I love to fly fish and I am always looking for opportunities to fish in my home state of Alabama. Most of the fishing opportunities are for warm water species in the rivers, creeks and lakes around the state and there are a lot of opportunities from fishing the native red eye bass in many of the small creeks across the state, large mouth and spot bass, small mouth bass, white bass and stripe bass in many rivers and lakes in the state. There are also many opportunities to fish for sunfish, bream, bluegills etc.

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I have had a dream of owning an Oyster Bamboo Rod for years. I have been by Bill Oyster’s store front in Blue Ridge GA many times while fishing the trout streams of the Southern Appalachians. His rods are true works of art. There is something special that stirs in me when I hold a fine bamboo rod akin to the same feeling when I have an antique English made side by side shotgun in my hands. I like the connection to the past and there is something about the purity in something that is handmade, from natural materials that you cannot get from something that is made from modern manufactured materials.

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I recently purchased a Hardy Cascapedia 6/7 reel. I loaded it with 6 WF, 160g floating line from 406 fly lines out of Montana. These lines are designed especially for glass and bamboo rods with slower actions. The Cascapedia has a large arbor and holds a generous amount of backing. I put 100 yards of 20pd Dacron backing with 30 yards of 6WF fly line and still had plenty of room. The reel is heavier than the Hardy Perfect wide spool model at 8.4oz which worked out nice in the situation because I bought it for use with my new Oyster Bamboo 6wt, 9-foot rod and the reel balances nicely on this rod. I think it would also work nicely with a 7wt carbon switch rod.

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I have wanted to own a fine English shotgun for many years. I have always regarded them as fine, functional works of art and I enjoy reading about the history of bespoke English gun makers. “The best English shotguns where not mass produced, instead they endured as mechanical art form.” – Cyril Adams, Lock Stock & Barrel.

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Fly Fishing. I love the sport. It is like a ballet performed on a stage of some of the most beautiful landscapes across the world. Standing knee deep in the crystal clear waters of the Fall River in Central Oregon, I stop my rod at 10 0’clock, let the line stretch out behind me, then with a quick stop at 2’clock the line rolls out to my front with a perfect loop as the delicate may fly pattern lights on top of the water in front of me and drifts the seam.

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The first time I shot a Connecticut Shotgun Manufacturing Company Revelation shot gun was at Fishing Creek Farms in Union Point Georgia. My wife and I had driven up from Birmingham to pick out an English Cocker and do a bird hunt and they had one of these 20 gauges available as a guest gun. I knew nothing about this gun at the time and after a day in the field with it I decided I had to have one. It is a beautiful round action, over-and-under 20 gauge and the action is finished in a traditional bone and charcoal case hardening with understated engraving, walnut stock and 22 LPI checkering. It has single selective trigger and automatic ejectors, and the house gun I borrowed had upgraded wood.

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I love unique hand-crafted sporting items, especially when they have a wood component. I just love the beauty of wood grains and the way polished wood feels in my hands; that is why I always prefer wood stocks on my guns. I like a beautiful wood reel seat on my fly rods and exotic wood handles on knives. I also like to support boutique craftsmen that make these heirloom quality items.

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I have been waiting for months for my custom C. Barclay glass 3wt rod to come in. I was excited to receive it. I am impressed with the attention to detail and quality of the outfit. First, it came in a metal rod tube with brass end caps. One end has a screw off cap that has large threads, it is made of a heavy gage material, I am guessing aluminum and is superbly made. Inside the tube there is a green cloth rod bag with sharp yellow stitching. It is made from a medium weight canvas and is precisely put together. Mine is a 4-piece yellow fiberglass rod. The guide wraps on the snake guides are flawless. I ordered it with an orange agate stripping guide which looks sharp on the yellow rod. The pieces go together smoothly and there are alignment dots on each section of rod. The rod seat is a beautiful piece of camphor and the locking rings are matt black. The cork is of high grade and is planed down to precisely meet the reel seat, it is a cigar shaped cork handle that tapers to where the rod comes out.

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What happened to the nymphs of old

With firey hair and eyes of gold?

They ride away on unicorns bright

Trailing clouds of dust in amber light.

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May flies performing a ballet
Rippling currents make the stage
Waiting trout lay beneath
Flash of color ~ sparkling spots

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I love collecting handmade sporting equipment like knives, fly rods, guns, etc. I look at these things as functional works of art and nice pieces can be passed down as heirlooms for generations. I especially like collecting fine, handmade knives. I recently purchased an Arno Bernard handmade knife and I am impressed by the fit, materials and beauty of the newest piece in my collection.

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I tested the Springfield Armory XD-E 3.3 at the CMP range yesterday. I am a fan of Springfield Armory, one of my favorite pieces is my Range Officer 911 in .45ACP.

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I have been researching kayaks to purchase so I can take advantage of fishing the many small creeks and rivers in Alabama. I wanted one to primarily use for fly fishing. As I started looking at these boats there were a few things I did not like about many of them. First, many kayaks have a lot of things to get the fly line caught and snagged in. For instance, the foot pegs on most boats are right in the area that I saw myself stripping line into and saw that as a potential problem. Also, all of the rod holders we fine for baitcasting and spinning rods, however did not accommodate fly rods. The other feature I was looking for is a boat that was stable enough to be able to stand and cast.

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Smell of leather, gun oil, horse sweat
Foot in stirrup, spurs
Golden rays, tall pines
Nose in air, muscles locked, motionless

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Ashton cigars are handmade in the legendary Tabacalera A. Fuente factory in the Dominican Republic.  Fuente makes some of my favorite cigars and that quality is seen in the Ashton brand

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For the past couple of years, I have been making the trip up to Clarksville Georgia to fish at Black Hawk Lodge.  Blackhawk is situated on the Soque River, which is a small winding river that you can easily wade across almost any part. 

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Theodore Roosevelt was a true Renaissance man.  He was an author, conservationist, naturalist, explorer, soldier, politician and sportsman.   He published A Book-Lover’s Holidays in the Open in 1916, just four years before his death at age 60, he died of a pulmonary embolism in his sleep at his home at Sagamore Hill, in Oyster Bay, New York

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“The hunter’s horn sounds early for some, later for others.  For some unfortunates, poisoned by city sidewalks and sentenced to a cement jungle more horrifying that anything to be found in Tanganyika, the horn of the hunter never winds as all.  But deep in the gut of most men is buried the involuntary response to the hunter’s horn, a prickle of the nape hairs, an acceleration of the pulse, an atavistic memory of their forefathers, who killed first with stone, and then with club, and then with spear, and then with bow, and then with gun, and finally with formulae.”

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I just completed this novel.  It is written by Ronnie Wells who is a naturalist and wildlife artist.  He is known nationally as a wildlife artist both painter and sculptor.  One of his sculptures stands in front of the Headquarters of Ducks Unlimited in Memphis, Tennessee.  I meet Mr. Wells and his wife recently at Brays Island Plantation in South Carolina where I had an opportunity to admire his work.  He had copies of his novel with him and I picked one up as it looked like a good story.  The novel’s main charter is Calvin who is an orphaned eleven-year-old who runs away to live in the Great Tensas River Bottom with a larger-than-life 140-pound Catahoula Cur/Great Dane mix.  The book is nicely illustrated with drawings Mr. Wells did himself.  I found it a delightful story that reminded me a little bit of Huckleberry Finn and Ruark’s Old Man and the Boy.  It is an enjoyable and nice read, if you are a fan of Southern Literature I believe you may enjoy it. 

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