Butterflies, Beavers, and Barr's Meat Whistle

"For the supreme test of a fisherman is not how many fish he has caught, not even how he has caught them, but what he has caught when he has caught no fish." -- John H. Bradley

Yep, the big guy is out of his slump.  The fish have been physically flying in the air, trying to get his flies..  He's had to turn fish away.  And... we have documentation to prove it!

Nice fish, hubby :)

Small carp

We are at a local creek that is a great canoeing spot.  We spent two recent mornings here.   Grabbed some really good raspberry-white chocolate scones at Enjoy, our local coffee shop for our morning snack.  I think it was the scones that changed our luck.  Really.  Now we need to get them every morning we fish so we don't break our streak.  Yum.....

"My" spot on the island

Butterfly on the rocks

The big guy went off fishing and parked me in a chair with some fly fishing magazines to study. (see chair above ) I think he was planning on testing me on the material.   Yep, I was in the middle of the island above reading up on wooly buggers and lots of fun fishing stuff.  (Exciting day, the new copy of "Beyond the Fly" just came out ) At one point I escaped and took this picture.  Hadn't seen hubby in a while and wanted to make sure he hadn't gotten pulled in by a big one.  whheew... found him intact, and fishing up a storm.  (can't lose my guy, who would supply me with my blog material?) Think it was actually the Barr's Meat Whistle fly that got the fish going.  Worth the $4 at LLBean, for sure.  At first the hubby was shocked that I paid that much for a fly. (even a fly with a cool name)  Money can't buy you love but apparently it can buy you fish :)

Wow... its a big one!  And it was a fighter..

His better side.  (The fishes better side, that is).  Every side of the big guy is awesome!

So this local hole is really interesting.  You feel like you are in the middle of nowhere.  It follows Rte 251, a quietly traveled two lane road.  Your canoe passes by the backyards of houses off this road.  Only saw one other couple canoeing over the two mornings. (in a pretty powder blue canoe)  But saw deer, blue heron, geese, ducks, snapping turtles, and the picture below shows this beaver carrying its newly chewed wood to its home.

Beaver

As with a faint star in the night's sky, one can better understand fishing's allure by looking around it, off to the side, not right at it.
-- Holly Morris

First time we've gone here since our September sojourn.  Back then we took an evening paddle and brought a good Merlot and some cheese and crackers.  Canoed up the creek sipping our wine.  After our paddle, sat by the dam area and had a glass by the moonlight.  

Doe and Fawn walking on the "island".  They didn't spot me for awhile so I was able to get a good group of photos.

The fighting fish.  It was tough but we got it out without a net.

View of the waterway from the canoe

Great weekend, hubby...  in closing : "Soul mates. It’s extremely rare, but it exists. It’s sort of like twin souls tuned into each other."

- from "When Dreams May Come"-

"To go fishing is the chance to wash one's soul with pure air, with the rush of the brook, or with the shimmer of sun on blue water. It brings meekness and inspiration from the decency of nature, charity toward tackle-makers, patience toward fish, a mockery of profits and egos, a quieting of hate, a rejoicing that you do not have to decide a darned thing until next week. And it is discipline in the equality of men - for all men are equal before fish." ~ Herbert Hoover

The big guy and I went to a secret hole at a friends house the other night.  Not a bite, but an interesting winding path to the water with some stone statues, benches and iron fences.  Felt like you were in an English garden.  

The water was high after a rainy day.  I got in trouble with the big guy because I wore my purple sandals instead of my water shoes.  I had to borrow his gigantic size 13 water shoes.... to save my Nikes from the mud.

He clearly doesn't understand how important it is too match when you go out to fish. :)  The water we went to was a pretty stream that wanders through a little local hamlet.  Allegedly, lots of fish reside there.  I guess they weren't hungry that night !

Definatly want to make it back here with my better camera during the day.  Some good shots to be had and maybe the big guy will have better luck !