Disclaimer: don't do this.
If you fish in mountain streams you may have had the experience of looking 100' down from a shelf road and seeing 200 yards of pools, gravel, all the signs…but waterfall in, waterfall out, impossibly steep on both sides, or steep on the road side and a five mile hike on the other side. Or just knowing a creek is down there but you can't find a practical way to get to it.
I fell doing something…unwise…a while back, trying to go down in somewhere I shouldn't have, it was an ordeal, and I decided to be a little less aggressive with the bluelining. "He died fishing…for very small fish" is how my wife would probably explain it if I did. Can't have that.
That didn't last, and I eventually got educated on rope access equipment, and how to be safe but go where I want. It has made inaccessible places accessible and added a whole new element to how I look at a map and plan. Accessing certain sections of streams can be multi-trip bushwhacking-from-a-rope projects that have become part of fishing for me. I find myself scouting spots based on the map indicating it may be inaccessible on foot. It has let me catch brook trout where that population has likely been isolated since the end of the pleistocene.
Also, don't do this.
Posted by tagged-union
3 Comments
I think you’ve got it figured out.
Good on you for making it it happen, and it’s great knowing you’re out there doing it.
I like it. One of my favorite spring creeks requires a rope to access. It’s awesome and I’ve never seen anyone else there.
Bro, that is next level! I have done some canyoneering in the past and now I can mix the two hobbies into one unholy amalgamation