A CASE FOR CREELS

Should adults put fish in their clothing? Granted it's not universally politically correct to keep fish, but I find a few bluegills, the odd brook trout or some pier perch a bonus when fishing. However, I'd never put dead fish in a vest. When we fish from a boat we kill the fish we plan to keep and immediately ice them down. This is particularly important with delicate fish or in hot weather or when the water's warmer than 45 F. Fish that you "poach" on a stringer in tepid water hardly improve.

My own choice for wading is a mesh bag that I fill with damp leaves or grass. Until it's needed I hold the bag in the coat compartment of my fishing creel - I use a rectangular fabric type with multiple pockets. However, there's no question but that an old-fashioned wicker creel filled with wet foliage does a better job of toting fish.

Today's modern creels also hold as much gear as I care to tote. Some of the vests I see on anglers - fly flingers are the worst case - look like ads for European tires. How one finds anything in this is a mystery.

What goes into the creel's equally important. It tote bug dope, fly dope, a thermometer, a set of nippers, various lure and flie containers, a tape, a couple of extra reels spools, leader material etc. If something isn't used for two or three trips I remove it to the massive hard-sided tackle boxes that live in my car. This means that I don't spend time on the stream or bank sorting through massive collections of gear. A few select lures or flies with duplicates offer a better approach.

Simplicity seems the key. Why make fishing so complex? Work has enough of that.

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