Turning right at the intersection my buddy quickly pointed to the curb on the right, "Right there! Jump up right there and park in the grass!" I obeyed, leaving my turn signal on and slowing down as two different people behind me made use of their horns. I waved apologetically to them in the rear-view mirror, knowing they could not possibly understand why I was suddenly slowing down to jump the curb in this particular spot.

I got permission earlier this year to fish a new pond; at least it was new to me. Unfortunately it has been way to wet to be able to get into it. Finally I heard that it had dried up enough to get into it on one of the "roads" that goes to it, so I put the canoe on the rack and "all" of my stuff in the truck and headed off.

When I got to the pond and realized that I left two things at home. One was the camera which I left sitting on the table, and the other was the Assault paddle that makes it easy to move the canoe a short distance. It was too far to go back and get them so I had to make the best of it.

Now we will delve into the variety of Saltwater Gamefish found in the Sebastian area; this would include Sebastian Inlet, the Indian River and the St Sebastian River. There are simply a lot of gamefish for the saltwater fly angler to catch and from my perspective this abundance and variety is the perfect setting for the saltwater angler to learn the area and to become familiar and comfortable with saltwater fly fishing. If the angler is new to the sport they can find that a day on the water can be filled with many different experiences to be enjoyed besides the catching of the fish.

As I mentioned at the very end of the previous chapter, the most important key to be successful at the Lower Slough Creek is to spot and observe trout (on top of possessing right flies and proper skills and understanding hatches). The character of flows is one of a kind: it's so slow that trout can cruise anywhere to feed, even during hatch periods. Consequently they can rise to top from any directions unlike typical trout in typical streams that usually face and feed at the upstream direction. But it's still a flow that is very enough to cause drag on our leaders and flies. That's why I tell people "Lower Slough is the toughest public spring creek in the world!!"

The Chernobyl Ant is one of those unique patterns which come along once every so often ,which, being designed for a particular species, demonstrates an ability to catch fish far beyond the intent of their creator.

The Chernobyl Ant is one such pattern. While it was originally designed for Cutthroat Trout in the West, it has demonstrated an ability to catch many other species in both warm, and cold water, all over this and other countries.

The opening of Virginia's trout season in April of 1978 was much on everyone's mind but especially our oldest son. He was really looking forward to trout fishing with his grand dad and two uncles as we anticipated the trek to southwest Virginia for the traditional opening day of the season. Our youngest son could care less about catching trout so he was always a reluctant participant in the annual pilgrimage.

As usual, we would be spending the whole week in Wise County. However, we would probably do most of our fishing in Lee County which is the furthest you could go westward in the entire Commonwealth of Virginia.

In 1653 Izaak Walton published the first edition of his book, The Compleat Angler. This single edition, reprinted many times since that original edition and still available today, started a cavalcade of books on angling that continues until the present. While predated by Dame Juliana Berners book in 1496, The Book of St. Albans, which contained, among other things, a description of what would become the sport of fly fishing. Her "jury" of 12 flies formed the bases for the fly patterns that would be developed in the coming centuries.