The outdoor recreation industry that I am part of is changing as I have written before. Some of the trends have been predicted but are beginning to become reality. I was sent a link to the results of the 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a press release that gives an overview of the report at www.fws.gov.
The summer of unusual bird sightings continues for me. On Saturday I stopped to fish a ledge and a turkey flew out of the trees on the bank (I guess frightened by our arrival in the boat) I am sure that she thought it would be a short flight followed by a quick touch down. Much to the turkeys surprise she had flown out over the river where it was about a mile wide. On the initial glide down it nearly went into the water but realized that landing was not a good idea (do you suppose that they can swim?) a great flapping of wings got some altitude for another glide down.
Our weather has been pretty consistent for most of this week. An easterly wind with no rain and because the wind is off of the water chilly temperatures. The striper fishing continues to be slow because of the cold water that arrives on each incoming tide. The water temperature fell seven degrees between the harbor and my first stop to fish this morning. Hopefully the sun this afternoon with the tide out will warm the bottom and in turn the water some. Of course it will not warm up in only one day and what we really need is a day or two with the wind in some other direction than the east.
