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Additional Text for the 7/30/06 Alumni Sandstorm
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>>From: George "Pappy" Swan ('59)

PAPPY'S PARTING SHOTS

I Fish; Therefore, I Am … More of a Hunter

By

George "Pappy" Swan

Fishing is good for the soul. Fishing is even good for hunting … for it can teach us patience and perseverance. Fishing can also teach us relaxation. Often when I go fishing, I am so relaxed that I don't even put a hook on the line. So, fishing can also be a good cover for … taking a nap. Naps are important. I highly recommend them. But, when younger, naps were an impossible dream for an active guy. But now, all I have to do is try to watch TV, read a book, or go fishing and my head soon nods to the accompaniment of monotonous snoring. Makes sense, the wisdom gained through fishing meditation, tells me that life is like a river. When I was young, my raging hormones flowed freely. Now, they have subsided like a late summer flow.

After 30+ years as a fisheries research biologist, I still like to fish but I would rather hunt. However, I have learned a lot from fishing and it's something to do, until the fall.

As a kid, catching my limit was of the utmost importance as it measured my status as a budding outdoorsman. Now, if I get a bite, it's either a good day or an interruption of my nap. I remember, as a kid, going fishing with my buddy Bill, and hitting the fishing jackpot. We wondered up a small stream that fed a large lake. In the clear water, we noticed some large Rainbow Trout hanging out under the flowing moss and undercut banks. We were worm dunkers. So, we dunked our worms deeply, just upstream of the lurking trout. Yank! The fight was on. We each landed a three pound Rainbow. We were fishermen, fishers of big fish! We had achieved manhood. We were catching fish like men. In fact, we were catching fish like many men wished they could. We fished on up the creek, adding more big lunkers to our stringers. Eventually, our stringers could hold no more fish. We proudly returned downstream to where the adults sat watching unmoving bobbers on the calm lake. Like young Indian braves of the old west, returning with a band of horses acquired through a raid on an enemy camp, we approached victoriously. Then, our jubilation was dampened as we learned a hard lesson.

In those days, the limit was ten pounds and one fish. We were a little over that limit … by about six or seven fish each as each fish averaged about two to three pounds! We learned why adults were adults and kids were … well, still kids as my dad lectured us on the game laws while weighing and doling out our extra fish to accompanying fisherman. We all went home with our limit. But, Bill and I secretly, still felt like the heroes of the day.

Later, we learned that the screen on a private pond located upstream had broken, releasing its population of trout into the stream that we had fished. Today, fifty years later, we still joke about depleting the population of trout and contributing to the demise of that lake, as a few years later - it dried up! However, that was also the beginning of our awareness for the principle and the value of "catch and release."

Nowadays, I still dunk worms or salmon eggs, flip spinners or spoons, or cast flies. No, I have not grown particular in my seasoned years. I still like it all, especially if I am catching fish. Unless I really want to keep some fish to eat, I mash the barb down on a single hook on lures or flies, so I can release them without injury (if legal to release them where I am fishing). Sure, I sometimes lose one before landing it but that makes it more of a challenge. And, if I plan to release fish, I never use bait because they are more apt to swallow the hook. And, I try to never take them out of the water and if I do handle them, I always wet my hands first to avoid the loss of their protective slime and scales. By doing so, the fish is less likely to develop a skin fungus later. And, it is best to avoid playing them for a long time which exhausts and stresses the fish. Practicing catch and release will help ensure that there will be fish to catch next time. When I desire to eat fish that I catch, like when I hike into a high mountain lake, and the fishing is good, I use a single barbless hook. If I injure any fish, then they are saved for the skillet. Two trout will usually do me for dinner unless they're really large, then one is adequate.

When fishing with worms, for trout, I just cover the hook with a piece of worm. However, when fishing for spiny rays, like Bass, I put the whole worm (large night crawlers are best) on, but I just hook it through the middle and let it wiggle for attraction. For trout, when you feel a tug or your bobber goes under, take up any slack line and set the hook by lifting the tip of your pole. For Bass, let them run with it for a bit, then take up the slack and set the hook because a Bass will grab the worm and run with it for a bit and then it will stop, open its mouth wide and suck the worm in. If you try to set the hook too early, you will just pull the worm from of the fish's "lips." Basically, with spinners, spoons, or lures, just cast and reel in. You'll learn with practice, what variations of the retrieve work in different situations.

Fly fishing is a little more involved. However, it is not difficult after learning the basics and is not only fun but offers a great challenge to fool a fish and can be very satisfying. I am a self-taught fly fisherman so I make no great claims but I do have fun. I learned from reading the book, Fly Fishing by Joe Brooks in 1962 as a Marine stationed on Sonora Pass in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. It took a while to get it down and I popped a lot of flies off of the end of my line, those that I did not leave in the trees and bushes. Today, there are wonderful videos and courses from which to learn.

Always check the regulations as you can do some kind of fishing year-round but summer and fishing go together (while waiting for hunting to come around again). You can always take a nap. But, better yet, take a kid fishing this summer, when you're not taking them shooting, then take them hunting this fall.
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