Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Going Home

I am getting ready to head back to Bozeman after a long weekend in Missouri. This past weekend was my uncles' fishing club's annual spring trip to the White River in Arkansas. After a month of fishing in NZ, I was just looking forward to relaxing one last time before life gets serious again.

Fishing in Arkansas is...different. The river flows change dramatically throughout the day depending on power requirments and generation schedules. By dramatic I mean 1000's of CFS in a matter of minutes!

Fishing this ttime of year is mostly nymphing with typical tailwater rigs including worms, midges, scuds, and sowbugs. I did see a couple of big rainbows, but the majority of fish are fresh from the hatchery and in the 10-12 inch range.

It's not a bad place to fish as the scenery is surprisingly nice, there is some amazing BBQ places for lunch or dinner, and the people are pretty nice. I get a kick out of watching the majority of the guides chumming with corn adn putting worms on their clienst' rods! Fly-fishing is not the most prevelant method down there and it probably does me some good to watch see some fish get thumped on the head.

Now it's time to get back to work, I need to hire some more help in the shop, decide if we should make some "strategic moves" at the shop, get ready for the arrival of our new child in a month, enjoy the time left with just Christine, appreciate the fact that my father is my hero, and keep it all in perspective. An 8+ pounder on a dry fly sure makes life seem a bit simpler.

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