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Walter & Group...
From Guy Manning:
You wrote:
"Sometimes the Lemmings in
Alaska literally drown themselves in the
river. "
Occasionally one might drown while trying to cross a
river but the stories about large numbers of lemmings jumping off banks and
cliffs into the rivers and oceans of Alaska is an urban legend brought to us by
the good folds at Disney back in the ‘50’s. It seems that the filmmaker couldn’t
come up with anything interesting to say about the lemmings so he had his crew
round up a bunch and herd them over a ledge into the water and then telling the
world this was an annual process. This came up a decade ago as an example
of what not to do or so in discussions about ethics in filmmaking at a nature
filmmakers conference in Jackson hole.
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Guy ..... That is why I worded it the way I did. Because I wasn't sure. Mice, tundra rats, vols and lemmings all have been seen to wander over the bank into the river. In keeping with your message, I have never known of any one who has actually witnessed the reported mass suicide of lemmings. This despite the fact that it seems to be "common knowledge" that this has occurred. I'll change my opinion if I can come across a report of this actually having happened from an impeccably reliable source. When we asked the local Eskimos there, they had never heard of this phenomenon. (We did take into account that they live way down at and near the estuaries.)
Gordy
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Gary Eaton's response to my question on the species represented in H.Bruce Franklin't book, THE MOST IMPORTANT FISH IN THE SEA :
From Peter Morse:
Gordy The finest book I've read on our effects upon the oceans deals
with a single species of fish. Its called "Cod, the Biography of a
fish that changed the World" by Mike Kurlansky. Its an astonishing
book, not only is it fascinating reading but its also a horror
story.
Peter
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Peter,
This tiny book says so much ! As I read it, I couldn't help but think that the _expression_, "Those who fail to heed the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it" should be applied when thinking about our current global resources including our rapidly declining fisheries.
COD by Mark Kurlansky. (I placed the Feb., 2008 book review by Carol Standish in an attachment.)
Gordy
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From Pat Blackwell:
Hi Gordy,
Your comment on
the river keeper in Norway reminds me of Alaska prior to
and for sometime after Statehood.
It
seems that Dolly Varden were the scum of the earth (with a bounty on their
tail), because they ate salmon eggs. While it's true, they do eat
salmon eggs, they eat the eggs that aren't fertile and wash out of the
redds. If the trout and char don't eat the unfertile eggs they will wash into a
downstream redd, accumulate and rot, killing fertile eggs in that
redd. By killing the the Dollies the fishermen were killing off their
salmon. Ah the intelligent of man, way smarter than Mother
Nature.
In areas of
abundance; one or two Dollies that have been feeding on salmon eggs for a
few weeks
make one of the finest shore
lunches one could dream of.
Regards
Pat
Blackwell
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Pat, All part of the balance of nature. I've witnessed (as part of the balance) male salmon using their toothed kypes to attack dollies which are hanging downstream close to the spawning female as she fans her redd.
These eggs coupled with the fragmented and partly decomposed flesh of the Pacific salmon which die after spawning provide most of the protein for the trout, Arctic char and salmon parr in these Northern Alaskan rivers which have no aqatic insect populations to match those in lower climes. (Ergo the use of egg flies and flesh flies.)
I witnessed mosquito spraying done in the 70's here in the Florida Keys indescriminantly using insecticides mixed with diesel oil being repeatedly dumped on our mangrove islands in stinking big black clouds. This was really spraying into the watery ecosystem. After a couple of years of this, I noted that our flats fish stopped following rays. Then the mullet disappeared followed by the almost complete loss of our great snook fishery.
While I have no proof, I think it was because this practice killed the little critters and vegitation on the bottom upon which these species fed ... especially as juveniles. Conch also disappeared. We were taught it was because of over harvest..... until I learned at our Mote Labs. that conch eat only living organisms on the ocean floor ! (Also explains why you can't catch hepatitis-A from this particular shellfish..... it's not a filter feeder .)
All that has now changed as mosquito control in the Keys embraces the use of much less damaging chemicals sprayed in low volume aqueous form (dibroma) avoiding the spraying of mangrove islands . Other less toxic methods include the use of a bacterium (Bacillus Isrealiensis) which specifically attacks mosquito larvae. Our species once lost are starting to return.
Gordy
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MOUSING, MORE........
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From Carl McNeil :
Hi Gordy
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Carl... Well done ! Your New Zealand footage alone is wonderful.
I noted what appeared to be some quality casting ....... including one hint of "slide loading".
Your statement, ".... it's a particularly fun fly to throw !" makes a hidden statement. Expert casters find it a challenge to cast the large mouse patterns, especially when it's windy. Most early casters have a tough time with it.
In reviewing all three clips, I note a brief flash on various "mouse" patterns.... some rather small which don't really have the anatomical outline of mice as seen by the human eye and interpreted by the human brain..... but can be fished as a half drowned mouse swims.
Reminds me of the Bulkley Mouse which we tied and used on the Bulkley (and other rivers) in British Columbia for steelhead. These were fished on the surface in various ways including the use of a "soft, slow skating" technique.
I'm certain that Denise Maxwell could teach us a lot about fishing techniques for steelies on those waters !
Viewing and learning of these varied methods of fishing serve to help complete the depth of background Master Instructors should have. This sort of thing thrusts their expertise beyond the vast knowledge they have already acquired by fishing their own familiar waters. It becomes of practical use for them as they are looked upon by their students and CCI's for advice as these anglers plan for fly fishing trips to various points on the Globe.
That was the main point of Tom White's "Gitzet fish" question often used in various forms on MCCI oral exams.
Gordy
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