Beautiful setting, trout, and a BEAR...oh my!!

[sstasiak]

So I took yesterday off to go to a job interview. Everything went well and I was done by about 10am. With the rest of the day wide open, I chose to fish the WTS section of the Pequannock. It was an absolutely perfect day for fishing and I had my first brown to hand only 20 minutes in. He was only about 8", but very feisty, jumping the whole time until he was brought to hand. I carefully removed the #8 black stonefly nymph from his lower lip and released him back into the riffle he came from. It was a wide, long riffle that I would have loved to work over more carefully, but was without a doubt shut down after the dance that little brownie performed all over it. Time to move on.

I worked my way upstream for about 40 minutes, spooking the occasional small fish, until I came up on a short riffle that just looked "fishy". A few casts to the tail yielded nothing. I took 2 or 3 slow steps upstream and began casting to the head. At this point casts were getting tricky due to the stream being no wider than the length of my 8' TFO, with THICK brush lining both banks. On the second drift I got what I was looking for. This time it was a more respectable fish that surprised me with the bend he put on the 4wt. Much like his buddy I caught downstream, he started his dancing act immediately. After a brief fight, his struggle seemed to subside, and just as I was pulling him towards the net that I held in my outstretched arm, he did a quick shake and spit the stonefly right back at me. After shouting a few choice explatives out loud, I accepted the "loss" and moved on. The fish was easily 14", probably a very modest estimate, and well worth shouting about losing(you guys know what I'm talking about).

Again, I began moving upstream where I proceeded to lose my stonefly in the thick brush. Here's where it got a little "hairy". Just as I was finishing tying on my next fly of choice, I heard a rustle in the bushes about 70 feet off the bank I was facing. At this point I was in one of very few sections of stream that didn't have thick brush right up to the waters edge. I gave a long shout, thinking it was just a few deer passing through. Again, the rustling started, and I saw bushes moving in a path that was headed right for me. I immediately thought, "definitely not deer, and definitely not something small". I shouted again, and within a few seconds saw the head and shoulders of an absolutely monstrous black bear appear above the waist high grass not more than 60 feet away from where I stood. NOT GOOD. With my ticker going into overdrive, I started yelling and flailing one arm trying to scare him, while with the other hand pulling out the 9" hunting knife I carry on trips like this. Not like I could've done much damage with it, but I figured it was better than nothing. At first he didn't seem to phased by my noise and flailing, and slowly turned around and took a few steps away. Then he turned back around and looked at me again. All I could think is, "You're SUPPOSED to keep going the other direction when I make noise". When he turned his head away, I ducked down out of his view, and started moving upstream slowly, all the while making as much loud noise as possible. I knew I still had a way to go before I got to the take out point which was the most nerve racking thing. For those of you who have never fished the Pequannock, once you're in the water at the put in point, you don't get out until the take out point. You just can't. There's brush lining the stream along almost the entire length.

After I got out of his sight and a bit upstream, I would stop about every 15 seconds or so to listen if he was still around as you can't see more than ten feet inland with all the bushes. The last thing I wanted was for him to try to run away in the direction I was going and run into him again.

Needless to say, that ended my day of fishing.

Sorry about the lengthy story, but that's exactly how it happened. Here are a couple of pics to illustrate what this stream looks like.

 

[sqerl]

There would have been nothing to be concerned about if you had a life perserver on! lol

great day on the water indeed! too bad the encounter with the bear wasnt before the interview to help keep things in perspective

 

[AKSkim]

I hate bears!

 

[C&R]

Holy crap Steve. How far in were you when you saw him? That's why I'll never fish that stretch alone.

Nice photos by the way. Would have been nice to get a photo of that bear. Yeah, that's probably the last thing I would have done too.

I'm not a hunter (actually I don't know diddly about hunting and the state regulations for it) but have always wondered if are you permitted to carry a firearm as a self-defense in such situations. It certainly would make life easier.

I'm heading up to the SR this weekend. Let me know if you're going to fish the Ramapo when they stock it. They're supposed to stock bigger fish this year.

 

[EB WADER]

Nice looking river. You could not tell by the pictures that it is in NJ.It looks like Maine ! Last year I had a bear situation twice at the same spot on the EB 2 months apart. When you are on the same ground with them it is scary. I'm thinking of starting to carry pepper spray when fishing.The bear population is growing.I found some fresh bear sign in a bow hunting area I was scouting recently.I'll see what I can do about decreasing the bear population for all our safety's sake.

 

[Eagle Claw]

In Yellowstone they sell pepper spray in shaving can size with a nice trigger pull handle,,,however, they say it does not work on black bears for some reason, it works well on grizzly. So dont think you are safe with it. I was thinking of a flare gun or a compressed air horn.

