Floating Lines

I am a little behind on this one, but please hang with me.  So, it appears that the good folks over at the Michigan DNR have come across a deer at a commercial deer operation with CWD.  The result is a complete and total ban on baiting deer in the lower peninsula. 

Eric Sharp over at the Detroit Free Press has written a piece about it and evidently thinks that anybody who has put out food for a deer is a slug.  However, Mr. Sharp stops short of calling everybody who ever planted a crop, runs an orchard, or all the oak trees slugs.  There might be a few beech trees that he missed, I am not totally sure on that though as I am not sure to what extent deer congregate around beech trees.  I haven’t really spent enough time in the deer woods lately. 

Mr. Sharp goes on to talk about the raging TB epidemic that was also conveniently found not so many years ago after our fine former AG (and current governor) came across a fence she didn’t like on a hunt club frequented by the opposite political party (the turtle lake incident feel free to check it out some time). 

The DNR plans to increase testing and this means an increased infection rate most likely.  If you look hard enough for something you are bound to find it.   The DNR also plans to step up enforcement which should mean a nice increase in revenue this fall. 

Is this the incident that leads to the eradication of deer in the southern counties of Michigan?  I know that they also reported a deer with TB from Shiawassee county from this past fall.  A few cases of TB was all it took to launch an all out assault on the deer in the northern lower peninsula. 

I am astounded at Mr. Sharp’s call for the heads of so many based on the finding of so few.  Also, I found it hard to put my faith in an organization that has made so many mistakes in the past and found it so easy to cry wolf when they thought they could get away with it.  I think that Mr. Sharps memory is rather short when it comes to being slighted by the experts. 

I ask you TCS readers; what does this do to your hunting plans for the fall?  And, are we headed for the eradication of the whitetail in southern Michigan?  Do you consider yourself a slug for planting a food plot, using an attractant, or planting a small crop on your land for hunting? 

The comments section is wide open.

I have not been bouncing around the blogs and sites that I usually haunt lately.  I have been super busy getting the August issue of TCS out and updating my own blog and sites.  I had a few moments today though, and of course found a couple of interesting things.

Over at Mid-current there is a snippet about a team from Germany that is going to make a presentation about river restoration to the Los Angeles city council.  The city council has determined to make an effort to restore a stretch of river and it seems that the originators of the brown trout have got it down.  Kudos to the L.A. city council for taking the initiative to restore rivers and to the Germans for helping us out.  Now, if only we can get the Rouge river back on track I will have trout in my back yard.  O.K. maybe trouting is to much to ask, I will take a thriving smallmouth population.

A quick trip over to the fishing report/blog over at the Old AuSable shows two things.  One, fly fishing does have the power to captivate kids.  A nice story about a young woman who is hooked on the river and trout.  Welcome aboard, see we aren’t so crazy.  Also, a couple of boys were out mousing the other night and put over 100+ inches in the net.  Not bad, and proving once again that mousing is fun and productive.  The low water is helping the mousing and the recent cool nights don’t seem to be having too much of an affect.  Andy, also mentions that the cooler water temperatures has the daytime fishing rolling pretty good.

Is there a way to actually define the mission of a publication?  I am reading a book about running a successful publication and it highly recommends that I determine a mission for The Cedar Sweeper and convey that to the readers.  The first problem is that TCS has very few readers at this point.  I hope to change that, but right now there aren’t many.  However, I did put some thought into the mission and decided that it made sense to actually define what I am trying to do with TCS.  So, here it goes. 

The Cedar Sweeper is an outdoor reader dedicated to capturing the soul of the sport.  The spirit that drives us to seek out the woods and water, and the adventure that results. 

If you look closely you will see that the sub title on print version of TCS has changed to, “The Soul of the Sport”.  And the same words have been added to the footer of the web site pages. 

There you have it.  The Cedar Sweeper’s mission.  My goal. 

So, what is the soul of the sport for you?  Is it the equipment, your buddies, fly tying, casting, fishing literature, the characters that fish, the movies and shows about fishing, or maybe just the river and the quiet? 

