HAPPY NEW YEAR AND GOOD RIDDANCE 2010!

My 2010:

1. In January, we lost a good friend and a great man when my step-father ( who was like a father to me) passed away.
2. In February, I lost my job. For the second time in as many years.
3. We had to trade in our nearly new Honda Civic for a used (but paid for) rattling, scratched, rust-bucket of a Mazda Tribute. ( It could always be worse, though – for now, it’s still running.)
4. We put our house up for sale again, but there’s little hope we’ll even get an offer.
5. I suffered from what I realize now was some fairly serious bouts of depression.
6. I fished only three or four times all year. ( For much of my adult life, I’ve fished every other weekend, and then some…)
7. I’ve gained nearly 50 pounds. I eat when I’m sad. So, I’ve had alot of excuses to go around for that.
8. I’m very, very close to my mother….and find that I’m feeling more and more as if I’m just too far away from her, especially now that she’s alone. ( 2.5 hour drive, roughly)
9. My poor wife is working tons of overtime, which is keeping us afloat, but I miss her being here when she’s working late all week.

I guess to some folks that have it worse, this would seem to be just whining. Maybe most of those points are a little whiny – but I can’t tell you how losing my step-dad devastated our family this year, and still does. And losing a job again because my employer could not afford to keep me on gave me a very helpless feeling. One that I’d felt the year before when the housing market crashed here and it happened to me the first time.  But, although it’s been a tough year for us, it could be worse. It can always be worse.

Today, in the parking lot of Best Buy where we’d been “window shopping” just for kicks, a man stopped beside us as we were cranking up the car to leave. He was wearing a camo coat which was dusty and torn, and had small boxes of very old looking clothes and other “junk” in the back of his car. None of it was in very nice shape. Neither was the man himself – you knew that just to look at him. My wife cracked her window when he spoke to us, saying “excuse me please, excuse me” in the most desperate tone I may have ever heard. His voice shook with fear or embarrassment…I could not tell which. He said that he hated to do it, but he was forced into asking…”Sir” he said, “I’m homeless and I don’t have any money for food or anything.” We said nothing, my wife looked to me. “I‘m sorry to have to ask  you, but do you have just a dollar that you might spare to help me out. I need something to eat…”

I’m no sucker. I’ve seen the game that some people play on the street. “Will work for food” often means “Cash Only, Sucker.” This guy, was not one of those people. This guy was embarrased and ashamed. His face looked as if he was probably a proud, independent man at one time, now reduced to begging complete strangers for a dollar. I asked my wife if she had any cash. We frequently rely on debit cards these days and rarely have any cash at all. She flipped through some one’s and found a ten dollar bill. “I have a ten” she said. I took it from her and said, “stay here. ok…” Then I took something else from her.

I wasn’t carrying today because I’ve pulled a muscle in my back on my strong side. The weight of the Glock .40 cal was making my back hurt because of that pull so I left it at home – and I don’t mind my wife being the protector because, quite frankly, she is a much better shot than I am anyway. I slipped her G26 9mm out of her purse and into the 2 o’clock position on the inside of my jeans. It was in a small black neoprene clip holster. I made sure that my shirt did not cover the weapon, which is legal here in Georgia with a Georgia Weapons License.( I often “open carry” in a Serpa) I was walking up to a strange man who may in fact be in a more desperate situation than we knew. Was he lying? Was he going to try something? Was he mentally stable? I had no way to know. I wasn’t taking any chances. I walked around the car, even with my hand resting on the holster – the other hand outstretched with the ten in it. He absolutely almost cried. I’m not sure if it was because we were helping him, or because he was ashamed that I felt the need to make sure he knew we thought he could be a threat. He took the ten, even then after almost begging us for it, almost reluctantly. I believe he said “God bless you” four or five times before I could walk back to my side of the truck. I think by then he was crying. Sobbing with his hands on the wheel of that ratty old car. I would bet my life that those ten dollars did not go to beer or wine or drugs. I have no doubt we helped him get through the night without going to bed hungry.

I wished we could have helped him more. Would those other three dollars have made much of a difference? Now, sitting at home after having time to think about it, I’m sure they would have. At least a little. But, when that sort of thing happens, I’m always weary of being burned as I once was in Charlotte one night, for nearly $50 by, according to the people working in the steak house, people who had been caught “working” the parking lot before.

