TR: My Cabin in the hills of Caroline (pt. 2)

Monday and Tuesday:

I decided to take it easy, so I drove up through Bryson City and
Cherokkee to fish the 'Luftee. Cherokee was extremely depressing; all
the "Big Chief" motels that look like something out of the fifties (and
some look as if they haven't had any guests since around that time), and
the tacky giftshops ... it was very sad.

Anyhow, after one wrong turn I found the 'Luftee where it enters the
park. I drove past the info center, turned around at Mingus Mill and
retruned to look for a good pullout. When I got down to the water, it
turned out I was still in the "Indian enterprise water", even though
from the raod it looked like I was out of the reservation. No big deal
I figured, as there was a nice walking path. I figured i'd just hike on
upstream until I found the park boundary. Up near the bridge that
crosses the river to go to the Blue Ridge Parkway, I got into the water
and started casting. This wass "big water" and I was able to let some
line out. I immediately got some action ... from fish that were about
the same size as the Woolly Buggers I tie for bass.

I was still using my chopped-down leader, but figured that the fish
here were probably pounded pretty heavily, so I swapped leaders for a
full-length 5x, swapped my #16 para Adams for a #16 Royal Wulff, and
started letting out some nice casts and getting decent drifts.
Unfortunately, that's when the first rumbles of thunder started. I made
a few more casts before the thunder really picked up and then spotted a
fast-moving bank of clouds moving in. One more (closer) crack of
thunder and I was out of the water.

I hiked a little further up the trail, looking for somehwere to wait
out the impending storm, and scope out some more of the water when I saw
another "Indian enterprise" sign. ****, still in injun territory ...
better circle the wagons. Back to the car with the intent to do some
exploring in the park. Somewhere along the way the sky opened up ...
not just rain, but hail (and very close lightning). I pulled off at a
turnout and waited ... and waited ... and waited. During a slight lull
I retreated from the park to Bryson City where I took a lunch break (it
was raining all the while) and decided to scope out the area at Noland
Creek. It looked nice, so plans were made to return later in the week.

Back at the cabin the BS was high and offcolor. Not a good sign,
but as I was to learn, the creeks clear up awfully fast for you NC
folks. The kind of rains we'd experienced would have made fishing tough
for days on our limestone rivers down here.

Tuesday:

I decided to head to the Br*dl*y F*rk of the 'Luftee and the 'Luftee
itself (within the park this time). If things didn't look good there,
the Little River and Abrams Creek were withing driving distance.
Arrived at the Smokemont campground at about 8:30 and headed up the
trail towards Chasteen Creek. (I had gotten no recommendations for BF
from any ROFFians, but the two books I've been reading on fishing the
area both recommended it, as long as you hike well above the campground.
And I'm just contrary-enough to not follow y'alls' advice completely
anyhow.)

I started prospecting just above the creek, and almost every
likely-looking spot held fish, but they were tiny. I missed more than I
hit, but the ones I did catch were lovely miniatures; perfectly-formed
with a hint of parr marks still on their sides. I popped in and out of
the creek working upstream, having fun but hoping for bigger fish.
After going up to where the trail crosses the creek, it was time to head
back towards the lower reaches and give the 'Luftee a try near the
conflunece of BF and the river.

On the way back down there was a run that was simply too nice to
pass up. At water's-edge I was struck by the awesome beauty of the
spot. At the risk of sounding corny, it was a cathedral-like setting.
I paused for a cig break, and to slow myself down and take it all in.
Here's a picture of the downstream view:
http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/bradley01.jpg And the upstream view
looked like this: http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/bradley02.jpg

Once done with the cig, I turned my attention to the run in front of
me. I had a tree serving as camoflage, but no rhodos or mountain
laurels to restrict casting. My second cast was rewarded with a strong
take, and the fish immediately took to the air, giving me three jumps
before trying to bore for the bottom. Before it even got close, I could
see the bright red stripe on its side, and once it was led in close, I
made an attempt at taking a pic. Due to the low-light and fish
thrashing about, I was left with this impressionistic painting:
http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/rainbow.jpg It was 9"+ of beautiful wild
'bow, and he was promptly sent on his way without even being removed
from the water.

There's no shame in admitting to the excitement I felt over this
fish. While 9" may not seem large for some of our western brethren,
this was the hardest-fighting, prettiest fish I've ever caught. Period.

