Renewal

After the long winter we had, it has been refreshing to check off the boxes of another spring season. The first striped bass of the year is always a notable fish. For me, this came in mid-April along a sandy beach, at high tide, before getting chased off the water by lightning. The fish ate a yellow wooden darter made by my friend Jim. He was next to me when I caught the striper, which was pretty damn cool.

Spring is also a favorite time to look for Native American artifacts. When I spent a day off arrowhead hunting in April, it was a bit early as the farm fields I visited had not been plowed yet. Fortunately, I was still able to find a small-stemmed projectile point made of quartz. It was evident that this point had been heavily reworked over time; a good reminder of how prudent these ancient tool-makers were. 

Another day this spring was spent in my kayak, on the same body of water that I was ice fishing just weeks before. A stiff wind made things challenging, but I found some lee behind land and worked my tail off for a 22-inch brown trout. I hooked another one that felt larger, but it came unbuttoned during the fight. It was the first time with my new electronics in the kayak—a gamechanger from what I was using previously, yet I still need to spend more time dialing it in just right. 

Ancient Past

On a walk in the rain yesterday, I found my first artifact of 2025. Half buried in the mud, the notch in the side of this quartz projectile point is what caught my eye. The typology is Lomoka, which were made and used for a long time in the Late Archaic through Middle Woodland periods. If on the earlier side, it means who ever held it last may have lost it around 5,500-4,500 years ago. Either way, this stone point predates the bow and arrow. Instead it was the tip of a spear or dart that was launched from a handheld device called an atlatl. This was a great find for me. 

Next was a real heartbreaker, yet still a good pickup. This Orient Fishtail must have been quite impressive when it was fully intact. I think the mottled brown-gray lithic type is Onondaga Chert, which was likely quarried in what is now New York and made its way here via trade. The Fishtail-type points were made in the Transitional Archaic through Early Woodland periods, which means it could be more than 3,000 years old.