Post Hurricane Matthew

I hadn't worn my waders in months. Hurricane Matthew gave me a good reason to wear them again as I assessed the water around my house. We had over 6" of rainfall in a 24 hour period. I found out water will find a way to seal itself even where there are cracks. The water had pushed leaves, pine needles, and other debris against the cracks in the fence and created a dam. Water started to build up and push its way towards the house. My last resort was breaking one of the fence slats to let the water out. Once I made the hole I could feel the current pushing against my waders. It made me think about the people wading through several feet of water in other areas. That has got to be terrifying. The day after the storm was beautiful. Not a cloud in the sky and the air was dry and cool. It was the first day that really felt like fall. I was able to muster up the family to go on a bike ride. I wanted to assess the damage on a local greenway. The creek that followed the trail was swollen and water covered the trail several times. We also came across downed trees.

This part of the trail was unrecognizable. Sediment covered the trail and the creek used the trail for its flow. 

Nature never ceases to amaze me. We were really lucky with Matthew it could have been a lot worse.

Waiting out Irene

Looks like fishing will be put on hold this weekend. I was thinking about checking out a local river after the storm. The thought is maybe the fish are going to be feeding like crazy with all the food being flooded in. Honestly the change will probably turn the fish off. It might be a good fly tying weekend. Our club recently had Anthony Hipps do a presentation on his famous flies. He ties a foam popper that is probably one of the best around. Another one of his creations is called the HellCraw and he says it has been a good producer for all species of fish. I have posted the videos and fly tying intructions for both. They can also be found at. WarmwaterFlyTyers.com
Anthony Hipps - Soft bodied foam Popper

Anthony Hipps soft bodied popper at TFF from Christopher Martain on Vimeo.

HellCraw

Anthony Hipps ties his HellCraw from Christopher Martain on Vimeo.

Our First Hurricane

Well I knew it would happen eventually, but I was hoping later rather than sooner. I would have to experience a NC hurricane eventually. This is gonna be it. Hanna could turn into just a tropical storm but the latest word is that it's a category 1, with decent enough winds to cause destruction. The track has also headed further inland which means it's heading straight for Raleigh. Things could definately change, Hanna could break apart and just become a tropical storm. To be honest, the storm I'm worried about is the one coming behind Hanna. It's called Ike and from the looks of it, it's Hanna's pissed off big brother. It has a lot more intensity and stronger winds, It was just downgraded to a category 3 today. This thing is coming hard toward the east coast. I will update things as it gets closer plus pics of what's happening. I just got a video camera so I might add some videos too.