Snowed in with My Daughter and Grandson

We seldom ever get this kind of snowfall in the south, but this one is an exception. I am in Spring Hill Tennessee with my daughter and grandson Bryson. My son-in-law B.T. had to go on a business trip for the week. My daughter wanted some company and didn't want to stay by herself so I volunteered to keep them company for the week. I thought I would share some of the pictures we took this morning. We got around 6" here and places south of us got as much as 13" unreal for the deep south.

The creek behind My Sons-in-law and Daughter's House

Park behind the house

The Auburn Flay flying proudly

Bryson more interested in the snow, not the picture taking

Not happy in Mama's arms, would rather be in the snow

Suitable for Framing

My best buddy

Question About Line Weight

 Thought I would start the New Year off by putting a question out there for all you guys. What is your opinion on using a larger weight line with a smaller weight rod? I know some of you probably have apply this concept to your fishing arsenal, and some of you stick with the given rule of using the same weight light with the same weight rod. I also know there are advantages and disadvantages in going this route, with the line and the rod. So I am curious to know what your opinion is on this particular set-up. Thinking about, planning, and chopping at the bits to get back out on the water.

My 10 Most Burning Things I Need To Accomplish

Today I thought I would give you a look at my 10 most burning things to accomplish before I take to the rocking chair. Everyone has things they would like to accomplish during the day, month, and year or in their lifetime. This list for me will be a work in progress over the rest of my active life. So here we go with number 1----------------

Continue to exercise in the gym and watch what I eat

Continue to work on being a better trout fisherman

Focus on using the fly rod more in my fishing expeditions—I wish I had done this when I was younger

Schedule time for my wife and me to travel and to work in some trout fishing trips when she retires

Continue to stay Tech Savvy, which helpfully will help me keep my senses

Strive to be a good husband and father to my kids who are grown and to my beautiful wife of 35 years

Beat my record Kentucky Spot catch of 3 1/2lb and to land a monster brown on the Caney Fork

Continue to enjoy my time being retired, and not lose focus on what retirement really means A MORE RELAXED LIFESTYLE.

Be around long enough to teach my Grandchildren the joys of fishing and the outdoors!! 

Continue to be blessed with good health and enjoy family and friends--We all need to remember we are just visiting this place here; a greater land awaits us all one day!! 

I don't think that this is a list that I will have trouble accomplishing. In fact, this is something I know I will enjoy working on. Anyone else out there care to share their short or long term goals?

Working on That Word Called "Patience"

One of the great things I have learned about fly fishing is Patience. One develops this over time and it is not something you accomplish on your first fishing trip. I know I have been on the water many times and decided the hole I was fishing was not very productive or simply void of fish and I would move on. To my surprise a few minutes later another fisherman would start fishing right behind me and land fish. Patience plays a big role in that situation, because if I had taken the time to change flies, vary my presentation, make more cast and cover the area thoroughly then I might have been the one landing the fish. I found out from the outset of trout fishing that it was a far cry from warm water angling. Patience is not as prevalent there because most of the time you will pick up a small bluegill without even trying, not so with the trout fishing. The factors that determine a successful outing on the river are flying around you or hiding under those rocks you are stepping on; not to mention the size, color, and fly pattern. This is where the word “patience” comes into play. I am still working on this word not only in my fishing endeavors but in everyday life experiences. I have found out it can pay huge dividends and at the same time can be your worst enemy. This is something I work on all the time, how about you does this word give you problems? This is my last post before Christmas Day, so I would like to wish all of you a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

The Western Movie Another Passion of Mine

 I just got through watching for the second time: one of the greatest westerns ever made in my opinion. “Dances with Wolves” The weather wouldn't permit me to get out on the water today, so I opt for another one of my pastime--Western Movies----I know this has nothing to do with fishing, but just as fishing is one of my pastimes so is Western Movies.  If you guys have read my profile you will discover that I am an avid Western Movie fan. I guess I have seen hundreds in my lifetime. Not all were great, but most meet my expectations of being authentic. I guess that is why I am into the western theme. It gives one the chance to look back when life was being tuff, enduring hardships, and coping with danger. Not all western movies depict how life really was during that era. An example was the ladies in the saloons. They were not dressed to the tilt and look like they just came off the runway. According to a lot of the books describing the saloon ladies they were anything but that. A lot of pictures showed them to be rugged looking. So the high dollar sporting girl the cowboy got usually turned out to be a low dollar. I like movies that are realistic and the western movie really depicts that theme. My top ten westerns of all time are-------

Dances with Wolves

Lonesome Dove

Shane

Unforgiven

The Shootist

The Outlaw Josey Wales

True Grit

Once Upon Time in the West

Open Range

The Searchers

Any of you bloggers into Western Movies if so, what are some of your favorites?

