2012 GPB Media Georgia Outdoors

Transcription

1 Sharon Collins Some people in Georgia love fishing so much, as you ll see, they kiss their fish on the lips. Who knew that a fishing show could have a love story, unintended comedy routines, and some of the most interesting people you ve ever met. This is unlike any fishing show you ve ever seen. RICK CLARIDAD HAS A SPECIAL TALENT. HE CAN THROW A LINE IN THE AIR, AND MAKE IT LAND WHEREVER HE CHOOSES NO EASY TASK SINCE THERE S NOTHING AT THE END OF THAT LINE BUT A LITTLE BIT OF FUZZ DESIGNED TO LOOK LIKE A BUG. HE IS ONE OF MILLIONS WHO PRACTICE THE RITUAL OF UNFURLING A WEIGHTLESS STRAND ACROSS THE WATER. THE POINT IS SIMPLE PRETEND TO BE AN INSECT AND FOOL A FISH. BUT WHEN RICK AND HIS FISHING BUDDIES GET TOGETHER COMPLEXITIES EMERGE. IT S LIKE A SPECIAL CLUB WITH A SECRET LANGUAGE. he said, Oh you were with that guy who fished that rubber worm and these fly reels that are all magnetic. No moving them apart, no springs, nothing. I tell you what, those spring creeks, that s the PhD of fishing right there What I m doin is pinching down the barb, barb was actually designed to hold bait on the only thing more expensive than fishing is chasing women.

2 THESE MEN HAVE MADE THEIR WAY THROUGH MANY FORESTS, THEY VE WALKED DOWN THE BANKS OF COUNTLESS STREAMS JUST TO STAND IN THE RAPIDS AND CAST THOSE LINES. ENTER THE WORLD OF FLY FISHING. THEY MAY CAST OVER AND OVER AGAIN, BUT WHEN IT ALL COMES TOGETHER WHEN THAT MOMENT ARRIVES THIS IS SHANGRI-LA! Good grief. Holy Moly Doc. That s about 24 inches He s fine. Thanks Doc. That was pretty incredible, that s a big fish. Wow! YOU CAN FLY FISH ANYWHERE, INCLUDING THE OCEAN. BUT THE STREAMS AND RIVERS THAT FLOW THROUGH GEORGIA SEEM TO BE A FAVORITE. THE ANGLERS WHO FISH THEM ARE AS PROTECTIVE OF THE WATER AS THEY ARE OF THE FISH. Tom Carroll Fly fisherman Every fly fisherman says that trout only live in beautiful places and it really is true. Trout are sort of like the canary in the mineshaft as far as water purity goes. If a trout can t live in it, it s not very pure water. So particularly the wild trout up here in north Georgia mountains, if it weren t for water purity and some of the organizations that have worked really hard to fight for water purity, we wouldn t have any native trout. And in the process, we wouldn t have any clean, pure water. FLY FISHERMEN MAY STUDY NATURE MORE THAN MOST. THEY PAY ATTENTION TO SMALL DETAILS MANY OF US MISS. SUCCESS DEPENDS ON HOW WELL YOU CAN

3 IMITATE A BUG, SO KNOWING YOUR INSECTS IS PART OF THE GAME. MANY FISHERMEN, LIKE RICK, MAKE THEIR OWN FLIES. HIS FAVORITE IS THE FAMOUS WOOLY BOOGER. I think even though it s somewhat of a joke among fly fishing people, the very first fly most of us ever learn how to tie is called the wooly booger. when this stuff hits the water, I mean, it s just wow - like that! IF THE FLY IS PULLED SLOWLY, IT MAY LOOK LIKE A CRAWFISH. PULL IT FASTER, AND THE WOOLY BOOGER LOOKS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. And then once we ve made that drift, and the line s swung out, we can strip this fly back and then it s gonna look like a little minnow running along side. It s a good universal fly. MANY BELIEVE THE FIRST ACCOUNT OF FLY FISHING CAME FROM A ROMAN AUTHOR WHO DESCRIBED PEOPLE FISHING WITH PIECES OF RED CLOTH FASTENED TO A HOOK. TODAY THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF FLIES MADE BY HAND OR MANUFACTURED, TO LOOK LIKE EVERYTHING FROM A DRAGONFLY TO A REPTILE. FLY FISHERMEN TRY TO MATCH THE HATCH. THAT MEANS THEY TRY TO MAKE THEIR ARTIFICIAL BUGS LOOK LIKE WHATEVER INSECT IS HATCHING AT THAT GIVEN TIME OF YEAR. Y know, you can be out on a stream and actually see a hatch happen. And go, you know I don t have any of those in my fly box. So you set up your fly tie and stuff, and you tie it.