As you’ve read I’m also weary of bad guys. It’s a sad reality in the world we live in that if you intend to be safe, you can’t trust anyone you don’t know, and at times those you do know. With tough times already here, and more probably on the way – you can’t be too careful. ( If you don’t carry a weapon and are legally able to do so, I cannot stress to you enough the importance of being able to protect yourself or your loved ones when danger strikes – and it can happen anywhere, anytime…and to anyone.)

So, don’t think that the realization that it can always be worse is lost on me. I know it can. I saw it today, and tonight I wish I had done more than I did. But I also had my mind on our safety, and our own provisions. So it may be appropriate that 2010 ended like it did. On a very depressing and sour note. My hope is that we all appreciate what we have in 2011 – family, friends, jobs if you have one, faith, a roof over our heads, and a little time – and a little money to fish or hunt.

So, I do wish all of you a very Happy New Year…..but I’m very glad that 2o1o is finally, finally over.

owl

10 Ways to Beat Cabin Fever this Winter

Local Yokels

I thought I’d take a minute to tell you about a milestone for FFSBR. Now, to understand why this is a milestone, you have to understand the local fly-fishing history of this guy named “Owl.” It’s a long, sordid story that I won’t make you sit through, but I think I can sum it up pretty well for you in a one or two sentences:

I’ve been banned from at least 1/2 of the fly fishing and/or trout fishing forums in the Southeast, because I don’t walk the politically correct line. Each time I was forced to hold my ground and thus be banned for it – my reputation suffered at the hands of those who banned me, not because I’m really that bad of a guy; but because I have the very unfortunate and regrettable ability to make people so very, very angry.

So, that milestone I was telling you about? I was checking the stats for FFSBR today, just poking around to see who had come from where and that sort of thing. I noticed that there was an incoming hit from a blog that sounded familiar, but I wasn’t sure if I’d just seen a link somewhere to it or if I’d actually read it before. Turns out I’d read it, possibly made a comment (although I couldn’t find it anywhere with just a cursory look) and remembered thinking that I should favorite that thing or follow it. As happens so many times, I guess my brain and fingers and mouse were all moving faster than they needed to and somehow it must have gotten lost in the shuffle of all the new blogs I’m trying to keep up with. Oh sorry, about that milestone….

Well, you see…this just happens to be the first local blog that has linked to FFSBR without me linking to them first, or making several comments, etc. I still haven’t made the blog-roll over at Trout Underground, but making the very short blog-roll over at the Fine Water blog is no small potatoes! I’m honestly not sure if these guys have ever heard of me or not. Maybe they have. Maybe they haven’t. But one thing’s for sure – I’m glad to be finding some small amount of admiration at home, after more than a few years of having my once good name dragged through the mud. Drug through the mud? Ah, who cares?! The folks at the *Fine Water* blog have put me on their blog-roll and I’m very, very grateful for it. Apparently, the blog there is run by three guys who love to fish and have a great sense of humor – my kinda guys! Two of the three are casting instructors with impressive resumes. That third is probably just a trout bum, according to his profile on blogger. 😉 But hey, a trout bum is ok with me too! Absolutely ok with me!

So anyway, to you folks out there who haven’t been a part of my online fly fishing past, it may seem like it’s no big deal – but I assure you it is. At least to me. It’s been my goal since starting FFSBR to do a few things, one of which goes against my nature and is purely selfish( although that sounds a bit “toot my own hornish” doesn’t it?), and that is to try and reinsert myself into as many fly-fishing circles as I can. There are two reasons for that desire…

First, because right now in my life I need it. After a horrible 2010, and almost two years of being pretty much out of fly-fishing (and definitely out of fly fishing circles, save my *small forum*) two lay-offs from two different companies in as many years….I need fly-fishing. I need it bad. And it has once again begun to comfort me like no other activity ever has, save maybe football which is my very first recreational love.

And secondish, I’m rowing a boat here. It’s a small boat and it may be rowing out to sea to be beaten to death. I don’t know…I just know that I’m rowing it and I can’t stop. And the boat has a name. The name is ” Identity” and I’m learning to accept that no matter what I do or what happens to me, fishing is a big part of who I am and what I have become. As I said in another post somewhere my mother has, somewhere in a shoe box full of photos, a picture of little Owl. He’s holding a stringer. On the stringer is a laregemouth bass. He’s wearing a diaper.

