Early Spring inShinig Rock

With the upcoming weather (possible snow on Mon. night), Cat excused me from chores and planting to get a little time on the water. We were going to plant the garden this weekend, but we decided to put it off until temps stabilize a bit. It's nice when an unexpected opportunity to get on the water presents its self, and Cat not so secretly wanted to get me out of the house to work on homework, so we both won.

After rounding up the trash to take out along the way, I threw my pack, my 2wt, and Adicus into the truck. Off to hit a stream in Shining Rock that I had been wanting to fish, but always passed for better water. Today is Opening Day for trout in NC, I'm sick if DH stockers, so going wild was an easy decision. I parked and geared up while Adicus romped around the woods, excited as me to get on the water. We moved upstream somewhere about a 1/4 of a mile before getting in the water. I eased down a lightly wooded slope to nice looking pool and stopped to tie up. Weapons for the day, a 6'6" 2wt, 7 1/2 ft 5x leader, a Thunderhead (12), with a Hairy Moose (12) as a dropper. What else would I possibly fish on my first real day on the water in months?

I spent the first few pools working out the kinks from a lethargic winter, barking at Adicus not to get in front of me, and trying to keep from falling in. Ah, the first days of spring, so pleasant and perfect! To my suprise, about 15 minutes into my readjusting, a brown sipped my dry off of the surface, and I had caught my first wild brownie of the year!


The day continued pretty much the same way, me bumbling along, not really in any type of rhythm, picking up a few fish, missing more. To my delight, water levels are about where they should be this time of year, we've had some rain, hopefully it will continue. To my dismay, gnats were hell today! Up my nose, in my ears; poor Adicus was going crazy trying to get em off of him. Despite the difficulties, I was able to manage maybe a dozen or so fish, most brookies with a few brownies thrown in.


I was really impressed by this stream. I can't believe I have never fished it before, there are reasons, but they would reveal it's exact location. I missed probably twice as many fish as I stuck today. So I can't wait to come back a little later in the year. Large plunge pools gave way to small pocket water separated by large chunck rock. An elevated canopy made casting easy, only fly I lost all day was to the stream, so I count this one a a win. It will probably be a while before I hit this one again, but who knows. Maybe I'll get a chance to hit it again after this cold snap blows through. Cat and I are hoping to head down to Fires Creek or the Nantahala headwaters next weekend, so more reports are to come soon.

It's nice when a day comes together. I feel a little guilty neglecting things at I could have done at home, but it was great to get out for a beautiful afternoon. Nothing was really blooming yet, a few Canadian violets were here and there, but nothing really worth taking a pic of. The sun was out, the temps were up, a few fish came to play; all in all, a good day! One of the reasons I love NC, today was opening day and I didn't see another person fishing all day.

Is It Really Here?

The smells of spring are in the air. The very first of our trees are just starting to put out leaves, water and ground temps are on the rise, days are getting longer. Oh how I rejoice at the beginning of spring. The end of the dreary doldrums of winter, in with the renewal of life, including my own! The despondency of winter always wears me down. I become lethargic and lazy, not wanting to do much. Other than NOT be cold!

Well, I ain't cold now baby! I cut my grass today for the first time this year. I'm always much more excited about it now than I will be in October! I also finished prepping the garden for planting today. A little late, but not really. It was below freezing the night before last, so I'm not upset at all that we waited an extra 2 weeks to put anything in the ground. The frost free date for our area isn't until May 15, so mid May is when we put out our warm weather crops. On this weekends agenda; lettuce, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, onions, shallots, and taters. I'm so excited I can't wait!

Because of lack of hours at work, I've been able to almost completely clear my "6 week" to-do list! Only a few things still remain in it, so I should be able to finish it before mid April, just in time for the trout and smallies to turn on with the leaf out! I've been tying flies 5 nights a week trying to get them ready in time for the crazy days of spring. I've been knocking out almost a dozen a night, so things are looking good there also. Now I just need to get it all organized before Cat and I go on our anniversary camping trip, which will probably be next weekend.

The only big projects remaining are changing the brakes on my truck, which I'll do as soon as I can get the pads and shoes. And to start the work I need to do on the bike. I'm getting anxious about starting on her, with the weather getting nicer, the desire to go cruisin is getting almost too strong to bare. I just have to find out why I'm leaking oil and why she runs so hot. I'm shooting to have her road ready by May, but we'll see. Enough for now, time to tie flies!

