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December 9 - Well, here's bad news
for Jim W who "wussed" out of an 8 am trip this morn - I guess he
thought it was too cold or something. It was down in the twenties early,
but the trout were happy and eating. Another guide, Ben, came by and we
caught fish all morning just fishing from the bank. Too bad you missed
it, Jimbo.
December 4 - Fished at Callaway today
with Tom and Sue from West Palm, and the Florida folks had no trouble
adapting to some cooler temps. They spanked the trout from the bank and
the driftboat - here's one of Tom's big ones...
November 27 & 28 - We had the fly
fishing school at Callaway this weekend. Weather was fine (if a little
cool), and a great group of students. All were new to the fly rod, but
wasted no time in getting ready to fish.
Elizabeth H., a backpacker from CA, wanted
to learn to catch those high-lake trout in the Rockies. She got a good
start...
Mark, who travels all over with his camper,
also got a taste....
Jason from LaGrange, GA also got his intro
to west Georgia fly fishing, as he banged `em left and right...
November 26 - Fished Callaway today
with Greg H. from FL. It was Greg's first time with a fly rod so we
spent a little time casting on the grass. Greg "got it" pretty quick and
was soon into big Callaway trout.
November 24 - Finally back home after
mucho road time, I needed to check this season's trout over at Callaway
Gardens. With my pal Joel, we launched the drift boat under overcast
skies and immediately began whacking trout. The vedict - Callaway tout
season is here.
November 9 - Still on the road but
had to get in another day's fishing, this time in SC, with
Captain Tommy
Scarborough of Georgetown Coastal Adventures. Tommy's on the TFO
pro-staff and does it all - offshore, bait, tackle, catfish, marsh hen
hunts, and the fly. Don't let his diversity fool ya' though, he's the
consummate fly guide. Poling a beautiful Beavertail skiff and
loaded with the
best (TFO) equipment, Tommy put me on fish all day long even under the
somewhat adverse conditions.
When you call his number (843-546-3543), you'll probably get his
seemingly good-ol-boy message, "Sorry we can't answer, but we're
probably out on the water catching lots of fish and having a big ol'
time." Well, I'm here to tell you to take him at his word - lots of fish
and a big ol' time is a perfect description of my day. Call him
now - his redfish are on the feed all winter long!
November 9 - In the midst of a 3-week
road trip, I laid out and fished the morning with Chuck L. up in Harkers
Island, NC. The false albacore weren't doing it so we came back in and
fished a trout flat. The fish weren't big, but we used the TFO 7' 4-wt
Bug Launcher (with 200 grain heads) and had a blast with several dozen
of these boys...
October 12 - Fished Callaway today
with long-time customer and a great friend,. Bill was one of my first
customers when I started guiding and he's still coming... a sucker for
punishment. Thanks Bill.
October 10 - Spent the weekend at
Jekyll with my fishing bud Joel and the wives. They went shopping, and
as much as we wanted to join them...
October 10 - `Been spending a lot of
time on the road, but slipped off today to look at some property on the
Flint where I'm considering leasing some property. Naturally, it was
necessary to fish a bit, and it just so happened that I had the new BVK
rod from TFO in the car - it's mighty sweet!
September 26 - Fished stripes with
Paul on the Hooch below West Point this afternoon. We got on a school of
smaller fish and had a little fun with `em.
September 18 - Gretchen & Tim fished
with me again today at Callaway. Gretchen has been on a couple of
episodes of ESPN's "Flats Class" and they are talking about shooting an
episode with Freedom Hawk kayaks, so we put the boats in on one of
the lakes. Gretchen and Tim loved the stand-up fishing boats and spanked
some bass.
September 17 - Fished the Flint today
with Gretchen & Tim M. from Florida. I've been fishing with them for
several years now and it's always fun, but this was their first time to
the Flint. As expected, they had little trouble making the transition
from the salt to the Flint shoals.