 

[sstasiak]

I had someone recommend an air horn, and will definitely invest in one before the next time I go out there.

 

[sstasiak]

Holy crap Steve. How far in were you when you saw him? That's why I'll never fish that stretch alone.

I was probably not even halfway through the stretch between the put in point at the RR trestle and take out point. It definitely killed at least a couple more hours of fishing. Just as I was getting into a zone too.

Oh well, after thinking about it for a while, I probably overreacted a bit since it was my first CLOSE encounter with a bear. Next time I'll have an air horn, and just give it a blast every so often to give notice that I'm in the area.

 

[Eagle Claw]

While in Yellowstone I heard a gong getting closer untill I saw an old timer with a cow bell around his neck coming down a wooded path. However, since hunters have been know to shoot cows in the east I would not recomend it.

 

[serotonin]

Walmart. One dollar U.S. currency. Purchase flourescent orange plastic whistle.
(Warning Orange).
Comes complete w/synthetic band for hanging around your neck.
Works when Wet.
Don't leave home without it.

99 cents.
Hard cash.
Could save your ass.

Has multiple uses.
(One loud blast, and the dog brings me a beer).
(Two loud blasts... she brings me two).

Works good if your deep in the Adirondacks with a couple of busted knees and a twisted ankle.
No batteries required.
...and it scares the shit out of bears.

It makes a really annoying sound and it does it Loudly.
With very little effort.
It is not a toy, and should only be used in Emergencies.

Plus... it doesn't rot.
Could very well last a lifetime.............
Now that's a good investment.




Nice photos BTW.

 

[quality time]

That's why I'll never fish that stretch alone.

If you opt for the buddy system to protect yourself from bears, remember that you don't need to be able to outrun the bear, only your buddy!

 

[RedTag2000]

I had someone recommend an air horn, and will definitely invest in one before the next time I go out there.

I dont recall brand name, but any most of the sport outfitters will have compact versions of air horns that make nice and loud noise. I bought mine to use in Alaska, ended up being used to wake up my friends more then anything else. Seriously though, it seems like a good noise maker for either hiking trips, foggy morninngs on Your boat, or graduation cheers.
I still think annoying sounding whistle is a better option.

 

[Eagle Claw]

The air horn I carry in my vest is about the size of a travel size shaving cream can, it will blast your ears off. I once used it on a nasty dog that always shows his fangs when I park near his property. One blast and he ran off like a chipmonk. It is also a great item if you fall along a stream and need to draw attention. I also carry an aerial flar about the size of highlighter pen.
These items can be purchased in any story that sells boating supplies. I got mine at Ramsey Outdoor Store many years ago.

 

[CR]

Sounds like a fantastic outing regardless of the bear. Personally I would have stayed, but kept a watchful eye/ear open. I would think it highly unlikely for the brute to return.

Not to criticize your writing skills, but I think it is important to point out your repeated use of the word "dance" to describe what really is a fish fighting for its life. A lot of fishing writers do this: to humanize a life-or-death struggle in order to lessen the reality of the situation, even to make it seem like the fish is enjoying itself. I can assure you that the fish is NOT enjoying itself. In my opinion, agree with it or not, a writer who cheapens the situation is not paying proper respect to these amazing wild creatures that we pursue. I know the fish do not care how we describe it, but I like to show them respect.

 

[sstasiak]

Not to criticize your writing skills, but I think it is important to point out your repeated use of the word "dance" to describe what really is a fish fighting for its life. A lot of fishing writers do this: to humanize a life-or-death struggle in order to lessen the reality of the situation, even to make it seem like the fish is enjoying itself. I can assure you that the fish is NOT enjoying itself. In my opinion, agree with it or not, a writer who cheapens the situation is not paying proper respect to these amazing wild creatures that we pursue. I know the fish do not care how we describe it, but I like to show them respect.

Not to criticize your comment, but if we all really wanted to show the fish respect, we wouldn't fish at all. We all know what's going on when we go fishing, and I wasn't trying to humanize the situation. The term "danced" was used as an alternatived verb to describe the action of the fish once it was hooked. I don't think it makes a difference if I wrote, "the fish fought across the surface of the water" or "danced across the surface".

I certainly don't think the fish is enjoying itself when it's impaled by a hook, and I'd say anyone was crazy if they did.

I'm not a professional writer, but I would imagine they use terms like that to spice up their stories. If everyone said, "The fish fought for it's life after it was hooked" every time they wrote a story, it'd probably get a bit boring after a while.

You are, however, entitled to your opinion as am I.