Feeling Lost

Cat has left to be with her family after the loss of her Grandma. I never really spent much time with that side of her family due to "issues", but I did get to meet Grandma Lizz on a few occasions. And she was a wonderful person that is exactly where she wanted to be, in the hands of God.

Because of work, I stayed home. I should be in bed, as I have to be in at 6 tomorrow morning, but I never sleep well when Cat and I are away from each other. It's almost like I wander around lost when we are separated for one reason or another. I wish she were home. I know she is needed elsewhere by people that are important to both of us, but I can not help but be selfish about her. I can share, but not from a distance.

So, here's to three of four days of wandering around lost, not eating, not sleeping; in general, being miserable without the person who means the most to me in the world. She's been gone for 9 hours and I'm already out of sorts, this sucks! I'm trying not to be a big boy, but she is why I exist! Spring rains have showed up and trapped me in the house all day, which only made it worse. We so would have had a rainy day nap today! I miss you Wookie!

Procrastination Pays Off

I've been dreading turning the garden this year due to the death of our community tiller. Nightmares have haunted me since I found out that me and a mattock would be spending 2 or 3 days of quality time together. I've been putting it off, finding any excuse to avoid the labor of turning almost 1000sq ft by hand.

Cat and I were going to rent a tiller today and take advantage of the good weather, and get the garden turned before it started raining later this week. Last night,I was walking into the kitchen, getting ready to start dinner, when I thought I heard someone mowing my backyard. I looked out the window, and low and behold, it was Jeff bringing the previously dead tiller to the house. Yeah! My prayers have been answered. The nightmares can end!

I got up this morning and tilled the whole garden. It was also enlarged by about 2 1/2 feet along the longest side. I'm still working on setting the paths and will hopefully be laying down the mulch to cover them sometime real soon. The weather will play a big roll in that. But, I am very pleased that the garden is turned, its done and over with. Once the paths are set, the fun can begin. I'm guessing we'll plant early crops in another 2 weeks, with the main effort coming in the first week of May. Who knows, but there are rumors of seed buying going on this weekend!

So see, procrastination does sometimes payoff. I'd be ultra peeved if I had just turned 3/4 of it by hand, only to have the tiller turn up!

Soft Hackle Pheasant Tail

This is one of my all time favorite nymphs, something I would never be on the water without. If I don't have a Harey Moose tied on, it's probably because I have a soft hackle pheasant tail on. A variation of the pheasant tail, but more versatile in my opinion. This can be a moderately difficult fly to tie. Most of the materials are fairly delicate, which just adds to the difficulty of the pattern. Despite that, it's worth learning to tie!

BH Soft Hackle Pheasant Tail

hook: mustad 9671 or equivalent 1x nymph hook
head: brass bead
thread: black
tail: pheasant tail
ribbing: brass wire
body: pheasant tail
thorax: peacock
wing: grouse

step1:
Slip the bead over your hook and push to the eye. I then place 6-7 wraps of weight on the shank and push the end into the hole at the bead.













step2:
start the thread at the base of the weight and begin wrapping it to secure the weight and wrap the thread to the base to the base of the hook. Now tie in the copper ribbing. Secure it good and wrap the thread back to the base of the hook.













step 3:
Tie in the pheasant tail to the base of the hook. The tail should be the length of the hook, if not a little bit longer. I personally prefer a little longer tail. Don't use too much pressure on the thread to eliminate excessive flaring of the tail.













step 4:
Carefully wrap the pheasant tail up 3/4 of the length of the hook. Wrapping the opposite direction, wrap the brass wire 4-5 times up to the bead and then secure.

















step 5:
tie three pieces of peacock herl after trimming the tips. Twist the herl into a rope and wrap to the bead head leaving room for the wing.














step 6:
Prepare the grouse feather by removing the fuzzy barbs on base of the feather, and all barbs on the inside bend of the natural curve of the feather. Tie in the grouse feather so that the side without barbs is facing the hook.














step 7:
Carefully wrap the grouse feather around the head of the fly, taking precaution not to let the barbs go everywhere. It's OK to cheat a bit by forcing the barbs to lay back by using the thread to hold it down. It's a bad habit, so try not to do it too much. I went through a lot of grouse feathers trying to tie them right!




















