A little Holly Creek Fishing Day

 Though I don't post much anymore its because my last 5 years have been work work and more work.  I've finally retired from the rat race that a FTE role presents.  After 15 years of being an independent contractor I thought that perhaps the corporate environment would be a good place where I could go,  mistake should have stayed in the consulting roles more peace of mind and less bickering.  Anyway I finally managed to make it back to a little local creek a couple of times and I have had some remarkable days catching anywhere from 10 to 50 stockers on a few hours trip.  Here's a few of my videos.  

https://rumble.com/v7bl9vm-holly-creek-1.html

https://rumble.com/v7bla16-holly-creek-2.html

Back in the mix again.

 I have been to busy working with a company that I hired on with 5 years ago to do much fishing. I’m finally technically retired, actually the company that I worked for retired me. Long story short I’m 70 now and though I’m still in good health I stepped into the proverbial landmine of making a comment about a peer who was extremely rude and narcissistic. He talked down to me in front of several people who I had trained to do a job that was outside of the group I was in. I complained to my supervisor but didn’t know they were good friends. Everything went downhill after that and I couldn’t do anything that was right anymore and I was given assignments that were way off the charts and beyond what my resume had. So a couple of mistakes and then the axe. No way to prove it. It was getting tedious working with the group anyway so now I am just trying to adapt to the situation and life as a retired person.  So my first couple of times back in the water was a little more challenging than I expected and I caught a few fish but not what I was accustomed to when I was on the water day in and out . 

Another new-be guided trip.

I often find myself fishing public waters that have plentiful people fishing and saying things like “I’ve been fishing all day and I haven’t caught anything, there’s no fish here”. Now I’m not so cocky as to think that I could not have a bad day on a trip to think that I might have one of those skunked days. I’ve had plenty. But usually even if the fish are being totally uncooperative I can catch at least one. So I start fishing and shortly I have caught several right where those people who have just commented that there are no fish there.  Sometimes, actually more than not I start getting the 1000 questions routine’s.  How do you do that, what kinds of flys do you use. And on occasions I have been asked to guide someone for a few hours. Now I’m a computer engineer and guided trips are way below my pay grade.  A day trip for a good guide in my area is about 150-200 a day depending on the area and the water.  Several guides I know on public water, utilizing their boat and equipment are getting 150 for four hours.  Four hours of untangling lines, explaining what to do and repeating myself a few dozen times isn’t my idea of a great day on the water. So I usually say yes I’ll do it for a couple of hours no charge.  The pictures I have posted are from one such project with a little twist. An experienced guide friend of mine had this friend who he was working with trying to teach him how to fly fish. After a couple of days of training he called on me and said he was out of patience and would I consider taking his friend out for a couple of hours. He warned me that it might be an impossible task because he had been working with the guy and he hadn’t caught a single fish nor even had a bite. Bobby is one of two guides that I know that I would just about always try to help out when I can. So I took the challenge. After a while I realized that this was going to be tough but I persevered and after I hooked a few fish trying to show him technique and fly presentation he caught on and caught a few nice fish.

Hadn’t been posting much

 Sometimes you can get so busy that you lose out on the time and don’t get a chance to do anything with your life except work. I have been extremely fortunate for the last twenty five years to be able to make enough money utilizing the least amount of time which allowed me to travel and spend a lot of time focusing on my favorite activities of fishing and hiking and camping.  Three years ago I accepted a position as an engineer at one of the largest companies in America.  This was a result of Hewlett-Packard selling off the company’s software division wherein I had become a principal consultant. That role evaporated because while HP allowed for independent consultation and partnership between them and other entities the company that bought them doesn’t.  I have a number of friends who have left doing business with that company because their rates are so low that you can’t afford to work for them.  I fell into that category so I had to go back to my engineering roots that doesn’t allow me to make the same amount of money and demands more time.  So since then I have posted very little on my blog.  I only just recently started posting things because someone reminded me that I had a lot of experience in multiple areas that someone would benefit greatly from.  So I’m going to make an effort to post something regularly and I will catch up with a number of posts now.

