Jame's Buice's new book and Two Mules For Sister Sara

Well, I'm down to one more Eastwood movie after Two Mules For Sister Sara. After this one I'm going to watch "The Outlaw Josey Wales". However, Two mules, directed by Don Siegel, starring Shirley Maclaine and Eastwood is a so so western. If you don't have anything else to do it is OK, but not anything to write home about.

Speaking of writing home about. Jame's Buice's new book. "Southeast's Best Fly Fishing" is truly a gem. I received it today and have only skimmed through it, but it looks very nice and colorful. It contains the author's main recommendations for trout fishing destinations in GA, NC, TN, and KY. It is probably the best book for this region in at least a decade. Highly recommended.

Joe Kidd and gone to Sweden

I watched Clint Eastwood in Joe Kidd the other day. I have to say it is not the most impressive movie with Clint. I like Robert Duvall in it but the movie has an amateurish feeling to it in my humble opinion. It's directed by John Sturges, and it's not one of his better work. The story by Elmore Leonard is good but the movie itself you can live without. I hope I didn't offend too many Clint fan's with this, but even though I love Clint, this is a misstep.

I'm off to Sweden for a visit. I won't be back on here until mid January some time. Take care and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Well, my hope was wrong after all.

The crick I had turned in to a cervical spasm. I had to ask my wife to drive me to the ER in the middle of the night last Friday. After a week of unbelievable pain and suffering I'm back at work as of yesterday. I lost almost four days of work and with the pills and injections in my butt plus the ER fee it came to about $250. I suppose it could be worse. I was most sad over the loss of my last vacation time. I have to use all my saved up time for my upcoming trip to Sweden in two weeks. We , meaning my wife and I went to Atlanta and the SEC game. We had a great trip although my pain didn't go away completely until Sat evening, We stayed at the Hilton downtown and took the MARTA everywhere. We stopped twice at the always wonderful IKEA in Atlanta. The game was awesome. As much as I hate to say it, being from VOL country and all. The Georgia Dome is nicer in the fact that it has a ceiling and the seat is for you only not like at Neyland. You share the seat with five others.

I managed to finish up Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point", which was not nearly as interesting as Blink or Outliers, which is the best one of his in my opinion. I don't think I'm going to read "What the Dog Saw". I think I'm Gladwelled out. LOL.

I also watched John Sturge's "The Magnificent Seven" The movie is almost fifty years old now and in parts it shows. It is still however a must see for a western buff. With stars like Yul Brunner, Charles Bronson, James Coburn and Eli Wallach, who had a birthday the other day. I think he is 94 or something.

Anyway, I'm back and grateful for not having pain anymore.

Update and The Mother of All Cricks No not fishing this time

I don't even know where to start, such has the past week been. I got off four days from work and decided to stay home for thanksgiving this year. My wife drove up from her work to her folks in KY on Wednesday night. I wanted to stay home and rest,especially since I have a long trek coming up for Christmas. I went to Shoney's for thanksgiving buffet and let me tell you! Many people had the same bright idea. It was actually pretty good and affordable. I stayed home on Friday and Saturday to get caught up on some reading I had been holding off on. Lisa (my wife), came home on Saturday evening. On Sunday I went on my first hike with the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club. We went to Frozen Head State Park, for an eight mile trek to climb Bird Mountain. It was a very nice and clear day and I had a great time.

On Monday afternoon at work, my shoulder and neck began aching real bad. I woke up that morning with a bad crick in my neck but thought nothing of it. I went home and straight to bed after work. I couldn't sleep that's how intense the pain became later that night. I stayed home from work Tuesday under excruciating pain. Decided to try to work this morning but lasted only two hours. Time to go to the doc. The pain was so intense I had to call my wife to come home from work so she could drive me to the doctor's office. After seeing the doctor the pain eased a bit and now with some meds it's getting somewhat better. What was it you ask? Nothing more than the mother of all cricks. The pain was so bad I thought I had something really bad. I'm glad it's not anything serious.

A productive weekend

I finally got all my fall duties done. I put in the second toilet in our second bathroom. I got my truck washed and now we are all set. It has been a long working around the house November. I got to go hiking with friend one Saturday though. I'm done with Kjell Eriksson's "Stenkistan". It was not one of his best but still, any Kjell Eriksson is good. I was sad to hear that he is wrapping up the Ann Lindell series with the tenth book. Currently, I'm reading another Malcolm Gladwell. It's called Blink. It is not as good as outliers but still a necessary read if you like Malcolm's books. Next I need to finish up a couple of more of Kjell Eriksson's and then move on to Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point. As you can see, fall is my reading time. I'm going to go on a hike Sunday after thanksgiving. Besides that not much else going on.

More Chores to do plus a couple of movies

Even though, I still feel somewhat tired from my sore throat and headaches lately, I did get some stuff done. Lisa and I got the gutters cleaned, I got all the leafs off my lawn and we cleaned the entire house today. Lisa got two new tires for her car and I even managed to watch two old westerns. I watched Pale Rider from 1985 and Unforgiven from 1992. Most people love unforgiven and I do to but Pale Rider in my opinion is a better movie. I know, I'm not following the mainstream but that's just my opinion. Both movies are worth seeing though. I especially like MichaelMoriarty who plays the main miner character in the movie. I can't believe it's almost 25 years ago I went and so this movie at the theater in Växjö, Sweden.

A rough week

I have been constantly sick since last Saturday night. A sore throat and chest congestion with sinus headaches, one after another. I finally felt so so enough to do my leaf raking outside today. I cleaned gutters as well and put the patio furniture inside for winter. Tomorrow I'm going to clean the whole house and then it's time for work again. I find myself very busy every November due to the end of season. I am not able to do much else. No fishing or hiking this weekend and I doubt much will happen on that front for a while. I'm going to put in a new toilet in one of my baths next weekend, and finally get around to wash my truck. Maybe I will go hiking or fishing one day during thanksgiving weekend if the weather cooperate.

Charlies Bunion

The hiking party on top of Charlies Bunion

I did Charlies Bunion together with my coworker Tamar and her husband Larry. We left Knoxville around 8 am and got to the trail head to begin our hike slightly after 9 am. The hike begins with a steady uphill climb and a descent halfway in. It's not the most difficult hike but not an easy one either. I was pretty tired when we got back. I can blame some of the tiredness on having some kind of allergic reaction. I got home at about 4:30 in the evening. After eating some tacos I began feeling real tired. I told my wife I'm going to take a nap. I did and woke up about 9 pm with a sever sore throat and headache. I took some Benadryl and Tylenol and went to bed. Didn't sleep well as I had a real bad sore throat. It is somewhat better as I write this. I'm hoping it was allergies rather than a cold. We'll see in the morning I guess. The hike was beautiful as the weather was perfect. Clear blue skies and the trail was popular on such a beautiful fall day.