Then, there’s the story that has been told to me (and countless others) about the day my parents first spent the day with me. I’m adopted, you see and they were allowed to spend a day with me in a hotel room the day before the court allowed them to adopt me. The story is that my father, who was himself a fisherman, took me in his arms and asked ” Are you ready to go fishing, boy?”

Reports are that I, barely two months old at the time, giggled at the proposition.

So, I row this boat, without the wind of a real job in my sails toward who knows what. And this recognition by another local blog, which to some might seem a minor event has put a few more knots of speed behind it. At least one. Probably two. Can you feel it? 😉

Thank you *Fine Water* guys. Like fly fishing itself, your kind inclusion of FFSBR on the ‘roll is a much needed boost to the journey.

Owl

PS – If you’re wondering what’s up with the links, I’m afraid I don’t know myself. This particular theme defaults them to gray, which IMHO doesn’t make them stand out enough. However, trying to change them to blue only works on some links, some of the time. So, you’ll just have to forgive that oddity until I can get it worked out. 🙂

Today I cast my new tenkara rod…

The verdict?

Yesterday, I almost destroyed the world.

How? How, you ask?

Well, first I have to tell you that it wasn’t “the world.” I exaggerated on that just a little bit, just to keep with the theme of the event. It was however, the message board over at Tenkara USA. I got a rather condescending private message over there that said I had almost caused the forum to crash because of a post I made. That’s right, a post. You know, that thing on a forum where you put your thoughts to the keys and out comes a few sentences. Apparently, there was some internet-forum-server anomaly that I caused by written word that almost made the whole thing come crashing to the ground! It’s understandable that from time to time, forum members – like bloggers, are going to have their disagreements. I’m ok with that….however…..

….the really hard pill to swallow was that the PM came to me from a fellow blogger that I respect, although I do not know him very well. He said something to the effect of ” you’ve caused a forum that was very enjoyable to me” to nearly crash and burn. Excuse me, but I’ll have to pull out my very bestest Glenn Beck on that one and say ” really? Really? REALLY? ”

With all due respect to that blogger who shall remain unnamed, and to Daniel who runs Tenkara USA and to the other 13 folks that read that forum…… I don’t think so.

Look, to begin with – you can’t crash a forum on that system by typing what some consider to be offensive words into a post. It’s not a cotton gin you’ve just shoved cantaloupes into. You can pretty much post anything you want in those things….words, photos, Japanese animation….and nothing you post is going to cause the forum “to crash.” I know, because I run three forums right now and have run more than a dozen in the last 10 years. It just doesn’t work that way.

And secondly, if you’re going to threaten to ban me, you had better make sure I care. Otherwise, you’re just wasting your time. I found that forum. I saw it was almost abandoned by “good forum” standards. I tried to inject a little life into it over the last month – and what do I get for my trouble? Well, for starters an accusation that I was somehow offending someone by asking (are you ready for this? don’t have food in your mouth, ok? ) …by asking what the proper pronunciation of “tenkara” was in English! Yes, really.

Then, someone asked “are we really having this conversation?” and I said “sure. why not?” They said they were leaving before the thread offended all of the peoples in the countries of Brazil and Japan. ( NO, I am not making this up!) I said “huh?” and then something very close to “if I am trying to offend you, you’ll know it!”

( FYI – I can cut to the bone, make people crazy-angry and hit right where it hurts, if I so choose. It’s not a gift, it’s a curse – but on very rare occasions, if I’m really ticked off – I’ll do it. And…like I said…you’ll know it.)

So, this morning I find a private message in my inbox from the aforementioned respected blogger, who proceeds to inform me that A. My post almost crashed the forum website, and B. he sure would hate it if I got banned.

The irony in all of this ( and it’s me, owl – so you knew I’d find the irony in it, right?) is that on a forum so sterile and bland as that one, one little post causes an outbreak of drama the likes of which none of them have ever seen before, apparently. By most internet forum standards, it wasn’t even a mild argument – but for whatever reason, at Tenkara USA it apparently just about caused a system wide melt-down!

