Ron P. Swegman

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Ron P. Swegman (born August 12, 1967) is an American angler, artist, and author. His work includes the illustrated essay collections Philadelphia on the Fly: Tales of an Urban Angler (Frank Amato Publications, 2005) and Small Fry: The Lure of the Little (The Whitefish Press, 2009). His writing primarily explores those times and places when and where nature and the city intersect.

Contents

Literary career

Swegman was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and attended Penn State where, as an undergraduate, he wrote and edited for the university's newspaper, The Daily Collegian . A post-baccalaureate fellowship at The Poynter Institute steered him toward incorporating illustrations into his writing projects. He settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, freelancing fiction, journalism, and poetry, much of which appeared in the Zine movement during the 1990s. A broadside, museum of buildings: poems, was published in 1998.

His first full-length book, Philadelphia on the Fly (2005), introduced a new generation of American outdoor writing with a new set of interests and values: urban angling in the shadow of city skylines; mountain biking to regional fishing destinations; birding as a guide to the fish; and poetic prose writing to describe the practical "How To" strategies for luring fish to the artificial fly. His second, Small Fry: The Lure of the Little (2009), portrays these same themes on a broader geographical canvas.

A noted authority on Tenkara fishing, [1] the Japanese fly casting style, Swegman is a contributing writer to several publications, including Eastern Fly Fishing, The Fisherman, The Flyfish Journal, and Tenkara Magazine. Native and invasive urban plants are also documented in his ongoing online project: "Wildflowers of the West Village" - documenting urban nature in New York City. [2] He has resided there since 2009.

Snakehead controversy

The alleged appearance of the northern snakehead (Channa argus) in Central Park's lakes in April–May 2013 brought renewed international attention to the problem of invasive species in urban waterways. Swegman's angling writings were cited by The New York Times [3] and segments on The Today Show . [4] Other publications followed, including The Drake, New York Observer [5] and The Australian [6]

Works

Nonfiction

Poetry

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fishing rod</span> Angling tool

A fishing rod is a long, thin rod used by anglers to catch fish by manipulating a line ending in a hook. At its most basic form, a fishing rod is a straight rigid stick/pole with a line attached to one end ; however, modern rods are usually elastic and generally have the line stored in a reel mounted at the rod handle, which is hand-cranked and controls the line retrieval, as well as numerous line-restricting rings that distribute bending stress along the rod and help dampening down/prevent line whipping and entanglement. To better entice fish, baits or lures are dressed onto the one or more hooks attached to the line, and a bite indicator is used, some of which might be incorporated as part of the rod itself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fishing reel</span> Hand-cranked reel used in angling to stow fishing line

A fishing reel is a hand-cranked reel used in angling to wind and stow fishing line, typically mounted onto a fishing rod, but may also be used to retrieve a tethered arrow when bowfishing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fishing line</span> String or line intended for angling

A fishing line is a flexible, high-tensile cord used in angling to tether and pull in fish, in conjunction with at least one hook. Fishing lines are usually pulled by and stored in a reel, but can also be retrieved by hand, with a fixed attachment to the end of a rod, or via a motor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bass fishing</span>

Bass fishing is the recreational fishing activity, typically via rod angling, for various North American game fishes known collectively as black bass. There are numerous black bass species targeted in North America, including largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, spotted bass or Kentucky bass, and Guadalupe bass. All black bass species are members of the sunfish family Centrarchidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fly fishing</span> Angling technique

Fly fishing is an angling technique that uses a ultralight-weight lure called an artificial fly, which typically mimics small invertebrates such as flying and aquatic insects to attract and catch fish. Because the mass of the fly lure is insufficient to overcome air resistance, it cannot be launched far using conventional gears and techniques, so specialized tackles are used instead and the casting techniques are significantly different from other forms of angling. It is also very common for the angler to wear waders, carry a hand net, and stand in the water when fishing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angling</span> Fishing technique

Angling is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated via a fishing rod, although rodless techniques such as handlining also exist. Modern angling rods are usually fitted with a fishing reel that functions as a cranking device for storing, retrieving and releasing out the line, although Tenkara fishing and traditional cane pole fishing are two rod-angling methods that do not use any reel. The fish hook itself can be additionally weighted with a denser tackle called a sinker, and is typically dressed with an appetizing bait to attract and entice the fish into swallowing the hook, but sometimes an inedible fake/imitation bait with multiple attached hooks is used instead of a single hook with edible bait. Some type of bite indicator, such as a float, a bell or a quiver tip, is often used to relay underwater status of the hook to the surface and alert the angler of a fish's presence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern snakehead</span> Species of fish