Figuring every fish within a half-mile had been spooked, I continued
down the creek. On the way there was another spot that proved
irresistable. It was a set of mini-boulders coming out from the shore
with a fairly deep run right at the point rock. Jeffy would have been
proud of how I approached this run, as I went way downstream and crawled
up to where a boulder on shore provided cover. From there it was just a
little sidearmed flip just above the edge of the point rock. The fly
hadn't gone two feet before a fish nailed it. This turned out to be a
brown of about 6", speckled with bright halos of red and green. If
possible, he was evne prettier than his larger cousin.

From there it was back to the car, and noticing building clouds, the
"luftee was put on hold for the time begin. Instead it off to Newfound
Gap and environs for some picture-taking. A view from the Gap:
http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/newfound.jpg and another view from in the
park: http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/mountains01.jpg

The rains started again shortly thereafer, but back on the NC side
of the park it was still dry. Took a while to fish the 'Luftee with no
luck, but the day had been fabulous, and it seemed like I was starting
to come around to this Nawth Cackalacky style of fishing.

Next up: Big Santeetlah


Chuck Vance

"Conan The Librarian" wrote
(snip)

I was left with this impressionistic painting:
http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/rainbow.jpg

wow, that's a *great* image! sometimes it's better to be lucky than
good.

There's no shame in admitting to the excitement I felt over this fish.
While 9" may not seem large for some of our western brethren, this was the
hardest-fighting, prettiest fish I've ever caught. Period.

looks like a bigger fish than 9", to me. and you're right, fish that
size feel very big in those little creeks.
(snip)

park: http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/mountains01.jpg

another beauty!

thanks for your excellent work, chuck; you do the old north state proud.
wish i could have been there.

yfitons
wayno

Wayne Harrison wrote:

"Conan The Librarian" wrote
(snip)

I was left with this impressionistic painting:

http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/rainbow.jpg

wow, that's a *great* image! sometimes it's better to be lucky than
good.

Yeah, I almost trashed that pic but then started looking closely at
it and realized I liked it. :-)

There's no shame in admitting to the excitement I felt over this fish.
While 9" may not seem large for some of our western brethren, this was the
hardest-fighting, prettiest fish I've ever caught. Period.

looks like a bigger fish than 9", to me. and you're right, fish that
size feel very big in those little creeks.

It may well have been bigger than 9". I tend to try to estimate on
the small side, just to compensate for how we fisherpeople normally
exaggerate. :-)

park: http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/mountains01.jpg


another beauty!

thanks for your excellent work, chuck; you do the old north state proud.
wish i could have been there.

Thanks, wayno. I hope to make it back sometime when you and some
other ROFFians are in the area.


Chuck Vance

"Conan The Librarian" wrote in message
...
Monday and Tuesday:

I decided to take it easy, so I drove up through Bryson City and
Cherokkee to fish the 'Luftee. Cherokee was extremely depressing; all
the "Big Chief" motels that look like something out of the fifties (and
some look as if they haven't had any guests since around that time), and
the tacky giftshops ... it was very sad.

Until they got their gambling license and built that Harrahs out there, they
were a very poor and somewhat downtrodden people. Sounds like things haven't
changed much, even with all that casino cash rolling in. They're lobbying
our (NC) legislature to get it so that they can use live dealers with their
games out there, to increase their traffic even more. Presently, all the
games out there are video in nature. I'm only 36, but I've been going out to
Cherokee for years, and your description sounds literally spot-on, even if
you'd said it 25-30 years ago (sadly).


Anyhow, after one wrong turn I found the 'Luftee where it enters the
park. I drove past the info center, turned around at Mingus Mill and
retruned to look for a good pullout. When I got down to the water, it
turned out I was still in the "Indian enterprise water", even though
from the raod it looked like I was out of the reservation. No big deal
I figured, as there was a nice walking path. I figured i'd just hike on
upstream until I found the park boundary. Up near the bridge that
crosses the river to go to the Blue Ridge Parkway, I got into the water
and started casting. This wass "big water" and I was able to let some
line out. I immediately got some action ... from fish that were about
the same size as the Woolly Buggers I tie for bass.

I was still using my chopped-down leader, but figured that the fish
here were probably pounded pretty heavily, so I swapped leaders for a
full-length 5x, swapped my #16 para Adams for a #16 Royal Wulff, and
started letting out some nice casts and getting decent drifts.
Unfortunately, that's when the first rumbles of thunder started. I made
a few more casts before the thunder really picked up and then spotted a
fast-moving bank of clouds moving in. One more (closer) crack of
thunder and I was out of the water.

