Lying Awake Listening To Brittany Spears Tunes...

So yea it's officially the 1st of February and I have not fished a single day this year. Trust me I hang my head in shame... Granted the weather has been ho ho rendous, but none the less this is no excuse. Honestly I have no excuse, and that's not for lack of effort. I have tried several times to create one trust me, but I keep ending up back where I started. Wondering what the hell I've done with the month of January.
As it goes it's typically at this point when you sit down and think "well, things can't get much worse" and your usually way off base as things can always turn into a true shit storm in a real hurry. Not that any of this is life threatening or relative to most folks, but in my mind as a fisherman I feel like I have become lazy. That maybe I am even disrespecting the trout in a way. I mean the trout must deal with winter to, and I'm sure at times they get tired and would like relief from the daily grind that is finning and feeding and whatever else it is that trout do. So all this brings me to my original point. This past weekend the weather broke so much so, that if you walked outside and didn't know any better you would have thought you were witnessing the first signs of spring. I received a call Friday evening about an organized expedition to the local DH Saturday which is basically your typical winter, stick it up the arse cold weather, rip some stocker lips kinda trip. As you may have already guessed I was not in attendance. I was stuck working while the rest of the crew enjoyed the beautiful spring like day. I have already decided February will not pass without this guy on the water. Oh and I almost forgot... I have the report from Saturday. " Like shooting fish in a barrel"

 

J

Honey I'm Home!

Well we made it back alive, and aside from a few weather and work set backs the week/weekend was pretty solid. We spent a total of four days on the water and who knows how many fish were caught! Volume 2 is in the works and will be up soon ( come on you can't rush these sort of things ). Until it's completion enjoy some guy in a sombrero chasin' largies...

Friday Cheer Through Pics...

My lack of career + Whit having a day off yesterday = The River...

Whit and I threw caution to the wind yesterday afternoon to take full advantage of the blue bird skies and to work on her skillz. We made it to the RIVER around five and after a few tips from her instructor (now accepting new students for a small fee) I left her alone to become one with the long wand. I walked a little below her, not wanting to get a free piercing and first cast had a Bow hammer a soft hackle. I released the Bow trying to be as nonchalant as possible knowing this being Whit's second trip the rod may be in jeopardy if she has to go home with the skunk twice. I made sure all of my knots were still intact and began to flog the water again when the silence was broken by Whit yelling look, look... I turned to see this...

Followed By...

And finally an up close of her first Trout On The FLY (yes I had to hold it)...

I managed to pick up another on top before Whit started complaining about numbness in her lower extremities...

On our way out we were almost molested by the orange face bandit. The real Chester Cheeto was obviously a Goose...

Who knows I may be the next Lefty Kreh! Until next time "May A Large Trout Bendeth Your Rod".

Toccoa Toonage Humpday Style...Hmmm

FLY hit the Toccoa Tail-water Saturday and normally a float on this magnificent stretch of Trout Heaven would warrant a post of it's own, full of Magnum Trout Porn and Hero Shot's galore... unfortunately twas not the case. After hitting up Unicoi to get the low down on the ho down and seeing the twenty five inch fish caught the day before spirits were high. These spirits were short lived as the eight hour tour aboard the Ladykiller was awarded with two fish, for a grand total of eleven between the three of us (how bad do we suck). That being said I feel like we could have used some help locating some of those trouts and who better to help with that than the DOGFATHER!

In the end I think this kid pretty much sums up the way we felt on the ride back to the cabin (minus shoving the remote up our asses)...

Tight Lines and Sixty Nines! J

A Crappie Saturday

KPV, Doggie, and myself hit "Pop's Pond" to see if we could tangle with a few still water subjects. With all of the recent rains we figured we'd give the Trouts a break and I wanted to see if I could hang one of Pop's famous extra large, LARGIES on the ZA. We arrived to off and on rain that eventually gave way to blue skies and gale force winds. Soon after launching the toons Doggie was into one of his first fish on the fly.

A nice crappie taken on a Black WB. Not wanting to be out done I was quickly into a few of these... 

Shortly after that I managed to land this guy...

Not the steroid fueled LARGIE Pop's Pond is famous for but a fine fish none the less. A few more crappie were picked up along with a bream for good measure before the clouds moved back in forcing us to abandon ship for the day. We stopped by to catch up with Pop on the way out before heading back to Doggies to grill out, relax, and tell some lies. Not a bad way to spend Saturday...

Did You Think We Were Locked Up?

I know it's been a few weeks, and although we were hassled by the 5/0, it did not end in incarceration. The clouds have parted several times and allowed us to hit the "River", but unfortunately it's been spotty at best. My best Roland Martin assumption is that the fish have been gorging on the Shad. The crazy weather has had the Shad dropping like flies and we have even caught Trout with Shad in their mouth ( I believe this is often referred to as gluttony). At any rate I guess the Groundhog knows his shit, as it looks like more winter weather is on the way. Batten down the hatches... we may blow straight through to summer!

Smoked Out...A High Country Ho'Down

I graciously excepted an invite Saturday (even though I had already promised the better half I would take the mascot and his suitors to doggie fun land) to join KPV and a friend (who will remain nameless due to legal issues) to hit the high county for a little wild trout'in. We met up early as hell and they followed the almighty Trout Slayer as I had to drive separate in order to return early to attend the afore mentioned doggie fun land. We decided to head over the mountain to save time and the drive in looked mostly like this...(See image right--->)                                                                    
We eventually made it through Cheech N' Chongs smoke cloud and down the mountain. The water was raging from the recent rain and I knew it was going to be a day of chucking lead and donating flies to the cause. We geard up, hit the water and within thirty minutes I was into my first fish. Nice 10" Bow gobbled down a black rubber legged stone and within a few more minutes I had another smaller wild bow on. I then look downstream and our friend who we will call Chief Numb Thumb had stuck one as well. At this point I'm thinking this is going to be an epic day and the only way I'm leaving early is from a sudden heart attack. Needless to say the bite shut off as quickly as it had started...we fished for another two hours without another bite before I had to bid my band of followers farewell.
YAY FOR ME I was going to be able to make it back in time to escort Cephus and his bitches after all. After waking up at the crack of dawn I had to watch Cephus hump every male dog senseless at the park like he just busted out of prison. I got a call from KPV and he said they hung around until three and in the end he resorted to flogging the head of a pool with a stick while Chief Numb Thumb hung out in the tail of the pool with a net trying to land the trout that where spooked by all the commotion. I advised them this is frowned upon by DNR but, was told to mind my own business. It's all good though twenty three days and counting until FLY makes their way to the Tar Heel state. Stay tuned...

 J