So, I tell you what….if you’ve got that thin of a skin, go ahead an ban your most active user in the last 30 days. I was thinking you guys over there needed a little pep, a little activity, a little decent conversation, a little humor. Apparently, you’re happy with much, much less than that. If I’m banned, it won’t be the first time.

(Actually, the tally would then be 4…or maybe 5 internet fishing sites I’ve been banned from…..and the stuff I post on this blog is the same kinda of stuff that got me banned. It’s called “refusing to be politically correct” and I wish more people would resolve to join me in it. Who really believes everyone, everywhere is a saint? Are you?

 

Me neither.

I make forums crash with mere words! Booga-booga-booga!

Sleepily yours,

Owl

It’s 5:36 am and yes…

…I have been up all night again.

I try to go to sleep like a normal human being, I really do. Tried at 11:33 pm but got up after 45 minutes of lying there staring at the darkness. Tied a few dozen flies – elk hair caddis mostly, but a few eggs too. Went back to sleep (ha!) at 2:35. No good….after almost an hour I got back up. Tied some more flies. Got on the computer. Worked on blogs. Created new blog ( I think that’s 5 in one day, now.) Checked out OBN to see if my links were adjusted. (They aren’t.) Tried to find where I’d asked Rebecca about them on Facebook. ( I could not.) Strolled into the Dashboard here to make this post. It’s 5:39 now and I’m feeling a little sleepy – but if I go to bed now, I’ll sleep most of the day and then be up again tonight! Maybe I’ll set an alarm and move the alarm clock as far away as possible. Just a few hours of sleep this morning, then some OTC sleeping pills tonight to make sure I go to sleep – or a couple of Benadryl, which make me sleepy but don’t improve my spelling much.

I think stress makes me stay awake more than I should, although when I’m awake like this – all night – it’s not the stressful things that I’m thinking about, so I dunno. Maybe my wife is right. She swears that I come from another planet – a planet called “The Planet Slow” where the days are 23.8 hours long. If I’m an alien from outer-space that might explain alot.

• Why I like strawberry sauce on my mashed potatoes.
• Why I “don’t know where my toes are” and constantly bash them on the furniture.
• Why I sleep less than ideally most of the year.
• Why I can never remember a place being as far away as it is….like the length of hikes to good trout water…
• Why I wonder about things like: Why is Florida always pointing down on every map and globe ever made?
• Why I seem to like my pizza cold. And my Chinese food. And most leftovers.
• Why I can’t get a job. ( You say alien here, and forget about it! )
• Why I can calculate the exact distance, speed, force and trajectory needed to land a #22 BWO in front of a trout feeding 30 feet away in a braided current, freestone stream – but can’t assemble anything with more than three screws.
• Why I like to bake. ( Seriously. What is up with that?)
• Why I frequently use the words ” Mother-Chicken!” like some people use …..well,  you can guess I’m sure…
• Why I don’t have the brains big enough to say “NO!” when my friend asks me if I’d like to bushwhack into that high altitude stream we fished two years ago where I almost died. ( Only half joking on that one, folks.)
• Why I am not afraid of spiders, snakes, bears or rabid beavers….but I’m terrified of a single bee. ( Have you ever heard a sonic boom from someone exiting a car in which a bee has just made an appearance?)
• Why I refuse to go to a doctor unless something is falling off or turning purple and green.
• Why I always put my rods back in their tubes, my reels in their cases and my vest in the closet – but can’t manage to get my socks in the hamper if I’m standing 3 inches from it.

You know, the sad part is……..

……………I could go on.

Random Picture time:

 

Mrs. Owl and I, September 12th, 2009 - Our orange buttons are from the gun rights group we belong to (GeorgiaCarry.org) and say "Guns Save Lives"

They’re heeeeeeeree….

On the old Fly Fishing the Southern Blue Ridge, I would occasionally tell you about sales I found while looking at things on the interwebz. About three weeks ago I told you about a deal at Cabela’s for some of their house brand (read: made in china) rods. Today, 4 of them showed up at my doorstep. I’d show you some pictures, but they are so pretty with their dark wood inserts and their olive/lime green blanks…I’m sure someone would accuse me of photoshopping the Cabela’s name onto a Sage. Well, I’m sure there will be photos at some point, when I feel like I can get over the ridicule of being accused of internet shenanigans! ( For the record, my spell-checker didn’t blink when I typed “shenanigans” and as a matter of fact I did say, quite out loud….” hmmpf?” )

For now, you’ll just have to dream about the four rods I’ve locked away and wish that you’d been smart enough to get some for yourself.

