Trout & an old bottle

The last day of the year found me at the stream seeking trout or Steelhead.  The big fish would elude me, but two small trout were brought to the net.  I was frustrated that I had dropped my digital camera the previous evening and of course it didn't work when I went to take photos of the fish.  They probably were of legal size, but I couldn't see harvesting the fish just for the sake of pictures (using a different camera at home).  Who knows, maybe some good fish karma will head my way for resisting smoked trout and sharing photos.


City Bottling Works Sandusky, O.

Leaving the water, I spotted an interesting green reflection.  Upon closer inspection, I could see it was an old bottle.  I dug it out of the sediment and was surprised to find it completely intact.  When the remnants of Hurricane Sandy brought storms through Ohio I had noticed many areas that had washed out or changed altogether.  This bottle becoming visible was surely a result from this.  The top 1/3 has a stone shell forming over it but you can still make out plenty of words on it.  It reads, "City Bottling Works Sandusky, O".  I will be working carefully to get it cleaned up, hoping not to break it trying to get the stone formation off.  I will do some high def photos if I am successful.  If anyone knows anything historical about the bottle or bottling company I would love to learn more.  My Google attempts haven't turned up very much info.  The bottle was definately one of the more interesting finds I have come across while out fishing and exploring.

A decade of CWF, 2002 - 2012

The arms have gotten smaller but at least the trout have gotten bigger!

I am amazed how fast time flies.  It seems like yesterday that I was dragging a few text and photo boxes around on a free AOL web page builder.  You were one of the 'cool kids' if your profile had a link to this type page.  Although primitive, it was fun and I was pretty proud of mine.  Of course, this was an additionally exceptional feat as many times as someone would call the house and knock me offline.

There were a lot fewer sites on the web, but the social interaction and information exchange advancement was amazing.  Even then, I realized I was witnessing a major phenomenon taking place.  Secret fishing spots that were talked about in code at local bait shops, now were freely talked about in forums with everything down to the driving directions to get there.  Many a night I spent on the old www.GoFishOhio.com forums raging about small water spots being discussed.  Well I suppose I'm still known to do that now and then.  Other memories include; exchanging emails with Andrew Ragas (www.fishing-headquarters.com) where he was excited to be getting his driver's license and would be able to fish more.  He's now a college grad and a well known personality within the fishing community in the greater Chicago region and beyond.  I remember finding Andy and Corey's www.roughfish.com and loved learning there were others like me who enjoyed catching all the species of fish, not just the popular sportfish.  Anyone else remember the excitement of 'earning' the right to choose a fish species icon to associate yourself with on the forums?!  So much fun!  I also don't want to overlook Geoff's www.globalfisher.com and how enjoyable his community was as well.

As for me, I had always used the "CoolWater" name when registering for any site.  Maybe it was the cologne I was wearing at the time or I just thought it sounded cool - but it became my online identity.  When I learned of "Homestead Sitebuilder", my dreams of doing a website became a reality without knowing any html.  I simply combined my username with "fish" and CoolWaterFish was born.  To this day, people assume the name originated with my love for trout/steelhead fishing and other cold water fish species.  The reality was that it was pure ironic luck.  That fortunate fact presented itself well after the site started.

I feel like a fraud when it comes to how unskilled of a fisherman I was back in 2002.  Of course, I wonder 10 years from now if I will be saying the same thing about 2012.  Even though I didn't catch tons of quality fish in the early days, I did love trying to catch them and telling my stories.  I guess my passion for fishing was evident and kept enough people stopping by the site to keep me motivated.  When I look over the last 10 years, it seems that I have gotten better as a fisherman and as a person.  Fishing reminds me of life itself, a series of highs and lows that you always hope to improve on.  It is my hope that old friends continue to stop by here and that new friends find their way here.  Here's to the next 10!

Dreaming of a Chrome Christmas

Bringing 2012 to a close with a dandy Vermilion River Steelhead

Well I couldn't have scripted a better start to the new blog.  With so few fishing trips in 2012, just getting out was a reward in itself.  Add the fact that it was 60 degrees on December 16th, and I was having a superb day before making my first cast.

 

The water of choice today was the Vermilion River near Mill Hollow-Bacon Woods Park.  For it being such a nice weekend day, I was surprised that only a moderate number of anglers were out.  Overall, the fishing was slow, but I always say it only takes one bite to change everything.  After quite a few hours of fishing, my one bite was the pictured Steelhead that hit on a fresh spawn sac drifted under a bobber.  I owe some gratitude to the stranger last week who game me the eggs.  A very nice gentleman that said he wasn't going to be able to use them before they went bad.  I guess I had good timing as I wasn't even fishing that day, just had pulled up to chit chat with other anglers.  Anyways, I was happy to put his kind gesture to good use!     

 

There is a huge smile behind that fish, trust me on that

I'm hoping the story for 2012 doesn't end here, but if it does I can't complain.  Just a few short weeks ago www.coolwaterfish.com was a dead domain and my blog was an outdated afterthought with nothing posted since April.  The domain name is back, the blog is fresh and I'm catching fish - Life is good!  If the weather holds up, I'll be back at it next weekend.

Christening the new CoolWaterFish!

It has been very busy the past couple years... back surgery, becoming a dad, career change and of course always trying to be a great husband.  All of this contributed to seeing my fishing time decrease and subsequently gave me less to write and post about on the website.  When I did manage to get out, my limited web design capabilities made it very time consuming to get the info/report on the site.  So earlier this year, I made a good decision to move to the blog format for the ease and efficiency.  With only a few posts and nothing noteworthy, I have deleted this year's posts and opted for a fresh start.  Work/life balance seems to be getting better, and I should be finding more time to pursue fish.

CoolWaterFish.com had a great run and I may try to get my domain name back.  I hate knowing that I have a dead address and all of the link exchanges that are now pointing to a void in cyberspace.  I guess more important than the web address is the content.  In the past, I have had a huge focus on myself and what I am catching.  Moving forward, I will still have that but also plan to cover more fishing news, resources and information.

Thank you to all of those that have stuck with me through the years and a big "Welcome" to the new folks.  If you have time, please join as a follower and/or "Like" on Facebook.