Deer Hunting

 I met my lovely wife almost 50 years ago at church.  When I was dating her she informed me that her entire line of male members were avid deer hunters.  I had never entertained or even considered hunting for deer growing up. Well the reasons are simple, or at least some of them are. Firstly when I was growing up in southern Florida deer were extremely scarce and most were in preserved habitat and called “Key Deer” they are about the size of a medium sized dog.  The second reason was because of the socialization that was introduced by our media. What’s that you say? Well I learned in college about the method that our media has used for decades to promote their agenda. It starts with the entertainment sector which develops various forms of propaganda used to influence young minds. What was mine you might be asking. It was the Disney character of Bambi.  So when my wife told me that her entire male group of family members were heavily engaged in deer hunting I almost freaked out. I thought I had come across a bunch of Neanderthals and savages that were barbarous buffoons. And now I am dating the one who I’m in love with and thinking seriously about marriage.  So I asked her why did they want to kill Bambi? She replied that they loved venison and ate it regularly. What eat Bambi how could they do such a thing!!! Little did I know that they would set me up soon. I regularly called on my now wife, well regularly wouldn’t describe it adequately. I was over the house as soon as I got off work and stayed for dinner every night and only left when my soon to be sister in law chased me out the door.  One day her husband asked me if I liked steak. Of course, what red blooded young man who grew up in a family of 11 brothers and sisters that only had it occasionally didn’t.  He said that they were going to have a good meal of it tomorrow evening and that I should bring a healthy appetite for it.  I showed up early with the expectation of eating a fabulous dinner.  I could smell it from the kitchen and I couldn’t wait until it was served. I sat down adjacent to him and proceeded to gobble down as much of the steak covered in gravy with onions and potatoes.  As I was literally mopping up the few pieces of meat in the bottom of the container and draining the last few ounces of gravy into my mouth he said, well you like eating Bambi huh. My jaw dropped like a ten ton weight hitting the table top. But as I thought about it I realized why they had become avid deer hunters. I believe that this was the best steak I had ever tasted.  So I went out after that and bought a 30-30 and started hunting with them. I never got to see a deer during the first three years of hunting but one day I got my first one and I have forever been a deer hunter since.  I was never a horn hunter but I had countless times when huge ones came along that I never got to get.  I am still hoping to get a shot at one of these big ones.  I kill a deer almost every season and I have passed up more chances at smaller ones than I can count.  I generally don’t kill one unless I’m running short of venison in the freezer. And I have become a little more active in horn hunting lately allowing deer to walk to the dismay of my friends and family who tell me that they would pay for the processing if I didn’t want to kill one because my freezer has enough. I still let them walk, only this year did I shoot one so my brother in law could have a little bit for his freezer.  Here’s a couple pictures of some I have been hunting including one that I had been after for three years that a lady killed while literally hunting for deer almost in her backyard. 

Unbelievable

 I have been a guide for a few years in the North Georgia region.  I used to often take people out for free and give them a day of instruction all in public water where they learned the basics and ended up before the day was over catching several fish.  But the most unrealistic and unexpected occurrence was during a day of guiding a large group.  Several members of the group were experienced fly fisherman but this one girl had never been fishing in her entire life, she didn’t know anything about casting, presentation nor what was expected from her to land any fish much less a trout that had seen hundreds of flies presented by experienced fishermen turning down their offerings.  After a couple of casual casts and much effort by her guides she landed the most stunning, unbelievable fish that anyone who is an avid fly fisherman would give a left arm to catch. A huge brookie that was a tad off the world record. And her reaction? You’d be wrong if you thought she jumped for joy. She said “who cares” huh lol well all the people who spent lifetimes trying to catch one that’s even close to this beast.  Beginner luck wouldn’t be a good caption for this event. 

