Exploring the Natchez Trace Parkway in Choctaw County

Road trips are the best way to discover new areas and to see some things that just might perk your interest. I made one such trip a while back with my brother Bobby to an area off the Natchez Trace Parkway. If some of you haven’t heard of this stretch of highway; then you are missing a famous roadway that runs through Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. The Trace covers 444 miles through these three states. The first travelers on the Trace were European Explorers as far back as 1742. The Trace during that time was known to be a dangerous place to travel with robbery and killings common. Even Meriwether Lewis lost his life while traveling the Trace.

My brother and I spent the better part of the afternoon at the tiny town of French Camp which is one of the many historical sites along the Trace. The little town is located 82 miles south of Tupelo Mississippi. While there we drove through the campus of French Camp Academy, which is actually a Christian Boarding School for trouble children. The School has made a tremendous difference in so many children’s lives over the years. The following projects are some of the astounding accomplishments that the children have completed while attending school.

 This is one of the many dwellings that was moved from old homesteads throughout the area and reconstructed by the students at the school. Every board and log were moved and mark to duplicate the original dwelling. Even the original square head nails were used to complete the dwellings. This house at the entrance of the "Walking Museum" which is really what this is; is the welcome center with a gift shop which was a bedroom in this house and to the right across the hall is another bedroom.                                          

Another view of the welcome center with a walkway constructed by the students, which is leading you to the Cafe

This building is the cafe where they served some of the best bread pudding I have ever eat. The sandwiches were outstanding as well. They also make all their bread in the cafe which is sold in the gift shop. This exact spot was where the Choctaw Indians had their council dwellings. The Choctaws lived in this area.

   Construction of the Colonel James Drane house began in 1846 using a water-powered saw. This man was a prominent citizen back in the early 1800s in the French Camp area. The foundation and framing of the house are secured with wooden pegs and the ceiling with squared nails. Moved to this location in 1981, the house is now owned and operated by the French Camp Academy. This was the finest house in the area during that period. The house is listed on the National Registry of Historic Homes in the United States. The following is a description of the inside---  There were four principal rooms downstairs, two on each side of a large central hallway, faced with huge double doors but open at the back. The fireplaces in the two front rooms had matched mahogany mantels. A curved stairway led from the left rear of the hallway to three bedrooms on the second floor, two large wing rooms with three front windows each, connected by a small hall at the middle front window, opposite which was a small central room with a single-window opening on the back of the house. The house is fully furnished with period furniture.

 Sorry, I don't have a full view but there was so much reflection from the front until I had to settle for the back of Col. Dranes carriage.

The original old French Camp Post Office 1848.  

This old barn was moved from a nearby farm where the barn was the only building that was left. All the logs and boards were assembled using the original wooden pegs and square head nails. All the plows, harness, and gear are in the barn. This was really interesting in that it was assembled to perfection.

This is the shophouse on the early farm. This one building was ever so important to the function of the farm, because of the tools it housed to repair the farm tools. All the period tools are here in this dwelling.

This house was actually moved from an area north of French Camp--it was falling apart before it was rescued by the students at the school. All of the houses are original except the chimneys, they are all new.

I couldn't let this post go by without showing you some of the awesome looking streams that are found on the Trace. My brothers and I fished many of these streams as young boys back in the day. In fact, my brother and I were raised less than five miles from the Trace.

   One of the scenic waterfalls that are found on the Parkway.  Exploring the trace brings back so many memories of when our family lived here.

    

Tight Lining Using Zebra Midge With Trout Food Low??

I must admit that I haven’t had much time to fish the last couple of months with other projects going on. Smith Lake is on its annual drawdown and it want be back to normal until Spring. When the drawdown occurs the fish become dormant and suspend and become less active. The last time I fish the lake was in August and had limited success. The tailrace has become my main target the last couple of months with some success. At the last Trout Unlimited Club meeting there was a discussion about the severe shortage of food in the tailrace. One can turn over rock after rock and see no evidence of the leeches, scuds, mayfly larvae, or even the tiny shrimps that was there a year ago. Our club is going to do some research with the game and fish to see what has happen in the way of the food chain. The last trip I made was a couple of weeks ago and I manage to land a couple of trout that was in good condition considering the limited of food they had to eat.

There was no action at all on top for this day and the only way I could get a take was to use the midge tight lining. I had read an article a while back on this method of fishing and decided to give it a try. This bow was taken using a size 20 Zebra Midge using a tiny weight above the midge. The current was  slow so I was simply high sticking through a small seam that was about 4 to 4 1/2 ft. deep using a 9 ft. 4 wt. The takes were extremely light, so I had to be on my game to get the hit. The only complaint I have with this style of nymphing is the hang ups at times. I found out that if you don't react even at the slightest tug, then you diminish your changes of landing the fish. I tried this same area with the indicator but couldn't get any takes, so that was really what brought on the tight lining method. I am always up for any new method in trout fishing and today I got to try one that proved to be successful.

