I Needed That

One good thing about getting older is you gain experience. I used my lunch break to chase crappie at a local lake. I figured they had to be going shallow to spawn. While I was making my way to the water I saw one other guy releasing a fish he had just caught. "Hey, I know you!" he said. This guy didn't look familiar at all and my blog has been stale for so long I was wondering how this person could possibly know me. Then he told me his name and I realized he is someone I had emailed several times to fish with but things never worked out. I asked if I could fish across the river from him. He acknowledged it was fine and just said "clousers...." I pretty much figured that having already one tied on. A few moments later I had a decent crappie on.

I tried to nonchalantly bring it in but internally I was filled with glee. I hadn't fished in a such a long time and feeling the tug of a fish was like a rekindling of a lost love. We spent the next 20min pulling in quite a few crappie and bluegill. Then like what happens so often the feeding switch was turned off and the fish stopped biting. Out of all the times, places and days to fish, it was kind of funny that we randomly ran into each other. It was like it was meant to be.

Fly Fishing Tournament

If you could count the number of times you fished on one hand in the last year would you enter a fly fishing tournament? Well that's what I just did. Might not have been the best decision but I'm hoping it will give me some motivation to dust off the rods and wet a fly line. Heck, maybe I'll even tie a few flies while I'm at it. The money goes towards a good cause and I like the shop Due South Outfitters that's hosting the tournament. The river where the tournament is being held is one of my all time favorites. It was one of the places I fished most often when I lived in Boone and it will always have a fondness in my heart.

It will be my first tournament experience. I'm looking forward to see how everything goes down and how it's organized. I'm also eager to see how other fishermen attack the water and their results.

I'm sure a lot of fun will be had. What's the worst that can happen? I could have a good day of getting skunked on one of my favorite rivers. Doesn't sound so bad.

Trash That Never Leaves

How often do you think about the trash after it's picked up and hauled away by your local sanitation crew? Many people know trash goes to a landfill and figure it's buried to biodegrade or it's incinerated. What if there was trash that couldn't be destroyed at all? Not only that what if this trash was in your water? Seems like a nightmare scenario right?

GenX is a bi-product of other chemicals that come into contact with water. The chemicals that create this bi-product have been used for over 20yrs to create products that resist water and oil. Recently scientists have found traces of GenX and other chemicals in the Cape Fear River. This river is a drinking supply for many counties in North Carolina. Scientists have found that GenX is not biodegradable. It loves water and remains stables no matter what the temperature.

There are no natural enzymes that can break down this chemical. Long story short. Once it's in your water it stays there forever.

Small amounts have been linked to other chemicals that produce cancer. Water sampled in Wilmington a city near the Cape Fear River have been higher than allowed but nothing that is causing wide spread alarm yet. The source of this problem has been traced back to a DuPont Chemours Plant. The dumping of GenX has been going on for decades, the company last summer decided to stop dumping GenX in June 2017. This bi-product is not regulated so there are no regulations on how much can be dumped where.

What can be done?

The only known way to clean the water from GenX is to purify it through reverse osmosis. You can buy a purifying system for your home but it's not very practical and takes expertise to setup properly and maintain that it's working right.

The sad part is folks this isn't the only place stuff like this happens. You might be getting a chemical dumped where you live that's contaminating the food you eat or the water you drink. Nothing stops the companies from doing it if the contaminant is unregulated. Scary to say the least. I'll try to keep you updated on where this story goes.