The Healthy Places.

 I feel very fortunate to be able to adjust and build my schedule a bit.  It's a perk of self employment!  Thursday I was feeling pretty stressed out about some work and school tasks, and decided to accept some lost time, and fish a very relaxing stream about 15' from home.

It's a cold spring fed stream.  As a result, it's very dependent on good ground water levels to have good flow.  Even just a week ago, it was a trickle... But yesterday, after 3 days of rain, it was flowing just right.

The beauty of being spring fed though, is that even when it's barely a trickle come mid August, the water is still in the low 60's at most, and never totally stops flowing.  It may be just a seep between pools, but it's there, and with it, are the dark places under big rocks or under cut banks where the brookies survive one year to the next.  Generation to generation.  Amazing what these little fish are capable of!

It makes for a really healthy place.  The forest itself which surrounds the stream's upper reaches is protected by the Massachusetts DCR.  The trees are varied and occasional logging coupled with significant elevation change creates a wide range of habitat's for the wildlife who lives here.

The forest helps protect the stream too.  Filtering the snow melt and rain fall to pristine levels before entering the stream... And creating an aromatic mix of hemlock, wildflower and moss to entertain your olfactory system.

The best part though... I've literally never seen another person fishing here.  I've seen evidence of other's who have hunted here.  A few ancient tree stands no longer in use - one even blown down into the stream as part of a log jam.  That's about it though... Just one of those spots easy to overlook - thankfully.

For that reason, I found myself there yesterday with the plan to fish my lunch "break" to clear my head.

Getting to see nice spots like this and hear the flow of water is amazingly regenerative.  It's some what funny, but in my work, we like to really explore what types of things can balance out or restore the balance of our autonomic nervous systems - which run the primary functions of life, below our level of consciousness.  One strategy to calm the flight or fight sympathetic system while increasing parasympathetic (the rest and digest system) drive is literally a relaxed walk in the woods.  There's actually legit, scientific evidence to this fact.  Those who have enjoyed time in the woods know this without the research though.  Some things, we can learn with certainty without a class room!

Spots like this, moss to bank, water alternating between rushing forward and briefly pausing to collect itself, that the little scrappers - brookies - establish themselves as an amazing example of resilience and determination.

It's also where a few decided to eat a wingless light cahill wet fly :)

One thing about this stream, is that it's lower reaches begin to turn tanic, but up here, it's amazing how clear it runs.  The water in the pic above is flowing solidly and about 18" deep.  That, is clear water!

I never remember the name of these yellow flowers, but they are always around wild trout streams and other wet areas of the forest.  Super pretty little fellows.

Poison ivy is also around wild trout streams... and given my level of allergy to this three leaved beauty of a monster ;) I am glad I tend to fish these streams wearing knee high or hip high rubber boots!

Have a great weekend!
Will