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January 2008
Go fishing indoors
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The temperature was in the 40’s most of the day and the wind chilled the parking lot outside the Gwinnett Center Saturday.
Inside, it was a packed house for the annual Atlanta Fly Fishing Festival. Around 5,000 attended the popular trade show on Saturday, with a similar size crowd on Sunday.
“The weather gods were kind to us,” show director Mark Castlow said Saturday, watching local fly guys practice their casting in the middle of the convention hall. “When you get cold, nasty weather, it’s good for attendance.”
Which is why January and February is tradeshow season for outdoors folks, who come inside to look at what’s new, talk to experts and generally be around other people with similar interests. (Of course, laying down some coin on new gear is greatly appreciated by vendors and show organizers.)
When it’s bitterly cold outside, only the hardiest hunters and anglers hit the woods and lakes. The rest of us dream of turkey hunting or bass fishing in March. Until then, it’s time to get prepared, and trade shows are just one way to sharpen your skills.
Here are some other things you can do:
Take notes: If you watch those outdoors shows on T.V., don’t just “Ooh” and “Aah” when someone like Bill Dance pulls up a lunker bass. Take some notes on what you watched, especially if it applies directly to a technique you like to use. If you already keep a journal, add to it. If you don’t keep a journal, maybe this is a good time to start.
Read: Pick an area you want to improve and find a book, internet website or publication that may address it. Want to make this turkey season your best ever? Then do some research.
Maintain: Offseason maintenance should be a requirement for every outdoorsman. Get your rifle or reel serviced, sharpen your tools, or organize your tackle box (and be prepared to throw things away).
Plan: Think about what you want to do this year and start making plans. If there’s a lake you’ve always wanted to try, make room on the calendar for it.
Take a class: The state offers hunter education courses throughout the year. Trade shows — and even large sales events at that large tackle store off I-85 in Gwinnett County — schedule seminars with experts. Take notes and ask questions.
Practice: You can always cast or shoot more accurately so practice. Take the rod and reel in the backyard, the weapon to a shooting range.
What do you do to battle cabin fever?
Thanks for the memories, Dad
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The name “Dean” is written in capital letters with white paint on the top of my father’s old green tackle box in the shed behind the house.
It has collected grime and dust sitting under a bunch of old water hoses that for some inexplicable reason were saved for years.
The name wasn’t written in fancy lettering, just block type. The tackle box? Well, you open it up. The three tiers of trays sprout up. You pick up the lures, hooks and whatnot that fly out onto the floor. It happens every time.
My father recently passed away. He was the reason I became a fisherman.
The night before he was buried, I dug out the green tackle box and sorted through memories.
One whole tray was devoted to casting spoons. Dad had every color of Dardevle known to mankind, and they were killers on northern pike.
A red-and-white one drew a fierce strike one day when as a kid, I fished with him on a lake near my family’s cabin in the woods of northern Wisconsin. The “northern” came all the way to the boat - it had to be four feet long - then shreaded the line. Dad was angry he lost the fish and the lure. But I pointed out that he had plenty more red-and-white Dardevles, and they’re all exactly the same. “That was my favorite,” he said. He had to be the only person who could tell the difference.
Strewn across the bottom of the tackle box were a dozen or so hair jigs used for crappie and perch fishing.
Those made me think of Howell Lake, a small lake off an old logging road west of Eagle River, Wis., in the Nicolet National Forest. The only access was near a culvert on a creek that ran about a mile to the lake, We couldn’t trailer a boat to the water, so we’d have to take the row boat on the back of Dad’s pickup. We’d take turns rowing up the creek, then to the other side of the lake. It was usually worth the effort.
I don’t know how Dad heard of that lake, but we could sit all day over this one spot and catch our share of big crappie measuring 15 inches and longer. That lake became a favorite for me and my three brothers.
My father loved the outdoors, but getting out had become difficult the past few years. Deer season was his favorite time of year, but most of my memories of him will be about fishing.
The last time I seriously fished with Dad from a boat was about eight years ago. We were fishing for whatever bit live leeches and minnows on Kentuck Lake, another Cheeseland fishing hole. We found that smallmouth bass love leeches, but also that we had let his retirement and my career a thousand miles away in Georgia create a chasm in our relationship.
We talked more than we fished that day. Just about life, the weather, how retirement wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be. I think I may have even taught him something about fishing.
From that day forward, we never ended a phone call without an “I love you.”
My mother asked me what I wanted to keep of my father’s. The tackle box, I said. She said she’d have it cleaned up and sent down. I want it just the way it is, I said.
I can’t wait until it gets here.
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Want to reach your kids about outdoors? Here’s how
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Last week, I blogged about my New Year’s resolution of taking my 10-year-old son fishing more often in 2008.