Outliers and Pelham 123

I finished Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers" the other week. I normally don't read much non fiction if it's not fly fishing related but couldn't pass this book up. It has been a long time on the best seller lists and I had to see what it was all about. It's kind of like a book on sociological theories but set in an everyday setting which speaks to an average guy. I don't wan to give anything away but if you are interested in sociological and societal questions put in a different light when it comes to the answer this is for you. I don't always agree with Mr. Gladwell, but he does bring out unusual answers to why so and so became what they became. The conclusion might look a little on the simple side but the book is a good read and highly recommended. I'm now going to read his previous books, including the best selling book "The Tipping Point"

The taking of Pelham 123 , was a decent action movie with Denzel Washington, John Turturro who I haven not seen in a long time, as well as John Travolta and Luis Guzman. I purposely waited until this one came out on dvd.

Zombieland

The wife and I did a night out on the town, We have had some hit and miss with Halloween so we decided to stay out of the house this time. I suggested we go see "Zombieland" about three weeks ago but no, Lisa didn't think it sounded good. I told her it's getting good buzz. Lisa came home the other day and now all of a sudden she said she likes to see it. It's kind of funny that she changed her mind when the suggestion didn't come from me. LOL. Anyway, after stopping for dinner we hit the theater at East Towne and we were there with only a handful of others. It was a game day and Halloween so I guess it's no surprise.

The movie began strong and crazy. It was a hilarious gore fest until about halfway through when the movie seemed to stall. It dragged for a while and came to an abrupt and somewhat non satisfying ending. It's an okay movie but doesn't deserve all the rave lately. If you don't have anything else go see it, but I should have gone to see the new Cohen brothers movie (A Serious Man) instead. Oh well.

Greenbriar Sunday October 25, 2009

Hooked up with a buddy from Chattanooga this Sunday for some afternoon fishing on lower Greenbriar. The water was still pretty high and the water temp barely above 50. Fishing was somewhat slow but I managed 10 small rainbows. One of my friends fish pushed 10". It was a beautiful day to be out and the sun was shining. It is getting close to winter time in the mountains. The days are getting shorter and the air is crisp. The rain this year has really filled the ground aquifers up. Water were rushing like a stream in the spring. There are still some October caddis out but it seem to be petering out. Little BWO's were the dominant hatch in the evening.

Harry Middleton

I finally finished Harry Middleton's "On The Spine Of Time". It is not an easy read as far as the flow of the language goes. It is very rich and describing in both terms of landscape and personalities. It is a decent read and one I recommend all fly fishers who fishes around these parts. I have actually read the book once before but didn't retain as much from it the first time. I still consider it to be an average book. It is recommended more for the idea that a well versed fly fisherman from the smokies just ought to have read it, if that makes sense. It has some funny parts in it and it will make you think twice about getting potato salad from a roadside diner next time you are out.

I have began another of Kjell Eriksson's "Ann Lindell" mysteries in my native language Swedish. It is a nice series of books which I found out will end with the tenth book, which just got released in Sweden. I guess I will have to get that one when I'm over in Sweden for Christmas.

Saturday October 17, 2009 No fishing but shopping instead

The wife and I went shopping today. Before you call me crazy, I had an important mission. I needed to use up my Orvis coupons I receive a few times a year. $25 off $50 is never wrong. We had a gift card for Logan's Roadhouse also to use up. I then ended up at Bass Pro Shops to use my rewards points there. All in all a full day with a lot of bargain hunting. I'm not going to bore you with all the places we went but we went all over the place. As for reading and films. I just finished watching "Hang em' High" again. It has been a while since I saw it. It is not one of Clint Eastwood's best in my opinion. It kind of drags a bit. It is still a good movie just because I'm an Eastwood fan.

My reading is slow right now, I'm finishing up On the Spine of Time by Harry Middleton. He was no Hemingway but a nice read nevertheless. That's all for now.

North River and Tellico DH Revisited

Went back to North River on Saturday October 10th. Got on the stream at about 1 pm and fished until dark. I began at the same spot where I fished last time. This time the water was up even more and it was not as easy as last time. The hunters were out in full force; but I only saw one other fisherman. The water temp was great, right at 60. I managed to catch 5 small bows on North today. They all came on an Orange Stimulator size 14. I proceeded over to Tellico DH for the evening. I didn't take the water temp but it was swift and cold. Fishing was not as easy as last time I was here. The trout still had not spread out from the deeper holes. I got some fish on an orange partridge soft hackle at first, and later they took on top when the October caddis began to come off. I ended up with 4 rainbows on Tellico. All were in the 12" range. Got home to Knoxville at about 9 pm tired and wore out.

Paint Creek, DH and Lower Greenbriar

16 inch Rainbow Trout from Paint Creek, DH October 9, 2009

A nice Rainbow Trout from lower Greenbriar 12 inches.

Went to Paint Creek DH today. Fished upstream of the campground for an hour or so. I lost a ten inch bow and caught a couple of shiners. I then moved downstream to the DH area. There was a tan caddis hatch and the fish were stacked up in pods in the bigger pools. I lost a feeding fish in the 14 inch range and then I caught a small brown of about 2 inches. After another thirty minutes or so I hooked in to the "brute of the day" It was a nice 16 inch rainbow. He shook his head violently but I was able to beach him fairly quickly. I took the fish on a 14 orange stimulator. I fished for a little longer but the fish began to get spooky. I decided to hit lower Greenbriar on the way home. Got on the stream slightly before 5 pm. I immediately began picking up some wild smaller bows. I was really hoping for some stockers from outside the park. Then it happened, a nice rainbow of about 12 inches hit. It almost looked like a wild fish. I fished for about another hour and managed to catch another 10 inch stocker and then I called it a day. Tired and worn out but a good day for the memory book.

Tellico DH area is on fire

I knew they recently stocked for the opening of the DH area on Tellico. I figured today would be as good as any to venture out. I'm glad I did. The weather was great and the water even nicer. The flow was swift and cold. I took the water temp and it's right at 56. The air temp was in the high sixties when I began fishing at 1:30 pm. I caught a nice 11" stocker bow on a olive bh size 14 almost immediately. I began fishing upstream and managed to catch four rainbows in two hours. One was a smaller wild fish. Then the fishing slowed. I decided to walk back to my truck and fish downstream for a couple of hours. In the first big run below my truck I hooked in to a better bow. It was a solid 12". Then another hit immediately after, this one was the best fish of the day. It fought hard and long in the swift current and I almost regretted not bringing my five weight rod. I fished with my St Croix Imperial 4 wt. This is the old style of Imperial with the soft action. This rainbow turned out to be a solid 14" and very fat.

14" Rainbow from Tellico DH


I managed to hook another pretty good fish and then I began loosing them. I lost two in a row and decided it was time to take a break. After the break I moved with my truck about half a mile upstream. Here I caught two more bows. These were wild fish taking an orange stimulator on top. I saw major hatches today. It began with Little BWO's in size 20 and then midges and orange caddis came off.

Here's a picture from this lovely stream.

I quit fishing at about 6:30 and was pretty tired at that point. I only saw one other fisherman the whole afternoon. I guess everyone was at home watching the game.

