Made It All The Way Down

We're back in Florida!!!

BSP Macon, Georgia

On the way out of the Atlanta area, we made a pit stop at the Bass Pro Shop outside of Macon, GA. What can I say - we like checking out the different Bass Pro Shops around where our travels take us. The aquarium was unique - cool gars and a mirror carp. This store was very scant on saltwater equipment though...

Fishing Report 7/29/2014

I have been scoping out the lakes around the area (Fayetteville to Peachtree south of Atlanta) to see if I could wet a line while here in Georgia. The last time I went fishing in Georgia was at the Sub Base in Kings Bay back in the 80's. Most of the lakes were wrapped in barbed wire or squarely placed inside golf courses - so no fishing. I did find one on Google Maps that was part of a municipal park so off I went. I lined up the Orvis SFT 1wt and used a green-peacock dub bead-head nymph. I ended up with 5 Bluegill in hand and 2 more that let go (I still crimp down the barbs). You can always count on bluegill!!! But all but one of the fish had some signs of a really hard life - sore red lips was the most common, but check out the missing eye and chewed up fins on this one guy. He had lost his eye awhile ago and had grown skin back inside the socket (or maybe it was born without an eye). Tough guy. And as always, the 1wt made these guys seem much bigger than they were - the skunk is gone!!! We are headed further south tomorrow - we'll park at Mayport, Florida for a little bit until I land a job (fingers crossed that it'll happen soon). I am looking forward to SUP surfing a new ULI that I got to replace the FAQ (stay tuned for that), and getting a bunch of saltwater fishing along the south jetty at the mouth of the St John's River. It's been about 20+ years since I fished that area - should be a fun upcoming two weeks!!!

The Fish Hawk

So we are in Atlanta visiting La's cousins. If you watch enough fly tying videos on Youtube, you'll end up watching guys from different Fly Shops. I've seen a bunch of carp and warm water flies from the guys at the Fish Hawk Shop. Well - when in Rome, do what the Romans do; when in Atlanta, avoid the traffic and hop into the shops you see on the internet. La and I went to a quilt shop and then to the Fish Hawk. Lots of rods, reels, lines, flies and even the spin/conventional gear you'd want to save a trip. Lots of cool fishing art on the walls - but this gyotaku stuck out of the crowd. Makes me happy to know I do better work than the stuff hanging up on fly shop walls (hmmmmm).

Fishing Report 7/25/2014

From my experience on Thursday, I figured I would try my luck with the fly instead. I rigged up the Orvis Helios 8wt (mostly because I know it is salt-proof and not because I had high expectations) and set about to probing the waters. I had better luck than the day before - but still nothing to hand. I saw blue crabs all over the place, and even got a few to take on a small gummy minnow fly (I just couldn't lift them out of the water otherwise I would have counted that as a legitimate "catch"). I also saw a fish chase, but it didn't seem much bigger than the fly - probably a "get out of my living room" chase as opposed to a "I think I want to eat you" chase. I moved over a lot and by the end of the session I was out at a point. I got several tugs, but could not connect the hook. And there were several tail swirls in the water throughout the time I was out. But in the end - a skunk is still a skunk and I am stinking right now...

Friday at the Aurora Fossil Museum

We spent most of Friday driving to, hanging out and heading back from the Aurora Fossil Museum. There are phosphate mines in the area and fossils galore come from the mining operations. The mine delivers a load of tailings every six months or so and part of the attraction is being able to find your own fossils going through the piles. The museum is small but they do have some informative exhibits focused on the geological periods the fossils from the mining area come from. And they have shark teeth - tons of them. If you decide to go to the museum, go the day after a good rain storm - the water washes away the fine, muddy silt and leaves behind the fossils so you can pick them out easier. La was a kid in a candy store - even spending more time once we got back to the trailer to find even smaller fossils we had overlooked earlier.

Fishing Report 7/24/2014

Thursday we were really nuked from the drive from Virginia Beach. We stayed in the camper most of the day until the afternoon cool off. We had a map of MCAS Cherry Point (where we are staying), and I started reading about the fishing spots. There are a couple that provide access to a tidal river that drains into the Neuse River (saltwater). We saw tons of jumping fish - which I am pretty sure are mullet - but I couldn't get a bite with the DOA Shrimp and rattle cork I had rigged up to the St Croix/Shimano spinning gear. Oh well - I'm still skunked (but at least the scenery is pretty).

Catching Up with the Posting - Moving Down the Line....

As I post this, we are in North Carolina - about halfway down the coast (Havelock). The internet connection is outstanding, but there are things to do and fish to catch, so I am still catching up. It is Saturday and we got here on Wednesday evening (which is better than posting events from the last State we were in). We are in a "pull-through" site this time. No picnic tables by the stall, but that's okay because as Marlon says "It's either sunny and super hot, or raining buckets".

Mariner's Museum - Other Interesting Exhibits

Some other things I found that grabbed my attention. The whole Trieste program completely fascinates me. The Navy Museum onboard the Navy Yard in DC has the better Trieste display overall (duh - they have the vessel), but what the Mariner's Museum did better was the display. I learned some new things about the vessel and the mission. Ship emblems are also really cool nautical fare. They are not as colorful today as they used to be.