River North with Mike Burns, Taylor Allen, Guide Ron and Owner Eddie Michael.
Where should I begin? Let's start with my a trip to River North on the Soque River about three weeks ago. I went with young Taylor Allen and his mentor Mike Burns of Wells Fargo Financial Advisors - both of Athens. Taylor loves to hunt and fish, but had never caught a trout before. Let me tell you that anywhere on the Soque is a good place to get into your first trout... or any number trout for that matter. Well, Taylor did exactly that by landing his first and it was a doozie! It went about 20 inches and he caught it on the fly. Nice job, Taylor!
The first fish that Taylor hooked ended up getting the best of him... but it was a very large fish and Taylor wasn't used to playing such a big fish on such light tippet. While the fish was flipping its lid, Taylor put the death grip on his fly line and that was all she wrote.The next fish hit and Taylor, with the help of our great guide for the day, Ron, was ready this time. He let the fish run when it wanted to and put the rod to it and reeled when he could and eventually won the tug-of-war.
He and Mike got together and shared yet another photo of Mike and one of Taylor's firsts. Good memories for everyone.Mike has helped Taylor get his first deer, turkey, trout and who knows what else. It's mentoring like this that needs to happen more often. Kids don't know anything about the outdoors now and nothing will change unless those of us who know how much fun the outdoors offer get out there and show kids first-hand why being on the water, in the field or in the woods are so much more adventurous than sitting on the couch with a controller in their hands. Hats off to Mike.
And of course, a big thanks to our host for the day and one funny guy, Eddie "Don't Call Me Michaels" Michael. Learn more about his awesome place at RiverNorthFlyFishing.com.
I Like My Fishies Just a Little on the Trashy Side
After a couple of trips chasing carp on the fly rod, I had it in my head that this could possibly be the pickiest fish on the planet. A June 13th trip with friend, FFF Certified Master Casting Instructor and great Georgia guide Rex Gudgel and his fishing-addict-of-a-friend Buck Ernst basically just reinforced those notions. But... BUT... we did catch a few on the fly rod and it was a BLAST!We hopped in Rex's flats skiff early that Saturday morning and launched it from a ramp on the Savannah River just downstream of the Hartwell Dam. A couple of hours later found us being poled around by Rex in water about a foot deep in seach of the wary, wiley carp. If you've ever been bonefishing or redfishing, this is EXACTLY the same experience... just a heck of a lot cheaper and a heck of a lot LESS CROWDED! I mean, what crazy person would want to waste their time fishing for a nasty ol' carp? Well... I guess Rex, Buck and I would.
We spotted some fish sucking food off the surface of the river and Buck capitalized on an opportunity to hook one of them while they were in that mode. A few minutes later and he had boated a 4-5 pound carp. "Wait 'til we get into a big one," Buck said. That's what I'm talking about.Buck handed me the rod and directed me to the front of the boat. Minutes later a GIANT carp came up from the main river channel and onto the flat. My first cast to him went about 15 feet TOO FAR and my fly line went right over his head. As soon as he had showed up. so he went back below. That one would haunt me for a while. Who am I kidding? It's still haunting me right now!
Anyhow, I ended up landing a carp about an hour later and it was great. It was about the same size as Buck's and, let me tell you, these fish know how to fight! (WARNING: White trash grip-n-grin approaching!)
It was great to finally land my first carp. Now my only problem is finding time to go after them again.
