TR and Waldo

Went to see Waldo on Tuesday. It was a three hour drive, but the hills
and scenery were terrific. I arrived in Mornganton, NC before he
closed his fly shop. He looked good. He's lost a lot of weight and
still shows the scars on his face from his tangle with me at the Blue
Stone cabin some years ago. (Actually, Walt fell off a bench trying to
hang the Pirate's Colors on the outside wall of the cabin. He slipped
and did a face plant on the wall.) I bet the mark on the cabin wall is
still there.

Walt and Marie joined me for dinner that night, and we ate some
terrific food, both in taste and price. If I had a restaurant like
that near me, I'd eat three meals a day there. Only problem, I was the
youngest person in the restaurant until Walt and Marie arrived. d;o(

I met Scott on Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. and we headed to lower
Wilson Creek. Very pretty water. It was the "delayed harvest" area
and the fish were stocked last fall - catch and release until June. I
don't normally fish for stocked trout, but this was different. Perhaps
it was the setting. There's nothing like that close to home here in
Georgia.

The place was crowded, believe it or not, with two or three cars at all
the pull-offs. Scott found an isolated spot and we started fishing.
It was supposed to be 65 degrees. It was actually about 45 degrees and
I froze my ass off. Scott had an extra sweat shirt which I managed to
get my 208 pounds into, and I was a bit more comfortable.

This was a different type of fishing to me. I had a dry fly tied on an
8 foot leader, with four feet of tippet tied to the hook and a dropper
nymph at the end with split shot added to sink the nymph. After
missing several takes of the dropper, I finally hooked up with a small
brookie, and lost two or three others by missing the take. (If I fish
a dropper, I use only about 18 inches of tippet tied to the dry, and no
weight tied to the *tiny* {size 20} nymph. After fishing this set-up
for awhile, we moved to a different spot. First cast I hooked up with
a decent size brookie on the nymph. That's when I decided to go to a
straight nymphing set up - no dropper, just a PT soft hackle (size 18),
a little weight, and because I was nymphing at a great distance, I tied
on an indicator. I took a few more fish with this set up before we
retired for lunch.

After lunch we moved down stream to a spot that was crowded earlier in
the day. Beautiful water. Managed a fish or two in this water before
it was time to leave.

All in all it was a pretty good trip. I got to see Wally again and
meet Scott whom I know I will fish with again. I wish I could fish
farther up-river for native trout, but from what I hear from Mark,
Jeff, and now Scott, it is a little too difficult for an old codger
with a new hip on one side and a bad one on the other. I enjoyed this
trip more than fishing Duke's Creek which is just around the corner
from me, but it is all I have. Can hardly wait until the last week of
May, and the first three weeks of June on the Rapid. Hopefully I will
be in better shape.

Dave

"D. LaCourse" wrote in message
news:2011031814225516807-davplac@aolcom...
Went to see Waldo on Tuesday. It was a three hour drive, but the hills
and scenery were terrific. I arrived in Mornganton, NC before he closed
his fly shop. He looked good. He's lost a lot of weight and still shows
the scars on his face from his tangle with me at the Blue Stone cabin some
years ago. (Actually, Walt fell off a bench trying to hang the Pirate's
Colors on the outside wall of the cabin. He slipped and did a face plant
on the wall.) I bet the mark on the cabin wall is still there.

Walt and Marie joined me for dinner that night, and we ate some terrific
food, both in taste and price. If I had a restaurant like that near me,
I'd eat three meals a day there. Only problem, I was the youngest person
in the restaurant until Walt and Marie arrived. d;o(

I met Scott on Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. and we headed to lower Wilson
Creek. Very pretty water. It was the "delayed harvest" area and the fish
were stocked last fall - catch and release until June. I don't normally
fish for stocked trout, but this was different. Perhaps it was the
setting. There's nothing like that close to home here in Georgia.

The place was crowded, believe it or not, with two or three cars at all
the pull-offs. Scott found an isolated spot and we started fishing. It
was supposed to be 65 degrees. It was actually about 45 degrees and I
froze my ass off. Scott had an extra sweat shirt which I managed to get
my 208 pounds into, and I was a bit more comfortable.

