RIP Mongo Bat

I did a full scale investigation to locate the Mongo Bat tooling. I talked to the old plant manager, salesman, shipping clerk and union steward, all to no avail. It appears that the tooling was the property of Mattel and they have no records that go back that far. It is very unlikely that there would be enough interest is resurrecting the Mongo Bat to warrant the capital required to build new molds. Good bye old friend!

You can not teach bears in the winter

Emma tried to teach the bears Spanish last January, but they kept falling asleep so she is trying right now. But first no hands bike riding. Then Emma began to prepare for the class.

She had a little trouble with the Moose who was asking questions and turned out to be very disruptive. She threw up her hands in disgust! Before you knew it was time for recessonary as Emma puts it and we all went outside to play on the swing.

After swing, the bears were thirsty so Emma invited them into her house for a refressing hot cup of chocolate with honey of course.

Nantahala White Water

So we took the family (10) all up to the Nantahala River for a white water rafting experience. We had been there before and we knew we would have a great ride down the river and perhaps a little fishing as it is one of the premier NC rivers for trout.
Tommy took his fly pole along and also borrowed a spinning rod and pole from me, a double fisted fisherman was he. But, I believe that he choose the rafting over fishing as there was so much commotion on the stream. Here is a good shot of Brian and Tommy in the whitewater.

It got a little worse as you can see from the second picture.

They survived the white water without a scratch and did not fall out this time. On our last trip Marj fell out and nearly drowned.

However, the spinning reel and pole did not survive the trip. It appears that there are a few more pieces of the pole than when we started.

Tip:Trout Fishing with Bugs

Summertime is when the bugs are eating you up. Mosquitoes, ants, etc are on the prowl. Well, it is not all bad news as it is the beginning of terrestrial season for all trout fishermen. Get out your flies or better yet tie your own beetles, black ants, gnat (pictured), inchworms, grasshoppers, or other insects.

These flies are fun to use as they are all top water dry flies. That means that they can produce some spectacular action when the trout hits the surface and takes them in. Also, note that the colorful Brookies, or "specs" as they are often called, are easy prey for the top water flies.

Happy 4th Birthday Emma

Emma said that she was going to say goodbye to three last night because when she woke up this morning she was going to be FOUR! We had a Snow White birthday party Sat and here she is in front of the Dwarf's house.

She has another party tonight for the adults. Since she is already a good trout fishing person, I think that I will give her a cane pole and her very own fly from Trout University.

Trout University Fresh New Look

The Trout University is developing a home page that will be fresh and bold and more descriptive of what we are about: Trout! Please check it out and make any suggestions that are appropriate.

Trout University Profs Bass Fish

Some of the Trout University staff took a short breather from trout fishing and went to Dave Williams pond is South Carolina for a bass fishing expedition. They took a few hours exploring the lake in a small boat. With one paddle it Steve an hour just to circumnavigate the entire pond. Of course there was Marj's truck available so the boat could be moved from storage and between the ponds.
Here is an interesting photo of a bird waiting to be fed just as we wait to be fed from God's word
and some of God's beautiful creation.

Great Trout Fishing Expedition with Emma

It is time for 'Ol Grandpa to brag little bit about his granddaughter and her second great trout fishing expedition which was to Stone Mountain State Park in North Carolina. Her first great trout fishing expedition was to the Catawba River headwaters and it was more productive...more about that later.

Her daddy designed a fly fishing vest that was authentic in every way except it had a Cinderella patch, a sippy cup pocket and it was not camo or even tan, but it was PINK! Here she is wearing the vest over her dress as she hates shorts. Of course we did some hiking and here she is trying hard to keep up with her daddy as they pass by the huge stone mountain where there were several people rock climbing or repelling down the mountain, -nobody there was sure which way they were going.

Of course Emma needed some fuel after all that hiking so we had to stop at a picnic table and Emma reached into her back pouch and brought out a huge supply of food, carrots and all.

Emma got to do some swimming and skipping stones as well, but you know, we never caught any trout. However Emma did see one. The ladies visiting the park thought that her vest was darling so we decided to place one for sale on the Trout University Store. The starting price is remarkably low for a hand made unique vest just like daddy's.