What am I going to do with four 7’6 4wt beautiful green fly rods, you ask? Well, one is going into my closet as a back-up rod, one is being sold to a friend for what I paid for it, and two are going to be donated to  <  PROJECT HEALING WATERS > or some other organization that can use them.

[Sidenote: I put the first sentence in italics, deselected it, but then hit the backspace key and POOF – the font changed! Note to self (and anyone else having this problem): Do not backspace a whole paragraph. ] OK, I just put the cursor at the beginning of this paragraph and hit backspace and BINGO – it did it again.  If I hit it one more time it will probably disappear. ]

So, I mean….you can’t be too mad at me, right? 😉

Saltwater Fishing for the First Time

Saltwater Fishing for the First Time

( A Guest Post from Josh over at Something’s Fishy! )

I find that many freshwater anglers are intimidated by the idea of fishing in the ocean. Like most types of fishing , it is only as complicated as you make it. If you’ve ever fished for bass or catfish you probably have just about everything you need to get started catching fish from a pier here on the East Coast.

One of my favorite fish to catch from a pier is the Norfolk Spot. They are a smaller cousin of the Red

This Blue Crab lives over at the blog "Something's Fishy!"

Drum and are considered by many to be spirited fighters as well as excellent table fare. A seven foot medium heavy bass rod with a large reel is more than capable of handling two or even three spots at a time. Some of the ” Catfish Combo ” rods and reels sold at the big box retailers will also work quite well.

The biggest differences between fresh and saltwater fishing are the types of rigs and sinkers used. To hold your bait in place it is often necessary to use three ounce or larger pyramid sinkers. Because of this , it is a good idea to use 17-20 pound line and often a 40-50 pound shock leader. The shock leader really isn’t needed for spot fishing because the surf is normally relatively calm during a spot run and 2 ounce sinkers will be fine. You will need a rig though. Most saltwater fisherman use simple two hook bottom fishing rigs that are widely available at tackle shops near the coast. An even better option would be to tie your own out of 30 pound monofilament.

After you’re rigged and ready to go , it’s time to bait up. For bottom feeding fish like the spot there are several effective baits. Live or imitation bloodworms are an excellent choice , but they are expensive. Other good choices would be small pieces of fresh shrimp , sand fleas and cut bait. During a big run of spots it’s also possible to catch them on familiar freshwater baits like nightcrawlers and red wigglers , though personally I’ve never caught more than a few on these.

A 'mess' of Bluefish.....I think.....

When you are ready to go , pay the admission fee to get onto the pier ( no license required ) and pick out a good looking location. My favorite place is behind the inner sand bar. You can locate the inner bar by watching where the larger waves begin to break as they come in. I like to set up 10 to 15 feet behind the bar when I can , but definitely get out past it.

Casting with the heavier weights used in the surf can be difficult for beginners. I always cast underhanded from a pier  , but overhand casts will work. Just remember to cast gently or the sinker can break your line. You don’t have to cast far to catch fish from a pier and can often catch them by simply dropping your rig straight down.

Another great thing about saltwater fishing is that you never know exactly what you’ll catch. The same rig and bait can produce several different species of fish , depending on what is around on any given day. Summer Flounder , Northern Kingfish , Atlantic Croakers and Florida Pompanos are just a few of the species that can be caught from a pier. You can find out more about them here.

Be prepared for fast paced action when fishing from a pier. When a big school of fish comes through people will start catching fish two and three at a time. Sounds fun , huh?

Tight Lines!

Josh Mann from Something’s Fishy

___________________________________________________________________

THANKS Josh! It’s good to know that someone out there knows what they’re doing when we’re talkin’ salt water fishing! I’m looking forward to your next guest post already! ( Which I have, folks…and you’ll be seeing very soon!) Josh Mann is a saltwater angler of the highest caliber, a member of the Outdoor Blogger Network and a heckuva nice guy!