Clinch Again

After the deluge yesterday in the area, I knew the freestoners to be blown out. I headed to Clinch instead with my friend Neal. He had fished it friday with good success and I was eager to go. Well, Clinch humbled me today, as it can be that way sometimes. I had exactly one strike after almost four and a half hours of fishing. Neal had picked up several fish on zebra midges and other nymphs. I couldn't catch a fish for trying. I went back to the first run I fished in the morning and finally I was able to catch three bows and one brookie in fifteen minutes. I honestly thought I was going to get skunked. The day saved we decided to head home at about 1 pm. Air temp was nice in the mid seventies and clear blue skies. There were a lot of cream and tan midges coming off and sporadic tan caddis adults at high noon.

Two more films

I'm on a western binge right now. I watched Tombstone and Wyatt Earp this week. Tombstone is the one most people prefer and I feel it's Val Kilmer who plays Doc Holliday in this movie, who is the main attraction. He is doing an awesome job in portraying the ailing doc. Kurt Russel does an OK job as Wyatt but otherwise the movie is somewhat dragging. The other one, Wyatt Earp, is even more of a drag than the first one. Here Kevin Costner plays Wyatt and Randy Quaid plays Doc. This doc is not nearly as good as Val so does movie only get saved by Kevin Costner. Both movies are worth watching, but only if you are a western fan.

Clinch River Sunday September 20, 2009

My friend Neal called last night and was wondering if I wanted to got fishing in the morning. I told him that I might check out the Clinch since it's close to my house and rain was on its way. That way I didn't have a two hour drive home. I got to the river at 7:20 or so. Rigged up and began fishing by myself as Neal had yet to show up. I got a small brookie pretty much immediately on a BH Zebra Midge size 22. After another five minutes or so I hooked in to a bigger fish. I had him hooked but the fish wouldn't bulge. I tried to put some pressure on and in the process the hook came loose. Oh well. I waded upstream where I found a pod of feeding fish in the flats. I managed to catch a few more on the flats and then I saw Neal downstream. It had begun raining by now and I was getting soaked. Neal caught one and missed several fish while we talked. I managed to loose another brookie and picking up another one in the run. The rain accelerated and we decided to call it a day. I managed to catch fourbrookies and two bows all recent stockers in the 8 to 11 inch range. Nice to see the river again but the weather was miserable.

A few old movies revisited

I have been hurting real bad in my arm after my accident two weeks ago. I have been trying to rest my arm and since we are having all this rain I thought it would be a good idea to watch some old movies again. I watched Sergio Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars" as well as "For a Few Dollars More", both are the weaker siblings in the Leone "Spaghetti western trilogy". However, I do not by any means suggest that they are not good. They are just not as good as "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. If you like the genre and if you like some operatic filming you are in for a treat with these. Another movie which I had forgotten how good it is, is "The Ballad of Cable Hogue". Jason Robard's, and Stella Stevens are out of this world in this one. It's a tragic love story with comedy mixed in. If you can stand westerns, with some humor you would love this one. The humor is not on par with Leone's but still, Peckinpah knew his stuff.

As for reading, I am currently rereading Harry Middleton's "On the Spine of Time". I will report on it later. I also just finished a swedish novel by Kjell Eriksson. It's in the Ann Lindell series. This particular one "Den Jord Som Skälver", has not yet been released in the U.S. I never understand how the book labels reason. They publish books out of sequence from foreign authors most of the time. Go figure.

Fishing will be done tomorrow if the rain holds off.

Bald River Gorge

Pete from Maryville and I decided to check out Big Snowbird Creek in NC at the Junction. We got there at about 8:15 am and rigged up to fish the immediate area. The water flow was great and the temp a cold 58. However, nothing seemed to stir. We fished for about an hour and then proceeded further down stream. The same thing there, no activity and a deserted feel to the whole place. We decided to come up with another plan. Plan B so to speak. After a long and slow climb back up on Stratton ridge along Big Santeetlah creek we came back to Tn. We stopped in Tellico Plains for lunch and made a decision to fish "Bald River Gorge". After a strenuous hike, for me anyway, we got to the river. Bald had a decent flow and the water temp was 64. I picked up three small bows on top and during the afternoon another three colorful bows on a nymph. Pete took a few on top. The fishing was not easy but the fish was strong and had decent weight to them. Bald river is definitely a quality stream to further investigate. I have only fished it in the nineties and then on very limited terms around Holly Flats area and just above the falls at the other end. I will be back on this one for sure.

Big Santeetlah Creek, NC

I was bored today and decided to drive down forest road 81 from Stratton Ridge down in to North Carolina and the head waters of Big Santeetlah Creek. I have never fished it or even been to it before. It is a very rugged and remote area and I ran in to only a handful of other vehicles. The water level was up and the temp a very good 60 degrees. I fished for an hour with only one small strike. I tried nymphs and soft hackles as well as dries. No luck. I can only guess that it is a tough stream this late in season. I was down at the stocked section and probably should have fished it higher up. Oh well. I decided to go back to TN and drive down North River. I fished for a couple of hours and caught 7 small bows, and then it happened. I took a misstep and fell. I put my hand down without thinking and bent my wrist pretty bad. It hurt like the dickens. It is pretty messed up today. I hope I can go to work tomorrow instead of the doctor. This fly fishing game can be dangerous. I have had more difficulties this year than most. Bear encounters, two accidents, broken rod you name it. Golf sounds more interesting by the day. NOT! Lol.

Rediscovered some old haunts

I used to fish and spend a lot of times down in the southern part of the Cherokee National Forest. Mainly in Monroe County and some times down on Hiwassee River and it's feeders in Polk County. I decided today to do a visit to Bald River at the Holly Flats area. I took a forest service road out of Coker Creek to get there from the back end. All went well and I got on the stream at about 1:30 pm. I fished for a while and hooked a small rainbow immediately. This fish was soot black. I figure from the silted environment it lives in. Bald river is somewhat milky to it's color and it is flat and level at the upper end of the gorge, where I was fishing. Fishing wasn't real good. I managed to catch six small bows before I decided it was time to try somewhere else. The most interesting thing though was this nice bear hound, who showed up stream side almost scaring the beejesus of of me. I tried to make it stay with me as it was obviously lost. It had a radio collar and id but I wasn't able to get close enough to read it. After about an hour or so it vanished and I quit fishing.

This poor fellow is looking for his master.

I decided to check out North river on my way home. I got to the section above North river campground at about 6:30 pm. It was a cloudy and dark afternoon and I think that was the explanation for what happened next. I tied on a yellow stimulator size 14 and flipped it upstream at the first "good looking pool". I had a couple of those pesky war paint shiners coming up and I lifted the fly for another cast. I swung it out again and bam! a fish sipped it. I lifted my rod and immediately felt a better sized fish burrowing down. I knew I had to hold my rod sideways to let the fish fight against the full muscle of my 5 wt. I was glad I had a somewhat heavier rod. The fish was a 13 inch Brown. My best wild brown from a mountain stream in the U.S. It took 15 years. I have caught bigger fish in tail waters and in my native Sweden, but it is a treat when you finally catch one in these infertile mountain streams. I do feel that North river is more fertile than some as well as Bald. I see numerous species of forage fish in both rivers.