This was a different type of fishing to me. I had a dry fly tied on an 8
foot leader, with four feet of tippet tied to the hook and a dropper nymph
at the end with split shot added to sink the nymph. After missing several
takes of the dropper, I finally hooked up with a small brookie, and lost
two or three others by missing the take. (If I fish a dropper, I use only
about 18 inches of tippet tied to the dry, and no weight tied to the
*tiny* {size 20} nymph. After fishing this set-up for awhile, we moved
to a different spot. First cast I hooked up with a decent size brookie on
the nymph. That's when I decided to go to a straight nymphing set up - no
dropper, just a PT soft hackle (size 18), a little weight, and because I
was nymphing at a great distance, I tied on an indicator. I took a few
more fish with this set up before we retired for lunch.

After lunch we moved down stream to a spot that was crowded earlier in the
day. Beautiful water. Managed a fish or two in this water before it was
time to leave.

All in all it was a pretty good trip. I got to see Wally again and meet
Scott whom I know I will fish with again. I wish I could fish farther
up-river for native trout, but from what I hear from Mark, Jeff, and now
Scott, it is a little too difficult for an old codger with a new hip on
one side and a bad one on the other. I enjoyed this trip more than
fishing Duke's Creek which is just around the corner from me, but it is
all I have. Can hardly wait until the last week of May, and the first
three weeks of June on the Rapid. Hopefully I will be in better shape.

Dave

Thanks for the report Louie,

Glad to here you are out and about after the surgery.

JT

On 3/18/2011 2:35 PM, JT wrote:


"D. LaCourse" wrote in message
news:2011031814225516807-davplac@aolcom...
Went to see Waldo on Tuesday. It was a three hour drive, but the hills
and scenery were terrific. I arrived in Mornganton, NC before he
closed his fly shop. He looked good. He's lost a lot of weight and
still shows the scars on his face from his tangle with me at the Blue
Stone cabin some years ago. (Actually, Walt fell off a bench trying to
hang the Pirate's Colors on the outside wall of the cabin. He slipped
and did a face plant on the wall.) I bet the mark on the cabin wall is
still there.

Walt and Marie joined me for dinner that night, and we ate some
terrific food, both in taste and price. If I had a restaurant like
that near me, I'd eat three meals a day there. Only problem, I was the
youngest person in the restaurant until Walt and Marie arrived. d;o(

I met Scott on Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. and we headed to lower
Wilson Creek. Very pretty water. It was the "delayed harvest" area and
the fish were stocked last fall - catch and release until June. I
don't normally fish for stocked trout, but this was different. Perhaps
it was the setting. There's nothing like that close to home here in
Georgia.

The place was crowded, believe it or not, with two or three cars at
all the pull-offs. Scott found an isolated spot and we started
fishing. It was supposed to be 65 degrees. It was actually about 45
degrees and I froze my ass off. Scott had an extra sweat shirt which I
managed to get my 208 pounds into, and I was a bit more comfortable.

This was a different type of fishing to me. I had a dry fly tied on an
8 foot leader, with four feet of tippet tied to the hook and a dropper
nymph at the end with split shot added to sink the nymph. After
missing several takes of the dropper, I finally hooked up with a small
brookie, and lost two or three others by missing the take. (If I fish
a dropper, I use only about 18 inches of tippet tied to the dry, and
no weight tied to the *tiny* {size 20} nymph. After fishing this
set-up for awhile, we moved to a different spot. First cast I hooked
up with a decent size brookie on the nymph. That's when I decided to
go to a straight nymphing set up - no dropper, just a PT soft hackle
(size 18), a little weight, and because I was nymphing at a great
distance, I tied on an indicator. I took a few more fish with this set
up before we retired for lunch.

After lunch we moved down stream to a spot that was crowded earlier in
the day. Beautiful water. Managed a fish or two in this water before
it was time to leave.

