Looking today at another cloud-studded blue sky and blue and pale reflections on the river, I wondered about life beneath that surface. In an odd way, shadows on the river allow us to see into the water more clearly, especially if the stream runs as clear as the Ottauqueechee has done lately. After Tropical Storm Irene, the waters were impenetrable for months, changing only in their shades of brown or grey. Now only the passing leaves and frothy islands block the view of the bottom, several feet down at its deepest by the bridge.
I have not spent vast amounts of time monitoring what passes underwater there, yet it still seems odd that I have yet to see a fish. I did see an unfamiliar looking duck splash suddenly into the water and then take off as abruptly, flying west under the bridge. Did it catch something?
In my usual time-challenged manner, I googled "Fishing on the Ottauquechee" and found a charming youtube video, shot, it appears, just upstream of the Rt. 4 bridge on the way out of town. To a soundtrack of soothing piano, the camera chronicled the catch of a small trout. The shot then lingered on the hand of the fisherman holding the now unhooked fish underwater in the most gentle way, and then releasing it back into the stream.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omXVa3fFDBA
No comments:
Post a Comment