The northern snakehead is a species of snakehead fish native to temperate East Asia, in China, Russia, North Korea, and South Korea. Their natural range goes from the Amur River watershed in Siberia and Manchuria down to Hainan. It is an important food fish and one of the most cultivated in its native region, with an estimated 500 tons produced every year in China and Korea alone. Due to this, the northern snakehead has been exported throughout the world and has managed to establish non-native populations in Central Asia and North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recreational fishing</span> Fishing as a hobby

Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is professional fishing for profit; or subsistence fishing, which is fishing for survival and livelihood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casting (fishing)</span> The act of launching fishing tackles into water

In angling, casting is the act of the angler throwing the bait and hook as well as other attached terminal tackles out over the water, typically by slinging a fishing line manipulated by a long, elastic fishing rod. The term itself may also be used for setting out a net when artisanal fishing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fishing tackle</span> Equipment used for fishing

Fishing tackle is the equipment used by anglers when fishing. Almost any equipment or gear used in fishing can be called fishing tackle, examples being hooks, lines, baits/lures, rods, reels, floats, sinkers/feeders, nets, spears, gaffs and traps, as well as wires, snaps, beads, spoons, blades, spinners, clevises and tools that make it easy to tie knots.

Dry fly fishing is an angling technique in which the lure is an artificial fly which floats on the surface of the water and does not sink below it. Developed originally for trout fly fishing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fishing techniques</span> Methods for catching sea creatures, especially fish

Fishing techniques are methods for catching fish. The term may also be applied to methods for catching other aquatic animals such as molluscs and edible marine invertebrates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bibliography of fly fishing</span>

This general annotated bibliography page provides an overview of notable and not so notable works in the English language regarding the sport of fly fishing, listed by year of first publication. Although not all the listed books are devoted exclusively to fly fishing, all these titles contain significant fly fishing content. The focus of the present page is on classic general texts on fly fishing and its history, together with notable public or university library collections dedicated to fly fishing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angling in Yellowstone National Park</span>

Angling in Yellowstone National Park is a major reason many visitors come to the park each year and since it was created in 1872, the park has drawn anglers from around the world to fish its waters. In 2006, over 50,000 park fishing permits were issued to visitors. The park contains hundreds of miles of accessible, high-quality trout rivers containing wild trout populations—over 200 creeks, streams and rivers are fishable. There are 45 fishable lakes and several large lakes are easily accessible to visitors. Additionally, the park's remote sections provide anglers ample opportunity to visit rivers, streams, creeks and lakes that receive little angling pressure. With the exception of one specially designated drainage, all the park's waters are restricted to artificial lures and fly fishing. The Madison, Firehole and a section of the Gibbon rivers are restricted to fly fishing only.

This page is a list of fishing topics.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to fishing:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tenkara fishing</span> Style of fishing

Tenkara fishing is a type of simple rod angling traditionally practiced in Japan. Primarily used for mountain stream trout fishing, tenkara is still a fairly rare method even among freshwater anglers in Japan, and was largely unknown outside Japan until 2009, when the company Tenkara USA, founded by Daniel Galhardo, introduced and popularized tenkara outside Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bibliography of fly fishing (species related)</span>

This annotated bibliography is intended to list both notable and not so notable works of English language, non-fiction and fiction related to the sport of fly fishing listed by year published. Although 100% of any book listed is not necessarily devoted to fly fishing, all these titles have significant fly fishing content. Included in this bibliography is a list of species related fly fishing literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bibliography of fly fishing (fly tying, stories, fiction)</span>

This annotated bibliography is intended to list both notable and not so notable works of English language, non-fiction and fiction related to the sport of fly fishing listed by year published. Although 100% of any book listed is not necessarily devoted to fly fishing, all these titles have significant fly fishing content. Included in this bibliography is a list of fly tying, fly tackle, regional guides, memoirs, stories and fly fishing fiction related literature.

<i>The American Anglers Book</i>

The American Angler's BookEmbracing the Natural History of Sporting Fish and the Art of Taking Them with Instructions in Fly-Fishing, Fly-Making, and Rod-Making and Directions for Fish-Breeding, to which is appended Dies Piscatoriae Describing Noted Fishing-Places, and The Pleasure of Solitary Fly-Fishing is an early American angling book by Thaddeus Norris (1811-1877) first published in 1864. Norris was known as Uncle Thad and commonly referred to in American angling history as "The American Walton".

References

  1. "Tenkara Takes Manhattan". Tenkara Takes Manhattan.
  2. "Wildflowers of the West Village". Wildflowers of the West Village.
  3. "In Central Park, Hunt for an Intruder, the Snakehead Fish, is on". 30 April 2013.
  4. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine : Destructive 'fishzilla' seen in Central Park lake. YouTube .
  5. "Gone Fishin': Casting for Invasive Species in Central Park". The New York Observer . 28 May 2013.
  6. "Fear fishzilla eating Big Apple | The Australian". Archived from the original on 2013-05-03.