Bass man too

 Before I got into trout fishing I was an avid bass fisherman.  I started out fishing for bass and brim in the dozens of little canals that were in the area I grew up in. I regularly caught numerous bass every day in my forays from the canals to the occasional lake.  I actually fished several times at the lake where Jackie Gleason, aka Ralph of the Honeymooner’s show. The golf course was known as “The Inverness” in Pompano Beach Florida.  There were a number of smaller lakes in this area and my first experience was fishing in a crystal clear lake with earthworms catching loads of bass and shell crackers.  Soon I was on to catching 10-12 pound bass in lakes in the area.  I never kept the bigger fish because they were terrible eating. The 1-3 pound ones were fabulous fare. I only kept one big one because I accidentally killed it while trying to get a camera to take a picture. These were the days before GoPro and digital cameras. And a young fella like me wasn’t interested in taking pictures to document the huge fish I was catching. That’s why I accidentally killed the one in the photo.  

Trout Fishing on the Mighty MO

 I spent two weeks in Helena Montana fishing the Missouri River several years ago. It was during the three months I spent fishing all the major rivers and streams of Montana.  I am planning a return expedition in a short time to explore some smaller streams that feed into the river. I’ll post one where I caught several fish. Wolf Creek in a different posting. It took me a couple of days to figure out what these fish were eating. Many times you can use similar flies from one region to another and get similar results. But after going through almost every fly in the 1000’s in my boxes I found a small fly shop that made a few suggestions. These fish are extremely picky and they are under extreme pressure from hundreds of float boats that at times look like a traffic jam on a major highway. I saw dozens of 20-25 inch fish laying in relatively shallow water and when I threw a cast in the direction they darted away 100 yards up the river.  There a a lot of side offshoots along the river that are slow moving water where they lay but any disturbance that isn’t natural causes them to bolt up these channels like a freight train. I eventually landed several decent cut bows and a 20 inch brown.  

One of my favorite fishing friends

 Fishing is all about comradery. But unfortunately gone are the days of laughter until I almost wet myself with the dry humor of one of my favorite fishing friends. Natalie Sharp of Sharper Bites Fly Fishing. We spent a many a day guiding some of her best clients into private water in the north Georgia area. Or just fishing one of our favorite rivers The Toccoa.    She’s thrown in the towel and retired from her many years of providing quality fishing experiences and a wonderful high quality five diamond shore lunch with her special trout spread appetizer.   Age has a way of working on all of us and climbing river banks and tying  100 fly lines and untangling lines from trees and your clothing for unappreciative clients for meager wages finally got her to toss the waders out and spend time with her fat old cat in a rocking chair on her front porch.  She’ll be missed dearly.  Thanks Natalie for all the wonderful memories of days on the river.

 

My second to the youngest grandsons first trout

 My two grandsons used to spend many summers, spring breaks, Christmas holidays and just about every other holiday and several weekends each year fishing a number of creeks and mostly 

The Toccoa River in northern Georgia.  They used spinning casters and occasionally I'd let them try a fly rod though after they totally wrapped up the lines into a tangled mess I would point them back to their spinning casters.  Much of the time they'd get bored with not catching much and soon be doing more swimming and playing than fishing.  Occasionally I would take them to a trout farm and they would spend a couple hundred of my dollars in fishing in those ponds.  Kacen has been trying to get the hang of fly fishing and I took him to a large lake and he would improve his skills catching little panfish.  This summer he finally got the hang of fishing in fast moving water.  It's a whole different story and the needed technical skills differ from all other types of fishing.  After a couple of hours he finally landed a nice little brown.  His excitement and optimism peaked after he landed it.  I was just about as excited about it as he was,  years of taking time to get them out on the water paid off with his ear to ear grin holding his first trout caught with a fly rod.  Great job K-Man!!!

While my home waters are in the North Georgia Mountains I have been fortunately able to fish much of the fabulous places where trout swim in the country.  One of my favorite little streams is one that you can at places almost step from one bank of the stream to the other side without difficulty.  But don't let that make you think that there are no big fish! I've learned that many small streams can hold monsters.  Deeply cut banks give these elusive huge fish places to hide from predators and allow them to hide from prey. Below is a 19+ inch cutthroat trout caught on one such stream in Colorado.  The stream manager who has maintained these pristine waters for over thirty years said that while he knew there were big fish in the waters he'd never seen a cut there nor heard of anyone catching one. Well the proof is in the picture! Since several people who are cutthroat purists have pursued and caught much larger specimens.

