Opening Day Trout

[Pygmy]

About 20 years ago, I became involved with some friends in a friendly, opening day trout contest.

The rules were simple. We fished in 2 man teams, $10 per man. The team that brought in the LONGEST TROUT won all the money. The trout had to be taken from the Cohocton River or one of it's tributaries, which ,if you are familiar with the drainage, covers quite a bit of water.

We would meet at a given spot at 1:00 PM, measure up our fish, and then play poker the rest of the day.. It was kind of a win/win situation..<grin>...

We had a number of different teams over the years, but there were four teams who were there pretty much every year from the beginning.

This year we only have enough guys for two teams. Of the original 8, 3 guys are now fishing that great trout stream in the sky, one guy is no longer physically able to fish, and another has moved out of the area. 2 of the 3 guys who are gone passed away in the last 6 months, including a very dear lifelong friend of mine , who was my partner since the beginning.

I have another good friend who is my new partner this year, and I am looking forward to getting out on the stream, although it will be bittersweet to say the least.

My partner Mike, who passed away last fall, always got as excited as a little kid over opening day, even when he was in his 60s. He'll do doubt be looking over my shoulder next Tuesday as I drift a worm through his favorite pools...

[shawnhu]

About 20 years ago, I became involved with some friends in a friendly, opening day trout contest.

The rules were simple. We fished in 2 man teams, $10 per man. The team that brought in the LONGEST TROUT won all the money. The trout had to be taken from the Cohocton River or one of it's tributaries, which ,if you are familiar with the drainage, covers quite a bit of water.

We would meet at a given spot at 1:00 PM, measure up our fish, and then play poker the rest of the day.. It was kind of a win/win situation..<grin>...

We had a number of different teams over the years, but there were four teams who were there pretty much every year from the beginning.

This year we only have enough guys for two teams. Of the original 8, 3 guys are now fishing that great trout stream in the sky, one guy is no longer physically able to fish, and another has moved out of the area. 2 of the 3 guys who are gone passed away in the last 6 months, including a very dear lifelong friend of mine , who was my partner since the beginning.

I have another good friend who is my new partner this year, and I am looking forward to getting out on the stream, although it will be bittersweet to say the least.

My partner Mike, who passed away last fall, always got as excited as a little kid over opening day, even when he was in his 60s. He'll do doubt be looking over my shoulder next Tuesday as I drift a worm through his favorite pools...

Make this one special.

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[BizCT]

Although the trout season is open year-round on the reservoirs down here, April 1st still always makes me think of fishing (and baseball).

 

Each year I take March 31st (my birthday) and April 1st off from work if they fall during the week.

Edited March 27, 2014 by Biz-R-OWorld

[Pygmy]

Actually the trout season is open in the Cohocton ( main river) year round, but the tribs don't open until April 1st, and there is some choice fishing in the tributaries, especially some of the smaller, unstocked ones that get very little fishing pressure due to the fact that most fishermen prefer to fish the stocked waters.

These are my favorite places to fish, and I often fish all day without seeing another fisherman.

[Doewhacker]

Nice heartfelt post, now I'm sad.

[Lawdwaz]

Nice heartfelt post, now I'm sad.

 

I agree 100%  Nice memories Dan.  I hope you get the Holy Grail of Trout Fishing this year!!

[Pygmy]

I'm the old man of the bunch now...The other 2 guys ( of the original are young pups, around 50...LOL..

Thanks for your kind thoughts..Life goes on.. Gotta do things while you can.. That's why I've never regretted all the hunting and fishing I have done..Both of my friends who passed within the last few months were my age, my high school classmates . We hunted, fished, drank beer,

raised hell and chased girls together ( not necessarily in that order) since our teens.. Lots of fond memories there.

[Doc]

I went to school Naples, and so I was raised around the Naples Trout Derby and the carnival-like atmosphere of the shoulder to shoulder fishing in Naples Creek and its tributaries. It was an annual blast that was always a pile of fun. And some of those huge fish that came out of the water there always kept the interest stoked. Over the years, I have drifted away from those great times as all the people I used to go out on the waters with have moved away, died or simply lost interest. But when I hear someone talk about the great times on April first, it always brings back those great memories.