Leave me a comment about what makes it an adventure every time for you. 

 Come On!!  Have you got soul?? 

I want to take a moment to point out a person that is very important to The Cedar Sweeper.  Joel Tomaszewski (pronounced Tomasheski), is TCS’s resident photographer.  He is responsible for most of the images you see on the web site and in the print version of TCS.  I recommend a visit to the site for a true taste of Joel’s talent as the photos in the print issue are black and white and just don’t do them justice. 

Joel hails from the Alpena/Rogers City area and comes to us via his work in the fine city of Detroit.  I don’t know that there is a lot of history between Joel and any of our river brotherhood.  He showed up at salmon camp about 4 years ago and has been around ever since then. 

I mention Joel’s photos now as I think that the most recent set that he took during our trout excursion to the AuSable might just be the beginning of him showing what he is really capable of when it comes to photography.  I am also hoping that maybe, with some encouraging comments, he will take to the keyboard and provide TCS with some good copy.  I know he writes because I have seen the notebooks. 

I also mention Joel here because I want everybody to know that what he does for TCS he does as a courtesy.  He doesn’t ask for anything, he’s never asked where the venture is going.  I am careful to make sure that he is given proper credit for his work where it is required, in the context of the magazine. 

 But I wanted to say thanks to Joel here.  And let him know that what he does makes TCS possible and without him we wouldn’t be able to explore the soul of the sport

I was working in a plant where there was a lot of saw dust flying around and encountered a problem with my eye.  I ended up being off for some time with a “red eye”.  The specialist finally figured it out and there was quite a price to pay.  I did get a new fly rod out of it though. 

I was sent home with direction to figure out what was wrong with my eye.  I made an appointment but the doctor couldn’t get me in for several hours.  So, I made the rounds to some of my favorite hang outs; sporting good stores, fly shops, and book stores.  I walked into the local Gander Mountain at 9:30 in the morning and started shooting the breeze with the young guy at the fishing counter.  I mentioned I was in the market for a new 8 wt. rod for steelhead and salmon. 

“Hey, I have a 7/8 in the back that my manager is trying to get rid of.  It’s a short rod at 8 ft. but its brand new and cheap.”

“How cheap?”

“Like 20 bucks cheap.” 

“Grab it.  If it looks good it’s sold.”

I have had that rod ever since.  It’s going into the seventh season of hard fishing and has survived many a dark walk in the woods and many a tough battle. 

I had heard that the Guide Series rods were made by St. Croix.  An American company that has made a fine fly rod for many years.  Midcurrent carried an excellent story about them not long ago. 

The cork grip has started to get that really nice, well used, dirty look now.  There are few nicks and scratches on the clear cote.  It is reliable as hell though and I couldn’t ask for a more durable rod for doing battle with finned freight trains of spring and autumn. 

Perhaps, you have a story about your favorite rod? 

Time moves along and a lot of things happen in our lives.  We grow up, get jobs, fish, have kids, and fish some more.  Life helps us forget about people like Huey Lewis until you are driving along one day and hear a supposed local oldies (oldies???) station playing a News tune.  Then you drive home and catch an episode of Fly Fishing the World where he and John Barrett are chasing bone fish on the flats.  You remember why you liked his music.  Then you start thinking, “very cool, he fly-fishes too”.  

Then you run across a story that reminds you of why you don’t like Huey very much.  Mid-Current reports that Huey once again turns up in pop culture on a new where are they now, Canadian reality show.  The Huey sighting reminded mid-current of the front man’s penchant for challenging stream access laws just because he doesn’t want somebody wading past his front window or catching what he thinks are his trout. 

The controversy stems from a little place called the Mitchell Slough, an offshoot of the Bitterroot River that’s reported as having some pretty nice habitat and a healthy trout population.  The problem, at least for the public, is that the slough is lined with expensive homes and ranches inhabited by the likes of Mr. Lewis and Charles Schwab just to name a few.  The men with the deep pockets decided that they wanted the river for themselves and have challenged the Montana stream access law on a technicality. 