Tim was on the fish all day long, but in
addition to catching plenty of fish Gretchen took timeout for one of my
favorite activities on the Flint (no, not when I'm guiding). Those warm
rocks can feel mighty fine for an after-lunch power-nap...
September 2 - Slipped off on a
busman's holiday with Paul H, my longtime fishing buddy and manager of
fly fishing at Callaway Gardens. We floated a section of the Flint River
in our Freedom Hawk kayaks. `Caught a few fish and had a lot of fun...
August 29 - Out with Stephen again
today, this time on the Flint for a moving water primer. In spite of
high off-color water, Stephen got `em again on the Tokyo Spiders. The
fish seemed to be out on the edges away from the fast, deep water.
August 28 - Stephen came to Callaway
today to get started with the fly rod. `Spent some time in the grass
casting and then hit the water. This new fly angler spent most of his
time sight-casting Tokyo Spiders to big bream he spotted from the bow of
the drift boat. And they ate!
August 27 - Fished with Ron and Rusty
on the Flint today. The shoal bass and the redbreasts were quite
cooperative, and were willing to eat the Stealth
Bomber and the Rubber-Legged Dragon in
near equal quantity. Here's one of Ron's shoalies....
July 24 - Fished on the Flint with
Sammy, Wallis and Wallis' grandson, Harrison. It was plenty hot, but
these Alabama boys managed to find a couple of dozen fish, including
shoal bass and this big redbreast that Harrison nailed on a Tokyo
Spider.
July 21 - Chris and his son Benjamin
came to Callaway for a one-day private school, prepping for a trip to
fish in Idaho. With the high-90 temps we didn't expect midday fishing to
be very good on the lakes, so after some classroom work and some casting
in the grass, we fished a small creek. We found lots of fish willing to
eat, and then Benjamin pulled a big bass from the skinny water. Pretty
dang good for his first time with the fly rod...
July 10 - Fished the Flint with Steve
and his son Josh. Fish were in the expected
low-water/hot weather pattern, but we found `em. Here's one Josh
took from a from the edge of a grass bed on a small secondary flow...
Maybe the best part of summer on the Flint
is the ability to cool off at will...
July 5 - Joel D. and I fished the top
end of the Flint his morning from the Freedom Hawk kayaks. We were on
the river at first light and it was beautiful.
In addition to an assortment of shoal bass,
spots, and redbreast, Joel wrestled this largemouth from some nasty
snags.
June 26 & 27 - Fished two days with
David P. from Augusta. David was new to the fly rod, but he's a vet now.
We got largemouth, bluegill, and redbreast at Callaway on Saturday, then
topped it off with shoal bass (including the fatty below) Sunday on the
Flint.
June 20 - Flint has fished real good
this week - the water is dropping and the
low-water/hot weather pattern is setting in.
Today was Father's Day, but I slipped out
before daylight to get a personal fish fix before doing the family thing
in the afternoon. I spent most of my morning fishing a tight little side
channel. Most of the fish weren't big...
...but they were banging it. In one slow,
gentle run a 3-4 lb bass came out of the weeds to chase the smaller one
I'd hooked all the way to my feet.
Maybe the best part of fishing the Flint
these days is the possibility of cooling off anytime it gets too hot...
June 17 - Fished Callaway today with
Steve S - it was his first time with a fly rod and he picked it up real
quick.
Just to get some exposure to fishing moving
water, we slipped down to the outflow of Mountain Creek below the lake.
The water was way down and low, but we had some fun there, spanking the
redbreast and small bass on topwaters..
June 13 - Spent the morn at Callaway
fishing with Bill B., his dad, and a couple of friends. Here's a big
redbreast that was willing to eat for Jess...
June 11 - Fished the Flint with the
Challis boys today. Water was up again, but it was their only
possible day. The spider lilies were still blooming, we managed to catch
some fish, and had a fine day on the river.
June 7 - Fished with Bryan and his
son, Hunter today. Water was up with fairly heavy stain. Fishing was
tough, though the boys caught a few. Later in the day, we moved over and
fished a couple of small side channels. It was pretty close quarters,
but Bryan and Hunter are accustomed to small water, regularly
frequenting the brook trout streams in the "Park". They switched off,
fishing one at a time. It was a blast!
