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3. Mutillidae, Page 2

Good show, Louis. My hat is off to you for such exhaustive testing of the bug whispering technique. And, it was pure genius to think of adjusting it to accommodate eastern residents, which would appear to have somewhat flawed recognition of proper taxonomic pronunciation. Although some skeptics out there may question the veracity of your field test report, it strikes me as having the undeniable ring of credibility.

Well, Roger, the second baetis experience I'll report was not quite so glorious, but considerable more realistic. Yesterday, with temps predicted well above 30, the day looked promising. I headed out in time to arrive about noon, a good midging time for late February, and one with some distinct baetis possibilities. I was planning to fish a spot that few flock to, behind some old warehouses and across from a mall, but fish often rise in the flat water there, and the fish are wild browns. True to past experience, there were a few sporadic risers here and there and a few midges, but on the way the radio told me that temps might actually stay below freezing. And there was wind. To make a day's worth of fishing story short, despite my rusty casting and less than ideal fishing conditions, a few baetis came off between 1 and 3, and I managed to coax two fish up to my USD CDC baetis cripple. One I landed, the other provided me with the convenience of a self-release shortly after being hooked. All and all, a satisfactory experience, and I didn't even have to resort to bug whispering.

Louis-

Sounds like a reasonably satisfying trip, particularly for so early in the year. However, your description of sub-freezing temperature coupled with wind makes me shiver just from the hearing. Are your streams in PA fishable year around when not overflowing their banks?

Roger, The spring creeks in PA are fishable year round, and I was fishing one of them. Many of the freestones have a sheet of ice over them just now, along with several inches of snow/sleet from last week's storm. I know of folks who even get out to the spring creeks when it's in the low to upper 20's, and I've done this a time or two, but I like to have air temps that keep the ice out of my guides. The sun yesterday helped a lot, though it kept the fish very spooky, and I believe the air got up to about 33 or 34 midday, but I'm not sure. The wind was my biggest problem; it kept blowing my leader, tippet, and fly around, so I had a hard time fighting drag. I had also slipped a unithread furled leader on when my Caucci superglue splice failed on the nylon leader I had installed the night before (the leader was new, but the splice had been created about a year ago; I should have given it a good hard pull at home instead of waiting to straighten it just before I started fishing). I'll add the next point to the furled leader thread, and perhaps email Jim Cramer, but wind may be another condition under which to prefer a nylon leader to a furled unithread. On the other hand, had I used more low snappy bounce casts, I might have been able to get the problem under control sooner. A better fisherman would have hooked at least five or six fish, but I was happy not to get skunked and this experience gave me incentive to keep practicing, practicing, practicing my casting under difficult conditions. Let me know when you're getting out and how the bug whispering goes out West when your baetis start emerging.

Louis-

Was thinking that you had (perhaps) visited a spring creek, as snow and ice storms in the NE have been getting publicity of late. Your comment, "... but I was happy not to get skunked ...", made me chuckle. My own view is that there are only two types of fishing outings, great/skunked, and great/not skunked. With regard to bug whispering, I probably won't say any more about it, mostly due to the potential for its becoming the focus of some misguided protectionist lobby.

I understand what you are saying about the two kinds of fishing outings, and fortunately my own views are moving in that direction. I'm just not quite there yet. But thanks for reminding me. I do promise to keep any more comments on bug whispering to myself, as you are probably right about that lobby. All best,