Notice the midge right in the top of the mouth where it should be. With leaves all over the surface, it made for a mess trying to do anything with the dry. Either a leaf would hang the fly up or the leaves would interfere with the line. One theroy most of the club members agree on as for the lack of food is less generation which creates more moss on all the rocks. I could make this same trip last November and land at least a half dozen trout. Of course the food was there then as opposed to now. Considering the limited amount of time I had today and the shortage of food for the trout I think I did pretty well. Does anyone have any suggestions as to why the food supply has dropped off?

Fantastic Deal on Redington Fly Rods Check This One Out!!

Guys it is good to be back and once again talking fishing with all my buddies. I am finishing up on my Ancestry Book after two years of work, and decided to give each one of my children a copy for Christmas.

I am coming back with what I think is a fantastic deal on a Redington Fly Rod. As some of you know I am fan of the Redington Drift Reel and of course the Redington Fly Rod. I purchased the Redington Trout Classic 5wt. 9 ft. last year for the regular price of 150.00 which at the time was a great price for a fly rod of quality and with a priced far less than the other name brands on the market. I find out this morning while searching for fluorocarbon tippet on the web that this same fly rod is now on clearance for 75.00 with the traveling case included at Cabelas. I did a post a while back on the lightest fly rods on the market and this fly rod beat them all for lightness. Cabelas told me this morning Redington is coming out with a new version of the fly rod and the Trout Classic will be discontinued, with the new version being priced at 170.00. So if you want a quality fly rod at a super price this may be your ticket. I can’t let this one go by without getting the 3 wt. 7 ½ ft.  Since I haven't been posting lately this news may be old to some of you, but here it is for you first time readers.

Hope to be Back Soon on the Blog Circuit

Just letting you guys know I have been really busy trying to finish up on my Ancestry Tree book. I am trying to complete it by end of this year. After I finish, Ancestry will bind it for me into book cover form. I didn’t just do the family tree thing where you see your ancestries listed; I have written and researched articles dealing with the Civil War period and how it effected those who fought in the war; how the individuals lived, where they lived, what the towns look like back in the day and many other segments that were prevalent during the 1600’s, 1800’s and the early 1900’s. This is taking a lot more time than I anticipated, but for me it is one of the most interesting things I have ever attempted. No I am not neglecting my fishing duties; I still have a little time to trout fish the tailrace between the traveling research and typing. So just letting you all know that my blog activity will be very limited from now until the first of next year. I will be checking in from time to time to see what everyone is up to, so don’t forget me!!

Will This Fly Pattern Land Smallmouth & Spots in The Fall

While fishing at the tailrace the other day I meet a guy who told me about this unique Frog Pattern he uses with a 9 ft. 7 wt. We both were leaving the tailrace when he started talking to me about fishing Pickwick Lake in Tennessee in the fall for Samllmouth bass using this swimming frog. Being the always inquisitive fisherman I am I immediately started questioning him about the exact time of the year, water temp, presentation, leader/tippet size and length, depth, retrieve and was he fishing it over structure?  He gave me the name of the website which of all places is located in United Kingdom. I know I like to buy all my fishing tackle in the U. S. but I couldn’t resist seeing what this go getter of a fly look like up close and better yet to see if it would actually produce on Smith in October. Long story short I ordered half dozen last week. I don’t know about you guys but I am always willing to try any new fly pattern that may produce action for me. I will have to wait 16 days for the thing to get to me but I think it will be worth the wait.

This is the FROG I will wait 16 days for---I have a feeling it will produce

Since I am on the subject of FROG I thought I would share a few more with you guys. This frog cost twice as much as the frog from England--4.00

The Dry Ryn by Orvis is more a simplier pattern, I like my frogs jazzed up some

The Boobyfrog is from the Field & Stream blog. It is unique because it is tied with the hook upside down, I may have to try this one too.

The orange belly frog from Riverbum is yet a variation in colors and pattern

This frog is tied by Dusty Abney who tells quite a story involving this frog---great piece!!

 

Spending Time With my Little Fishing Buddy

My wife and I spent last week keeping the Grandchildren and really found out what it was like to have small kids again. Not that I am complaining, my wife and I love our Grandchildren, but numbers of years have passed since our own two children were little. My wife pretty much looked after the baby sister as Bryson calls her while I spend time with him outside. I am sure some of you remember and even experience on a daily basis what a 3-year-old little boy can do in just a day’s time. Since he and his sister were with us for four days I thought it would be a good time to work on Bryson’s casting skills using the spin-cast setup I bought him a few weeks back. This little guy really impressed me with his casting of the little 5 ft. ultralight rig. We would work on it every day for about 5 minutes and then go on and do something else. I didn’t want him getting tired or bored with the learning process so a few minutes worked well for him. He loves the outdoors so I had a few activities planned to start with helping me shampoo the carpet in my boat.