Bryan had the fish of the day, not because
of its size but rather the take. The fished swirled on Hunter's fly on
his first drift through. He quickly tossed in back in and the shoalie
came up and sipped the Stealth Bomber like a trout.
May 30 - Called off a trip today
because of hard rain last nite and forecast of heavy thunderstorms. Of
course the day turned out perfect. Only one thing to do now - go fish!
Water was up but the shoalies ate...
May 29 - The Flint has been in great
shape this month, even with a couple of hard rains that blew it out for
a few days.
Ken and Gail fished with me today. The water
was up a bit with some color, but we found plenty willing to eat. This
one of Gail's came up and smacked a Tokyo Spider,
after missing it the first time through...
May 2 - Everyone who heard we fished
today questioned our sanity. True, the wind was blowing 15-20 mph, and
gusting to 30+. But Richard and Stephanie were here from Virginia for
one day, so we toughed it out. Stephanie had said the wind gave her
trouble, but you never have known it. She was sending tight, tight
loops right into the wind - and the shoal bass gave her the ultimate
approval. Here's one of the several that said yes...
May 1 - Fished at Callaway Tuesday
through Saturday this week, capping the week with the crowd from NGTO
yesterday and today. These boys are always a hoot, and certainly proved
no exception this time. Lots of bass and bream (many on top), and plenty
of fun. Here's one of Grizz's big bream, amid the flaming azaleas.
April 21-23 - Fished with Steve H
from Cincinnati for 3 days. We missed the stripers on the Hooch, but got almost
everything else at the Flint (shoal bass, redbreast, bluegill, and shellcracker) and at Callaway (largemouth, bluegill, shellcracker,
yellow shiner, and warmouth).
Here's one of the Callaway shellcrackers
that made a fool of itself over the Stealth Bomber...
April 20 - Fished the Flint today
with Zach F - we used the Freedom Hawk kayaks. Here's Zach shooting a
rapid, and then doing what the Freedom Hawk lets you do best - "Stand Up
& Fish!
The shoal bass are definitely on, and the
water is in great shape.
April 15 - Fished the Hooch above
West Point today with Tom T. and Sam C. Going was tough, with the fish
few and far between. We took time out in the afternoon to stretch our
lines on some gar, and then went
back after the striped fish. The patience and perseverance of the
anglers paid off as we finally found a few more fish in a couple of
unlikely spots.
April 13 - Fished the Columbus Hooch
with Sam Adams - stripers didn't cooperate, but the skipjack were
rampant. They're small but a real hoot on 2 wt to 4 wt rods - fishing
droppers you'll often get double hookups.
The colors in these fish are unbelievable.
And they're members of the same family as ladyfish and tarpon, so they
fight and jump the same way.
April 7 - Fished the Hooch at
Franklin with Paul. Fish were turned on and stacked pretty good. Paul
busted a giant striper (we think) that turned immediately downstream in
a rip of current - anchored amidst a long stretch of shallow shoals,
there was nothing to do but clamp down on the line and try to turn the
fish. Didn't work...but he managed some nice hybrid, a white bass, a
spotted bass, and a couple of cute-as-a-button baby stripers.
March 7 -
In Charleston for a TFO dealer day, I managed to fish on Sunday with my
old pal, Carter Nelson. If the name is familiar, Carter ran the
fly-fishing program at Callaway for many years, and is the creator of
the Rubber-Legged Dragon.
Anyhow, we slipped out Sunday morn real
early and found some scattered red schools. They were a little sluggish
and weren't eating aggressively, but we managed to feed a half-dozen or
so. A black clouser was the choice for these spot-tails.
January & February, 2010 - Again,
most of my time has been on the road but with the weather and rain, it was almost just as well.
Striper conditions on the river have not been good with high water and
lots of mud, but we did find a few fishable days and reasonable numbers
of fish.
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