1st Weekly Reflection

May 6, 2018

The first week of Senior project was a blast! Finn and I went into this thinking we knew a lot more than we actually did, At Least I did. Although I have always fly fished, I have learned so many new things over this week just from talking to the workers at the tackle shop we went to and Hunter, our mentor. Everything from the type of flies that the trout are biting to how long of a leader we should use. Hunter helped Finn and I hone in on our fly casting out in the grass so we could cast our flies on a dime when on the river. My experiences with fly fishing have been involved with mostly out west fishing and up in northern New Hampshire on open rivers with not a lot of tree coverage. The local waters near Proctor are smaller brooks and have lots of tree coverage, making the common fly fishing cast nearly impossible. Hunter helped us learn the roll cast which essentially enables the fly line to roll on the water and cast the fly out farther. Instead of tossing the line behind you. This was very helpful once we learned it as this week I lost a lot of flies. I was not expecting the casting to be so hard but it really was once you applied it in the natural environment. After losing a couple flies along the road I finally have mastered the roll cast and have been performing it almost perfectly on every cast by the time it was Friday. Looking back on this week I think coming into senior project I had high expectations for myself when it came to catching actual fish. Unfortunately both Finn and I turned out empty handed all week. This obviously meant we were unable to give any data feedback to Trout Unlimited through Troutblitz but I am confident we will catch something next week. Our friend Alfie had already caught two brook trout this week and we are planning on picking his brain and fishing with him one day next week! I think visiting the tackle shop and talking with Hunter helped us achieve our goal of improving my fly fishing skills as I started to learn the ways of fly fishing in central New Hampshire. I never knew they would differ so much from fishing up north but it really is a different world. Our goal of becoming more involved with trout unlimited has been achieved through my engagement with trout in the classroom over the past year up to this spring as we prepare the eggs that we have been growing in Sarah Mcintyre’s biology classroom to be released into blackwater river soon. Hopefully within the next two weeks! Our final goal of providing scientific data for trout blitz was not achieved this week unfortunately as we did not catch any fish. But I am confident that next week we will land at least one fish that will allow us to provide valuable information to Trout Blitz so they can keep track of fish populations throughout the country! Hopefully the fish gods will be nicer to Finn and I next week but so far it has been a great start to senior project and I am enjoying every minute of it !