The slough’s history shows that it originated as an irrigation project.  So, restrictive residents have deemed the slough a “ditch”.  However, the “ditch” is reported to have some unique characteristics for a ditch.  It teams with trout and trout habitat and might just be the only ditch that has better flows on the downstream side than on the upstream side.  In other words the darn thing somehow picks up more water as it goes along; indicating that while it may have started as an irrigation project it has ended up with all the characteristics of a full fledged tributary of the Bitterroot.

Mr. Lewis bases his deeming of the slough as a ditch on the fluctuation in water levels.  A strange basis when one considers that stream flows in Montana are highly affected by a little thing called run off.  The snow melts in the mountains and as the weather warms there is less snow to melt resulting in reduced flows.  The reduced flows of summer (they are downright dangerous in the first warm weeks of spring) are the backbone of the Montana access law that allows access to a stream that flows through private property as long as the person stays beneath the high water mark created by the spring run off. 

In the end I think the slough is probably a river, regardless of its origin.  The habitat, increased flows, and trout (I don’t know many that live in ditches or Saginaw Bay would be full of them) seem to indicate as much.  I think that there is only one alternative and I play on the words of the immortal conservative Mr. Reagan. 

“Take down these signs Mr. Lewis.”

 The river and the fish are not yours, and if you really want to own a ditch; well, start digging.  The word is you have more than enough land to dig on.

I write about my boots in the August issue of TCS.  However, that was more of an ode to footwear.  I thought I would also take a crack at sharing my initial impression of my new kicks.

My old wading boots gave out on my last trip and I decided that it was time for a new pair.  I shopped around at both the brick and mortar stores and on-line with the hope of getting the most for my money.  I finally made my decision and purchased a pair of Orvis Clearwater wading boots. 

My initial intention was to spend more money.  I was prepared to spend upwards of $100 on my new boots.  I found some nice deals but couldn’t seem to find the proper mix of right price and right size.  It seemed that every time I found an outstanding deal on a boot they didn’t have my size.  So, I continued to search and one night came across the season ending close out at www.Orvis.com .  I clicked on the link for the items that they were closing out and low and behold there were the

My order was processed and I received the boots in a timely fashion.  However, it wasn’t until just this past Saturday that I was able to try them on to be sure that they fit.  I wanted to give my initial impressions of the boot. 

The sizing advice included at the Orvis site was right on target, I ordered the boots according to my shoe size as directed.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that in my shoe size the boot was designed to accommodate the neoprene booty.   

I tried on both boots and walked around in them.  The boot is taller than my old Redhead boots and I could definitely tell the difference in the support.  The Orvis boot also sports a padded collar and synthetic leather re-enforcements at the heel and toe; with the extra material at the heel shoring up the support even more. 

The double rivet on the “D” ring to canvas connection is what wore out on my old boots, breaking when I tried to lace them up.  I couldn’t get away from this type of construction with the Orvis boot and only time will tell how a canvas to canvas one rivet design will hold up.  My old boots have a metal “D” ring with a metal to canvas double rivet connection.   

Orvis is generous with the laces, providing more than enough to wrap the boot twice and then tie them off.  They have also provided a Velcro strap, built into the tongue of the boot to aid in keeping the excess lace out of the way.  I can see that this strap will be help full in keeping the laces from hanging out of the gravel guard and thus ensuring that the boots stay tied. 

The boots have the non-slip felt sole that isn’t that much different from all the other felt soles that I have seen and worn.  The Redhead sole held up very well to all the hikes and wades that I threw at it.  However, only time and usage will tell how well the Orvis sole holds up.   

The overall construction of the Orvis boot appears to be superior to my old boots.  However, my old boots held up just fine except for the rivets.  The rubber sole is thicker, the felt covers the whole bottom of the boot, the laces are longer, the boot is taller, and the synthetic leather re-enforcements seem superior to the vulcanized rubber of my old boots. 

