The Fishing Waylands

My lovely little Alaina Rachel had to go the farm for 4-H this afternoon.  She loves Infinity Acres Ranch and I think the place is one of Ridgeway's unsung treasures.  Alaina loves working with all the animals and Laura and Rick have taught her so very much.  It's a wonderful opportunity to interact with wildlife and learn about life on the farm.  Check it out if you get the chance.

Alaina with Laura and Rick (and an alpaca) from Infinity Acres Ranch

Anyway, I decided to take Taryn Grace fishing while Alaina Rachel was at Infinity Acres.  We've been living in Ridgeway for a while, and I decided to see what the fishing was like up by Eggleston Falls.  I was actually checking the falls out a few days ago when an old-timer happened along and mentioned that he had greatly enjoyed fishing behind the falls as a boy.  So, today Taryn and I decided to see what it was all about.

First off, as with all of the wonderful Smith River Trails that are available to Henry County locals, the trail was great and the scenery was beautiful.  The falls themselves are nothing short of gorgeous.

Taryn had a blast!

I love this pic!

We fished for a shade under two hours, and we definitely had a lot of fun.  We hiked up above the falls, and this is the first spot we chose to fish from:

 

It was a nice spot, even if yesterday's rain made for a muddy river.  Better yet, the fish were biting.  I brought in a fish on my first cast.  Then Taryn joined the party.  They were small fish, mostly between six to ten inches, but we caught five fish at this spot.  Surprisingly, all but one was a catfish, and I'm used to pulling trout out of the Smith.  I landed the first catfish, and then Taryn went up on me, bringing in three fish in rapid succession.  Taryn is getting ready to turn 5, so she was rather fired up about the whole thing.  I hooked another fat little catfish before we decided to move closer to the falls.

Here are the fish Taryn reeled in:

1st catch = little catfish (7 inches)

2nd catch = fat catfish (9 inches)

3rd catch = small trout (7 inches)

 We only had a few minutes left before it was time to go pick up Alaina Rachel, but I wanted to see if anything was biting just above the falls, so we set up shop here:

I brought in another fat little catfish and we called it a day.  Taryn had a wonderful time, and she was excited.  She thought the falls were beautiful, and she was thrilled with our 3-3 tie.  She and her sister are having a pajama party at Girl Scouts now, and I'm sure she's still bragging about her fishing trip.  I bet her sister is jealous.  We went to the reservoir as a family on Sunday, but the fish weren't biting.  Thus, our Wayland leaderboard for the 2013 season is as follows:

Taryn: 3 (Tie for 1st)
Daddy: 3 (Tie for 1st)
Alaina: 0
Kristen: 0
Asher: 0

Yes, Asher fishes.  Kind of.

I know they don't exactly look thrilled, but like I said, the fish weren't biting.

I think it was probably just too windy Sunday, but my little troopers still managed to have fun.  Here's a look at the girls on the lake.

Anyway, the Waylands have been fishing this year, and we've been enjoying it.  I was definitely glad I shattered my egg and caught a few fish today, but that was no match for the sheer joy of watching little Taryn have so much fun.  In closing, if you're looking to have some fun with the family, you could surely do worse than heading out for a lake or a river and fishing.  If you're not down with that, you could always check out the falls or enjoy any of the Smith River trails located throughout Henry County.

Saturday's Epic Fishing Trip

 Yeah, it was epic, all right.  I don't want to think about it actually, but I promised pictures, and I'm not offering up the pictures without providing some type of explanation.  Call it an excuse, or a series of excuses, if you like, but I'm just trying to answer your questions.  For instance, you may wonder: why aren't you in the pictures?  I don't see you holding up any trout, Jimmy. 

Yes, you might just say that, and you would be correct.  Let me explain.

I struck out at the crack of dawn, and Master Gibbs and I froze our asses off for a couple of hours before it warmed up.  After a while, it was beautiful.  We fished all over the Smith River in Fieldale, hole-hopping repeatedly as we weren't getting any bites.  We kept encountering other fishermen who hadn't got any bites either, but most claimed to have heard from other fishermen that they had caught several trout.  Yet we never encountered those fishermen, only fishermen who said to have encountered them.  You follow?

Anyway, I only got one bite all day.  One.  And it was really more like a nibble.  I must have fished in twenty different spots, and I used a few different baits.  I used corn, nightcrawlers, salmon eggs, powerbait, and I sacrificed my best spinner to the river.  All for nothing. 

Late in the day, Philmo showed up, and he netted three small brown trout.  Not to be outdone, Master Gibbs landed a huge brown that has to be the biggest trout I've actually seen anyone pull out of the Smith. 

Me?  I just kept at it, enjoying a beautiful day on the river.  One bite.  No, I'm not bitter.  Not at all.  It was a beautiful day, and I spent it with friends.  It's not about catching fish anyway.  It's about having fun, and I had a great time.  And I'm not bitter at all. 

Here are your damn pictures:

It's that time again . . .

Today, I spent several hours checking out my fishing equipment.  I was trying to determine what I have, what I need, and what's working.  The verdict: well, it looks like everything is working, and I think it's entirely possible that I will never need to buy tackle again in this life.

Tomorrow, I will hit the Smith River in lovely Fieldale, Virginia with my good friends Master Gibbs and Philmo.  The weather forecast will hold true, and we will catch many, many trout.  I'll share pictures with you.

So it has been written, and so too shall it be done.

I hope you've got plans for the weekend, peeps.  You only live once.