Home, And Some Fly Fishing (If I'm Lucky)

Tomorrow I head to Barneveld to spend a couple of days with my mother. Mom sounded pretty blue over the phone, and she does have every right to be, she is 80, has Parkinson's and lost her husband of 53 years in the fall. It's been a little tough for her. The drive is about two hours and I can make it without too many problems, longer requires planning stops to rest or a co-pilot. I much prefer the co-pilot but she is busy with a 16 year old girl finishing up her school year and the futon in my old bedroom is pretty uncomfortable for one, let alone two.

But I will accompany her to a doctor's appointment, with my "sister" Terry and maybe take her to physical therapy. And if I am lucky, get some fishing in. Barneveld has three excellent trout streams. The West Canada Creek is designated "catch and release" in the "Special Trout Area", but also is down stream of a power damn which chooses the flow of the day. The fishing can be great and the trout big, but the water can get ugly fast. The Cinncinnatus Creek runs into it and holds some fish, I would say mostly stockies, but I haven't fished it in years.

The last is the Nine Mile Creek which I used to live next to. Strangely enough I know all the pools on this one. The trout are small, but wild for the most part in the part I fish. I should probably note that there really are no truly wild trout in upstate New York, all of the creeks and rivers have been stocked and had species introduced. Its not a bad thing and after a few generations of fish reproducing in little holes on creeks like the Nine Mile, you again have wild trout.

I must mention an aside here. A few years ago I would visit my folks and spend a day with my kids. Before heading back to Rochester I would usually try to walk the Nine Mile for a bit and see what would bite. Now my ex has a knack for picking blind dogs at the pound and one was named Watcher. Watcher only had one eye and that was going, but he loved to fish. A number of times I would come across deer drinking and eating but he never noticed. He just stayed with you diving into pools and scaring fish.

I would get a few fish too but it was always worth taking Watcher. He didn't shake well either. He would go walk home soaked, the kids would let him in and he would head right upstairs and fall asleep, exhausted on my ex's bed. He was a damn good fishing dog.