Big Fish in public waters

A lot of people think that you cannot catch a large trout in public places.  The idea is that they are all fished out because the local public keeps a lot of them.  True many people keep a lions share of the fish that the DNR stocks.  I would estimate probably between 80-90 percent are removed and end up in the frying pan.  But the fish that remain often grow to sizeable specimens.  I recently hooked up with one of those monsters.  And actually though I have access to some pretty special places that are private my largest fish are still all caught in public places that the general public not only fish in but some of them are so frequented that most would say there are not possibly any fish in that area.  I have several of those places marked in my mind, places that I have named “the horseshoe”, “the drop”, “three seams”.  All places that I have either caught 20+ inch fish and in several of them have seen trout in the 30+ inch range.

Sometimes I just enjoy the opportunity to see someone who hasn’t ever put a line into the cold vibrant streams that are what you have experienced in North Georgia.  Having fished all over the country from the Delaware River in the east to the Mercede in the west I consider the various and numerous streams of this area the finest in the country.  Recently I had the opportunity to introduce a newby to my world.  I had teased my friend by showing multiple pictures and sharing stories of the wondrous days on the water.  I picked a day that I thought would be a great one after watching the birds at my feeders, a method that I have found which indicates by the numbers of different species that show up enmass, tuning the time to when the most were feeding.  After suiting up and getting flies attached we spent the next two hours casting with no success! Wouldn’t you know it! The trout had lockjaw. Several other hardcore people who I’ve noted in the section of a stream that I usually take beginners came by asking if I had a bite! They had been on the water most of the day without even a nibble.  I wish that every time I took a person that I wished to introduce to the sport that we had a fabulous experience, but then it would be catching and not fishing!

It's interesting how many people who have a love trout fishing haven't been able to get into the water for years.   I was walking my daughters dog who is an extremely well marked Aussie that garners a ton of attention whenever people see him.   In one of those forays recently I was stopped by a half-dozen people who wanted to pet him and the topic of fishing came up.   Of course I couldn't avoid lingering and engaging in the discussion and soon was giving details and a report on the fish that I helped my latest clients catch.  Several people instantly asked me if I'd take them to anyplace that they could get back into the water and fish.   The comments were things like "it's been years since I have been able to fish and I love it so much but I don't even know where to go" , "oh please please take me with you the next time you go, I just want to watch because I used to fish all the time and I love it so,  but I haven't tried to do it for years" How does a junkie like me resist the opportunity!  Of course I will take you!   I don't have a rod or equipment! I replied don't worry about it I'll figure out how to get some waders and shoes that fit and we'll all hit the water when it geys right for fishing.   I love to fish but I also love to take others and let them have a wonderful day on the water too!

Guiding clients on upper Toccoa

Getting back on the the list again with my favorite fishing guide Natalie Sharp and guiding some great water this last month was great.   Water level is way down but fish were there to be had.  My client for the day was brand new to the fly fishing experience,  he'd never been before and after a quick casting lesson he was anxious to get on the water.  Natalie had set up several rods in her customary method, unfortunately I don't do well using a strike indicator and in slow water the fish can in my experience can see the indicators and they get lock jaw.  After about 30 minutes of making decent presentations and getting no strikes I recommened that my client try to use my method of fishing without an indicator, fortunately he was up for it and I had already set up my TFO with a fly.   After about 15 minutes of getting used to the new setup he had his first fish on. No not a big fish, just a little guy about 12 inches long.  About a half hour later though he was fighting a 20+ fish and we netted him and he was more excited then a kid in a candy store.   He hooked several big fish during the remaining two hours that were in the 25+ inch range,  but these bigger fish are harder to land.  All in all a great day on the water and my client said that he was coming back and bringing his family members to experience the joys of trout fishing.