Anyway, this turned out to be the only fish on North river today. Darkness came quick this cloudy evening and I headed home with a satisfied grin on my face.

A solid 13" wild brown from N. river, TN

Jim Casada's New Book

Well, I got the new book by Jim Casada the other day. I was eagerly awaiting its arrival. I stood in my doorway for a good while just flipping through the pages. It is a tomb for sure. It is very detailed and heavy on history of the park and its people. Fly Fishing In The Great Smoky Mountains National Park "An Insider's Guide to A Pursuit of Passion" is the official title of the book and it pretty much sums up the content of the book. Jim Casada is an insider and is widely known especially in the southeastern U.S. He has written numerous books, and articles. I especially remember him from several contributions to the now defunct "Trout South".

The book is very much worth its purchasing price. However there are several repetitious comments, and some comments are of almost an antagonistic view towards others, who has written about the Smokies. The author as he freely admits is opinionated and hard headed. If you can overlook the self confident personality it is a very nice read and highly recommended.

One noteworthy mistake is the fact that the reader claims that "Fighting Creek" in TN has never been mentioned in a fly fishing guidebook. It was recently mentioned in Ian Rutter's book on the smokies. The book also contains several spelling errors which is always a turn off in my opinion.

District 9

After all the buzz about "District 9", I and my wife decided to go see it. We went to a matinee' and settled down for the movie without concessions this time. It has gotten so expensive in my opinion that you should get stock options if you buy a combo deal. Anyway, back to the movie. First of all I would like to mention that I'm not a sci fi movie buff. This makes me somewhat biased against this type of movie. This movie however was sold to me as an alternative to traditional sci fi movies. Yes it it different but far from revolutionary. Far from conventional and it appealed to me as something breaking from the norm. The movie however failed to grab me. I think that the older I get and the more movies I have seen, the more of a hard pleasing viewer I become. This movie never really takes off, I felt the same as I did when I went to see the "Hangover". Nice enough story but when is it going to take off. District 9 is not worth paying $10 at a movie house for. Wait until it's out on DVD. It's somewhat funny that the only movie I've seen in the last six months worth anything to me was "Tennessee". Tennessee didn't get good reviews and was independently shot with a limited budget and no special effects. It wins hands down in this trilogy though. What's wrong with me?

Staring a Black Bear in the eyes on Abrams

I had stiff competition from this guy.

I decided to head up to Abrams Creek for some fishing this morning. I haven't been to the creek in about a year. I always have a good time although it is a very slick and dangerous stream to wade in. I got to the trail head first of all the people today right at 7:30 am. I began my trek and after about five minutes or so I startled a black bear. This bear apparently was going to climb a tree. That's why I didn't see it. I stared the black bear in the eyes for about ten seconds or so. I regained awareness from the initial shock and belched out a growl as loud as I could muster while poking my stick in the ground. The bear ran about fifty yards and then turned around and began staring at me again. I hollered again while hitting my wading staff on the ground. I began to retreat and the bear slowly moved on up the hill. I got back to where I started and decided to wait until someone else showed up before heading on up. After about thirty minutes a nice gentleman from Knoxville showed up. I told him the story and asked if I could hike with up to my fishing spot. He agreed as he was going to take some pictures at Abrams falls. We walked for a mile together before we went our separate ways. I thanked him and began my fishing. I picked up one 8" bow pretty quick but then it died down. It took a yellow partridge. I worked myself slowly upstream and after an hour or so managed to catch a nice 12" Rainbow trout on the same fly. I let the fly swing downstream and the fish took it hard. It's nice with the wild Abrams bows, since they are a little larger than average for the park. I continued upstream and ran in to a pair of Otters and a Great Blue Heron who was competing for the fish. Numerous deer and turkeys were seen as well as another Black Bear on my way out of the cove. This year has to be a good year for wildlife sightings. I only caught four fish for the morning, two of the fish were from last years class, about three inches each. Water temp was an amazing 60 degrees. Almost unheard of in August. A very memorable day but sorry no picture of the bear. I don't think the bear would have appreciated a flash in it's face from a distance of six feet.12" Bow from Abrams Creek

Laurel Fork River

I called my friend Pete from Maryville the other day. I had some questions about going to a certain river in NC, but we decided against it. I told him let's go up to Laurel Fork for a day trip on Sat. We left Knoxville at 5 am and was rigged up and ready to fish at 8:30 am. Fishing was slow for me in the am but Pete caught three browns very quickly. I began to pick up some small fish but the feed bag wasn't really on.. We quit for lunch at about 11 or so and decided to fish lower for the afternoon.


After some sightseeing at the falls area we began fishing at 2 pm. I used a soft hackle Partridge and Yellow size 14 dropped under a BHPT and finally two small browns took it. The water was pushing 66 degrees. We managed to move upstream and whne the cloud cover came in Pete began picking up some fish. He caught one 12" and another in the 11" range. I had more difficulty as I was getting tired and hungry. I also didn't have Pete's fly LOL. I stopped for a snack break and Pete joined me as a rain shower came in.

We waited it out and decided to fish a couple of hours before dark at a higher elevation due to the warm water. It turned out to be the right decision. The water was 61 and more active fish as a result. I managed to catch a 10 " bow and a small brookie to my suprise. After several small browns it was time to quit for the day. Pete meanwhile had picked up another ten browns or so.

We made it home to Knoxville right past 11 pm and let me tell you, I was sore and tired getting out of my bed this morning. All in all a very nice but strange day in many respects. It's always nice to spend a day with Pete as he has a lot of knowledge and interesting stories to boot.

Dennis Cove Camping trip August 7-8, 2009

Decided to do a one night camping trip to Dennis Cove again. I took a day off from work and got to the camp site at about 10 am. I rigged up and decided to fish between Laurel Falls and the AT trailhead. It took about an hour or so before the fish began to cooperate. I caught one brown about 12" and several in the 8" range. No rainbows today. I only fished a couple of hours as I needed to go to camp and cook some burgers I had bought. It was cool at night and a lovely outing. The river looked great and you couldn't ask for better weather. I've been kind of lazy today and now it's back to work for tomorrow.

Sand Cave KY, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

This cave is huge, I took this picture from the interior looking down on some other hikers. It's at least two hundred yards.


What a treat! This hike is very strenuous but it's worth every step. I got to the Ewing, VA trail head at about 11:30 am this morning. I rigged up and soon got on the trail. This trail goes basically straight up the mountain for about three miles. There are a few switchbacks along the trail but you will begin to feel your heart pumping after about a mile or so. I ran in to some horseback riders and all of a sudden a German Shepherd appeared out of nowhere. I thought it belonged to them but they said it had followed them for a while. Apparently someone dropped this dog off. It was very sad. The dog was starving and lonesome. It was very friendly and it was apparent it had belonged to someone. I wish I could take it but I don't have the resources. It followed me and several other people on different spots on the trail.