This another dynamite fly! I tie it from size 10 to 18, usually in a natural and dirty yellow color. It's a fairly heavy fly, so If it's used as a dropper, something pretty big will have to be used above it to stay afloat. I fish this fly under stimulators and elk hair caddis usually, or as a double nymph rig with a small nymph trailing the pheasant tail. This is also a very effective fly for fishing like a wet fly on the swing. I used to clean up on fish in tail waters by casting across a current and letting it swing up at the end of the drift and then retrieve in quick little twitches. In the end there is really no way to fish it wrong!

So Much To Do

Spring is coming and I still have so much to do. I sit here blogging when I have a million other things on my list that are so much more important, but i guess not really, seein as how I'm doin this instead. The hecticness of life has left me totally unprepared for spring, I had a plan and the plan was not implemented on time. I'm really tryin not to stress over it all, but I have a few things that HAVE to get done by a certain date. I'm not even ready for April fishing yet, one of my favorite times of the year to be on the water!

The weather matches my moods this time of the year. Some days it's really nice out and the next it's 40 degrees and raining. Some days I get a lot done, others, I barely want to get out of bed to pee. I'm sure my mood will brighten some as soon as we're out of this cruddy weather. I think I need to go fishin! Streams are still a bit on the cool side around here, but it would still be nice to get out for a bit.

When Worlds Collide

It sometimes amazes me that Cat and I can live together. I mean, it's like we're from different planets or something. Don't get me wrong, we have many things in common, but when it comes to personal taste, it's like we tried to find someone as opposite from each other as possible.

Let's take music for example. On any given day, I'll hear Cat pull up in the driveway with her stereo blaring Cindey Lauper, Madonna, cheesy love songs, or basically anything from the early eighties. Music only in the most literal sense, in my opinion. Over the years, I've been able to foster a love in her for 311 and there are a few other bands that she'll listen to that don't make me want to vomit. Right now I'm trying to get her into Incubus, but she's still a little hesitant about them. I on the other hand listen to a lot of metal (i.e. old Metallica, G-N-R, Foo Fighters), Alternative, bluegrass, Some classical, and for the big shocker... Gordon Lightfoot! He's the man! The first time she heard me listening to one of his cd's, I was mocked, ridiculed, and laughed at by my love that has such good taste in music. Within two years, she was making hotel reservations for us in D.C. to see him live at Wolf Trap Arena.
Canadian Railroad Trilogy is one of the most bitchin songs ever!

Another area of contention in our life is what we watch on TV. I'll admit, I'm one of the biggest TV nerds you will find. If we only got the Science Channel, Discovery, the History channel, History International, and the Food Network, it wouldn't phase me one bit. Cat on the other hand is a reality TV junkie. Anything from Dr Phil to Big Brother, and any other reality crap that catches her attention. Much to my disdain, it's should be about time to suffer through yet another season of Big Brother. : ( When she's not watching reality shows, you can find her vegging out on the couch watching other great shows such as Wings, the Golden Girls, or some distrurbing man hating movie on Lifetime channel. Needless to say, we argue over whats in the TV. To my distress, there are even a few shows I hate that she WILL NOT watch without me, because she loves my constant bantering at the TV.

So what will we watch together? Lost, Hell's Kitchen, Scrubs, Anthony Bourdain, to list a few, if not most. MASH ends up on the tube a lot around here, despite Cat owning the box set, of which she's watched every episode, in order. But we still watch a lot of MASH. A little secret, if Allen Alda wasn't all old and liver spotted, Cat would jump on him in a heart beat! I guess it's a good the she finds skinny, dark haired, smart asses so attractive!

So, what's the moral to this story? Differences create interest, diversity, and constantly causes us to push the boundaries of our comfort zones. Cat is a very dramatic, organized, goal oriented type of woman. I'm a very rational, spontaneous, let fate happen kind of guy. On most "big" issues we agree, but after that, all bets are off. Because of our differences, we are much more willing to do things we normally would not try, try different foods, and listen to different opinions. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Congratulations are in order for Cat on her 2 year "blogaversary" for her blog CatTails. While I did't think it was the greatest idea to uncap the crazy online, you've found an outlet for your thoughts (no matter how distressing) and an audience appreciates your unique perspective of the world around you. You Rock!