I love fishing out west, here’s a picture of a 20+ inch caught on Tarryall Creek in Colorado. What a wonderful day to fish.  It was early April and the willows were starting to put out their buds.  I remember as a youngster gathering the budding stocks and taking them home to put in a vase to display them.  A few weeks later the fluffy ends would disintegrate but they were a beautiful arrangement with a few violets feathered between the stocks.  A wonderful reflection on my sixty third birthday. 🎊🎉🎊🎉🎈🎊🎉🎊🎉🎂🎊🎉🎊🎉🎁🎊🎉🎊🎉

Newbies in fly fishing somehow come to me with some peculiar ideas. Like, that they have to cast a fly 25-30 feet in order to catch fish. I think to many would be trout fishermen have watched "A River Runs Though It" or some fly casting video, where they observed someone making long casts, and hundreds of false casts while standing in a vast tirade of fast running water in a large Western stream.

The scenario, and, idea is almost as notable as the myths and legends of classic greek literature.

Most of the really big fish I have caught were no more then 10-12 feet away.    In fact, the largest brown I have ever landed ( not hooked ) Was laying in a location which I had just jumped over in an area of a small stream that was six to eight inches deep, and only 3-4 feet across. He was laying close to a rock and never moved when I came by,  10 minutes later, After many casts with no bites, I flicked my fly in that direction in a half hearted attempt to be met with a violent explosion!

One of these sorts arrived from parts unknown to me, and asked, how many big trout are we going to catch today?

To which I replied, we will see many 20-30 inch fish, but the catching will be strictly up to you! Follow my instructions lets start with watching how you cast. He then took a rod, I had two prepared, and started showing me how not to do it whipping his whole arm and body into a frenzy while I heard the line pop like a whip behind me.  I showed him a simple roll cast several times and asked him to emulate it. Later that day after he broke off the sixth $5 large Stonefly, I wanted kick him where the sun doesn’t  shine!!  But, I needed a more diplomatic approach of instruction that would help me, help him to catch fish!

My answer to the dilemma was to ask him if he knew where most of the predators which eat trout come from? He said most  likely from above. Right, eagles, Osprey, bears and most other large predators attack sitting trout from above, so then I asked, what do you think happens to the disposition of an animal in extremely clear water that sees all kinds of movement from above?  

He replied I guess they hide or flee. I said, not always, most of the time they hug close to the bottom, and not waste energy and become trap mouthed and ready to bolt if the water above is disturbed. So, if you are flailing your hands arms and a rod in all directions, a trout seeing that, will not take even the best placed fly. It is not interested in eating, but ready to bolt.

It looks pretty, all the false casting, but it is not affective. Even if you could cast 30-40 feet upstream, your presentation will be lacking. Your fly will look unrealistic to picky eaters especially those who have been hooked before, the big ones. Those kinds of casts work best for retrieval of large wooly buggers or a quick float of a surface fly that you will retrieve.

After a stealthy stalk to another pool, where a few real bruisers were hovering a few feet from the surface, he made the short 10-12 foot loop cast I had taught him, and, WHAM! right off a strike by a nice 18-20 inch brown. No, it wasn't one of the big fish in that pool, and the fight spooked everything there, but now I had him thinking right where he needed to be. 

A few pools and an hour later he had a 28 inch bow on, which he landed, later a 20+ inch brook trout. 

I had converted him into a stealth fisherman.

I have fished many a stream from East coast to the West, many a fine bodies of water to include all the major rivers of Montana,  Colorado and Idaho, yet  I still love my favorite spots on the upper Toccoa River in North Georgia.  I’ve caught some fabulous fish in these home waters. A few below.

A day on the water

A few weeks ago while guiding a fellow guides client who was having a bad day fishing asked me. "Why do you pursue these stupid fish?"  I had never been asked that question before! It took me by surprise and I had to think for a moment how to answer.  I said stand here a moment, look, listen, breathe, feel. Look at the trees as they move and sway with the breeze. See the faint reflections of branches as they play like fingers on the water. Listen to the rustle of the breeze, the gurgle of the stream as it cascades over rocks. Smell the different fragrances that float through the air? Feel the cool water as it slaps against the wadders and it wets the hand as you play the line.  Fishing’s a myriad of experiences that have little things to do with chasing the fish.  That’s why I am on the water as often as possible.