Fun, Friends and Fish

Between family, work obligations and weather mishaps, as I get older I appreciate it when a fishing trip comes together. This last trip started out how most do. There has to be some sort of drama before hand. Usually it's a injury, family illness or the usual rainstorm which blows out all the rivers. The night before we were about to leave we had one of the worst thunderstorms I've seen since living in North Carolina. No matter which direction you looked there were strobes from lightning. We got about 3 inches of rain in 2hrs. I was still going on this trip no matter what. The clouds in the distance on the drive up looked ominous. They slowly subsided as we got closer to the property. The group rented a house with it's own private stretch of trout water. It was hard to know what to expect with the price we paid for the place. The water looked good at first glance.

We wanted to jump in and fish right away but we needed to check out the house first. In my head imagined an older house with wallpaper and decorations that came right out of a 70's Sears Catalog. 

This place was awesome and included all the comforts of home even WiFi. We found ourselves constantly being surprised and yelling to each other "Hey, there's this too!" After all the oohing and ahhing we headed to the river. It was high and muddy from the recent rain. The area hadn't received the same amount that hit my home. We all figured with the fish seeing less pressure they'd be easy to catch. Our assumptions were wrong and the fish hit very subtlety. 

When the fishing was over we ate dinner sat on the balcony and admired the view.

The next day the group decided to try our luck on a close stocked stream. The water had cleared and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

I love this river. It has some of the prettiest scenery in the state. If variety is your game this is the place for you. The creek runs the gamut of all types of trout water. Plunge pools, riffley runs, fast and slow water. Then there's post card pools like this.

It's hard to fish with a frown in a place like this. We hit this river two days in a row and this dog managed to find me both days even on different sections of the river.

This dog cracked me up. He wanted to be my fishing buddy more than a canine companion. At first I wan't sure how friendly he was and I kept my distance. Then I noticed he'd follow me to every section of the river and eventually walked a head of me leading me to the next spot. He knew some pretty good ones too.

When the day was over I was more unhappy to leave his company than he was. He just sauntered off like he was eager to find the next fisherman to guide.

The fishing trip was as good as it gets. With long fishing days, good food, campfire stories and adult beverages. I can't wait until the next one.