Be sure to visit his blog, Something’s Fishy to keep up with all the cool stuff Josh posts there!

 

————————————————————————————————

As you can see, we’re not exclusively fly fishing around here. If you’d like to see your own Guest Post about an outdoor topic here at Fly Fishing the Southern Blue Ridge, just send me an email at Owl Jones’ Email
…..and I’ll take a look. If it’s something I think our readers would enjoy, we’ll put it up on the site that very same week!

The Definitive List of Changes

In this installment of the ever popular series ” Owl Changes Stuff Around and Hopefully For the Better” we’re going to cover all the recent changes made to my fly fishing empire. heh.

1. “Fly Fishing the Southern Blue Ridge” is now located, well…..here.
2. “OMG It’s Fly Tying!” is now here: OMG It’s Fly Tying! (new location)
3. “Appalachian Tenkara” is now here: Appalachian Tenkara (new location)
4. “Appalachian Tenkara” the website is still here: Appalachian Tenkara (website)
5. Yesterday’s underwear has been replaced with new, freshly washed underwear.
6. And finally, the blogroll is starting to be compiled once again, however slowly.
7. What was formerly “Braided Currents“, which was formerly my personal website has been reverted back to a personal website of sorts and  – not to sound too smug about it – turned into the “hub” of all things Owl. Right now, there are links to four other fly fishing websites I own and run, and soon there will be more content on that site itself. Like, by tonight. The address for that, in case you get bored to the point of near suicide, is www.owljones.com, naturally.

So, for now – there you have it. I’m going to leave forwarding posts on the other blogs today and I’ll be switched over permanently to the new locations. Also, for anyone who cares, I have a new email where I can be reached almost 24/7: owljonesblog@yahoo.com.

And, as you almost always find in my posts, you get a free photo of something irrelevant:

 

Summertime fun!

No font too small, no type too bold…

This is just a little post that I think I’ll delete once it’s posted. I’m trying to troubleshoot the font size issue. WordPress has an amazingly strange system for font size selection. Unlike almost every other website creator I’ve used (and I’ve used my share, let me tell you…weebly, yahoo, some others I can’t remember…) this thing doesn’t have the size selection that most of them do. It’s got a drop-down box for the font, but it lists the size as paragraph, header 1, header 2, etc. And switching to one of them mid-post is a huge no-no apparently because then all sorts of whacky stuff starts happening. And in that last post I made, things went whacky for no reason at all. I felt like that kid in that Indiana Jones movie who “didn’t touch anyting, Indy!”

Spring. It's closer than you think.

Naturally, since I’m paying more attention to what, or rather how I’m typing this time – nothing is going to happen. Maybe I should close my eyes and see where that leads. Or maybe not. I’d probably just fall asleep and the rest of the post would look like hyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

I probably just “broke” something there, didn’t I? Oh well. Perfection is overrated anyway. At least I’ve got Google Chrome to keep my spelling in check. btw – if you haven’t tried Google Chrome, it’s probably the best thing to ever come out of Google Labs. Plus, when Google takes over the entire world, I’ll already be used to the Official State Browser.

And what I wouldn’t do for a “Publish” button underneath this post entry box. WordPress, oh wonderful WordPress….why ya gotta be so different? Then again, different is good sometimes.

Alright, I’m starting to talk to myself now, and none of it is about fishing or hiking or camping. Time to cut myself off and end this test post. Where nothing unusual happened. Except that nothing unusual happened. You’re cutting us off? Why? Shut up. We need to tie some flies. We did that yesterday. Hello? Remember? Yeah, I remember but we didn’t tie any caddis. So? It’s freaking winter? Well, it won’t be forever. Oh and like when did you decide to get all proactive and stuff? When it comes to caddis…you know we never have enough of them by April. So we’ll tie some more then – let’s play Bioshock 2 for a little bit. How about you just shut up and we tie some caddis. Good luck with that, I’m not moving. I’m ending this post. Whatever. You know only 4 people read this crappy blog anyway. Yeah, but they’re friends of mine so deal with it  – and we’re NOT playing games today. We’ve got too much to do.

 

My wife and I during the spring, when the caddis are hatching. Guess which one isn't me.

 

…..