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We'll it wasn't quite a summer vacation, it was more like a
fall vacation. I live in the upper northwest corner of Alabama,
yea, yea I know...some people consider this place to be the
armpit of the world. Anatomically speaking it's actually a
few body parts south of that location, but for this purpose,
armpit will do just fine. I hang around a small outdoor
outfitters shop called Alabama Outdoors. And yes, believe it
or not they are an Orvis dealer and have a flyshop.
They
sponsered an outting to North Carolina to fish the Nantahala
River. I scraped up enough bucks to tag along, and boy am I
glad I did. Awesome scenery in the Smokey Mountains right out
of the magazines. The 7 mile stretch we fished wasn't as wide
as a two lane street, but it wound gently through the mountains
with deep runs, plunge pools, waterfalls and riffles. Can you
say commune with nature? The fishing was tough and the trout
were very picky about what they were taking. A total of 8 people
made the trip and most caught fish, but not without alot of work..
Me? If I caught all the fish I missed I would have had at least
20 or so, but noooooo.. I finally managed to fool a beautiful
brookie with a size 22 blue wing olive.. a good fight on my 3
weight.
We side tracked to the Tuckaseegee river. It was deep, swift,
wide and had big rocks set at ankle breaking angles. The fish
weren't taking anything we offered and I was humbled mightely
by busting my big uhmmmm butt.One wrong step and down I went
bruising a shin in the process. One side got drenched up to
the shoulder and I had a nice trickle of cold water making
south for unmentionable areas. I did manage to catch about a
half dozen chubs on a size 18 soft hackle. One night our fishing
pro cooked a big pot of red beans and rice and there was guitar
picking and dutch oven peach strawberry cobbler. Great food
after a hard day of fishing.
The trip wasn't really about fishing,
it was more about getting away, and being with great people in
one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Good friends,
good food and good beer, it doesn't get better than that.
And that, sports fans is what I did on my Summer/Fall vacation.
Your Most Humble Servant,
~ Bubba Elwood Gump Esq.
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