4 IF YOU HAVEN T ALREADY FIGURED THIS OUT, RICK CLARIDAD LIVES AND BREATHES THIS STUFF. HE SEEMS IN AWE OF THE WORLD AROUND HIM AND THE FISH WITHIN. Wow, look at that, a little tiny sun fish. That common sunfish was the first very fish that I caught and most everybody who s fished that s the very first fish that any kid catches is a sunfish. Actually that is a pretty cool thing when you think about it. No matter how sophisticated we get with the fly fishing and all the places you go, to Patogonia and New Zealand, all over the world and still you know, come back and still catch the very first species you ever caught that got you started fishing. You gotta have a lotta respect for those sunfish. They survive in any kind of water. RICK HAS OWNED FISHING SHOPS IN ARKANSAS AND ATLANTA. HE S TAUGHT THE RICH AND THE FAMOUS. BUT THERE S ONE STUDENT WHO TOPPED THEM ALL. Don t let the tip go, point back. Stop it nice and smooth, look DONNA WAS RICK S STUDENT FOR EIGHT YEARS. THEN ONE DAY HE SOLD HIS SHOP, SHE QUIT HER JOB AS A PARALEGAL AND THEY MOVED TO A CABIN IN RABUN COUNTY FOR A LIFE OF CLEAR MOUNTAIN STREAMS AND LOTS OF TROUT - FLY FISH HEAVEN. WE MET EARLY ONE MISTY MORNING AT A LOCAL POND TO TALK ABOUT THEIR LOVE OF FISH AND EACH OTHER.

5 I was a young widow and I wanted to do something that required 100% of my attention; that gave me joy, that was brand new, that took me outside in beautiful places I had shopped around for a good fly casting teacher, and he s the best there is. He invited me to dinner Actually I wanted you to come over to the river to see your cabin It was really nice to be with somebody that really did know about fly fishing, and you were friends with for eight years and knew that they weren t just puttin you on that they wanted to go fishing. FOUR MONTHS LATER, RICK AND DONNA GOT MARRIED. We went to England and fished the English River for our honeymoon. Oh yeah (laughter) AND THEY VE BEEN FISHING EVER SINCE. THIS IS A SPORT A LOT OF COUPLES DO TOGETHER. IF SPIN CASTING IS EXERCISE, FLY FISHING IS LIKE YOGA. THE LINES ARE BEAUTIFUL; THE FISHERMEN AT PEACE. IT DOESN T EVEN SEEM TO MATTER IF YOU CATCH A FISH. IT LOOKS SO EASY BUT IT S NOT. Alright, that s not bad except we want to keep our elbow down, okay? You were here and you needed to be here. How long does it take for me to be able to say, I want to put that fly on a rock over there? How much you want to practice?

6 RICK WAS DETERMINED I WOULD CATCH A FISH. See how crisp this motion is? Alright, try it on your own. Pick it up nice and crisp on your own, go ahead. Ya gotta when I say crisp ELBOW IN, WRIST AT 1:00, SNAP THE LINE, STRIP THE LINE. I TRIED. I REALLY DID. BUT THOSE FISH LIKE DOGS WHO SMELL YOUR FEAR THEY KNEW. You got him, you got him. Oh, he got away. ONE FISH EVEN SWAM UNDER MY LINE. EVENTUALLY, I TOOK THE WALK OF SHAME OVER TO THE BABY POND WHERE THEY TEACH CHILDREN. EVEN HERE THE FISH LAUGHED. ONE FISH DID TAKE PITY AND GRABBED MY HOOK. IF ONLY IT ENDED THERE. BUT I INVENTED A NEW SPORT; GRASS FISHING AND ANOTHER ONE GOT AWAY. I ll take my fly and go home and tell everybody what a big fish I caught. HERE S MY EXCUSE: FLY FISHING IS A BIT LIKE GOLF. ANYONE CAN DO IT, BUT IT MAY TAKE YEARS TO DO IT WELL. WITH FOUR THOUSAND MILES OF TROUT STREAMS, A LOT OF ANGLERS TRY IT OUT IN GEORGE. ABOUT 130 STATE STREAMS ARE STOCKED WITH BROWN, BROOK OR