[Fehyd643]

I went to school Naples, and so I was raised around the Naples Trout Derby and the carnival-like atmosphere of the shoulder to shoulder fishing in Naples Creek and its tributaries. It was an annual blast that was always a pile of fun. And some of those huge fish that came out of the water there always kept the interest stoked. Over the years, I have drifted away from those great times as all the people I used to go out on the waters with have moved away, died or simply lost interest. But when I hear someone talk about the great times on April first, it always brings back those great memories.

 

I also grew up in Naples, but went the other direction.  During my time there (the 80's, early 90's) there were always a lot of issues that went along with the derby. A few of my friends and I would walk the creek and take bets on how many fist fights we would see.  It took a long time for me to have ANY interest in trout fishing because of my experience then. lol, I remember sitting outside of Sutton Spoons as a kid and asking my dad why all the fishermen had bloody noses.

 

I can't wait to go out on the 1st, but there is no way you could get me to Naples!  Any other day or week or month, it's one of the best spots ever for fishing, memories and scenery. I just wouldn't go back on the 1st.

[Pygmy]

 

I went to school Naples, and so I was raised around the Naples Trout Derby and the carnival-like atmosphere of the shoulder to shoulder fishing in Naples Creek and its tributaries. It was an annual blast that was always a pile of fun. And some of those huge fish that came out of the water there always kept the interest stoked. Over the years, I have drifted away from those great times as all the people I used to go out on the waters with have moved away, died or simply lost interest. But when I hear someone talk about the great times on April first, it always brings back those great memories.

 

Doc..I have a photo that I would like to show you..

Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to post it here.

It is my Dad, at age sixteen, taken on the side of Naples Creek in April of 1937.

He is proudly holding a nice rainbow, perhaps 6-7 lb. He placed in a fishing contest that day with that fish. He won a 9' bamboo fly rod and reel, which I still own.

I also have a picture of myself at 4 years old, standing on a dock at Keuka lake, fishing with that same bamboo fly rod, which was the only fishing rod that I knew of my Dad owning until he got his first open face spinning rod in about 1957 or 1958. It was a Shakespeare fiberglass rod and reel, a birthday present from my Mom. Probably cost her 10 or twelve bucks, which was quite a lot in 1957.

Pretty cool stuff....

[Doewhacker]

Now that's cool, my dad grew up fishing with a bamboo rod just like that. It's all he had until he got much older and could buy his own. He, and later on I, grew up on a trout steam and spent much of my youth fishing or playing in that creek. I still fish the same holes I did back then only I wait for summer now. I caught my first limit at age 6 with him on the same creek too, ahh memories.

[stoneam2006]

My grandmother owned a b&b in chocton that bienes down a few years ago. She owned it for 15 years or so and I spent a lot of time there and spent tons in the creeks and rivers around. Fished the derby many times one of the better derbys I've fished many good memories there.

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[nyantler]

Cool stuff Pygmy... I have lost a couple really close fishing and hunting buddies which changed some of my annual fishing and hunting trips... Somehow things are not the same when I fish or hunt the places we use to frequent... but I always think about them whenever I'm there. Be nice if some things just never changed.

[Pygmy]

 

Cool stuff Pygmy... I have lost a couple really close fishing and hunting buddies which changed some of my annual fishing and hunting trips... Somehow things are not the same when I fish or hunt the places we use to frequent... but I always think about them whenever I'm there. Be nice if some things just never changed.

That's exactly the case,Joe...

I grew up and went through public school with a kid named Jimmy Randall. We

hunted, fished and hung around together.

He was killed by machinegun fire in an ambush in Vietnam in March, 1971. I was one of his pallbearers. To this day I never fish the local river or hunt squirrels without thinking fondly of him. He was 5 months shy of his 20th birthday when he died.

Another older fellow, a friend of my Dad, taught me all I know about tying and fishing my own jigs and flies. He died of a heart attack in his 70s around 1990.

I have caught literally thousands of fish on the lures that he taught me to make and never go fishing without remembering old Ivan.

Those people live on through my memories and hopefully I'll continue to pass on some of the things they taught me to others.

Edited March 28, 2014 by Pygmy