Rediscovering Home Water (TR)

Started by OldDominionAngler, June 09, 2013, 11:32:23 AM

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OldDominionAngler



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My wife and I just bought our first home.  Until we saw this house I'd sworn off moving back to the town where I was born and raised. The thought just hadn't excited me.  But I didn't think this house existed.  It's got what my wife wants and what I want and the price was right.  And I realized this isn't exactly the town I was raised in, partly because it's changed and partly because I've changed. 

So here we are, all settled in now to a new but old place. The road we're on has been an artery of town since the 1700s and the house was built in the 1930s.  We've already experienced the charm and headaches that come with an older house but what's most exciting is the idea of making it ours.  Which means I've been relegated to yard duty every weekend since we moved in.  It's got potential but has been in disarray for the last ten years I'd guess.  We've got a lot of trees including an oak, maple, sumac, mulberry, Catawba, cedar, dogwood, cherry, an enormous crepe myrtle, variety of pines, but also the most expansive root system of poison ivy I've ever seen. Every summer I'm reminded that I do indeed react to poison ivy and this one has been no different.  Much of the work has been cleaning up brush, cutting down dead limbs, weeding and mulching, etc. but I've also had a little time to get raised beds built for the veggies and herbs, plant a blackberry and blueberry bush and a few perennials here and there. 

This has been all fine and well but it means I've been neglecting the rediscovery of home water.  I know where all the ponds and creeks are in town but I am more familiar with their crayfish and tadpole populations than fish populations given I didn't really get into fly fishing until after our family had moved.  I do also remember the best fields for collecting grass hoppers in an aspirin bottle for bluegill fishing but that's where my knowledge ends.

So the first trip for rediscovery was planned as a canoe float on a trib of the Potomac, along with a section of the main stem, but those plans fell through.  I instead went to explore a little creek. The same Karst topography that made those fabled central PA spring creeks occurs here, so the water is cold.  I'd actually fished a section of this particular one for a few summers but I hadn't been back in a couple years. Through a fortuitous friendship, I got the nod to fish a new section.  It did not disappoint.  In a couple hours, three fish smacked a swung wet, including the best I've seen in this creek. 

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To be continued, there is more exploration (and yard work) to be done...


bullship

I was wondering where you'd been. Congrats on your domestic enslavement. I'm currently in the process of turning our yard into 100% asphalt so ill have time to go fishing someday.
It's all shit, piss and bliss.

"This is the low rent district, and much like a trailer park, it doesn't attract the most upstanding citizens.
You can't piss in a mr coffee & get tasters choice."- Grannyknot

benben reincarnated

Nice report.  Glad you found some time to fish and that's a nice bow too!   'c;

Congrats on the house as well.  I feel your pain, we recently bought a circa 1950 home.  The to-do list is endless.  So far the list has been build a picket fence, refinish the hardwood floors, paint the entire interior of the house, rewire a bunch of sketchy shit, re-tile the bathroom floor, build some deck furniture, plant some grass, kill some weeds, fix some drainage issues, pressure wash the deck, put in beadboard in the eat-in kitchen, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some stuff...all this has been done since March.  How I find time to fish I have no clue.  Spent most of yesterday and today doing landscape shit.

And as you know I recently took up homebrewing on my own. 


Dougfish

Congrats OD. 1950 home for me. Everything Ben said, X2. My problem is not that I have to fix all the old shit, but I start 10 other new projects to complicate my life. I'm a schemer. And I agreed to put our garden on tour in 2016.  b';

I'm happy you haven't forgotten how to fish!

robspe7370

#4
Stunning photography bud. I bet that creek is smelling particularly sweet. Nice fish! 'c; And congrats on the house!
I ain't here for a long time. I'm here for a good time.

Big J

OD, I'll be right there with ya in the new house chores in 9 days.  Looking forward to the "to be continued" in this thread and congrats on the house.

OldDominionAngler

Thanks gents, now I know who to consult for DIY projects in the future.  And good luck with your new digs Big J.

Rob, you can smell the honeysuckle and mint from down the road.   ;D

Transylwader

Well played Chris, congrats on the hoose, mate 8)

OldDominionAngler




The backyard gate is done.  We also replaced a few pieces of siding and hung a few pictures.  The rose bushes are budding like crazy but the new cherry tree died. With a little TLC the azaleas have come back to life but I still need to figure out why the air handler keeps tripping.  As soon as we check something off, another check box is added to the list.  This weekend though I was able to ignore the list and sneak out of town.

I met up with three buddies early on Saturday morning and we fished in the valley. Overall, the conditions were pretty damn good for this time of year; low 80s, overcast and rainy.  But we still had to work hard for any fish caught.

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Rob stuck the best fish of the weekend.

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We camped Saturday night and then the group parted ways on Sunday morning.  The two of us who were heading north made a quick stop for some brookies.

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I was going to be back on time but I couldn't resist checking in on some of the "new" home water. All of my stuff was rigged up and ready to go so why not?  I pulled off the highway, beelined for a nice pool and was able to net two little rainbows to complete the weekend slam. It's nice to see this creek icy cold in the dead of summer.   0:0

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Dougfish

An excellent second act!  'c;
And the azaleas will be fine.

benben reincarnated

Hella nice break for the weekend from the household chores.

Sucks about the air handler.  I did a bit of duct mending in our basement a few weeks ago, and I think the a/c may need a check up but with the little amount we've need to run it this year I may hold off until next summer.


Woolly Bugger

Nice spots on those browns! Cool little crick you got there.


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ex - I'm not going to live with you through one more fishing season!
me -There's a season?

Pastor explains icons to my son: you know like the fish symbol on the back of cars.
My son: My dad has two fish on his car and they're both trout!

OldDominionAngler

#12




Hit a small stretch of the local with my father-in-law on Saturday for a few hours.  One fish ate a soft hackle after a swing and lift, I missed another that rose twice to a caddis from a clingy lie in an undercut grassy bank.

Not usually much bug life here but there were swarms of cream midges hatching.  The swallows and a Kingfisher seemed more in tune than the fish.  Good trip and we were back in time for coffee and bacon.

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Dougfish

Good to see you out, daddy-o.  'c;
And the photog sux as usual.  :laugh:

benben reincarnated