7 RAINBOW TROUT FROM PLACES LIKE THE LAKE BURTON FISH HATCHERY. Perry Thompson DNR Trout Stocking Coordinator Our water is almost, it s so pure, it s almost to the point of being distilled. And what happens is there s not a lot of insect reproduction and that s the main food source for trout in the stream, so you don t get a whole lot of fish reproduction. So to handle the amount of fishing pressure that we get from our trout anglers, we have a restocking program. GEORGIA S TROUT STOCKING PROGRAM DATES BACK TO THE 1940s, BUT NATIONALLY, FISH HATCHERIES HAVE BEEN AROUND SINCE WE FOUND A LITTLE HATCHERY HISTORY. Clip of archive film Music SINCE THAT FILM WAS MADE, THE SYSTEM OF FISH HATCHERIES HAS EXPANDED GREATLY. TODAY THERE ARE HATCHERIES IN 35 STATES THAT PROVIDE MORE THAN SIXTY DIFFERENT SPECIES OF FISH. AT LEAST 160,000 ANGLERS FISH FOR TROUT IN THIS STATE AND THE LAKE BURTON HATCHERY SPENDS MOST OF EVERY YEAR JUST TRYING TO MEET THAT NEED. IT TAKES ABOUT 18 MONTHS FOR TROUT TO REACH NINE INCHES, AT WHICH TIME THEY ARE WEIGHED, COUNTED, AND LOADED INTO STOCKING TRUCKS. THEN THE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES BEGINS A TEDIOUS PROCESS OF SPREADING FISH ACROSS THE STATE NET BY NET. This can be the difficult part, getting the fish to the

8 stream. Keeps you in shape though. TROUT TOPS THE CHART IN NORTH GEORGIA, BUT DIFFERENT ANGLERS PREFER DIFFERENT FISH. ACROSS THE STATE THERE ARE EIGHTEEN RIVERS, 500,000 ACRES OF RESERVOIRS, LAKES, PONDS, AND MILES OF OCEAN. FLY OR SPIN, TROUT OR BASS, THEY HIT THE WATER ARMED WITH RODS, REELS, BAIT AND LURES. BUT SOME FISHERMEN ARE OUT FOR A BIGGER BANG. THE ROAR OF THE OCEAN. THE FIGHT OF A REALLY BIG FISH. I FOUND THEM IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE IN A BOAT CRAMMED WITH ENOUGH STUFF TO STOCK A TACKLE SHOP. Got the kitchen sink? OUR FEARLESS LEADER IS SPUD WOODWARD, HEAD OF THE STATE S COASTAL RESOURCES DIVISION, AND A BIT OF A LEGEND IN FISHING CIRCLES. AVID FISHERMEN GLENN DURDEN AND JACK TODD MADE UP THE REST OF THE CREW. AND THEY WERE JAZZED IT STARTS OUT FAST. Jackie, get that line out of the way. Dag gum (Catches and kisses fish) You re the first one. THIS WOULD NOT BE THE ONLY TIME GLENN KISSED A FISH. Pretty fish - golly.

9 AS SOMEONE WHO S NEVER SURF FISHED BEFORE, THIS PART IS PUZZLING. THEY CUT BAIT, THEN PUT THE BLOODY STUFF IN A POUCH AROUND THEIR WAIST, THEN GO WAIST DEEP IN TO THE WATER WHERE ARE SHARKS SWIMMING AROUND. NOW, THEY MAY KNOW HOW TO FISH, BUT YOU WILL NOT FIND A BAIT POUCH AROUND MY WAIST. Keep him movin THERE WERE LOTS OF THINGS BITING, BUT NOT WHAT THEY WANTED. THEY CUT THAT BAIT IN HOPES OF CATCHING RED DRUM, SOMETIMES CALLED RED FISH OR CHANNEL BASS. THEY RE SO POPULAR THE STATE PROTECTS THEM WITH SIZE AND POSSESSION LIMITS. MANY, INCLUDING ALL THE BIG ONES, ARE CAUGHT AND RELEASED. These fish have a tremendous life span. They live to be over forty years old. it s sometimes, it's kind of a tough thing for a new fisherman, this is the biggest fish they've ever caught, and they want to take it and take it back and brag on it - but I carry a digital camera and a high resolution image is the best thing you can do. Because you can let the fish go, bring the image back, and you've got the best of both worlds TRUE TO HIS WORD, WE HAD A PHOTOGRAPH TO DOCUMENT EVERY CATCH. AND AS IF ON CUE, SPUD S WISH FOR RED FISH CAME TRUE. THEY STARTED ROLLING IN. Man, the spots are out!