I got to the Sand Cave after about an hour and forty five minutes. What a nice place. It is cool and a lot bigger than I thought. A couple was sitting inside the cave when I showed up. I spoke to them briefly while I ate my lunch. I decided to visit the White Cliffs over look on my way out. It is a very steep climb out to the over looks but a must do on this hike. I was very impressed with this hike and the fact that it is less crowded than the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and the litter situation is not as bad. All in all a very impressive hike but not for the faint of heart.

I spoke with a volunteer for the park service on my way down, hopefully they can catch the dog. The problem though, with all the unwanted animals in shelters the prognosis for the dog is not good. I wish I could have taken the dog home. It kind of bothers me that people can be so heartless. I understand that it's not easy to take care of a dog in these times, but to leave it at a trail in a wilderness to fend for itself!
The homeless German Shepherd on the trail.

The water fall coming from the top of Sand Cave.


Interior of Sand Cave.

The White Rocks.


View from top off White Rocks Elevation 3513ft or 1071 meters. The valley is Poor Valley, VA.

Hangover

The "cult hit" Hangover has been on everyone's radar lately. People at work talk about it and every newspaper and magazine has done mostly favorable reviews of it. It also has grossed a record amount of money for an R rated flick. So we decided (my wife and I) to go and see it at the Downtown Riviera movie theater in Knoxville. We did some house cleaning and then we went down to the "Tomato Head" for a quick lunch. I love the pizza at that place. We got to the movie and after basically forking over my entire savings account for a combo we sat down. The movie begun promising with some good soundtrack music and nice crude jokes right from the start. However, after about half an hour or so of the same stuff I begun to wonder, when is this going to take off? It never really did. It was an OK movie but somehow I felt like it should have something else. It didn't drag but it didn't really take off either. I guess it was just not my kind of movie. It's not bad but it's not great either. I give it a C.

Campsite #60, Deep Creek, NC

I decided after a long night thinking about it to go back to campsite #60 in GSMP, to do a one night camping trip. I went about six weeks ago but didn't feel well on that trip.

I left Knoxville around 7 am and got to the trail head at about 9:30 am. I quickly made my way up to the campsite and had my tent and everything set up by 11 am. I decided to hike upstream around Bumgardner bend. Man is that ridge a heart pumper or what!. I was pretty tired by the time I got to the water on the other side somewhere below camp site #59. The water was cold and somewhat swift. Very good conditions for July. The temp in the air was an unbelievable cool, I estimated it to be high sixties. The water temp was 58. I fished for about two hours and only saw three people on the trail. I managed to catch three rainbows and one brown which pushed 9". Not too bad for being in the middle of the day. It was time to go back to camp to fix supper. I was solo at camp until I was done eating at about 5 pm when a dad and his son came. I spoke with them briefly after my evening fishing session. What about the fishing?, well it wasn't easy. I was pretty tired from all the hiking so I only fished for about an hour or so. I spoke with one other fisherman who said he only caught one small rainbow. I managed to catch two bows. One was 8" the other very small. I decide it was time to go back to the tent and sleep. I was in bed by 8 pm. I know I know, I missed probably the best fishing time of the day but I was wore out.

The next morning I got up at abut 6 am and after breakfast it was time to hike out. I drove up to the Oconaluftee to fish a couple of hours around the visitors center. I managed to catch two small rainbows on a nymph. The water was very cold for being at such a low elevation. and for being in July, it was reading 59 on my thermometer. Got home around 2 pm and that was the end for another great camping trip in the park.

The Hemlocks are falling

I decided to head up high for a day trip to fish for Specs. I hiked up towards Buck Fork and fished for about quarter of a mile. The water temp was great at 60 degrees. I just had to take a picture of this majestic Hemlock which had fallen across the stream. I have a feeling we will see a lot more of this in the future due to the invasive adelgid which kills the trees. It's a sad sight and I wonder what it will do to our beloved streams.

I picked up a few rainbows and some specs but the to be honest, I was not feeling safe pushing on solo due to the risk of injuries and the water was pretty swift. I decided to hike back down in order to fish upstream on Ramsay Prong. I began picking up quite a few specs when I encountered the best one so far.


The best spec of the day.


I pushed upstream and after about a mile or so I decide it was time to hike back down. I met a gentleman at one pool who caught some fish on a nymph. He was just out checking the area, and he didn't have the proper gear to do the rock climbing you have to do on these kind of streams. In fact I actually ran in to a couple of other fishermen earlier in the day so a lot of folks were out and about today. It didn't seem to affect the fishing though. I picked up several dozen today. No size mind you but they were pretty fat. It looks like all this rain have brought terrestrials and ants to the stream.




The last fish of the day



I got to my truck and decided to fish for the last thirty minutes before dark at my truck in order to catch a better sized rainbow. I succeeded, although he was only about 8". It was the most beautiful rainbow of the day however. All in all a very nice day indeed.

A Trout Bum's Fourth of July that should have gotten me "bummed out".

"Laurel Fork Brown"

"Laurel Fork Rainbow"




"Laurel Falls"






"Big Falls" Elk River, NC







My friend Mike fishing the South Holston River, TN.


