Besides hooking oneself, freshwater fishing has a number of other hazards. I ran across two of Tennessee's more dangerous residents this morning - the dreaded denizen of the deep, the snapping turtle (look closely, it is there):Even more fearsome, I also ran into the deadlycotton-head rattle-moccasin!Post Script: This snake is actually a cotton-mouth! Thanks to … Continue reading The Hazards of Fishing →

My buddy David had us up to his lake house this weekend. We arrived in the evening and headed out on the pontoon boat after catfish. Four anglers, four rods, 11 jug lines, three and a half hours, and all we managed to do was lose three jugs and catch a stunted, one-eyed channel cat!All … Continue reading Black & Mild or Getting Skunked →

This past weekend, Tara and I decided to go camping at Tennessee's Land Between the Lakes. We bought back country camping passes at the park entrance, packed up our boat, picked a spot on the map and started paddling.We managed to pack the gear without any trouble and after a a few hours we reached … Continue reading Land Between The Lakes →

Tara and I just returned from a trip to Oregon. It was good to visit with family and friends, and I did get a little bit of fishing done. We met up with one of my childhood friends at the Oregon Country Fair (NOT to be confused with a county fair) where we watched a … Continue reading Dry Flies, Wet nymphs →

Among other things, my friend Matt is a whitewater boater - definitely what I would classify as an extreme sport. However, he insists that he enjoys the reflective nature of fly fishing enough that he occasionally joins me on the calm water for an adrenaline-less morning of fishing.Matt is not a "fisherman," that is, not … Continue reading The Doctor is IN →

Back from the Smokies. The park is heavily trafficked but so well managed that it's still a pleasure to visit. The weather was pretty good during our visit, but the twice daily thunderstorms had really filled the rivers. When I stopped by Little River Outfitters to pick up some flies, I found out that Little … Continue reading Smoky the Carp →

I went tailwater fishing last week. In the south that usually means fishing for trout, but with the water warming as we near the middle of June I had a feeling there weren't any trout left in this particular spot. Anyway, I had bigger fish to fry. I was trying to find gar, which I … Continue reading The end of Spring →

I've lost a lot of fish this season. Human error, broken tippets, or simply coming unhooked. Breaking a hook, however was the final straw for me:I tie these little worm flies on stainless steel saltwater hooks. The fish that snapped the bottom one wasn't even that big (for a carp anyway,) and not nearly as … Continue reading Broken Hooks and Broken Hearts →

If you fish one place long enough you end up with a pretty intimate knowledge of the bottom. You remember where the stumps and the rocks are, the channels and drop-offs. This is especially true with carp fishing. When the surface is rippling and the water is a little bit cloudy, it's easy to spot … Continue reading Fish in a Bucket →

Night fishing season has started! My secret spot under the lights is a great place to hunt carp on hot summer nights. It's still early in the season so it's mostly the "small" carp that are feeding in the shallows:The stretch of shoreline where I fish is not very long. Each time I hook up, … Continue reading Under the Lights →