When I head out with my fishing rod in hand, my intentions, of course, are to encounter as many scaly creatures as possible — that is, the scaly creatures that are swimming beneath the surface I’m fishing over. In addition to the scaly fish, however, I also frequently encounter a variety of other scaly creatures — snakes.

Now, to be honest, encountering snakes while embarking on various outdoor activities is not something that concerns me; in fact, the opposite is more likely the case since even as a kid, I enjoyed catching and keeping snakes. Even now, I still enjoy seeing snakes while I’m involved in outdoor activities. I also know that many people dislike any snake, and some have a downright fear of snakes, and those same people are probably wondering what happened to me.

A species of snake that I encounter quite often, especially when fishing, is the common water snake. The name water snake is well deserved since it spends most of its time in or near the water, including lakes, ponds, swamps and bogs, and even moving streams and rivers. My last couple of trips to local trout streams offered up a number of sightings.

On one outing, while casting my dry fly, I counted three different water snakes making their way across the stream near me. While walking the bank a week before, I encountered two water snakes hiding along the edge of the water in the rocks and vegetation. I’m not saying they won’t bite if you grab one, but they are harmless. Unfortunately, they are often misidentified and tagged as copperheads by those who know little about snake identification.

Another snake that is sometimes labeled a copperhead by those, not in the know is the common milk snake. This snake often shows up around your home or backyard and not so much around water.

Another common visitor to your backyard or near your campsite along the river, might be the common black rat snake. They, too, are harmless, but if you try to grab one, you will likely get bit if you don’t know what you are doing. Snakes are not necessarily aggressive, and basically, if you leave them alone, they will leave you alone.

Getting back to snakes I’ve encountered while fishing.

I would have to include the timber rattlesnake. Be assured this is a snake I rarely encounter and understand that when I do see this species, I’m likely fishing a secluded northern mountain stream near where this species lives. To be honest, most of the time, when I see rattlesnakes while fishing a mountain stream, it’s because I took a break from fishing, and I went looking for them. On one occasion, while fishing a small tributary stream to First Fork of the Sinnemahoning, I parked my flyrod and made my way towards an open rocky ledge. I soon spotted not one, but a half dozen, yellow and black phase rattlesnakes; I carefully made my way back to the stream for some more native trout fishing. While chance encounters are fairly rare, it does pay to be extra vigilant when fishing terrain that harbors rattlesnakes.

I don’t have room in this piece to describe the different identifying characteristics of the snakes I mentioned, but I would highly recommend a Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians, or you can go online and find the info you need. Even if you don’t have a “love” of snakes, it’s still nice to be able to make a positive identification when you spot one.