Last weekend was a bit of a whirlwind…
The weekend began in Tampa, Florida. I was there for a work trip on Thursday and Friday. It’s about a three and a half hour drive from my house in northeast Florida. My original plan was to work in Tampa, then shoot up I-75 to a tenkara campout scheduled in Brevard, North Carolina that Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I’d fish all day Saturday, maybe Sunday morning, and then come home. And believe me when I say that I had full intentions on going.
But with wildfires abound and quite honestly not wanting to drive the almost 10 hours into the middle of the night to get to the final destination, I decided I was still going to get some fishing in, but stop a bit short in north Georgia. I hadn’t fished the Peach State yet this year, and while this was sort of an impromptu visit, my fishing gear was already packed so I was going to go fishing!
I woke up early on Saturday morning and headed over to one of my favorite streams. While the bite doesn’t turn on until a bit later in the day, I had a feeling the water was going to be busy with other anglers. The weather was very overcast, seemingly with the threat of rain at any second. Fortunately, the raindrops held off. The sun never did really come out though, only a tease here or there. It was a very gray and dreary day that must have kept a lot of the fishing traffic away as well.
As for the fishing itself, it was average. With the weather not warm nor sunny enough to have the fish super active, and the stream flowing a bit higher than I prefer, I made do. Since I was originally headed to a tenkara campout, that was the style of gear I had with me. No click & pawls on this adventure.
I started the day fishing a beadhead kebari, but quickly switched over to beadhead nymphs to catch the majority of my rainbow trout. As typical, no monsters to be had in this stream, but enough activity, especially in the afternoon to make the boulder and downed tree hopping worth it. I know they’re not native, but I do enjoy the wild rainbows of the southeast. Even though my quads, calves, and knees are still resenting me almost a full week later.
With a full day of fishing in, I retired for some food and sleep. After all that driving the prior day paired with an early rise today, my sleep meter was running pretty low, so I turned in early that night.
The temptation to fish on Sunday morning was definitely there, but I awoke to an off and mostly on downpour. It wasn’t worth getting soaked for maybe three or so hours of fishing. So after a quick bite of the hotel’s continental breakfast, I started the long journey home.
Almost seven and a half hours later, the whirlwind weekend was over just in time to get mentally ready for the upcoming work week. Sigh. While I’m not sure I was there long enough for my brain to fully click into “mountain” time, it sure was fun to be in the hills again.
That size trout makes the Tenkara worth using!! Thanks for sharing
It most certainly does Bill!