The rattlesnakes and copperheads are starting to come out. Although they are not going to keep me from fishing, I am cautious along the streams—especially along the mountain trout streams. Here are three rules I try to follow. 1) Don’t walk through thick laurel or deep weeds where you cannot see where you are stepping. 2) Don’t reach over ledges or boulders to pull yourself up the stream if you cannot see where you are putting your hands. (I almost crawled into two snakes in two weeks this way). 3) Don’t step across large logs on the ground until you carefully look on the far side to be sure you don’t have company. Just to play it safe I always carry a Sawyer Snake Bite Kit in my vest.
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