Hi Folks,

For a number of years I have corresponded
and swapped flies with James Smith, a FAOLer
from Atlanta. This week, Jim came up and
spent several days with me chasing red ears
on the Santee Cooper Lakes. The anticipated
red ear sunfish bonanaza never materialized
this year. Many folks who come from out of
state for this annual event were mystified
by the lack of fish. The water temps have
been up and down like a yo-yo and the fish
were not showing up in the sizes and numbers
we've seen in previous years. That said, we
had a ball with the bluegills and Thursday
I'm sure we caught over 100 each. Grey
hex's were coming off in large numbers and
at times the water looked as if it were
boiling with the fish activity. It was a
hoot for sure.

It was a treat for me to finally meet Jim
and we swapped stories from early each
morning until well after Jay Leno signed
off in the evening. He brought me the
neatest dubbing block I've ever seen that
he hand crafted as a gift. I love it. I
hope he'll consider doing a "how to" for
FAOL on it as it would make a great project
for a lot of tiers.

I'd just like to say, if you get a chance
to meet and fish with this fine gentleman,
don't miss the opportunity. And if you
see his name on a fly swap, you can count
on a fly a notch above the rest. Jim's on
the way back to Atlanta as I type this but
I'm already eagerly anticipating the next
time we can get together.*G* Warm regards,
Jim