All in all it was a pretty good trip. I got to see Wally again and
meet Scott whom I know I will fish with again. I wish I could fish
farther up-river for native trout, but from what I hear from Mark,
Jeff, and now Scott, it is a little too difficult for an old codger
with a new hip on one side and a bad one on the other. I enjoyed this
trip more than fishing Duke's Creek which is just around the corner
from me, but it is all I have. Can hardly wait until the last week of
May, and the first three weeks of June on the Rapid. Hopefully I will
be in better shape.

Dave

Thanks for the report Louie,

Glad to here you are out and about after the surgery.

JT


ditto dave... upper wilson creek (far above your location, and just
down from grandfather mountain) is among the most beautiful in nc, but
it requires a young man's stamina and joints. spent many a day on it
with wally back in the late 90s and early 2000s. good to hear you're out
and about. you need to do a rafting trip on the south holston or french
broad with scott. ...and, if wally gets his false albacore trip set in
the fall, that's a treat too.

jeff

On 2011-03-18 17:24:08 -0400, jeff said:


ditto dave... upper wilson creek (far above your location, and just
down from grandfather mountain) is among the most beautiful in nc, but
it requires a young man's stamina and joints. spent many a day on it
with wally back in the late 90s and early 2000s. good to hear you're
out and about. you need to do a rafting trip on the south holston or
french broad with scott. ...and, if wally gets his false albacore trip
set in the fall, that's a treat too.


jeff

Albies, albies, albies. That's all Walt talked about at dinner.
Sounds like some kind of bug has bit him. He's got a sweet looking
boat and has invited me down come October. I guess I'll have to get
yet another rod/reel. I've done salt only a couple of time and really
didn't enjoy it. Perhaps Walt can convince me of its charm.

I did enjoy Wilson's. No more one day trips, however. To far to drive
for just a few hours of fishing.

Walt talked excitedly about getting together another Almond Boat Dock
Clave (roff's first clave). He asked if I thought that so-and-so would
come, and if this guy would come, etc. He seemed pretty excited about
it, so he just may put something together for the fall.

Dave

On 3/18/2011 7:37 PM, D. LaCourse wrote:
On 2011-03-18 17:24:08 -0400, jeff said:


ditto dave... upper wilson creek (far above your location, and just
down from grandfather mountain) is among the most beautiful in nc, but
it requires a young man's stamina and joints. spent many a day on it
with wally back in the late 90s and early 2000s. good to hear you're
out and about. you need to do a rafting trip on the south holston or
french broad with scott. ...and, if wally gets his false albacore trip
set in the fall, that's a treat too.


jeff

Albies, albies, albies. That's all Walt talked about at dinner. Sounds
like some kind of bug has bit him. He's got a sweet looking boat and has
invited me down come October. I guess I'll have to get yet another
rod/reel. I've done salt only a couple of time and really didn't enjoy
it. Perhaps Walt can convince me of its charm.

I did enjoy Wilson's. No more one day trips, however. To far to drive
for just a few hours of fishing.

Walt talked excitedly about getting together another Almond Boat Dock
Clave (roff's first clave). He asked if I thought that so-and-so would
come, and if this guy would come, etc. He seemed pretty excited about
it, so he just may put something together for the fall.

Dave



i'm still working on the sal****er fly fishing. it's a radical change
and tests one's casting stroke, but yields big, strong fish when you
hook one. speckled trout, 4-6 wt; puppy drum - 6-8 wt; blues and spanish
mackeral, 5-8 wt; false albacore, 9-10 wt. sal****er reels and lines;
big flies, some heavy. yup...a whole new outfit. the sal****er is 90
minutes from my home...the mountain trout are 5-7 hours away. so, i'm
trying to learn more about the sal****er fly fishing. i still think a
spinning rod is more efficient, and the lightweight gear is fun...but,
the fly fishing is a challenge. give it a go if you can...at worst,
it's a lovely boat ride.

i leave in the early a.m. for south andros and my first bonefishing
effort. yeah...i'm a bit buzzed about it. never seen a bonefish, so it's
fresh and makes me feel silly with anticipation, near about as much as i
recall feeling before first dates during my teen years.

jeff

On Mar 18, 2:22*pm, D. LaCourse wrote:
Went to see Waldo on Tuesday....

