President Carter a Fly Fisherman??

Cathey and I and our good friends Clyde and Gloria decided to make a trip to Plains Georgia this past weekend to attend Jimmy Carter’s Sunday school class. He usually conducts a class a few times a month at his small church just off the main highway going through Plains. He is still a very active former President at age 90.

This picture was taken just outside the church right after the service was concluded. There was quite a line of individuals waiting to have their picture taken with Mr. Jimmy as some call him there in Plains. It's not everyday one gets to shake the hand of a former President. We all felt really honored to be in his presence.

Maranatha Baptist Church is packed on Sundays when the former President is in attendance.

The family home where Mr. Jimmy spent his early years

Air condition in the winter and plenty of heat in the summer

Chicken House

Family store ran by Mr. Jimmy’s father

 

Main Street of Plains with all the stores restored to their original state. President Carter helped restore all the buildings with generous donations over the years.

One of the many freestone streams located in the mountains of Ellijay Georgia where the former President and his wife own a cabin. He still fly fishes in the area and he stills ties his own flies. I asked to see some of his flies in one of the stores we visited but I was told by the individual behind the counter that all his flies are auctioned off and not on display. Most of his flies go at auction for as much as 200.00 or more and all the money goes to the needy in the community of Plains.

 

Mr. Jimmy is also an accomplished woodworker, in fact, he has built a lot of the furniture that is in their modest ranch-style home in Plains.  He and Rosalynn are still active in Habitat for Humanity, which helps individuals in need of shelter because of natural disasters.

I will end this post by saying after meeting the former President, I feel there is still hope for all of use older guys who feel we may be over the hill; at 90 this man is truly remarkable!!!

Fishing with my Mico- Light Spinning Rod to Land Catfish!!

For those of you who haven’t try fishing a microlight spinning rod then you are missing out on some fantastic ultra-light action. I have been using these type of rods for years, when I use them to land crappie and bluegill some ten years ago. Of course, that was before I started using the fly rod, which all you know has taken precedence over all my other reels and rods.

I have to admit there are times though that I stray away from the fly rod, and this past week was one of those times. I decided to use my microlight spinning rods to go after some of the channel and blue catfish on Smith my home lake. Fishing the rock walls during the late summer and into the fall can be an excellent time to land some quality catfish. The catfish on Smith tend to feed early and late in the evening, so my trip this past week was a daylight outing fishing nothing but the rock walls tight-lining at depths of 20 to 30 feet down.

Find a rock wall like the one in the above image and most of the time you find catfish, especially if the wall has an overhanging muscadine vine near it, the catfish devour those when they are in season.

A healthy channel cat using my 7 ½ ft. microlight.

My 7 ½ ft. microlight spinning rod paired with the Pflueger President XT spinning reel which spools 4 to 6 lb. test line. Today I was using my 6 lb. test extra spool which came with the reel. The balance on this combo parallels the balance I go for on my fly rod combos, super light, and sensitive.

Gulp catfish chunks split into and served up on a size 12 true turn hook; I know most everyone fishes for catfish using heavier equipment, but I prefer the challenge and fight that this fish will give one using an inferior combo and in this case the microlight works to perfection for me. In fact, it is the closest I can get to my fly rod on trips like today.

Every once in awhile a spot will nail the gulp chunk which is another challenge for the microlight that it passes. I ended the morning with 5 catfish all basically the same size as my post image and the one spot. The spot got its freedom, but the catfish were not so lucky. My wife and I seldom eat fried meals, but we make an exception when it comes to fresh catfish fillets.

The Bluegill Spawn is Over For This Year

Well another spawning bluegill fishing season has come and gone without me reaching my quest of landing fifty super size bluegill during the spawn. I can be somewhat content knowing I landed some nice bull gills this year that gave my 3 and 4 weight fly rods quite a workout.

This season added a few more poppers, as if I needed more flies, to my collection including the Barr Nunn popper. This was the popper that proved that color really makes a difference at times during the spawn. I will be back in action for another season next year, and hopefully reach my goal. I ended this season 23 short of my goal.   

This colorful Pumpkinseed sunfish was one of the last gills I brought to hand for this season----looking forward to next spring!!

 

 

When are Enough Flies and Poppers Enough??

I have found that fly fisherman who fish for all species of fish, regardless of warm water or coldwater have an abundance of flies in their fly boxes. If you are not one of these individuals then I would consider you in the minority. All my fly fishing buddies including me have enough flies and poppers to last season after season. So the question is why do need so many poppers and flies, and of course the answer is to land lots of fish.

I realize that if one is fishing for trout, the hatch comes into play a lot of times which dictates a certain size and style pattern that matches the hatch. Trout fishermen have to be a bit more creative with the fly pattern and of course the presentation to get a take. Assuming no hatch is visible and your buddy is slaying the trout with this tiny little nymph or dry he has perfected, and you are struggling to land even one trout, hence a few more patterns to add to the fly box. 

Fly fishing for warm water species such as bluegill, bass and even crappie usually requires some poppers and nymphs and that is all one needs to have success especially during the spawn. There are times and they are rare for me when certain color poppers will attract a hit better than the popper my buddy is using, but most of time any type popper will trigger a hit.

So my point is, could we as fly fishermen have success on our favorite stream or lake using what you would consider your top six dries and top six nymphs on any given outing? The same question could apply for the warm water species as well, could a few poppers and nymphs land you an abundance of bluegills and bass.

So here are my top dries, nymphs, poppers and warm water nymphs for a season, what is your top pick?

My top six dries for a season, how could any trout fisherman be without the Adams and of course Alan’sBomber

My top six nymphs including  David’s Knapp’s Seal Leech and of course the famous Zebra Midge

Poppers and terrestrials are among my top six warm water flies. These six flies should get hits when fishing for bluegill or even bass anywhere in the U.S.

My top six warm water nymphs has to include my favorite the Gant in black and yellow.

 

I truly believe I could fish a season or more with these flies and poppers I have feature here; but am I willing to get up all my flies and poppers I have in my boxes yet------NO!!