Valentine Day Brookies

Went for a half day fly fishing trip on valentines day with a long time friend I hadn't talked to in a while. But, I quickly learned he got into fly fishing and has the bug like me. Us two and his cousin-in-law took off about an hour before daylight. He had a nice stream picked out up in McDowell County we had never fished.

I didn't have any luck until after a short rain and then the sun popped out, after that it was on like stink on a monkey. I managed to hook 5 and landed 2 beautiful brookies. One on a BWO dry and the rest pheasant tail nymphs. The highlight was obviously the BWO. I missed him on the first two tries so I sat down, had a snack and watched him ravage everthing in his feeding lane until I couldn't wait any longer. A quick, perfect cast and BAM, he was on. He was probably near peak size for this stream at about 7 inches. I wish I had a picture but I didn't take the camera.

I'll hit this stream again no doubt, hard to find good brookie close to where I live in the foothills of NC.

Of course then I had to get back and tend to my real valentine......mushy...mushy. I only put this in hear knowing she'll catch on that I'm bloggin now and will read my posts.

2/20/09 coonhunt

My most recent coondoggin trip was this past Friday. I had an ole college buddy make the drive across the mountain to catch up and do some late night huntin'. The weather was perfect...minus the annoying high winds. The wind made it very difficult to hear the dogs and keep up with the direction they traveled. This little english female can flat burn up a track. She went about 3/4 of a mile and ended up treed on Upper Creek in about 20 minutes. I aint lying...I promise. I've hunted hundreds of hounds and walked hundreds of miles and she is the quickest I've ever had the pleasure to follow. They put up two coons in one tree and my buddy got to take one. We had a blast and she even managed to keep us off the mountain! No rough walking...which is always a bonus.

Coondoggin

Well, I pretty much got out of coonhunting about 2 years ago after the birth of my first child. Just not enough time and it takes a great deal of time away as it's a night sport. But, my grandfather has purchased an absolute top notch hound that makes quick work of these long running mountain coons. Since he bought her (& a younger female in training) we have had some awesome nights. It's been many, many years and many, many dogs since I've seen one of this caliber. Here are a few pics of our recent trips. Man, it sure is great hunting these hills...even though they can be tough on the legs!