Fishing and Worms

Someone's photo of Tygart... I still have a flip phone so my photographic abilities are limited...

I live with a devout fisherman, so many of my spring and summer evenings find me beside local bodies of water. I miss wading Dunkard Creek in Morgantown and luring small bass out from under the rocks, but the Little Kanawha River and Tygart Lake have admirable attributes all of their own.

Earlier this week I watched a sizeable water snake cross the Tygart as fireflies lit up the giant rocks tumbled behind me. It's a beautiful section of the lake. A small creek pours in from one direction and then the lake opens up past the large rocks and, on the other side, the forest comes down to the water. I'm always watching the forest for wildlife. Usually it's nothing exotic - cranes or deer or a family of wood ducks - but it's been a very abundant year and I'm always hoping for a fox or a coyote.

This week, I was also left hoping for better behavior from so-called outdoor enthusiasts. At both stretches of the lake, I found myself stepping over empty boxes of worm, plastic wrapping that had once held bait, beer cans, cigarette cartons... even diapers! Correct me if I'm wrong, but I imagine that the people who come to the lake pay for a fishing license (which funds conservation) or boating license - so why mar the very area you've come to enjoy? They had no trouble carrying their bait or beer to the shoreline -- shouldn't they be equal to the task of carrying it back? [end rant]

This year, I've been more likely to sit the shoreline with a pile of books than a pole, so I thought I would dedicate this post to appropriate books for a fishing trip!

I completed River Monsters for an independent study with a student. We focused in on natural history and covered a section about hunting and fishing and this turned out to be a very fun choice! The lives of the exotic fish are explained well, as are the issues that surround catching them and the myths they have given rise to. I especially liked the chapters that focused on eels! My only critique would be that the book is uneven. Some chapters focus too much on Wade's travails and sometimes the same "monster" appears in two chapters. Otherwise, a fun book to peek up from and ponder what's in the water!

I am as surprised as anyone, but this slim volume on worms turned out to be one of my favorite books of the year so far! It's dense with information but each chapter takes Stewart to a new locale or a new question, so I kept eagerly flipping to find out what she and her worms would do next!

Unlike so many books focused on the natural world, it had a fairly positive outlook, explaining all the many benefits worms can bring (research is being done regarding their use in sewage plants, in making wetlands, and in creating bagged soil for gardeners).

Worms can cause a few problems, too! If you're fishing, do not dump any unused worms out after you're finished! If they don't belong in that environment (a forest for example) they can destroy the ground cover and disrupt the lives of birds, frogs, and insects that make it their home.

Stewart also has a lot to say to gardeners. Plants commit suicide in my presence, so this wasn't of great benefit to me, but I'll be recommending her work to all of my friends who find their joy in the soil! When I have a place of my own, I hope to follow her tips on worm-driven composting! If I ever get to do a full class about natural history, this title would definitely have a place on my syllabus. It's a quick read for students but does an excellent job of showing the impact of something we might otherwise overlook in our day to day lives.

I didn't complete this book this year, but I feel I'd be remiss without offering one final title to books-that-ought-to-follow-you-fishing.

McManus is hilarious, so it doesn't really matter which title you pick up, but Grasshopper Trap remains my favorite. My pap introduced me to the quirky characters that inhabit McManus's forays into the world - like Rancid Crabtree, his mountain man mentor - and I've been laughing along with every new release since. A great title to have along when the fish aren't biting!




In the end, I'm never going to be as dedicated a fisherperson as my husband, brother, or as my pap was, but I am grateful for my water-drawn family members, because even if I never find fish, I almost always find peace waiting for me on the bank!