Connect The Rivers
In April, I had the opportunity to drive across the country with my partner and visit our families. We started in Telluride, Colorado before we headed North to get onto Interstate 70 East towards Philadelphia and then North to Massachusetts. If you haven’t had the pleasure of driving across the country, these drives are a great way to be in your own head, play some music, listen to audiobooks or just sleep. This drive, however, was so much more interesting to me than any of my other road trips.
For the first leg of the trip, we went through Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and West Virginia, before arriving in Pennsylvania. Each day we’d cross either a river or an area that is home to one of our volunteers for Science on the Fly. Up until I onboarded a few volunteers from Ohio, I really didn’t know too much about the state and the fishing around there. As we drove, we crossed over Little Darby Creek and Mad River which are two rivers that we are sampling in the state. I immediately felt familiar and connected with the area. I wasn’t just passing through some random creek that looked like every other creek along I-70. Rather, I was passing Little Darby Creek- a tributary to Darby Creek that is populated with smallmouth bass and recently reintroduced Hellbenders while also being the fishing grounds of our volunteer Katie Johnstone, who leads Ohio Women on the Fly!! I was fully awake and intrigued by my surroundings thanks to this little creek.
After we spent some time in Pennsylvania, we made our way to coastal Massachusetts by way of New York’s Hudson Valley and Western Mass. We weren’t in a hurry and wanted to check out some cute towns and neighborhoods to potentially move to one day. I had some ideas of the areas I wanted to visit thanks to a lot of the SOTF volunteers who interested me with some fishing tales and incredible photos of their watersheds.
We went through a small town called Phoenicia, New York. I was captivated by its beauty even in the mud season but didn’t know anything about the area. As we drove the highway, we crossed a decently sized river that flowed through some gorgeous landscape. The sign read “Esopus River”. I immediately was familiar and connected all over again. This river has been one of the most requested rivers to sample in New York for Science on the Fly. I fully understand why it is the most requested river to sample in New York… which is all I am going to say.
This feeling of familiarity and connection to SOTF continued as we crossed over the many rivers and watersheds. We weren’t passing over just a beautiful place anymore, we were passing over a river with a story that I partially knew. Whether it be a river that has a history of contamination from an old coal mine, one that is being studied for a particular species, or another that runs through an industrious part of the city, I was already familiar with its story and the people who so desperately want to make sure that its story is told. Science on the Fly has given me and others the chance to open our eyes to the various watersheds in our country (and world), and I am forever grateful for the connections it has brought and will continue to bring.
It seems that another road trip for the purpose of fishing these rivers is in order. Then, I’ll have even more things to say about each river after my “research”.
Allie is the Volunteer Coordinator for Science on the Fly. She also samples the San Miguel River outside of Telluride, Colorado.