I hiked a little further up the trail, looking for somehwere to wait
out the impending storm, and scope out some more of the water when I saw
another "Indian enterprise" sign. ****, still in injun territory ...
better circle the wagons. Back to the car with the intent to do some
exploring in the park. Somewhere along the way the sky opened up ...
not just rain, but hail (and very close lightning). I pulled off at a
turnout and waited ... and waited ... and waited. During a slight lull
I retreated from the park to Bryson City where I took a lunch break (it
was raining all the while) and decided to scope out the area at Noland
Creek. It looked nice, so plans were made to return later in the week.

Back at the cabin the BS was high and offcolor. Not a good sign,
but as I was to learn, the creeks clear up awfully fast for you NC
folks. The kind of rains we'd experienced would have made fishing tough
for days on our limestone rivers down here.

Yes they do (clear up fast). I have a log home farther up the mountain range
from where you were (Boone NC, NW NC, across the border from Bristol TN),
and rain will stain things up pretty good for a little while, but as you
correctly noted, it doesn't take too long to clear out...usually. A couple
of those hurricanes made it up into our mountains last year though, and did
some real damage with the resulting deluges. Homes were lost, roads and
mountainsides washed away, it was a mess. They're still cleaning parts of it
up. The last time I went out there (about a month ago, the wife is
recovering from surgery or we'd be up there at least every other weekend
during the warm months), there was still a good chunk of the Blue Ridge
Parkway closed from Mt Mitchell on North uptoward Grandfather Mountain. I
assume from reading your great UCAP (Up Close And Personal recount) here,
that you didn't see too much in the way of that storm damage. That's good to
hear from the Southern end. They were hit pretty hard too.


Tuesday:

I decided to head to the Br*dl*y F*rk of the 'Luftee and the 'Luftee
itself (within the park this time). If things didn't look good there,
the Little River and Abrams Creek were withing driving distance.
Arrived at the Smokemont campground at about 8:30 and headed up the
trail towards Chasteen Creek. (I had gotten no recommendations for BF
from any ROFFians, but the two books I've been reading on fishing the
area both recommended it, as long as you hike well above the campground.
And I'm just contrary-enough to not follow y'alls' advice completely
anyhow.)

I started prospecting just above the creek, and almost every
likely-looking spot held fish, but they were tiny. I missed more than I
hit, but the ones I did catch were lovely miniatures; perfectly-formed
with a hint of parr marks still on their sides. I popped in and out of
the creek working upstream, having fun but hoping for bigger fish.
After going up to where the trail crosses the creek, it was time to head
back towards the lower reaches and give the 'Luftee a try near the
conflunece of BF and the river.

On the way back down there was a run that was simply too nice to
pass up. At water's-edge I was struck by the awesome beauty of the
spot. At the risk of sounding corny, it was a cathedral-like setting.
I paused for a cig break, and to slow myself down and take it all in.
Here's a picture of the downstream view:
http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/bradley01.jpg And the upstream view
looked like this: http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/bradley02.jpg

Once done with the cig, I turned my attention to the run in front of
me. I had a tree serving as camoflage, but no rhodos or mountain
laurels to restrict casting. My second cast was rewarded with a strong
take, and the fish immediately took to the air, giving me three jumps
before trying to bore for the bottom. Before it even got close, I could
see the bright red stripe on its side, and once it was led in close, I
made an attempt at taking a pic. Due to the low-light and fish
thrashing about, I was left with this impressionistic painting:
http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/rainbow.jpg It was 9"+ of beautiful wild
'bow, and he was promptly sent on his way without even being removed
from the water.

There's no shame in admitting to the excitement I felt over this
fish. While 9" may not seem large for some of our western brethren,
this was the hardest-fighting, prettiest fish I've ever caught. Period.

Figuring every fish within a half-mile had been spooked, I continued
down the creek. On the way there was another spot that proved
irresistable. It was a set of mini-boulders coming out from the shore
with a fairly deep run right at the point rock. Jeffy would have been
proud of how I approached this run, as I went way downstream and crawled
up to where a boulder on shore provided cover. From there it was just a
little sidearmed flip just above the edge of the point rock. The fly
hadn't gone two feet before a fish nailed it. This turned out to be a
brown of about 6", speckled with bright halos of red and green. If
possible, he was evne prettier than his larger cousin.