Different Set-up for the Hopper/Dropper

 I am sure a lot of you have fished the hopper dropper rig. I have use a dry and a smaller nymph as my dropper quite often.  I have also used dries as large as # 10 to fish a larger nymph as the dropper. I recently came across a video clip showing another way to rig the hopper dropper rig, by letting you adjust your dry fly along your leader, just like you would adjust your indicator. I think this clip is an excellent demonstration on how to rig an adjustable dry serving as an indicator. I am going to give this method a try on the Caney in the spring. I like the big dry fly concept because you are not only getting the benefit of the indicator as a fish catching tool, but you are putting a simulator out there for the trout too. Take a look and see what you think. If any of you have a more detail method showing how this set-up is rigged; please share.  Hopper/Dropper Demo Clip

Sharing Unique Websites

 During the winter months I must admit I kind of become a hermit. So one of the most logical things for me to do is watch good westerns, blog, gym, and read and watch anything about fishing. I use a lot of links from the computer to keep me abreast of what is going on as far as products, equipment, new fishing holes, and anything else that has to do with fishing, especially fly fishing. I thought today I would share some of my favorite outdoor websites I use. As most of you know I don’t tie my own flies, it is not because I am not interested in learning it is the time factor. So I like to order my flies from the cheapest places I can find on the net. Some of you might say you get what you pay for; well I have ordered from both of these places and found that the quality is top notch. They used there own in house tiers, and I like to support small businesses to help the country grow. In fact all the websites I used are considered small business. Flydeals is the cheapest place I have found to order flies, .43 for wet and  .53 for dries. I order by the dozen and I use a lot of files. Percy’s Flies is another good place to buy cheap flies at .54 a fly. The unique thing about this company is the fly rod sales. If you order a fly rod from them you get dozens of free flies. I recently ordered two Temple Fork rods from them as Christmas presents and I got 4 dozens free flies with my order. The higher the price on the fly rod the more flies you get for free. Have you price flies lately? They also carry the Redington Drift Ultra light fly reel. I think it is one of the best ultra light fly reels I have ever used. They are extremely light and balance 2/3 wt fly rods really well. I receive 3 dozen free flies when I ordered this ree: again these are top quality flies. Being on a fix income I am always looking for bargains, most of the time they can be found on the net especially if it deals with fishing and hunting. It just gets my goat if I find out that I have paid too much for a particular item when I could have done a little research and got it cheaper. Cheaper doesn’t mean you are getting a bargain store special, and you know who I am talking about, but it just means you need to dig a little deeper to find that bargain. An example, Bass Pro had the same Temple Fork rods I order for 40.00 more, so I found them at Percy’s for 100.00 plus shipping and got free flies with them. Another site I like is Troutlet; this site has some of the best deals on rods I have found. There Daiwa Spinmatic C spinning rods are the best I have found to fish ultra light. They come in 7, 71/2 and 8 ft. lengths. All of these rods are priced under 45.00 bucks. They are much better than the big store rods which are 60.00 to 65.00 bucks. i have two of these rods I used for crappie. I have ordered lots of fly fishing accessories from this site that are top quality. The last site I really like is the Mudhole. I don’t know about you but I want all my fishing equipment to look good. This place can spruce up your fishing rods to the point of making your handles into an inlay design. I am working on changing one of my handles on one of my spinning rods to an inlay design. When I finish it I will be doing a post on its handle design. I have ordered different colored rods butts from this site to match the guides or to match the color of the rod I am using. The flies on this site are over priced. Bottom line is this site is the best I have found to order accessories for adding detail to fishing equipment. I know when I visit a blog I very seldom check out the website links. I am more interested in the blog post. So this is why I am putting these sites out there for all of you to check out. What are some of your unique sites you use from time to time? I can always use more more bargain sites.