Back The Brookie II

The Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture yesterday released its Brook Trout Conservation Strategy. The EBTJV is a partnership between state and federal agencies, academia and conservation organizations that aims to protect and restore habitat throughout the range of the Eastern brook trout.

This is the first pilot project under the National Fish Habitat Action Plan to get folks all over the country working together to protect habitat. This can work, as it was modeled after the North American Waterfowl Management plan, which was quite successful in helping the ducks and geese.

While the EBTJV is now a huge hydra of folks and organizations working to help the brook trout, it started as a grass roots organization. Way back when, some folks from the NC and TN Trout Unlimited councils got together to see how they could work together to protect and restore the Southern Appalachian brook trout. This effort was called "Back the Brookie" and the other states with brook trout in the SE were soon added. Even though it has been nationalized, it is nice to see it grow into something that may have a much bigger impact than even the original folks could have dreamed.

Fishing Access Fight Across The Pond

An article in today's Wall Street Journal (registration may be required) shows that water access is not just a problem in the U.S. It discusses a fight on the River Blackwater in Ireland, where local fisher folk have gotten into trouble for fishing waters apparently owned by a duke since the time of Sir Walter Raleigh.

At issue is whether the waters are owned by the billionaire 12th Duke of Devonshire, who has a fancy castle and fishing lodge ($4,000 a week to stay there and fish) on the waters, or if the waters belong to the people because the Magna Carta supercedes the Duke's ownership rights. The Duke claims his family has owned and paid taxes on the river for 400 years. The Magna Carta was issued in 1215. This is going to be one heck of a title search.

This flap has something for everyone, including a dam that has been ordered to be removed (the Duke is appealing).

While Teh Wind Knot is rooting for the little guy out of solidarity, this one seems to be a little tougher than Donny Beaver's outrage at the Spring Ridge Club. Perhaps, though, if the Duke loses, we might even be able to get rid of the silly King's Grant restrictions in the U.S. I'm not holding my breath, though.

Fly Fishing for the Terminally Lazy

A buddy sent me a link to The Digital Fishing Guide where for $44.95 you can download a bunch of gps coordinates for fishing spots.

Teh Windknot is agnostic on the posting of rivers and such on teh internets. It is rare that something that is truly a secret is ever posted and, even if someone was going to post the exact location of the sweet little blue line with all the brook trouts, most folks are too damn lazy to hike up there anyway. Still, it is always fun to troll a fly fishing message board by either posting locations or asking for them.

The Digital Fishing Guide goes one better. For a modest fee, they give you the exact location. All you do is plug it in to your GPS and get ready to take the hero shot. You can get directions to such little known ditches as The Gunnison, The Frying Pan and The White River. Who wouldn't pony up for that?

Some of my favorite gems from their top drawer copywriters:

This package will include the White River below Bull Shoals Dam and the Norfork River below Norfork Dam. These waters have produced some truly large fish. There is even a spot in this package where the one time world record Brown trout came from. This fish weighed 38 pounds.

Not so fast folks, that fish isn't there any more.

 I managed to get waypoints for the Rogue, Muskegon, Pere Marquette, Coldwater River, Manistee and the Au Sable Rivers. And packages for these rivers will be coming very soon.

Oooh. Gotta get that. Not like you can't find them on the free maps you get at the Welcome Station, but in a limited one time offer, Teh Windknot will tell you, for free, how to get to these hidden streams. I-75 N to Grayling. For the Au Sable, take a right and look for river access signs every mile or so. For the others take a left and look at the signs on the bridges you cross.

And my personal favorite:

If we don’t have the river you want to fish available, please let us know so that we can get the information for you.

So, if you have a favorite stream, but you are too dumb to remember where it is or, you simply just want to share it with everyone, let them know and you can pay $50 bucks to get back there. Hey, it is more reliable than bread crumbs.