From there it was back to the car, and noticing building clouds, the
"luftee was put on hold for the time begin. Instead it off to Newfound
Gap and environs for some picture-taking. A view from the Gap:
http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/newfound.jpg and another view from in the
park: http://uweb.txstate.edu/~cv01/mountains01.jpg

The rains started again shortly thereafer, but back on the NC side
of the park it was still dry. Took a while to fish the 'Luftee with no
luck, but the day had been fabulous, and it seemed like I was starting
to come around to this Nawth Cackalacky style of fishing.

Next up: Big Santeetlah


Chuck Vance

Nice series, sounds like you had at least a reasonably nice time in our
humble little state. I've heretofor not been into fly fishing, but my
neighbors up there (up there = Boone NC, I live near Raleigh during the
week...) are really trying my patience over it, so I may soon have to give
it a bonafide try. I'm a flat water (largemouth/crappie/striper) and inshore
angler (striper/redfish/flounder) primarily, but my log home is on a small
river up there that is apparently the home of several species of trout. My
closest neighbor says that if I 'ain't outfitted for fly fishing by next
Spring, he's giving me a rod and forcing me to go' so I figure to give it a
whirl over the next year or so. Oh the humanity! LOL! More fishing stuff
will have to be purchased....

Nice pix too BTW, thanks for sharing.

"SimRacer" wrote in message
...


Oh the humanity! LOL! More fishing stuff
will have to be purchased....

You say that like it's a bad thing! :~^)


Nice pix too BTW, thanks for sharing.

You are correct sir.

Mark --who works in Boone, NC, lives in Lenoir, NC and is formerly of
Raleigh, NC--

SimRacer wrote:

[Cherokee]

Until they got their gambling license and built that Harrahs out there, they
were a very poor and somewhat downtrodden people. Sounds like things haven't
changed much, even with all that casino cash rolling in. They're lobbying
our (NC) legislature to get it so that they can use live dealers with their
games out there, to increase their traffic even more. Presently, all the
games out there are video in nature. I'm only 36, but I've been going out to
Cherokee for years, and your description sounds literally spot-on, even if
you'd said it 25-30 years ago (sadly).

It's funny, but I was having a feeling of deja-vu there. I'm pretty
sure we must have gone there when I was a kid. We went to the Smokies
pretty regularly for the fall colors, but usually stayed in Pigeon
Forge. And that would have been 35-40 years ago. I'm guessing it was
pretty much the same.

[stream condition after a rain]

Yes they do (clear up fast). I have a log home farther up the mountain range
from where you were (Boone NC, NW NC, across the border from Bristol TN),
and rain will stain things up pretty good for a little while, but as you
correctly noted, it doesn't take too long to clear out...usually. A couple
of those hurricanes made it up into our mountains last year though, and did
some real damage with the resulting deluges. Homes were lost, roads and
mountainsides washed away, it was a mess. They're still cleaning parts of it
up. The last time I went out there (about a month ago, the wife is
recovering from surgery or we'd be up there at least every other weekend
during the warm months), there was still a good chunk of the Blue Ridge
Parkway closed from Mt Mitchell on North uptoward Grandfather Mountain. I
assume from reading your great UCAP (Up Close And Personal recount) here,
that you didn't see too much in the way of that storm damage. That's good to
hear from the Southern end. They were hit pretty hard too.

Not knowing the area, it's hard for me to say if there was damage.
I did see some areas that looked like they had flooded, but whether it
was last year or years ago, I couldn't say.

Nice series, sounds like you had at least a reasonably nice time in our
humble little state. I've heretofor not been into fly fishing, but my
neighbors up there (up there = Boone NC, I live near Raleigh during the
week...) are really trying my patience over it, so I may soon have to give
it a bonafide try. I'm a flat water (largemouth/crappie/striper) and inshore
angler (striper/redfish/flounder) primarily, but my log home is on a small
river up there that is apparently the home of several species of trout. My
closest neighbor says that if I 'ain't outfitted for fly fishing by next
Spring, he's giving me a rod and forcing me to go' so I figure to give it a
whirl over the next year or so. Oh the humanity! LOL! More fishing stuff
will have to be purchased....

Nice pix too BTW, thanks for sharing.

