Fly Fishing Take us Away...

Carter and I escaped the household this morning avoiding the IPTIP (Intense Potty Training In Progress) at our house and headed for the river. We took the garbage and recylcing and then tried to erase the traumatic memories of yesterday's playground accident and ensueing multiple doctor visits that resulted in the loss of Carter's top two teeth. Every day on the way to and from school I drive over the Watauga River on a low water bridge and look at the downstream side pool to see brookies stacked up there and often rising in the calm slick just before a major cobblestone riffle. We parked after our other duties and got Carter casting on the water with a couple of different lures while I strung up. Thirty minutes and many untanglings later I finally got on the water myself. The brookies were somewhat interested in Carter's offerings but never quite enough to strike outright. There was a lot of chasing but I doubt he was ever aware of any of it. All he knew was that he was doing a ton of casting without results. I worked the riffles downstream with an almost immediate hook-up with a sizable fish that played itself along just long enough for me to get excited before spitting the fly. Repeated drifts through the run brought no better results. After about twenty minutes longer with Carter's interest waning and him sitting down to wait til I'd had enough the fishing turned on. In the pool below the bridge I got my second hook-up and Carter realed in the nicest brookie of the day. No sooner did we have him back in the water and cast over to the same run for another immediate fish-on. Carter realed this one in as well. He was a smaller but fiesty brookie that had taken the larger stone fly nymph at the top of the rig. I pulled in two or three more alternating between the larger #8 stone fly and the much smaller size 18 bead head hares ear. On the final cast of the day I snagged a nice sized brown from the upstream side of the bridge. He looked to be pretty hurtin' though with blood coming out of his gills it looked as if he'd sustained some damage from someone or something else deep down. My size 18 in the corner of this mouth couldn't have caused what I was seeing. I got him back in the water pronto, but I'm not sure if he'll last very long. He did swim away stong. Hopefully he'll hang on. As for Carter although a little bored at the end he did admit that he had fun just being outside.

Fish-On!!!

Two handed trout almost makes up for two lost teeth

(not really)

The smaller fiestier fish for me!

Fa la la la la la la la la la!

Snow Day Ice Scouting with Carter

Carter and I snuck out to scout some ice on my way to work this morning. We are into our fourth Snow Day already and it's only December 1. The conditions have been pretty favorable lately to ice production so I figured we scoot up to Linville and have a look see at BLC. I must say I had predicted it would be in much more substantially. This really makes me wonder about Daughton. On our way back from the overlook Carter and I stopped to run up the Flat Rock Trail. The rocks up top were a little slippery but the views of Grandfather behind us were well worth it. We had done this hike for the first time this Summer on our way down to Asheville. It was fun to get out on it today in light snow conditions. Looks like we're in for a full winter if this weather suggests anything.