Got to get the nozzle set just right for a light spray on the carpet

Finally got it correct after getting wet himself

Getting all that dried blood, dirt, and grime out of that carpet is a chore, but we both finally managed to complete the job, I must say it looked as good as the day I bought it. This is the 2003 Anniversary Edition of the Bass Tracker, which was the year they started welding the body, no more rivets. I bought this boat used off Craigslist four years ago and have really enjoyed using it on Smith Lake. As most of you know I use my 8 ft. Raider boat on Walker Lake for the big bull bluegills.

I worked in a short half-hour trip to Walker Lake today before the Grandchildren came and landed a couple bass using poppers. I didn't have a lot of time so no boat just standing from the bank. I only fish this lake in the early spring, but today my excuse for revisiting the place was fly line. I was trying out a new line which is another story later on.

Reflecting Back on Some of my Previous Post The Last 3 Years

Writing a blog has afforded me so many opportunities. The first and foremost is conversing with some of the best fly fishermen throughout the United States. The second is the finding, researching, and using some great products on the market for fly fishing; and last being able to record and look back on some of the best fly fishing trips I have ever experienced for bluegills, bass and trout using the fly rod. I thought it would be neat to give my viewers an opportunity to view and read some of my past post from Fishing Through Life over the past 3 years. In fact I will be coming up on my 3 year anniversary next week as a Google Blogger, so what a better way to celebrate it than to reflect back on some my of previous post.

Post 1

I would have to say an April bluegill outing this year had to be one of the best I have ever experienced for super large bluegill.
Post 2
The month of June produced the best trout fishing trip ever for me on our local tailrace. On some outings everything seems to fall in place and this trip proved it.
Post 3
The month of October has to be some of the best times to land quality bass on Smith Lake using the big Poppers.
Post 4
Hot July 2011 with my brother in Mississippi had to be one of my best crappie fishing trips.
Post 5
Discovering some large poppers that will get you some explosive hits—and at the top of my list has to be the Boggle
Post 6
The Tippet Ring has saved me money on leaders and without the help from one of my blog buddies I would have never known about it
Post 7
One of my blogging buddies told me about this amazing fly reel that has proven its worth many times over
Post 8
Finding this fantastic fly rod while searching for the so-called High Sticking fly rod on the net was one of my best finds ever
Post 9
Discovering why it is so important to buy American
Post 10
Finding a fly line that will handle the many big poppers I cast 
Hope you enjoy reading these as much as I enjoyed writing them for you guys.
 

Fishing The Super Light Fly Rods For Trout & Bluegills

If you read my post much you will find that I am really into fishing light fly rods. I am talking fly rods you can use all day and your arm or shoulder doesn’t give out. I thought I would devote this post to some great deals on super lightweight fly rods. I have never fished anything longer than a nine foot, so I will keep it in the 7 to 9 ft. range. Keep in mind that most all the fly rods shown below are over 100.00 bucks. I found out some years ago when I started fly fishing for trout that the lighter the fly rod the more the cost. I never purchase a fly rod without knowing the weight.

The Temple Fork Signature Series is an excellent fly rod for the money and the 8 1/2 ft. weigths in at 3.1 oz. --my son has this fly rod and really likes the lightness. Price--110.00 to 120.00 depending on length---if this rod is purchased through Percy's Flies you get 2 doz. free flies with your purchase

The Pursuit by Redington is an excellent fly rod for the budget minded as is the Temple Fork fly rod above. The 8 1/2 ft Pursuit weights in at 3 oz. Price--119.00

Super nice and extremely light the Redington Trout Classic is one of the lightness fly rods in this price range of 150.00--this fly rod in the 8 1/2 ft is 2.6 oz and the 7 1/2 ft. is 2.3--I have the 9 ft. in the 5wt. which weights in at 2.9 oz.

A fast action fly rod by St. Croix the Imperial in the 8 1/2 ft. 4 wt. weights in at 2.5--the 9 ft. 5 wt. weights in at 2.8 oz. Price 200.00 for the 4wt. and 180.00 for the 2.8 oz---If you purchase this fly rod at Percy's Flies you get 10 dozen free flies with your purchase of this Imperial Fly rod.

