science-minded individual onboard

[weathermanmike]

My brother (flyfishGB) told me to 'introduce' myself to the group...

You may remember me from the last quarterly meeting as I won the final raffle ticket drawing at my first ever meeting (the fishing-themed picture frame). I fish the south county mainly and northern CT. I am still a newbie at the sport, but I have a strong background in earth science and environmental science. I have a BS in meteorology from Plymouth State University in New Hampshire and currently I am working on an MS in Environmental Science from Long Island University. I also do plenty of hiking and river walking and now I have really picked up the sport of fly-fishing. I am also a bass fisherman and enjoy fishing lakes and swamps. Hopefully I will be able to post on this website more often as I have taken several hydrology and groundwater geology classes.

Best of luck fishing to everyone! LOOKS LIKE THE ICE SHOULD BE HERE WITHIN 10 DAYS!!! Get your ice fishing gear rigged up. It should be a dandy of a winter fishing season with all of these warm temps we've had so far in the early part of the winter. This is a great board and it is nice to hear everyones input on our rivers and streams, but what we really need to do is put or voices and ideas together with other groups to SAVE OUR STREAMS and essentially help restore our RIVER SYSTEMS! So let's make this happen. This is a time of change in America and with enough voices and organizations involved we could change the way our government treats the environment. Remember we have riparian rights to water and the bounty of life that the water supports.

Simple measures can be taken to really start to protect the streams that feed our lakes and riversheds. I hope to chat more with you all in the future.

[JoeOverlock]

Hey Mike! Welcome!

[twillirish]

Hi Mike and welcome

I too am a scientist with a degree in Zoology from the University of New Hampshire.

I do spend quite a bit of time on the water looking at ways to improve the quality of the fishery. Most times it is as simple as filling the trash bag I carry with me with the trash of other less thoughtful users.

But I also do my best to find the trail blazed by others rather than cutting a new one and damaging the undistruber riparian zone. If I can't find a path, I try to find the easiest egress into the stream/river and not climb down a steep bank that may collpase or spill soil and rocks in to the water.

And certainly above all, catch and release as quickly as possible, doing my best to not bring the fish out of water.

Welcome aboard. Hopefully we can all think globally but act locally to ensure quality fisheries for generations to come.

Scott

[strbender]

Welcome Mike

I have a PHD in BS ;D Woops wrong BS

[JoeOverlock]

strbender said:

Welcome Mike

I have a PHD in BS ;D Woops wrong BS

On the job site would that make you the foreman, or the architect?

[Mark Patenaude]

Twillrish:

Welcome.

Zoology - very interesting topic.

I really like your approach to preserving our resources. I am also a big proponent of it as well.

Mark

[flyfishgb]

twillirish - can you get some polar bear hair I heard that stuffs hard to find...

[Mark Patenaude]

Its illegal to be in possession of any other fur or feathers from protected or endangered species to include polar bear hair, blue heron feathers and the like.

There are however, a number of excellent substitutes available.

Mark

[strbender]

Joe

Wouldn't that make me an inspector? ;D

[JoeOverlock]

Steve, you should see the inspectors we have in Amherst for Electrical. We have a saying around here and it's, "I wouldn't wire a birdhouse in Amherst!"


Mark,

Isn't it legal to own it if you can prove you had it before a certain date?

[twillirish]

Polar bear hair is next to impossible to get and as said above is illegal to posses anyway. About the only thing worse than polar bear hair to get caught with is a bald eagle feather. Don't even pick one up that you come across laying on the ground.

[flyfishgb]

I already knew it was illegal! But i had read a couple days ago that a secret Black nosed Dace pattern uses polar bear hair! boy is that smart, the lanolins on a polar bear must be high in floatant...

[Mark Patenaude]

Polar bear hair contains a minimal amount of "oils" or lanolins. The hair is hollow which helps to "float" the wing in an upright position and track true.

[flyfishgb]

good call