Fishing and camping in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Ema decided to go fishing with her gang over the weekend so she packed up her camper, and hooked it up to the car. I think she was inspired by the DVD on The Great Smoky Mountains National Park which just went on sale this week at the Trout University.

Oh, here she is just pulling away from her driveway. Looks like a very good load for that little purple car.

After taking a closer look of the loaded vehicle I think that she may have forgotten to take her fly fishing pole. I hope that it is on the other side of the car where it can not be see.

I would hate to see her car and camper if she packed for a week at the Yellowstone National Park which is a package of 2 DVDs that she purchased at the http://www.troutu.com/ also.

If she learns about all the other professional level instructional DVD's available at the Trout University DVD Listing she will become a devoted fly fishing angler.

Fly Fish Yellowstone National DVD Available

The Trout University staff have partnered with James Marsh world famous fly fisherman and videographer to bring you two new instructional DVD's including Fly Fishing Yellowstone National Park and Fly Fishing The Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Each instructional DVD package consists of two DVD's with over 2 hours of instructions and information. These are not "watch me catch fish" DVD's but actual teaching and instructing DVD's.

Weather Affects Your Trout Fishing

Yes, clouds and overcast days are definitely better than sunny bright days despite the difficulty in actually seeing the trout.

But, did you know that cloudy and overcast days actually affect the hatches and therefore the trout's eating habits? Learn about this and much more at the Trout University's latest intermediate class "Class 2051 How Weather Affects Trout". This class was inserted in the curriculum at the intermediate skill level since it will be useful very early in a fisherman's learning program.

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.