I will test drive the boots during the middle of September and get back with everybody regarding their performance.  It will be a test to determine if they perform as well as they look. 

You can check out everything that Orvis has to offer at www.orvis.com .

I can’t seem to get the poll feature working on this blog.  I know why but I am not sure I can or want to update the software to support it.  So, we will continue without it and see how things go.  

The second issue of The Cedar Sweeper is complete and I want to get some feedback regarding TCS and what we do.  I will take it slow as a question a day and request for feedback will allow more time for thoughtful feedback and provide many posts for the blog. 

I would like to begin with content.  Currently, TCS is a publication that likes to tell the story of the adventure of the outdoor experience.  I really was not inclined to cover the how-to where-to as it is already thoroughly covered by various publications, too numerous to even begin to mention here.  My thought is that fisherman, specifically fly fisherman like to read so why not provide them content to read instead of study.  If I do a quick assessment of the outdoors it provides plenty of opportunity to publish technical information and to do it without compromising the resource.  I wouldn’t have to divulge specific geographic information to write about casting, entomology, the fish themselves, or related gear.  In short there is plenty to write about. 

So, my question to the visitors here is: 

What type of content are you most interested in reading?   

Is it the type of content we currently feature; telling the story of the trip? 

Or, is it the how-to where-to that you are most interested in? 

OK, TCS readers let us know what you think! And keep an eye out for tomorrows TCS question!

We are now less than 35 days away from our annual salmon camp (I am sure it will take up the whole October Issue).  It is a tradition for us and I know a little about tradition.  We had an annual duck and goose hunting camp for probably 15 years, there were trips before that for probably an additional 10.  Recently, we obtained a new piece of property in northern Michigan and have revived the old deer camp tradition the I remember so well from when I was a kid. 

Camps are a place of memories, friends, and the outdoors.  I like our fish camp.  It is a good place and the guys who come and enjoy it with us are top notch.  

I see quite a few camps, just in the area where we camp, every year.  So, it prompted me to think; how many guys out there still have old fashioned fishing and hunting camps? 

Let us here your stories and what makes your camp so great.  

TCS - The August issue is coming along so check the site often for the update. 

August brings the tricos.  The small fly is a reliable, mainstay on the norther Michigan rivers.  However, the fly is tiny and the tippet light; so magnifiers and shock absorbing rods and hook sets are in order.  So, have fun if dry fly fishing is your bag and be sure to let us know how you do.  We would love to run a story about fishing tricos on one of our native streams.  Just remember we are interested in the story surrounding the adventure.  I am sure there is one. 

The warm, muggy air brings about the bugs of the bank.  Hoppers, beetles, damsels, and other creatures that are easily imitated by rubber leg flies.  The flies are bigger, the leader a little heavier, and there is a twitch in the terrestrial fisherman’s rod.  The terminal tackle is easier to deal with and the presentation not as technical.  The takes can be vicious though if the fly hits the right shady spot or piece of cover along the bank. 

The same warm and muggy nights that drive the big bugs of mid-day also drive the stream side vegetation and parched conditions that bring the mice to the river.  They come for a drink and sometimes end up as trout dinner.  We tried this technique not long ago but the conditions were wrong.  The water was high and stained.  The rain kept all the other water sources in the woods filled, and the mice stayed away.  Tommy Lynch over at The Pere Marquette Lodge reports that things have changed and the mouse bite is on.  I sure wish I could get to the river in the next few weeks.

The coming of August does mean that the Kings can’t be far behind, and with the Kings there will be salmon camp.  It is that joyous time of year that we look forward to all season.  It has us chomping at the bit to unlimber the 8 and 9 weights and do battle once again. 

The August issue of TCS is coming along just fine.  Don’t forget to check the site for updates and to order your copy when it is available.  We have posted a press release at PRLog for those interested.  It announces our foray into the hard copy, printed world. 

Thanks for checking us out.