Thanks, and my pleasure. I had hoped to make it over towards Boone,
but time was too short. The first real love of my life lives near there
(in Vilas?), and I've always loved that stretch of the parkway.


Chuck Vance

"Conan The Librarian" wrote in message
...
SimRacer wrote:

[Cherokee]

Until they got their gambling license and built that Harrahs out there,
they
were a very poor and somewhat downtrodden people. Sounds like things
haven't
changed much, even with all that casino cash rolling in. They're
lobbying
our (NC) legislature to get it so that they can use live dealers with
their
games out there, to increase their traffic even more. Presently, all the
games out there are video in nature. I'm only 36, but I've been going
out to
Cherokee for years, and your description sounds literally spot-on, even
if
you'd said it 25-30 years ago (sadly).

It's funny, but I was having a feeling of deja-vu there. I'm pretty
sure we must have gone there when I was a kid. We went to the Smokies
pretty regularly for the fall colors, but usually stayed in Pigeon
Forge. And that would have been 35-40 years ago. I'm guessing it was
pretty much the same.

Yes, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg aren't terribly far from Cherokee/Ashville.
I remember going to Ashville/Cherokee and then slipping into TN to visit
places like Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, even Chattanooga. One of my fondest
memories as a child, that was related to our mountain trips, was a trip to
Ruby Falls.


[stream condition after a rain]

Yes they do (clear up fast). I have a log home farther up the mountain
range
from where you were (Boone NC, NW NC, across the border from Bristol
TN),
and rain will stain things up pretty good for a little while, but as you
correctly noted, it doesn't take too long to clear out...usually. A
couple
of those hurricanes made it up into our mountains last year though, and
did
some real damage with the resulting deluges. Homes were lost, roads and
mountainsides washed away, it was a mess. They're still cleaning parts
of it
up. The last time I went out there (about a month ago, the wife is
recovering from surgery or we'd be up there at least every other weekend
during the warm months), there was still a good chunk of the Blue Ridge
Parkway closed from Mt Mitchell on North uptoward Grandfather Mountain.
I
assume from reading your great UCAP (Up Close And Personal recount)
here,
that you didn't see too much in the way of that storm damage. That's
good to
hear from the Southern end. They were hit pretty hard too.

Not knowing the area, it's hard for me to say if there was damage.
I did see some areas that looked like they had flooded, but whether it
was last year or years ago, I couldn't say.

There's a pretty good chance that the remnants you saw were from those Gulf
Coast hurricanse that came up through the area and flooded lots of the NC/TN
mountains last Fall. I hear they just recently reopened Mt Mitchell itself.
(Side note: You ever get a chance to get to the "top" of Mt Mitchell,
definitely plan on eating at the cafe up there, and order the baked trout
(Rainbow), you won't be sorry. I am not affiliated with this eatery, but
I've had that dish a couple of times and it is quite good IMO) I am not
belittling what those storms did to Florida, LA and all those Southern
states when they came ashore, but they wreaked havoc on our hills
after-the-fact, no doubt.


Nice series, sounds like you had at least a reasonably nice time in our
humble little state. I've heretofor not been into fly fishing, but my
neighbors up there (up there = Boone NC, I live near Raleigh during the
week...) are really trying my patience over it, so I may soon have to
give
it a bonafide try. I'm a flat water (largemouth/crappie/striper) and
inshore
angler (striper/redfish/flounder) primarily, but my log home is on a
small
river up there that is apparently the home of several species of trout.
My
closest neighbor says that if I 'ain't outfitted for fly fishing by next
Spring, he's giving me a rod and forcing me to go' so I figure to give
it a
whirl over the next year or so. Oh the humanity! LOL! More fishing stuff
will have to be purchased....

Nice pix too BTW, thanks for sharing.

Thanks, and my pleasure. I had hoped to make it over towards Boone,
but time was too short. The first real love of my life lives near there
(in Vilas?), and I've always loved that stretch of the parkway.

Near Boone? Valle Crucis maybe? That's a little hamlet located between Boone
and Linville (Grandfather Mountain). If so, that's actually where my little
weekend home is located. Well, it's closer to Valle Crucis than Boone
anyway. While all our mountain areas are beautiful to me, I am partial to
the Boone/Valle Crucis/Linville/Blowing Rock area. Don't know why, I spent
an entire childhood roaming the East Coast mountains from Cherokee to
Roanoke VA, and just like that little corner the best.



