Unusual Things found when fishing.

or however that dang word is written! : ) Use this forum to discuss those things that are related to, directly, or indirectly, fly fishing, i.e., tackle, catalogs, single malt scotch, cigar preferences, pipes, camera gear, etc. This is sort of an off topic area but one related to bamboo and fly fishing.

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FreestoneVintage
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#41

Post by FreestoneVintage »

That's a sweet find eotr!

just_jon
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#42

Post by just_jon »

I came across several pairs on 20’ tall 8” angle iron imbedded along side a stream. An old timer told me they were used to form dams when the virgin timber was harvested in the valley around 1910. The loggers stacked boards between the angle iron and they dynamited the dam to move logs downstream to the next set.

billems
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#43

Post by billems »

In 95, while bushwacking way downriver, in an area where the brush was so thick that access to the river was almost impossible, I found in a swale a totally rusted 40s Chevy pickup. A few years later I returned and it was no longer there.

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Mike McGuire
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#44

Post by Mike McGuire »

Fishing the East Walker River on the CA/NV border, I found a western oriole's nest made entirely of discarded spinning reel monofilament. Showed signs of having been successfully used, no bird entangled in it. Needless to say this does not justify abandoning scrap mono anyhow anyway.

Mike
A Selection of my DIY Rodmaking Tools

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reidrods
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#45

Post by reidrods »

Speaking of discarded monofilament...while night fishing on a local stream, I was moving from one spot to another on a familiar path and took a bad tumble when entangled in a ball of monofilament. Broke a rod tip and bruised my knees on rocks. Still angry over that. I always pick up abandoned mono. Guess I didn't use the mono as successfully as your oriole, Mike.

Willis

magpie
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#46

Post by magpie »

Well, I wasn't going to post this, but the number of posts has worn down my resolve. I found a pair of women's panties on the banks of the Escanaba River in the U.P. The fish must not have been biting.

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Greg Reynolds
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#47

Post by Greg Reynolds »

I've come across 5 iron furnaces while fishing here in the Laurel Highlands in SW Pennsylvania, here's 4 of them:
Image
Image
Image
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There were 16 in Westmoreland County (my home), and quite a few others in the surrounding counties. I've been to 9 of them, and intend to visit the others that are accessible.

Most operated during the early-1800s until about the Civil War. They're all build into hillsides (for loading from a gantry), and along streams for power. They typically employed about 50+ people and ran 24/7 until hardwood or ore supplies were exhausted.

http://www.oldindustry.org/Iron_Info/blast.jpeg
https://coalandcoke.blogspot.com/2016/1 ... naces.html

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Brooks
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#48

Post by Brooks »

The rock work on the upper one is just beautiful

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jhuskey
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#49

Post by jhuskey »

Greg Reynolds wrote:
01/13/21 14:31
I've come across 5 iron furnaces while fishing here in the Laurel Highlands in SW Pennsylvania, here's 4 of them:
Image
Image
Image
Image

There were 16 in Westmoreland County (my home), and quite a few others in the surrounding counties. I've been to 9 of them, and intend to visit the others that are accessible.

Most operated during the early-1800s until about the Civil War. They're all build into hillsides (for loading from a gantry), and along streams for power. They typically employed about 50+ people and ran 24/7 until hardwood or ore supplies were exhausted.

http://www.oldindustry.org/Iron_Info/blast.jpeg
https://coalandcoke.blogspot.com/2016/1 ... naces.html

Wondering if you have hunted for slag leavings at any of the sites? Beautiful greens, blues and browns.

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Eric Peper
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#50

Post by Eric Peper »

There are several of those iron furnaces in the Harriman State Park in southeastern New York. I recall running across them as a young kid hiking the area when my parents sent me to summer camp up there.
A mountain is a fact -- a trout is a moment of beauty known only to men who seek them
Al McClane in his Introduction to The Practical Fly Fisherman . . . often erroneously attributed to Arnold Gingrich

crowebeetle
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#51

Post by crowebeetle »

There's one in State College Pa,

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Greg Reynolds
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#52

Post by Greg Reynolds »

JHuskey: I know about the slag, but haven't looked for any yet. It's present at three of the furnaces above.

Eric: A link to one of the Harriman furnaces : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clove_Fur ... a_view.jpg

Crowebeetle: I'd forgotten about Centre Furnace; I've seen it many times in the past. Three of our four daughters are Penn State graduates, and we've spent a fair amount of time (and money) there: https://www.paesta.psu.edu/sites/defaul ... 8_2013.jpg

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creakycane
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#53

Post by creakycane »

Eric Peper wrote:
01/13/21 17:04
There are several of those iron furnaces in the Harriman State Park in southeastern New York. I recall running across them as a young kid hiking the area when my parents sent me to summer camp up there.
Yep, there’s one on ( now) Columbia Univ Property in Arden, just across the Thruway from the good old Ramapo River.

crowebeetle
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#54

Post by crowebeetle »

Really skillful stone work on all of them

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Eric Peper
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#55

Post by Eric Peper »

All of those I saw were well back in the woods . . . along with ruins/remnants of the old Underground Railroad paths.
A mountain is a fact -- a trout is a moment of beauty known only to men who seek them
Al McClane in his Introduction to The Practical Fly Fisherman . . . often erroneously attributed to Arnold Gingrich

Salar4me
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#56

Post by Salar4me »

Another blast furnace located at the trailhead to the high peaks in the Adirondacks. Found some slag close by when fishing the upper Hudson River. Some real interesting history https://scenesfromthetrail.com/2017/09/ ... dack-park/
Including a long standing private reserve known for some large brook trout. Eric P. May have known some members during his long tenure editing in the big city.
Image

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Greg Reynolds
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#57

Post by Greg Reynolds »

Thanks for posting this...

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jhuskey
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#58

Post by jhuskey »

Salar4me, that is a beautiful furnace! Wow!

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Mahseer
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#59

Post by Mahseer »

Never expected to find a unicorn. This was on the shore of a remote bay on Llyn Brenig, a high altitude lake in North Wales, created to regulate the flow of the River Dee in times of low rainfall, and now home to nesting Ospreys.

It's going to my unicorn obsessed grand daughter.
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jhuskey
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Re: Unusual Things found when fishing.

#60

Post by jhuskey »

Perfect Masheer! :rollin

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