got up this mornin, loaded up the car with all the goodies that frank sent
me, as well as the numerous psychedelic, green, and black spiders generously
given to me by big dale, popped some indigo girls into the tape player, and
headed out with my daughter to wildcat lake in banner elk for a day of
fishing an swimming. as is typical in the higher elevations of the blue
ridge, the afternoon became fairly cool, so more time was spent fishing than
swimming.
after picking out our spot in the sand, and unloading our gear, my daughter
and i picked up our rods, she the spin rod, while i gleefully assembled my
new fly rod for my first time out with it. since i knew this lake to be
stocked mostly with bluegill, i used the psychedelic spider that dale said
would be best for these fish. what fun to watch the fish swim around it,
and come up and nibble at it. i made the spider jump and skip around a
little bit in the water, and before too long i had hooked my first fish ( a
bluegill) on my new fly rod. what a rush!! with much anticipation of my
next catch i recast, and repeated several times- with no further luck. i
had many more bites, but hooked none. my daughter and i went home after a
couple of hours, and ate dinner, which was followed by a trip to bass lake
in blowing rock. this lake too, is mostly stocked with bluegill, and the
like, and so the spider was returned to the rod. dale had suggested looking
for a bluegill bed and trying to cast around it, and even though i didn't
know what one looked like beforehand, it was not difficult to recognize one.
i cast my line right at the bed, where the bluegill guarding it could not
miss it. but that son of a bitch was so on task! nothing was going to
deter him from the duty at hand- not even such a culinary temptation! i
soon realized, after watching him run off any other fish that came near the
bed, that there would be no point attempting to fish in that spot. i moved
over some, between two sections of lily pads, and watched as the fish bit at
the spider, but again i hooked nothing. finally , being driven home by the
chilly evening winds, i drove off, satisfied with the first catch on my new
fly rod.
thank you frank, and big dale ;-)

snakefiddler- who is ready to quit school, and become a fishin bum