Chuck Vance

"Guyz-N-Flyz" wrote in message
...

"SimRacer" wrote in message
...


Oh the humanity! LOL! More fishing stuff
will have to be purchased....

You say that like it's a bad thing! :~^)

LOL! Yes, I know. But you haven't seen my shop, and my "freshwater gear" and
my "inshore/sal****er gear" collections. And oh yeah, BTW, I'm married. So
she *does* keep track of all of it...but I do want to give fly fishing a
whirl. There is more and more of it happening for redfish and tarpon out on
our coast (and in our sounds) so it can at least carry over from those quiet
mountain streams into my love of the salty fish too. Granted, it'll take
different gear (for tarpon surely) but I am always trying to learn, and I
think fly fishing will be my next outdoor challenge, right there with
muzzleloader hunting for game, which I am also striking out on this
year...but for now, just think of me like John Ratzinberger (sp?), when he
did a piece on a fly rod maker on his "Made in America" TV show recently. I
imagine right now, I'd look and be as bad at the casting alone as he was in
that piece...much less actually learning how to figure out *where* in a
running water body to find fish.



Nice pix too BTW, thanks for sharing.

You are correct sir.

Mark --who works in Boone, NC, lives in Lenoir, NC and is formerly of
Raleigh, NC--

Hehe, I heard that. Lenoir is a cool place, my best friend in high school
had people out there so we went out that way and camped a fair bit during
our summer breaks. And I love Raleigh, will probably live here until they
plant me, but I got tired of renting a home or room for our frequent jaunts
to Boone/Bristol (NASCAR fan here) so we sold our "other" vacation place
(condo on Lake Norman) and got a quiet little lot near Valle Crucis and
Foscoe and put up a qauint little log home of our very own, right on the Wat
auga River. As a quasi-wannabe sportsman, living in Raleigh is the way to
go. 3-4 hours to the coast, 3-4 hours to the mountains? Couldn't get much
better IMO. Not on the East Coast anyway, but I am biased, so take it for
what it's worth. :-)

"SimRacer" wrote in message
om...

LOL! Yes, I know. But you haven't seen my shop, and my "freshwater gear"
and
my "inshore/sal****er gear" collections. And oh yeah, BTW, I'm married.

That's no excuse! A "reel man" can sock away enough ill-gotten gains to
fund an entire new hobby every other year. It's always the same excuse with
you married types: I gotta keep SWMBO happy, I gotta feed the kids and
fund their future college needs, I can't take time-off to buy more fishin'
gear,as it interfers with the time I have to spend with my family etc.,
etc., etc.... Priorities! It's all about PRIORITIES, young man!

As a *lonely* and finacially challenged single man, I have but one thing to
say to you: Nana, nana, nana!

So
she *does* keep track of all of it...but I do want to give fly fishing a
whirl. There is more and more of it happening for redfish and tarpon out
on
our coast (and in our sounds) so it can at least carry over from those
quiet
mountain streams into my love of the salty fish too. Granted, it'll take
different gear (for tarpon surely) but I am always trying to learn, and I
think fly fishing will be my next outdoor challenge, right there with
muzzleloader hunting for game, which I am also striking out on this
year...but for now, just think of me like John Ratzinberger (sp?), when he
did a piece on a fly rod maker on his "Made in America" TV show recently.
I
imagine right now, I'd look and be as bad at the casting alone as he was
in
that piece...much less actually learning how to figure out *where* in a
running water body to find fish.

I've not seen Ratzaenberger's show, only an advert for it. However, I
thought it looked like it would be pretty good.

From experience, I can tell ya that the fish are in that "running body of
water" and not where I spend most of my time, in the tree branches!




Nice pix too BTW, thanks for sharing.

You are correct sir.

Mark --who works in Boone, NC, lives in Lenoir, NC and is formerly of
Raleigh, NC--

Hehe, I heard that. Lenoir is a cool place, my best friend in high school
had people out there so we went out that way and camped a fair bit during
our summer breaks.

I love Lenoir! I grew up in Raleigh and only left in 1992, after injuring
my back. It was the best move I ever made.

And I love Raleigh, will probably live here until they
plant me,

Give me a holler, the next time you plan t head up this away and I will be
more than happy to guide you through the maze of rhodos on my favorite
streams--wild trout waters, not those stocked waters of the Watauga.

E-mail me and I will give ya my cell phone number.

Mark