I have another camping adventure down my belt. I set out from work thirty minutes early and was out of town at about 4:15 pm on Thursday afternoon. Destination: Cardens Bluff Campground on beautiful Watauga lake. Traffic was not too bad and I eased my way up the interstate towards Johnson City, Tn. I got through Elizabethton pretty easily and when I spotted the lake I thought man! this is such a nice and peaceful place. It was obvious that the weekend was going to be somewhat mixed since my first problem came upon me as soon as I entered the campground. It was full. Oh well, I circled the grounds and decided my back up place would be just as good. Up the mountain I went and prayed at the same time that my luck would turn. I got to Dennis Cove and to my surprise there were only a half a dozen campers there. I set up camp and went to bed pretty early after cooking some food. It was a very unseasonal and cold night. I know the elevation is in the 3000 ft range but it's supposed to be July. I'm not complaining though. I got up to fish SoHo early. I had a tough time only having one strike on a zebra midge in the morning. I finally began to pick up fish on a Sulphur Comparadun. The fishing was so so. I was waiting on Mike Pope from Bluff City, who had told me he would be showing up at around 11:30 Am, which he did. We fished together for two and a half hours before the water came up. I ended up catching about 8 fish but no real brutes today. I stopped for lunch in Elizabethton and headed on up to Laurel Fork River. This is my absolute favorite of the mountain streams in Tn. Not only does it have wild bows browns, and brookies, up high. It has stocked fish in the lower sections. The scenery around the river is superb with several waterfalls. The gem of them all being "Laurel Falls". I fished upstream above the campground on Friday evening and managed to catch a dozen or so. I caught several ten inch browns and two 11" stocker bows. I was pretty tired around 8 Pm so I decided to head back to camp. On Saturday morning I decided to drive over to Elk river across the border in to Nc. This is a hatchery supported stream and it's very beautiful as it winds it's way in to Tn and eventually Watauga Lake. I didn't have any luck though. There were several other people fishing it and the access is somewhat spotty. The falls area is very pretty though. I decided to head back to Tn for lunch and fish the falls area of Laurel Fork later in the evening. After lunch I drove back to the campground and rested for a while. I had severe sinus headaches all week and today was no different. I suffered for a few hours and then decided it's better to get out and hike. I parked my car at the trail head for Pond Mountain Wilderness. I decided to hike for about an hour or so towards Hampton Tn. I ran in to a couple of spin fishermen above the falls but the rest of the river was empty. I just knew this was going to be great. I began fishing around the wooden bridges below the falls right at about 5 Pm. I was sluggish at first. I found out that the water temp was getting up there. It was 66 degrees where I began fishing. After about twenty minutes or so I got a strike but missed the trout. Soon after that I got a better take and my first brown for the day came to hand. A very nice 10" fish. I proceeded upstream and discovered somewhat cooler water. I found it to be 64 degrees closer to the falls and I began picking up browns in just about every pool. I caught 11 Browns with several pushing 11" each. They are all hard fighting and taking on top. What a nice experience. I got to the falls at about 8 Pm and decided to do the same thing I did last year. Tie on a black wooly bugger to see if I could catch some of the stocker bows that reside in that huge pool. Sure enough, on my second cast, wham! a 10 " bow, next cast another one. On my third cast I hooked in to a bigger fish. I had to fight him for a while. It turned out to be the best fish of the trip. A nice 13" rainbow. It was now getting somewhat dark and for you who has been at this location, a gruesome climb back out to the trail. This brings me to the "bummed out part of the trip". In my tiredness I slipped and fell on some rocks and managed to scrape my leg. Oh well, that's alright I thought when I discovered in disbelief that my beloved St Croix Imperial 9 ft 4 pc 5 wt, which I got on eBay real cheap was broken. The tip section managed to break at the joint with the second section, effectively splicing the graphite. It is not repairable and I'm the second owner so no luck there. I know have two pieces of a four piece rod. I guess this taught me the lesson of being humble. I thought I was on top of the world fishing like that, but Murphy had to take care of it. I'm not complaining though. I wasn't seriously hurt and the camping trip as a whole was a literal success. Here's some pics from the trip.

Fish Camp Prong

I met up with a buddy from LRO's internet message board today. We met at the trailhead at Elkmont right at 6:30 am. We hiked for about 4 miles before we decided to drop in the stream. The water was at a good flow and very cool, 57 degrees. We instantly began to pick up small bows on Yellow Stimulators size 14. We fished upstream for the better part of five hours and picked up numerous rainbow trout with a few specs mixed in. I even managed to catch a small brown trout. We ended our fishing about a mile below campsite #23. We ended up fishing a short while down on the main stream of Little Rivera at Huskey Gap. Caught a handful of fish there before we decided to call it a day. The whole trip ended up being about 12 miles of hiking. I'm wore out to say the least. One good thing about the high elevation is the fact that it was only 78 degrees in the afternoon. Very nice!

Drag me to Hell

The wife had another birthday. Her birthday fell on a Wednesday so we just went out for dinner. We decided to go out to a movie on Sunday afternoon instead, so it wouldn't be so stressful. Lisa is an avid fan of horror movies and spoofs of ditto. I on the other hand don't care much for them. However, this one had awakened my interest after all the buzz. Sad to say it was more like Draaaaaaaag me to hell.. I guess I'm not the right person to review horror movies. The most important thing was the fact that my wife liked it and that is all that matters.

Hiwassee in the morning, North River in the evening

Did a double header today. I left Knoxville real early and got to the "Stairsteps" at about 7 am. Began to catch fish on top immediately. My EHC size 14 in a tan color seemed to attract a lot of fish when I kind of stripped it in the current. The fish were definitely feasting on drifting caddis. The water temp was ideal at 60 degrees. I quit at 11 am in order to stop for lunch and head up to North River for the afternoon. I lost a nice sized fish on my first cast about half a mile above the main campground. The water on North River was beginning to warm. I took the temp and it came in at 66 degrees. I caught a baker's dozen on Hiwassee and nine on N. River. All were rainbows between 8-10 inches on the HI and 7 inches or so each on N. River. Got home at about 6 pm, wore out but happy after seeing two of my old haunts again.

Little River Trip Sat June 13th, 2009

Did go for a short trip to fish the "evening hatch" on Little River today. Stopped at LRO for some tying material and then on to Dollar General and Pizza Hut next door. After my shopping spree in downtown Townsend, TN I made it in to the park at about 4 PM. I rigged up and fished nymphs for a couple of hours with no luck. An afternoon thundershower came through and I had to escape to the car. The water got stained a little but it didn't really come up much. Switched to an EHC yellow size 14 and got some takes. At about 8:30 a very heavy Yellow Sally egg laying flight took place. I caught one brown and two bows and missed a couple more. No real size to them today but it was nice to be out in the park again. I stopped and talked to a guy from NC who was vacationing with his family in Pigeon Forge, TN. He slipped away for a few hours of fishing. He said he caught one pushing ten inches. Water temp was 62 so it was ideal.

Camping trip which wasn't that good

I went on a short camping trip to meet my friend Neal at camp site #60 on Deep Creek, NC this Saturday. I knew as soon as I began hiking several hours late that I should have stayed home. I had no energy and felt fatigued immediately. I was kind of nauseated the night before and suspect some kind of stomach bug. I got to the camp site and didn't really want to do anything. I fished for about an hour while Neal rested, since he had been out since Thursday. We spent the night and decided to hike back out first thing in the morning. I don't regret the trip but it could have been better. Oh well, maybe next time. I at least got my exercise in.

Clinch River Sunday May 31, 2009

Went to the Clinch at the church yesterday. I have not felt good for at least a week and when Neal wanted to go fishing I almost declined. I felt alright while on the river and we kind of fished our separate runs. I struggled while a couple of other fishermen did very well around me. I finally began picking up some fish on a black midge size 22. I caught maybe four fish in a short stretch of water. I still didn't feel all that great and was getting hungry. I walked downstream to Neal and he had done much better. I blame it on my crummy state of health this time. The weather was beautiful and I managed to get my arms sunburned due to leaving my sun screen at home. Not my day that's for sure.