I figured that was a pretty good resolution for any outdoors enthusiast looking to introduce their children to the outdoors. So, I asked for kid-friendly suggestions from several Georgia outdoorsmen.
Here are some of those responses:
Ken Sturdivant, Cumming, Southern Fishing Schools: “Take a kid bream fishing and there are two super bream lakes in Georgia: the Four H Camp lake at Rock Eagle and Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain. Tackle needed: one cricket tube, one small spool of 4-pound test line, one 8-foot collapsible bream rod, small #6 bream hooks, one small pack of BB lead spilt shot sinkers, sun screen, one camera, one kid.”
Tom Branch, Dacula, Fisher Harder Companies: “Hire a fishing guide on a lake near you. These trips cost between $200 and $300 for 6 hours of fishing. The guides provide all the tackle and equipment all you have to bring is a camera and be ready for fun. Just go online and search for a good guide near you. A small hint, if you see pictures of children with fish and big smiles, go with that guide.”
Andy Vodopia, East Cobb hunter/angler: “One of the best fishing trips I’ve had with my daughter when she was about 8 consisted of buying a $3 cane pole, attaching 10 feet of line, a hook and sinker. No casting, no tangles. We went to our subdivision pond and she caught 22 fish and maybe more unbelievable was there were five different species; two kinds of catfish, sunfish, bass and crappie. The moral is you don’t need to spend a lot or make it complicated. Almost every subdivision has these ponds and they are quite productive.”
Aaron Sago, North Georgia Trout Online: “[Go to the] Buford Trout Hatchery in Cumming. My kids love to walk the raceways, look at the big trout, and catch a few catfish from the pond.”
Doug Youngblood, Lake Lanier fishing guide: “I have just returned from a holiday trip with my family to visit my kids’ grandparents in Virginia. We took our girls on a day hike up in the mountains one day and they loved it. My brother-in-law made them walking sticks with their names burned on for their own personal walking stick and we got them small backpacks filled with snacks. They thought that was very cool. They were asking about where we could go hike in Georgia when we returned. It was really a memorable experience for them that they won’t forget”
Bill Carson, Lawrenceville, Nothin’ But Fish: “The Chattahoochee Nature Center: It is a most interesting site for kids.”
Mack Farr, Lake Lanier fishing guide: “I have always been cautious not to force my kids to like fishing, but I have tried to instill in them an appreciation of the outdoors, whether it is fishing, camping, watersports, etc. So, here is something that we like to do as an outdoor family outing, it is fun, easy to do in a day. North Georgia has some really nice waterfalls that make for some great hiking trips. They vary in length/difficulty so there are trails that will suit everybody, even fairly young children. Most all of these places are really pretty places, and they are within an hour or two of Atlanta. You can do just a hike, or easily combine the hike with some camping, fishing, or sightseeing events.”
Jeff Durniak, Gainesville, DNR regional fisheries supervisor: “Take a guided hunting or fishing trip — not only to have a great trip, but to learn new skills for all future unguided trips. In most cases, I would expect a child who has landed a 10-pound Lanier striper to become interested in the outdoors. Join a hunting or fishing club to find knowledgeable mentors and to split hunting/fishing trip expenses. Many host club outings. Some clubs meet in person, others are internet groups.”
Joe Schuster, Cumming, Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry: “Introduce a child to the shooting sports. Take them to the Etowah Valley Sporting Clays Park in Dawsonville, just minutes from Georgia 400. Fun for the entire family wiith different skill levels of clay bird target shooting open to the public.”
Tony Narcisse, president Georgia Kayak Fishing Club: “Last August, GKF took some of the kids involved with Alpharetta Police PAL program for a day of kayak fishing on Lake Lanier. The kids — young and old — loved it Most of these kids had never fished before and certainly not kayaked. By the end of the day, they felt like winners. As a club, we felt good about supporting the community work the Alpharetta Police are doing. We are hoping to do this again and welcome any support we can get for these kids.”
Jimmy Harris, Unicoi Outfitters, Helen: “My recommendation for urban families who don’t have a long outdoor heritage would be to find events like the Kids Fishing Days sponsored by Ga. DNR, USFS and a variety of groups like Trout Unlimited, NGTO and others. These are excellent opportunities to get the children exposed to fun outdoor activities even if the parents aren’t skilled in those areas. Along the same lines would be the Outdoor Adventure Day at Unicoi State Park in September each year. A wide variety of activities, all family oriented, to try out. Fishing, skeet shooting, canoeing, working with hunting dogs, falconry and more. It’s a great way to spend a day with the family.”
So, how do you pass along your love for the outdoors to children?
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