OT - prayer, fry, fish and fright

[bdhold]

Hookie day Friday, began the day with two 2nd grade classrooms from the nearby Christian Academy, releasing their TIC fry into a great upriver section of our tailwater (maintains 55 degrees throughout the summer)
The owner of this fine property on the horseshoe bend has blessed us with lease access, in spite of grumbles from his neighbors and their association.

Several dads turned out to help, and they were as excited as the kids, but did a better job of constraining it.
It was somewhat akin to herding cats, though for 3 moments in the event, the kids were still and quiet

Instructions from the teacher, posing for a group photo with the cooler of rainbow fry, and prayer to open the event - great way to start, though it missed my favorite close - "and put us on fish"
We were also blessed with a nice break in the rain for this event
Every kid got a chance to net and release their fry into the river


And who should be down from Waco to fish this lease site today, but my buddy Dale, a theology professor from Baylor
I tell you, though, Dale is a Distinguished professor of tightline nymphing

Between Dale and his compatriots, the kids got to see 4 rainbows caught, and Dale brought a really nice one to the bank for the kids to see


It went off without a hitch - no one fell in - that was my turn later. It made the local newspaper, which is always good press for GRTU.
So Jimbo and I went downriver to fish the next access down - great drop from a riffle into a flagstone run (think BWO water)
There is some spooky erosion-sloped flagstone along this bank and sure enough, when my first fish went for a stroll, and I went to follow, I did the Buster Keaton banana peel thing on my first step, landed on my sitbone, Thomas rod in the river. Recovered enough to grab my rod just after the current got it, and still managed to walk the fish down to land it.

A couple more each for me and Jimbo


I see Jimbo sitting on a rock. He tells me he's having a cardiac event. We wade back across the chute, tediously slow climb back to the car, and I'm spooked by his elevated respiration. Of course the aspirin and nitro is in his car - we made it, and sat him on his fishing stool. He won't let me call an ambulance, and I nurse him through the edge of consciousness from the nitro pouring cold water over his head, and telling him the story of when my mom killed my dad. Seriously, my dad has low blood pressure, only one kidney, and the kidney medication one morning made him pass out. So my mom, who always believes what solves her problems should solve everybody's, puts a nitro tab under his tongue and stops his heart. Luckily, Bulverde EMS is close and responsive.

After a half-hour Jimbo is walking again, making phone calls to the Doc he was going to meet and fish in the afternoon. I spend the next hour with him and he's back to normal in no time, and of course he still meets these guys and sets them up at the same spot Dale was fishing above. I didn't even know he had one a year ago, but he said this was his first angina, and he promised to head straight to his cardiologist. Turns out he and my mom have the same doctor. All in all, a prayer-saturated day.

[Blaine]

Good job all around.

[gamekeeper]

Good job all around.

+ 1....

[AJMD429]

Looks like a great day for the kids. Tell your friend he really needs to check out external counter pulsation treatment. it is a series of treatments a doctor can do in the office if they have the equipment, and the results in terms of relieving angina equal or exceed that of stents and bypass. Plus, the results are accomplished by building collateral circulation, which reduces risk of future infarcts. many institutions don't offer it, because it isn't very profitable vs. the more invasive procedures

[bdhold]

what Jimbo described to me is one of his valves is too long, but it doesn't leak, so insurance won't repair it.
When he tachs, it causes his BP to drop, and his brain signals to tach higher. His heart racing is the source of the angina.
I really hope he got the blood work Friday afternoon...I'll catch up with him in the week.

[GonnePhishin]

Nice pictures and posting. Thanks for sharing. Trout is one fish I've never had the pleasure to catch or eat.
Hope things turn out well for Jimbo.

Also: thanks Doc for that info since I've never heard of it before.

[Grizz]

Great post. America at her best. Thanks.

Grizz

[bdhold]

thanks Grizz, your reply very well represents the audience I brought this over for. God bless.
Of course I wrote the little photo essay for the fly fishing boards, and I think you guys deserve a glossary.
TIC is Trout in the Classroom, it's a program sponsored by Trout Unlimited and several hatcheries, within Texas by Guadalupe River chapter of TU, Houston Fly Fishers (FFF), White Oak School District, and footwork from teachers and a lot of volunteers.
We set up refrigerated aquariums in classrooms, I get eggs from a Washington-state hatchery, and with the help of those volunteers, distribute them all over Texas


The kids raise the eggs to fingerlings, then release them in the Guadalupe tailwater
Our goal really isn't to raise or to stock trout, but to raise conservationists.
If we get one Jimbo out of the group, we've accomplished our goal.

GRTU is a local outfit covering all of Texas, but with a nationwide impact on conservation
http://www.grtu.org/conservation/
I've been on the GRTU board for 20 years, did 5 years as chapter affairs, and now head up the TIC
But we built our club around the Guadalupe tailrace, leasing access from landowners, and stocking trout in the cold water.
Of course TPWD also stocks trout, and the history goes back to 1965, a stocking experiment in the cold tailrace by Jim Thomas and Lone Star beer (you guys remember Lone Star Sportsman?)

Jimbo is our VP fisheries, handles all the leases, member fauxpas, gets the stocking truck down from MO, monitors the health of the river and is the Ambassador General for our program.

BWO - blue wing olive mayfly, baetis sp
They live in fast oxygenated water and, when they hatch, actively swim from the bottom to the surface.
I go out of my way to fish their hatches, because trout will violently impale themselves on a swinging fly

it's the eggs that make them olive
But so the kids knew their fish would be OK living in the river, I turned over some rocks to show them the BWO nymphs


most of the dads who turned out, btw, serve in our armed forces (probably the greatest missionary force ever on the planet)

Doc, I'm seeing Jimbo twice later this week, and will make sure to ask him about the treatment and to convey it to his cardiologist

[Ysabel Kid]

Fantastic!

[bdhold]

more TIC results
Yesterday, Matt of Houston Fly Fishers brought 4 coolers from Houston, 3 of the Houston teachers with their families, and another teacher from Austin.

Couldn't have asked for better weather (with our El Nino spring, it's been raining on and off for a month, and heavy rain projected for the next 10 days)

This time didn't bring the whole classrooms, but there were still young conservationists here to help
First step into the cold water was a shock

After acclimating the fish to the river, we could have just poured them in, but the teachers were using the nets to count their results




Jimbo also has to keep a log to report to TPWD - we have a 30-day permit to release the fry.

Future conservationists volunteering to help


So far, we've put 600 or so 2-3" fingerlings into the river, and 3 more classrooms to go.
But keep in mind, this program is not about raising trout or putting trout in the river - it's about raising conservationists.
If we get one Jimbo out of the effort, we've accomplished our goal.

ps, Jimbo's doctor did determine it was a minor infarction, and the damage slightly raised his BP, so the doctor has him on new meds.
But I was very happy to catch up and find out he followed through.