Hazel Creek Adventure May 23-25, 2009

So, after about three years of thinking about it and ten years or more reading about it, I finally made it to Hazel Creek. I went with my buddy Pete from Maryville, Tn. We took the boat shuttle at about 9 AM on Saturday morning. After about an hour and a half of hiking we settled in at camp site #85 also called "Sawdust Pile". We cooked some lunch and decided afterwards to hike up to Bone Valley to do some fishing and sightseeing. We stopped at the "Hall Cabin" and rested for a while. I was almost falling asleep at the cabin due to being tired. Pete thought his stories about Colorado put me to sleep. We spoke with a nice gentleman from Powell, TN who was hiking down from the "big hill". I only caught one small bow on Bone Valley Creek. We hiked down to camp to fix some supper and headed out for the "evening hatch". At about 8 PM a fairly heavy Yellow Sally egg laying flight began. I took one 10" Brown and a 9" Bow on a Yellow Stimulator size 14. Both fish were actively feeding on top. The darkness came fast and the evenings total came to 3 bows and one brown. I had a hard time sleeping on my thermarest pad. I definitely need to upgrade ot an inflatable. We had to listen to some party folks who shared the campsite. I got in a couple of hours of sleep. Decided to get up early to walk up to a spring about a mile and a half above our camp. It was tasting wonderful. After lunch we kind of relaxed and waited on the Sunday evening emergence of flies. I had hoped for an even better egg laying flight. To much dismay I only found sporadic activity. I found some feeding fish about five minutes before complete darkness and I lost several bows. Only landed two small rainbows on Sunday night. Monday we got up early and everything was somewhat damp after the Sunday night drizzle. We hiked down to meet the boat and the hike out was a little hard on my psyche. It was a wonderful trip but it wouldn't have been so fun without the good sport of Pete Czornohus who is a real outdoorsman who knows his way around and is very great in estimating distances and such. I hope to go soon again but have to recover, I did about 24 miles in two days and I feel somewhat drained but in a good way.


My friend Pete getting ready for the boat ride over Fontana Lake NC.



A happy camper on his way to Hazel Creek.


10 inch brown from Hazel Creek


Hall Cabin "Bone Valley, NC

NC Camping Trip

East Fork French Broad River Brook Trout.



The highest spot on the Blue Ridge Pkwy near Richland Balsam, NC
West Fork French Broad River, NC


East Fork French Broad Brookie.
Indian Creek Falls, NC


Thom Branch Falls, NC







Juney Whank Falls, NC









I left work Friday to go on my second camping trip for the year. I had booked two night at a campground in Balsam NC. It was a lovely camp ground and very friendly staff and the grounds were very clean. I had some bad luck with the weather and had to set up my tent in a hailstorm. I managed to stay dry for the most part though. I fished the East Fork of French Broad River on Saturday. It was very crowded and I caught a very fat Brockie on a Yellow Partridge size 16 fished down and on the swing. That was all I caught. Between the showers and all the crowded fishing spots on the DH streams right now it was a miracle I caught that one. I fished the east fork for a couple of hours with no luck mid day. Went back to camp and later in the evening I did some water falls in Deep Creek area of NC.

Here's some photos:

Duck You Sucker and Miller's Crossing

I have always loved everything by Sergio Leone. The fantastic Italian director who died way too early. One of his most underrated movies are "Duck You Sucker" or as it is also called " A fistful of Dynamite. It is a somewhat comical tale of an IRA terrorist on the run who meets a local desperado in rural Mexico at the time of the revolution and Pancho Villa. It's done somewhat in the same realm as the spaghetti westerns Leone is famous for but it is not entirely the same as those. It has more humour and it's moving along at a somewhat faster pace. It's a great performance by James Coburn and Rod Steiger.

As for Millers Crossing, The Cohen brothers are movie geniuses. I am particularly fond of "Fargo" but Millers Crossing stands out as a gem on it's own. In this movie we deal with the classic example of gang wars and rivaling factions in the big city. This time it is between the Irish mobsters and the Italian ditto. This movie also shows some humour and with all its blood and gore it's typical Cohen fare. Not the top movie from them but definitely a must see. Marcia Gay Harden, and Gabriel Byrne both stand out in this movie.

Heaven & Hell

Well, it's here, The new Heaven & Hell album. "The devil you know". For those of you who don't know you're hard rock, Heaven & Hell is the current line up of Black Sabbath with Dio. It's Ronnie James Dio song, Toni Iommi guitar, Vinnie Appice drums and Geezer Butler bass. I.e. Black Sabbath without Ozzy. Toni owns the rights to the name but choose not to tour as Black Sabbath. They decided to use the name Heaven and Hell after the album of the same name from 1980.

Anyway, the new album is more Dio than Sabbath. Dio's singing is superb but the music sounds a little uninspired in my opinion. Bu it is light years ahead of what the so called modern rock tries to do. The greats from the seventies will always have a place in my heart.

I also recently bought Ian Gillan's new album. One eye to Morocco. It is a mish mash of genres from folk to blues. I have to say that I have always had difficulties with Gillan's projects outside of Deep Purple. I guess in my book he shouldn't stray from the Purple fold. Gillan had some decent albums with his own band Ian Gillan Band as well as Gillan. Solo though, he is not that great. It hurts to say that but I feel I can since I'm a whole hearted supporter of anything Purple with Gillan. David Coverdale is a good singer but Gillan is for me "the purple singer".

No fishing due to the weather. Next weekend might be different.

First Camping Trip for 2009

I couldn't stand another weekend, I had to camp. Drove Friday evening straight from work to North Mills River Campground in NC. I got there about 7 PM and set up camp. Made a quick supper on my camp stove and went to bed. Got up early in the morning to drive over the hill to South Mills. Ran in to a gentleman by the name Charlie from Raleigh, hey it rhymes. LOL. Anyway, he was hardcore. He had driven 4 1/2 hours and then slept in his vehicle. He was a South Mills regular. He gave my some tips and we parted ways. The river was beautiful and it was running at a good pace. I noticed a major BWO hatch of small size 18 bugs. Nothing came on top though. I had to use a nymph to draw a strike. Missed the first one and then I caught a creek chub. Man I thought to myself, it's going to be tough. Tough it was I fished for two straight hours and finally caught a small Brown trout of about 6 inches in length. I got hungry and decided to head out. My friend from Raleigh's truck was still there so I can guess how his day went. I drove in to Brevard to grab a bite to eat and then I drove up to Looking Glass Falls. It's an amazing waterfall. Proceeded thereafter to the fish hatchery on Davidson River and took the tour. I have never seen so many fishermen in one place. It made the Clinch and even South Holston look like a wilderness stream. I spotted some heavy bows gliding around and after a awhile I noticed a dead brute floating downstream. I guess the price to pay when it's catch and release only. Anything could have happened. Playing the fish too long, hooking it badly etc, etc. No moral story here but sad to see anyway.

I decided to fish for awhile but quickly determined that this stream is not for my during the peak season. You feel like you're at Wal Mart. I quit and drove back to North Mills River Campground and decided to fish North Mills for an hour before dark. I spoke with one gentleman who had not had much luck. He thought poachers had gotten to most of the fish. I was surprised by catching a 10" Brook trout almost immediately. I thought to myself. Maybe this guy was wrong, Oh no, as soon as that thought came up I jinxed my self. I caught no more that day. One drawback to this area is the fact that horse back riders uses the stream to water their animals and basically ride through the creek. I can't believe this is happening on a DH stream. This weekend wasn't all lost because I got to see new territory and meet some people. The fishing for me though , was below average.

