FAOL on the Nantahala River, NC - Thanksgiving 1999
By Susan Cox
What a way to kick off the holidays with a gathering
of FAOL from the south. North Georgia Trout Online
(NGTO) were also in attendance.
Left to right: Tangled Angler, slicfoot, Tropic, Lady Jane, Grizzly Hackle and
Eric.
The weather was awful! Driving from South Carolina to
Georgia to meet Terry Crosier (Tangled Angler) who was
driving up from Florida proved to be a little
depressing. I was sick with a cold and keeping my
fingers crossed that it didn't develop into the flu.
I had to meet Dave Ulmer (Slic) and Peter Gorinski
(Tropic from Costa Rica) and Eric (Eric). This was a do or die trip.
Thank goodness for understanding husbands. Although
on the way over he let me know that he'd rather take
me to meet my fishing buddies than drag him to the
mall, kind of his trade off for not going to fight the
crowds.
After repacking Terry's car in the parking lot of
McDonald's in Clayton to fit my stuff in (and boy was
that an undertaking!) we drove the last hour to the
river. The rain poured down, not a mist, not a drop
here or there, it poured! We took the "scenic route"
which I had discovered a few weeks earlier. This
meant a narrow, winding, twisting road over several
mountains. Well, it was scenic.. We arrived at the
campground to find Jeff Field's (Grizz) pop up parked
and two other people crazy enought to be in the 40
degree rain setting up camp. Jeff was no where to be
seen. Terry and I walked over to the other campers and
introduced ourselves. They were from NGTO, (North
Georgia Trout Organization) Joe Carnahan (HoochRat)
and his friend. After a very short discussion about the
obvious weather we started setting up camp. Tents up,
wet and cold...the sun decided to show up. Well, better
late than never.
Jeff and Peter returned about the same time. Jeff,
Peter and Terry gathered their gear and headed to the
river. I hit the sleeping bag, hoping for warmth and
praying that it wasn't the flu. After a nap and
filling a million times better I went about
introducing myself to the NGTO's that had arrived.
Then came Dave Ulmer (Slic) looking for the redneck
girl. We were up to 18 people! Terry grilled chicken
for everyone that night. Everyone gathered around the
community fire and got aquainted and told the typical
lies. What a turnout this was!
Early the next morning..the rooster (in the form of
Owl from NGTO) crowed. It had gotten down to 28
degrees during the night. Owl couldn't sleep with no
heat so nobody else was going to either. As soon as I
knew the fire was roaring I scratched out and went in
pursuit of Owl. I thought Owl stew for lunch kind of
sounded good. He'd already left to go fishing.
Mike (Boxcar) rolled in after a harrowing trek across
the mountain in the fog. But he was here, and we were
glad to see him. Mike and Grizz left to go fishing.
I waited for Slic and Tropic to take me to breakfast.
We found a place for Tropic to get his American
breakfast...eggs, biscuits, ham, and grits. We
finally made it to the river about noon. But the
trout didn't seem to mind. We all caught fish and
enjoyed the rather pleasant weather.
Joe Carnahan (HoochRat) from NGTO fed the crowd on
Saturday night. Listening to his swamp stories and
eating his beans, sausage, and rice was the highlight
of Saturday night. Again, we sat around the campfire
telling stories about the big ones that always seemed
to get away.
Sunday morning Eric and Kelly arrived from Florida.
Grizz once again snatched him away and took him to the
river. I waited for Slic and Tropic to take me to
breakfast. Tropic had to have his American breakfast.
We made it to the river by 12 this time. The trout
were not biting like they had the day before but still
we caught fish and enjoyed each other's company.
Eric caught his first trout. I met Tropic, Slic and
Eric and the NGTO guys. Grizz still holds the record
for snoring, although Owl nearly put him to shame.
Tropic got his American breakfast. Terry got to take
pictures of some of one of the most beautiful rivers
in NC. Boxcar got to fish "my river" and Slic got to
meet a real red neck girl. Putting faces with the
names, meeting new people and renewing old
friendships...all a part of the fly fishing
fraternity.~ Susan Cox (aka Lady Jane)
Jeff and Peter returned about the same time. Jeff,
Peter and Terry gathered their gear and headed to the
river. I hit the sleeping bag, hoping for warmth and
praying that it wasn't the flu. After a nap and
filling a million times better I went about
introducing myself to the NGTO's that had arrived.
Then came Dave Ulmer (Slic) looking for the redneck
girl. We were up to 18 people! Terry grilled chicken
for everyone that night. Everyone gathered around the
community fire and got aquainted and told the typical
lies. What a turnout this was!
Joe Carnahan (HoochRat) from NGTO fed the crowd on
Saturday night. Listening to his swamp stories and
eating his beans, sausage, and rice was the highlight
of Saturday night. Again, we sat around the campfire
telling stories about the big ones that always seemed
to get away.
Eric caught his first trout. I met Tropic, Slic and
Eric and the NGTO guys. Grizz still holds the record
for snoring, although Owl nearly put him to shame.
Tropic got his American breakfast. Terry got to take
pictures of some of one of the most beautiful rivers
in NC. Boxcar got to fish "my river" and Slic got to
meet a real red neck girl. Putting faces with the
names, meeting new people and renewing old
friendships...all a part of the fly fishing
fraternity.~ Susan Cox (aka Lady Jane)