle into another body of water. Officials from the states of New Hampshire, Vermont, and other volunteer organizations have begun a campaign directed towards education of how to prevent the spread of this organism to unaffected sections of the river, or worse yet, to rivers that have not been invaded. Talk now is to situate cleansing stations strategically throughout the upper watershed for treating wading footwear such as felt soled waders, wading shoes, or any footwear that has been in contact with the algae. Sterilization is accomplished either using a 5% bleach solution for 2-3 minutes or in hot soapy water for a minimum of 10-20 minutes followed by complete drying for a 24 hour period. Either of these methods helps to stop the spread of Didymosphenia to other places on your fishing agenda. Water craft such as canoes, kayaks, motorized craft and, oh yes, drift boats are also potential transporters so beware. last updated 1/2/2010

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