10 AND THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL FISH. WHEN THEY REACH ADULT SIZE THEY RE CALLED BULL REDS. THE LARGEST ONE ON RECORD WEIGHTED JUST OVER 94 POUNDS. THEY ARE KNOWN FOR A LARGE BLACK SPOT ON THE UPPER PART OF THE TAIL. SCIENTISTS THINK THAT SPOT MAY FOOL PREDATORS INTO ATTACKING THE TAIL INSTEAD OF THE HEAD, ALLOWING THE FISH TO ESCAPE. A lot of times they ll have five or six or as many as 80 spots. We ve caught them with 80 spots on them before. That s where they get the name Spot tailed Bass, Channel Bass, Red Fish. This is a male. Do you feel him drumming? He s drumming. Yes, yes, I feel it. THIS IS AN ODD THING THAT ONLY THE MALE DOES IT PRODUCES A DRUM LIKE SOUND. IT S NOT THE SAME AS A HEART BEAT, BUT MORE A THUMPING SOUND PRODUCED WHEN A MUSCLE VIBRATES THE SWIM BLADDER. THE SOUND IS PRODUCED DURING MATING OR WHEN THE FISH IS STRESSED. That s a black drum. See, his stripes have faded, but see the black stripes in there? Pretty jazzed? Yeah, I m jazzed. I m on a natural high! ONE THING WE LEARNED ABOUT FISHING. PEOPLE WHO DO IT, WANT YOU TO DO IT TOO. WE WERE JUST THERE TO WATCH, BUT THE CREW WASN T HAVING ANY OF THAT. AS GLENN HOOKED ANOTHER FISH, I WAS ORDERED INTO THE WATER FOR A CLASS ON RED DRUM 101.

11 Come on out here. Don t worry about getting wet. It won t hurt. Use your rod tip, now put pressure on it. Now reel down. Now go down and reel, now come back and use your rod tip wearing him out. Wow look at that. That s a good fish, when you hear that little biz-z-z. That a good fish, that is really a good fish. Ha Ha. Now you see where it s red, look at that. That is beautiful. Isn t that a pretty fish, God that s pretty fish. (he kisses fish) SC- No thanks. THERE IS OBVIOUS RESPECT FOR THE RED DRUM. ANYONE WHO KISSES A FISH ON THE LIPS HAS TO THINK PRETTY HIGHLY OF THE SPECIES. BUT THEN, THIS SPORT IS A BIG DEAL TO A LOT OF FOLKS KISS OR NO KISS. MORE AMERICANS FISH THAN PLAY GOLF, AND THE MILLIONS THEY SPEND ON EQUIPMENT, LICENSES, EVEN BOATS, GIVES A NICE BOOST TO THE ECONOMY. SALTWATER FISHING, BOTH RECREATIONAL AND COMMERCIAL, PUMPS MORE THAN 500 MILLION DOLLARS TO THE STATE S ECONOMY AND CREATES AT LEAST FIVE THOUSAND JOBS. BUT AS MANY FISHERMEN POINT OUT, ALL GEORGIANS CAN HAVE AN IMPACT ON THEIR SPORT AND LIVELIHOOD. Fishing is one of those things that, if we take care of it, we can have it forever - if we take care of the habitat, if we take care of the fish populations as a sustainable form of recreation - uh we can have it uhh from now on, but we've got to be vigilante now

12 and be good stewards and it starts with water quality, and that's what I tell people that maybe come down from Atlanta. I say, "Believe me, what you do in Atlanta, Georgia affects the ability for us to catch red drum on these sand bars down here, because that water comes down the Altamaha River - it's all connected together". SOLID ADVICE BUT - THE ROD S TIPPING OVER, OUR CREW SPOTS A FISH, AND THIS ONE IS MINE. Ok, this is fighting me. Yeah it s fighting you. That s the whole point of the thing. You got a bull red. IT S UNDERSTANDABLE WHY THEY CALL THESE BULL REDS - I CAN BARELY HOLD THE ROD. This is hard. Use that rod tip. That s it, use that rod tip. Whoa. Ha Ha. Look at the spin on that rod. I m tellin ya. THERE S ANOTHER IMPORTANT LESSON. WHEN YOU RELEASE A FISH, YOU CAN T JUST TAKE THE HOOK OUT AND THROW HIM BACK. HANG ON TO THE TAIL TO MAKE SURE THE FISH HAS ITS EQUILIBRIUM BACK. ONLY WHEN IT S UPRIGHT AND TRYING TO SWIM SHOULD YOU LET IT GO. Alright! There ya go! Good coachin, good coachin. IT S BEEN A GOOD DAY, BUT IT S TIME TO

