Fishing with WXII NewsChannel 12's Austin Caviness....

Over the past couple of months I have gotten lots of questions about the fishing trip with WXII NewsChannel 12's Austin Caviness. Its really interesting that the only thing it took is an email and a phone call to get the ball rolling. Actually I was here one afternoon just tying flies and the thought had crossed my mind about his show and contacting him about possibly doing a segment. One email to him and a phone conversation and it was on the calendar.

I have done segments before with other folks from the local news stations, all of them lots of fun and the people very interesting and fun to be around. In that way, Austin was topnotch. If there's a nicer guy out there doing what he does I do not know of him. He's the same guy you see on the News doing the weather, and let me tell you - - - - the guy is a serious hunter and fisherman. It didn't take too many casts to see that he could fish, and was obviously no stranger to the fly rod. It only took minutes for him to hook up. Our original plan was to fish a few holes, enough for some footage and get him into a fish or two for the camera.

With a frontal system moving in, and clouds very thick, the fish were on, maybe wide open would be the right way to put it. In two pools we'd caught some really good fish, maybe a dozen or more, and plenty of footage for sure. Austin's camera man said,"Boy we usually don't have this problem....too much footage." It sure was good.

I watched as Austin fished every rig I handed him, nymph, dry , dry /dropper, emerger. He really put it to those Helton Creek fish. Our plan was to fish maybe an hour /hour and a half or so, but it was good enough that Austin didn't want to stop. It was good enough too that his camera man even got in on the action, catching maybe half a dozen fish of his own. Needless to say, what was going to be fish for an hour or so and get some footage and be back on the road by noon turned into fishing until 4pm and then quickly taking the waders and other stuff off and blasting off for home. It was a great day, we caught maybe 30 or more fish all together, a good day anywhere. Our plan is to do another segment this winter, on fly tying and I will be looking forward to that.

As I said earlier, Austin is one of the nicest folks I have ever met. Only a few minutes with him and you felt like you were with a long lost buddy from high school. He 's great......literally, at about 6'6" or 6'7" he really is. To see the clip from our onstream segment you can click here .

The Start of a New Year....

Now that the Christmas and New Year's holidays are past, we can get down to business.........You know there's only so much eating and loafing you can stand. If you are like us, there's only so much of Xbox 360 and a house full of kids that you can take. Although I must admit I have, with the help of my two boys, developed somewhat of an addiction to Guitar Hero. I guess it just gives me an opportunity to pretend I am a star doing another passion I used to have....and that is playing the guitar. Anyway, you know something's up when you find yourself playing with the kids toys as much as they do.

I always reflect on last year, years past, and to the year ahead, knowing that this year will hold some great things. We'll visit some of the same favorite holes or haunts, battle with a few fish I now know by name, develop some hot new "gotta have it" fly, and more. In all seriousness, and I won't disclose the location, but there was a 19" rainbow we named 'Junior' that allowed me the pleasure of photographing him on five different occasions, every time with a different customer. I know some folks thought I must have had a blow up fish to use as a photo prop.

Well, we are just past a bitter cold spell, its 60F outside today, and looks like I better get back to tying some of those fly orders.......

My Favorite Dry Fly Would have to be a Beetle......

As I sit here pecking away at the keys on this blog I dream of the summer and fall days of 2007 gone by I can't help but think of all the wonderful terrestrial moments I had both myself and with many of my guide clients. It makes me look forward with great anticipation of the coming 2008 terrestrial fishing...........it simply can't come soon enough!

My favorite fishing has to be summer beetle fishing to large fish that are in inches of water. There's something that makes it like hunting and fishing, and in the end one of the things that makes or breaks it is an angler's ability to stalk a fish. What a heart throbbing thrill it is to see a large fish, make a cast to the rear of its position (fish hears fly hit, turns and takes, and never sees angler, line, rod, or leader....). I have seen large browns lift half of their head out of the water. Then you, the angler, have to wait a microsecond as the fish starts down with its head to set the hook. Its interesting that so many folks bypass these opportunities, like walking upright into the tail of a pool without ever seeing the fish at their feet. The problem is that once you spook the near fish, he then runs upstream and spooks the next, and then all of the fish are spooked just like dominos, once set in motion, fall one by one. If there's a way to catch the fish of a lifetime, and maybe the brown of a lifetime, this may be the way to do it. Did I say I love to fish beetles........?

In the above clip, we had been casting to cruising fish in Dunlap Creek near Covington, VA. It gave a really neat opportunity to watch the slow, deliberate rise to a beetle that trout often do. I got really excited, and my first words were "there, he's got it, ....sweet!!!!!......." and to which the person fishing, Mike Perry of Thomasville, NC, whom I was guiding replied ".......that's intoxicating." And it definitely is. Once you've had a taste of it, you can never get enough. I can't wait !