A new first 04-06-10

Heard from a friend who said the striper were moving into the creek channels at a local lake, so I HAD to go see if I could coax one out with my fly rod. Beautiful day, nice scenery, and 5 willing fish brought to hand from a fly I tied.

All in all, a perfect day on the water.

Still don't know about that whole "fly fisherman" thing though....

Sipsey Tailrace 03-09-2010

Success at last!!! I have attempted for some time to catch a trout on a fly rod without any luck, and being that I live in the "Heart of Dixie" my trout waters are pretty limited.... Ok, very limited, as in limited to the tailrace below the Lewis Smith Dam. I've had it stuck in my head for some reason that I couldn't really consider myself a "true" fly fisherman until I had fooled one of these multicolored devils with feather and fur flung from the end of a 9 ft. stick. But that thought ended on this day. I managed to trick 10 fish into eating my little copper john nymph.

Hmmm, I don't know if I would consider myself a "fly fisherman" yet.

And yes, I know, I need a new watch band.

In the beginning........

Where to start.....

Well, I guess first and foremost, the reason I've started this blog is to keep track of my fishing exploits. I've wanted to keep a fishing journal for some time now, but have procrastinated about doing it. Since pen and paper didn't seem to work out, I thought maybe an electronic version would be easier to keep track of. I don't know how often this thing will be updated, but I will try to pretty regularly.

Now, on to a little about me. I am married to a wonderful and very understanding woman. Understanding in the sense that she knows how much I yearn to fish, and never gives me a hard time about the time I spend on the water. I have two great kids, one who adores fishing as much as me, and the other who likes the idea, but not so much the actual act of fishing. My job, or as I like to think of it, the thing that keeps me off the water more than it should, is that of a Deputy Sheriff. Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but it does keep me from my hobby a little more than I think it should. Of course, that could just be because I'm a fishing addict.

Most of my fishing comes in the form of kayak fishing, specifically fly fishing from a kayak. Thus the title of this blog, fat-guy-in-a-little-boat. My kayak of choice at the moment is an Ocean Kayak Prowler Trident 13. She is pretty fast, and paddling against the current is a breeze in it. If I'm not in my kayak, I am normally wading the creeks and rivers around my house. I have been blessed by God with an abundance of places within 30 minutes of my front door to go after a variety of freshwater species.

Oh well, I guess I've rambled on enough for now, I will try to get some older trip reports up pretty soon.