13 GET OUT OF HERE. SURF S UP WAY UP. SURF FISHERMEN LOOK TO THE SKY AND THE TIDES. TIDES ARE HIGHER HERE THAN ANYWHERE IN THE REST OF THE SOUTHEAST. IN FACT GEORGIA HAS THE HIGHEST TIDE FROM TEXAS ALL THE WAY UP TO NEW ENGLAND. SO MORE THAN TWICE A DAY, THE SURFACE LEVEL OF THE OCEAN CAN FLUCTUATE BETWEEN SIX TO EIGHT FEET. WHEN THE TIDE IS RISING, OR COMING IN AS THEY SAY, THE FISH COME IN TOO. SO IT S EASY TO LOSE YOURSELF IN FISH BEFORE REALIZING YOU ARE STRANDED BY THAT RISING TIDE. THAT S WHY MANY PEOPLE THINK IT S EASIER TO FISH FROM A BOAT. SOME DAYS THAT WOULD BE RIGHT. BUT NOT TODAY. This is very unusual, to not have a bite of any sort. We may have to move to the shoreline. THERE WERE MOMENTS. Nice trout. BUT DESPITE SEVERAL HOURS CRUISING ALONG GEORGIA S COAST, THE PICKINGS WERE SLIM. AS MOST FISHERMEN WILL TELL YOU FISH CAN BE FICKLE. ON ANOTHER DAY, WE FOUND THAT ST. SIMONS BEACH IS ALL IT SHOULD BE. IT S FREE TO ANYONE TO WANTS TO PLAY HERE. BOOGIE BOARDS ARE FLYIN, DOGS ARE JUMPIN AND SUN LOVERS ARE BASKING. WE MOVE THE POLES AROUND, AND CHANGE THE WEIGHTS IN AN EFFORT TO TRICK THE FISH.

14 You put this in place and when you cast it out it sits on the bottom. Hold that weight for me riht there see, this slides up and down so if the fish comes and bites this bait, it takes it. It ll slide through and he thinks, oh well, that s perfectly safe bait to eat because he s not feeling the weight immediately. EVEN WITH ALL THE SPECIAL BAIT, AND THE TRICKY WEIGHTS, OUR CATCH TODAY IS DISMAL. See, this waiting would drive me crazy. You ve got to wait for the best things in life, isn t that what you mama told you? Naw, she said, go for it! Take a deep breath. SOMETIMES IT S MORE ABOUT THE FISHING THAN THE FISH. PRESIDENT HERBERT HOOVER WROTE, NEXT TO PRAYER, FISHING IS THE MOST PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP OF MAN. I think it s because man, you know if you look back on the history of man, for so many hundreds of years, we spent every moment of our life connected directly to nature. You know, because our life depended on it. And now, within the last 200 years, we have begun to be separated from nature because it s all provided for us and we grow out of touch with it. Fishing is one of those things that reaches deep down into the core of your brain and wakes up those little memories of what you used to be like and how you related back to nature. And that s why there s no substitute for it. A video game doesn t do it. You can sit in your living room on a videogame and have a simulated fishing experience, but there s no water washing over your feet. There s no wind

15 in your face. There s no squeaking sand under your toes, and birds hovering over your head. I mean, you can t duplicate that. And that touches a part of the human brain that does ever get touched. Fishing is just a good excuse to go do it. EVERY ANGLER SEEMS TO HAVE A DIFFERENT REASON FOR WHY HE OR SHE FISHES. THEY ALL HAVE THEIR FAVORITE SPOTS, THAT SPECIAL BAIT, A LUCKY ROD, EVEN A FLOATING CHAIR IT S JUST PERSONAL. THE REASONS FOR FISHING ARE AS VARIED AS THE FISHERMEN THEMSELVES. WITH EASY ACCESS TO ALL OF GEORGIA S PARKS, LAKES, RIVERS AND STREAMS, FISHING MAY BE ONE OF THE BEST WAYS TO GET OUTSIDE AND TRULY APPRECIATE THE NATURAL BEAUTY AROUND YOU. Jim Dew Fly Fisherman When you re fishing, particularly if you re fly fishing you don t have any time to worry about the economy and your car being repossessed or illnesses or anything. You re just concentrating on trying to get some poor, crazy fish to take that lure and give you a fight. And that s the thing about fly fishing. The more you go the more you learn. It s one of the few sports that as you get older, you actually get better. I want to catch a fish every time I go, but I don t. Y know, but I don t care. I ll still go again. I ll go as long as I can walk. SO IF YOU RE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO DO, A WAY TO RELAX, MAYBE JUST A WAY TO ESCAPE, GRAB A ROD AND CAST A LINE. YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU MIGHT CATCH.

16 There are hundreds of places to go fishing in Georgia. We just visited a few. Now I know some of you would love to know where we pulled in those big drum, and I d like to tell you. But I think there s some unwritten fisherman code about protecting your best spot. Hope you enjoyed the show. We ll see ya next time!