I just got back from a short overnite camping and fishing motorcycle trip to Erwin Pond (Gang Mills, NY)..

A few weeks ago I had visited the area, and found myself wishing I had had my fly-flishing gear with me, so with nice weather on the horizon, I decided to go.

I packed up a bit hurriedly, and got there about 8pm Monday nite. I setup camp, only to find that I had forgotten my fly-fishing reel :-(

But I had rememberd to pack a small coleman spinning rod and some bobbers just in case, and the just in case turned out to be the only thing I could use!

I got some dinner, came back to camp about midnite, and in the dim light of my headlamp, began setting up my spinning rod.

Much to my dismay, I soon found I had apparently camped in the grand central station of daddy-long-legs spiders ..... yikes!

They were everywhere, crawling up and around all my gear and me, but since they aren't too bothersome, I managed to ignore them. Sometimes I camp without a tent, but I was very, very glad I had a bug-proof tent to sleep in peace ;-)

Next morning about 9am I woke up and headed down to the pond with my portable chair, thermos of required coffee, and other essentials.

After a few casts with a small dry fly and bobber, I had caught a couple small blue-gills, so I was pretty happy. (I always throw them back unless I'm going to eat them)...

A bit later another fisherman walked over and we chatted for several hours - it was nice to meet someone about my age who had also grown up loving fishing and hunting and knew the "pond" area much better than I do...

About 1pm I took a short nap, got up about 4pm, and by 6pm had all my camping gear packed up on the bike.

I headed back to the "best spot" (according to Richard Baker - the fisherman I met) next to the dyke, and caught another 2 dozen or so medium-sized bluegills.

For a slideshow of pics I took, please click here (requires java) - note the first picture is of the still in business "Food Mart" where our family spent many happy hours shopping! Sorry there aren't any people or fish pics, but my camera wasn't handy at the time... :-)