This medium action Greys XF2 Streamflex in the 9' 2 3/4" length 3 wt ----weights in at 3.1 oz.--this rod actually feels lighter than the 3.1--it is quite possibility the lightness fly rod I have ever used in the 9 ft. + length---a dream to cast---worth every cent of the 289.00 price

This is the Orvis Superfine Touch fly rod which weights in at 2 3/8 oz. in the 9 ft 4wt series. This is an exceptional fly rod and the reason I know this is a friend of my has this series and it is unbelievable to cast--Feather Craft is selling this fly rod with any trade-in of any old fly rod you own for 380.00--It sells everywhere on the web for 475.00--



This is the Hardy Lightweight Classic which weights in at 1.35 oz for the 7 ft. 3 wt. --the 8 1/2 ft. weights in at 2.4 oz--Price 7 ft. --395.00---8 1/2 ft. --425.00 --the price gets higher as you get lighter





And Last, the "Orvis Helios Ion" -----this is a chunk of money to spend on a fly rod but if you are going super light then the 8.4 ft. 3 wt weights in at 2 oz. and if that isn't light enough for you try the 7 ft. 3wt which weights in at 1.2 oz. the price for either is 795.00---I didn't find anything fly rod lighter than this series anywhere on the net. I don't think I will purchasing this brand anytime soon but I just wanted to share with you guys the varied weights of some of these classics fly rods. Thanks for viewing!!

Fishing The Spent Mayfly in Late Summer For Rainbow

Today was my chance to fish with the Spent Mayfly on the upper portion of the tailrace. I was planning on fishing below the pump station in hopes of landing the bigger rainbow, but repairs were being made on the access point in that area so I stayed in the faster water above the pump station. I started at the first access point where I found two other guys fishing above me and I thought I should just move on, but something told me to stay and give the Mayfly a try here.  As usual no rises at all; but I was still determined to fish the dry for a while. After a few cast I had my first rainbow of the morning. I continued working the same area for a couple of hours, which was all the time I had to fish.  There were numbers of fishermen in front of me working the other spots up the tailrace so I decided not to move.  This place gets a tremendous amount of pressure so one has to be on his game to even land a trout, in any of the areas that hold fish. In other words these are highly educated trout. 

This guy was fishing too in the early fog, right after I got this shot off he/she flew on  to tap into another hole 

The Mayfly right where the hook set was suppose to be top lip---this one was really a lot fun on the 7  1/2 ft. 3wt Temple Fork--

The base of the dam is over a 1/4 mile wide----need a dam this size to hold back the amount of water on the other side

Two generators control the amount of water being released at any give time of day--the water here at the dam and 1/4 mile below is between 56 to 58 degrees--notice the white PVC tube, that is the tube used to dump the 3000 trout a month into the area below.

Landed this bow on the famous Zebra Midge. I always have one handy when I am fishing here.

The Spent Mayfly, is just a little variation from the original Mayfly, I like this pattern much better because of the amont of hackle, which in turns helps the fly to stay afloat longer. I was kind of proud of myself today after talking with four other guys who said they didn't land a single trout.  I would like to think my success today was from my own ability, and not from just being at the right place at the right time.  With all the speculation aside I still had a great morning fishing a place I am slowly getting accustomed to.

Missing my Goal to Land 100 Super Size Bream

Sorry to say I missed my quest again this year to land 100 supersize bluegills during the spawning period. I ended the quest at 78. I thought I would make it this year but there were other fishermen going after the gills especially when they went on the beds. I landed the majority of my big bluegills really early before they ever went on the beds. I found during the months of March and early April the bigger bluegills are cursing the banks to select areas they are going to fan out for beds. This is a prime time to catch them because no one else is actually fishing for bluegills during this time. Once they go on the beds you better get there early or else you lose out on the best size fish. Walker County Lake is the one place I landed some monsters this past year early. I did catch some counters on Smith, but the really bigger bluegills are going to be in lakes that are managed properly to grow that size fish, and Walker is really blessed with the big fish. So I would say I was lucky to have landed the 78 I brought to hand and I am going to look forward to next year’s quest.

What Would be Your Top Five Fly Patterns to Use Nationwide

After Tuesday’s outing, I was wondering on the way home; what would be the top five flies that most trout fishermen would pick to fish anywhere in the United States, regardless of the hatch? My top five would be  a mixture starting with: 

My number one choice for going down under would have to be the tungsten bead head Zebra Midge in sizes 18 and smaller.

The Pheasant Tail is my second choice in size 14 and 16, again tungsten bead head

My third fly would have to be the Griffiths Gnat, this little jewel works for me when nothing else is happening on top---size 18 and smaller

 The famous Mayfly in size 14 and 16 is an awesome dry for me on the Caney Fork in Tennessee and has also produced on the Sipsey tailrace

My last is another awesome dry pattern called the Bomber. This fly resembles the Parachute Adams, but has more hackle and stays afloat longer. This fly is tied by Alan at Small Stream Reflections, he has landed lots of brook trout with this one pattern.