Dave

here's a link/pic Dave, more for you later, soon. how soon? soon.

http://wilsoncreekoutfitters.com/blog/?p=476

waldo the wataugan

On 2011-04-03 19:05:28 -0400, "ezflyfishin'" said:

On Mar 18, 2:22*pm, D. LaCourse wrote:
Went to see Waldo on Tuesday....

Dave

here's a link/pic Dave, more for you later, soon. how soon? soon.

http://wilsoncreekoutfitters.com/blog/?p=476

waldo the wataugan

Was that taken after or before we drank that jug of moonshine? Man,
don't post any more pictures of me without airbrushing them! Gawd, I
look old. Oh, hey, I *am* old. No movies either!!!! Jeeze, to see
that old body moving would probably kill folks.

Dave

On Sun, 3 Apr 2011 19:54:17 -0400, D. LaCourse wrote:

On 2011-04-03 19:05:28 -0400, "ezflyfishin'" said:

On Mar 18, 2:22*pm, D. LaCourse wrote:
Went to see Waldo on Tuesday....

Dave

here's a link/pic Dave, more for you later, soon. how soon? soon.

http://wilsoncreekoutfitters.com/blog/?p=476

waldo the wataugan

Was that taken after or before we drank that jug of moonshine? Man,
don't post any more pictures of me without airbrushing them! Gawd, I
look old. Oh, hey, I *am* old. No movies either!!!! Jeeze, to see
that old body moving would probably kill folks.

Dave


Yikes! Is that a human?!? Or is someone having fun with Photoshop!

Don't know that it'd directly kill anyone, but it might make them think about
euthanasia before they ended up looking like that. Woof!

Someone think of the children!

On 2011-04-03 21:28:04 -0400, personaobscura
said:

On Sun, 3 Apr 2011 19:54:17 -0400, D. LaCourse wrote:

On 2011-04-03 19:05:28 -0400, "ezflyfishin'" said:

On Mar 18, 2:22*pm, D. LaCourse wrote:
Went to see Waldo on Tuesday....

Dave

here's a link/pic Dave, more for you later, soon. how soon? soon.

http://wilsoncreekoutfitters.com/blog/?p=476

waldo the wataugan

Was that taken after or before we drank that jug of moonshine? Man,
don't post any more pictures of me without airbrushing them! Gawd, I
look old. Oh, hey, I *am* old. No movies either!!!! Jeeze, to see
that old body moving would probably kill folks.

Dave


Yikes! Is that a human?!? Or is someone having fun with Photoshop!

Don't know that it'd directly kill anyone, but it might make them think about
euthanasia before they ended up looking like that. Woof!

Someone think of the children!

Ahhh, yes. But I am here for all to see and you are, where, out
"there", obscured. Pitiful you.

Here, wrap your yellow canine teeth around these:
http://dlacourse.shutterfly.com/

As usual, d;o)

On Apr 3, 8:28*pm, personaobscura wrote:
On Sun, 3 Apr 2011 19:54:17 -0400, D. LaCourse wrote:
On 2011-04-03 19:05:28 -0400, "ezflyfishin'" said:

On Mar 18, 2:22*pm, D. LaCourse wrote:
Went to see Waldo on Tuesday....

Dave

here's a link/pic Dave, more for you later, soon. how soon? soon.

http://wilsoncreekoutfitters.com/blog/?p=476

waldo the wataugan

Was that taken after or before we drank that jug of moonshine? *Man,
don't post any more pictures of me without airbrushing them! *Gawd, I
look old. *Oh, hey, I *am* old. *No movies either!!!! *Jeeze, to see
that old body moving would probably kill folks.

Dave

Yikes! Is that a human?!? Or is someone having fun with Photoshop!

Don't know that it'd directly kill anyone, but it might make them think about
euthanasia before they ended up looking like that. Woof!

Someone think of the children!

Hm......

moron.

g.