Lost my biggest Rainbow in years

Went to the "fantastic Raven Fork" in Cherokee, NC yesterday. I fished the fly fishing only section for the second time this year. It wasn't easy today. A major tan caddis hatch was in progress all day but they didn't key in on the adults. I took a couple of fish on a nymph. At about five they began taking duns. The first one was a major brute. The fish was pushing 20". I had him on for about five minutes. I couldn't put any pressure on it because of the 6x tippet and the swift current. The fish threw the hook and I felt that limp rod feeling. Oh well, maybe next time. I had a couple of other strikes on top from fish in the 15" bracket but lost my touch after loosing the big one. The river was gorgeous and the water level great. To round out the day, two elk was crossing the river and it made up for my lost fish.

Update

It's been a while since I wrote anything. I did some fishing on Paint Creek in Greene County, TN last weekend as well as a quick Clinch river trip on Sunday. This weekend I went to Little River below the Tremont Institute. I caught 2 fish on Paint Creek and I on Clinch, zero today. The water was coming down good from the latest rains. The cold nights have put the water temp down in to the forties again. Not much else to report. I will try to take some pictures soon and hopefully the fishing will be in full swing next weekend.

Update

I have been extremely busy. I took a day off from work last week and stained my deck as well as some mulching and other work around the house. I managed to change oil in my car as well. Then on Sunday we had to go to Lexington, KY to see my father in law. He has been in the hospital for over a week now and no real diagnosis. I pray for him every day and I hope he will get well soon.

I haven't watched much movies lately and I don't have any desire for much reading. Fishing season is heating up and my mind is on that I guess. I have rediscovered all the AC/DC remasters out there. I have to say that Bon Scott was the man. I love Brian Johnson's AC/DC but he can't compare to Bon. I'm actually hooked on the first internationally released album "High Voltage" from 1976. It is pure energy. I really love the song "Rock'n' Roll Singer" It is even good when you take in to the account that most lyrics are not real good with AC/DC.

I feel the "Highway to Hell" album, although it is good, overrated. If we talk Brian Johnson, it is of course "Back in Black" which stand out but I don't feel that everyone understood the greatness of "For Those About to Rock (we salute you)".

Oh, midlife crisis, snap out of it! I'm not 18 anymore.

Cherokee Trophy Section on Raven Fork NC

I finally made it to the "new" Fly fishing only C&R section of Raven Fork River in Cherokee, NC. It was a gorgeous day and I fished with my coworker Greg. I managed to catch five fish with the best one 14". I heard of another guy catching an "18" fish. I know from seeing pictures and reading stories from others that there are brutes in there. Maybe next time. We encountered a heavy Quill Gordon hatch for an hour between 2:30 Pm and 3:30 Pm. I'm glad I finally went. I just wish the drive was closer and easier.

Let The Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in)

This movie has been talked up and raved over for a while now. I frankly don't understand why. I guess considering the latest vampire craze with Stephanie Meyer and all, I'm not surprised that someone wants to milk the market with more vampire stuff. The problem is that this movie is utter rubbish. Avoid at all cost. I'm from Sweden as most of you know but that doesn't help me in trying to write something nice about this movie. Just because it's Swedish doesn't make it good.

Did some fishing on Clinch river for a couple of hours yesterday. No luck and it was kind of crowded for a crummy day. It seems like spring will never get her this year. Until later..........

20th, Anniversary plus getting skunked again

Well, I started the weekend with a trip to "Nance's Ferry" on Holston river. I got there about 10 AM and there were three guys out there. One of the gentlemen caught one small fish while I was rigging up. This guy looked somewhat familiar, but I'm not sure if it was the fellow I thought it was or not.

Anyway, I managed to get skunked again. I fished for about three hours but nothing. After about an hour or so another dozen fishermen came out. It was kind of crowded and the midges were coming off but nothing I had worked. I spoke with two other fishermen who had caught some fish on olive midges in the morning. I decided to go check out a small creek which is stocked by the state. I got there around 2:30 PM and I fished it for about an hour. I saw several Quill Gordon's but no risers. I saw one kid catching a stocker rainbow. This creek is a very nice stream but it gets crowded since it's open for all kinds of fishing and it's stocked in the spring only. I decided to head back home with a skunk to my name. It was a nice and warm day and fun to be out but no action for me on the fishing front.

The big event for this weekend was our 20Th anniversary. We decided to not to anything big in order to save some money, and besides, I had to take my old truck to Sears for some new shocks and some brake service. We decided to hit the Tomato Head in downtown Knoxville. We had a great time on Valentine's Day so I figured we couldn't go wrong by revisit the place. I just love their ham and pineapple pizza. That's what I'm eating in the picture. BTW, the double chin you see will only get bigger if I'm keeping this up. LOL. A very nice day indeed and I will be back as Arnold says.

Long Hiatus

I have been extremely busy at work the last week or so. I also had a bout of illness last Friday and I went to work on Saturday for a few hours to make up some time and tend to a few things that I had to do before a big event was going to take place at my work place.

I haven't fished anything yet but I am planning on it. We are finally in March and the weather seem to be going in the right direction. I will be reporting about my fishing trip next week.

I did some trimming of my evergreens outside my house tonight and it is so nice to be able to work outside again. I haven't read much books lately but I have watched some movies. One in particular was real good. It's an older movie from 1984. It 's directed by Sergio Leone, one of my favorite directors who died way too early in my opinion. Leone died in 1989 at age 60 from an heart attack. He is mostly famous for his directing of Clint Eastwood in the so called "Man of no name trilogy" or the "Dollars Trilogy". He is also very fundamental in the popularization of the so called "Spaghetti Western in the sixties. The western movie was never the same after Leone.

I loved Clint in "For a Fistful of Dollars" as well as in "For a Few Dollars More", but I really loved him in "The Good , The Bad and The Ugly". All cult movies nowadays. But what the hell was the name of the movie from 1984, which I was going to talk about before all this rambling?
Well, the name of the movie is; "Once Upon a Time in America". It is starring Robert De Niro, James Woods et al. It is a gangster movie but also an epic drama. It follows a gang of Jewish gangsters in New York from the early twenties until the sixties. It's not a "Godfather" type of movie where you can say that the characters are likable or even honorable. They are all scum and criminals but that's the point. Leone doesn't sugarcoat anything and he tells it the way it is. If you haven't seen this masterpiece go rent it!

It 's Leone's last movie as a director. It is sometimes considered the last in a trilogy. It's not really part of a trilogy in my opinion but some people considers, Leone's movies, Once Upon a Time in The West, (which by the way, probably is Leone's best western ever) and "Duck You Sucker" also known as "Once Upon a Time The Revolution" part one and two of this trilogy.

Anyway, this became a big Leone push. He deserve it and it's a tragedy that he didn't get to stay with us longer than he did.