Fall River Bamboo - A Day Of Beautiful Things

  The moment I got the Outdoor Bloggers Traveling Fly Rod made by Fall River Fly Rods I wanted to go out and fish it.  Like a kid on Christmas morning, I tore into the tube eager to get a look at the grass that was inside.  It was a thing of beauty!  Every inch hand crafted and perfect.  As a guy that loves the art of such things, I held it in my hands in awe of the time and skill that went into making it. Unfortunately that was all I could do because the next day I left on a series of business trips that took me away from any chance of using this piece of art for nearly a week and a half.

   Throughout my travels my mind kept drifting back to that Fall River bamboo creation waiting for me at home and the fish that I catch once I got there.  It was an agonizing period of time and when the day finally came for me to fish it all I could do was worry about two things; One - would I catch any fish with it, and Two - Would I break it?

    This past weekend I awoke crazy early - 4am in an effort to beat the heat.  The forcast called for another record breaking day of 100 degree plus temperatures and I felt that if I had any shot to catch fish, I had to do it early.  Starting on a section of the upper Chattooga River (that's right - The Deliverance River - The same river that is in that classic movie staring Burt Reynolds) I began to test out the legs of this one of a kind fly rod.
    First off, the past recommendations on fishing any bamboo rod were dead on.  This fly rod loads great but you need to slow down and take your time.  Like a zen master practicing his morning exercises on the banks of a quiet stream, you need to just savor the feel of the grass in your hand and let the rod do the work.

    After a few short minutes I got the feel of the rod and began to hook into a pool of rainbows.  One after another, these fish fell  victim to the bamboo and the midges dangling at the end of my 5x tippet.  None of these bows were any big test for the strength of this rod which was fine by me.  As I stated earlier, my biggest fear was breaking this beauty.  After wearing out the pool I hiked up a feeder stream and hooked into a few more nice colored bows before taking a side trail back to my car.

    Even at temperatures reaching into the 100's, this area of the country is stunning.  Carefully weaving my way between towering oaks and overhanging magnolia trees, it is amazing the life and beauty you find hidden on the forest floor.  I have always loved the mountain magnolias in bloom.

    With its huge flowers, and a great tree for shade, these trees are the perfect hiding place for a spider to weave his web.  I found this big guy on the end of the bamboo after I inadvertently swiped the rod through his web.  After taking a moment to get a few picks and study this guy, I let him back into the forest.  His web however was another matter.  Back at the car I worked for all of ten minutes to get the sticky webbing off the rod and fly line.  This stuff was so tough I briefly contemplated using it for tippet material.  I pity the poor sparrow that might have flown into this guys web because that bird would be hard pressed to escape.
    Once the web was cut free, I packed up the rod and headed for my real reason for fishing the Chattooga in 100 degree heat.  The Red Eyed bass!!

    I accidentally hooked into one of these last year while fishing for rainbows and I was fascinated how a bass could live next to trout in such cool, fast water.  After further research I couldn't wait to try my hand targeting these uniquely southern Bass.  I remembered that this bass fought as hard as any brown I had ever caught.  It never went into any aerial jumps and I was sure it was a massive brown until I got it close and saw it was a bass.  My initial disappointment turn to wonder and has now developed into a quest, and with the Fall River Bamboo Fly Rod in hand I headed out with those red eyes in my mind.

    The latest edition of my favorite fly fishing magazine had advice on fishing Redeyes and I used the info to my advantage.  Targeting a large rock exposed in the current, I took my time and dropped a #12 wolly bugger about two feet directly behind the rock and in the slack water the bass is known to lurk.  Immediately from the deep rose a dark shadow and took the bamboo and me on a nice little ride.  Believe me when I tell you that what these bass lack in size (they are not known to get much over four pounds and even that would be big), these river bass make up for in fight.  I suppose living in the cool, swift moving water breeds strength.

    I am calling it right now, these redeyed bass are going to be a fish people will travel for.  They might not reach the heights of the Yellowstone Cuts but in the south, I would take these bass over any small or bucket mouth.  They are now on my radar and I am hooked.     

    After a few more hookups and great fights I dabbed the sweat as best I could on my already soaked shirt and watched a large cottonmouth swim past me with a look in his eye I didn't much care for.  Shortly after hooking into a beautiful sunfish I started the long hike back to the car.
    Overall it was a day filled with beautiful things.  The Fall River Fly Rod was amazing and by far the best looking and relaxing fly rod I have ever fished with. ( If you are in the market for some sweet grass you need one of these rods.)  The river itself never disappoints with its steep walls, waterfalls, and swift cool water.  The flora and fauna was amazing and especially the hat trick of sorts (that right--- I called a bow, a bass, and blugill a hat trick) was a perfect addition of to a scorcher of a weekend.
    I would like to thank the Outdoorbloggernetwork and Fall River Fly Rods for giving me a chance to fish this beauty.  It is now on to its next angler to try his hand at fishing grass and I challenge him to have half the fun I did while it was in my hands!  FISH ON!!

Dream Fly Rods and Reels

   I recently got to thinking of what would be my ultimate gear list.  I don't usually do that but I have this unbelievable bamboo Fall River Fly rod staring at me from across the room (More on that in another post) and it got me thinking about my dream fly gear.  Or to be more precise 'dreaming of my bucket list of fly gear'.
   After nearly eight years of fly fishing and collecting gear I still haven't brought myself to spend a whole lot on my gear.  My current list of rods and reels currently occupying a corner of my garage is a motley crew of low end graphite rods, a 40 year old glass rod that is willowy, and a few nicer Tenkara rods.  By far my favorite is a 5/6w rod custom made for me by a friend and labeled as "The Flying Dutchman".  I do love that rod.

    My reel selection is another gang of misfit Southbend rejects off eBay, Cortland, and various other lower end reels that perform when asked to but don't do much for the aesthetic value of the fishing outfit.  My best reel is a mid-range Ross fly start that usually is partnered with the 'Flying Dutchman' and a 6w line.
  All that being said, I do not believe that a more expensive fly fishing outfit will ever yield you more fish.  I can just as easily not catch fish on a $1,500 outfit as well as I can't catch fish on a $100 setup.  Fishing has little to do with the brand of gear being used and more with the skills of the fisherman and the conditions of the water.  However I know that we all have a few pieces of gear we would like to have if we had the choice and truth be told fishing with a higher end setup is often easier and less frustrating.  Anyone who has ever had the drag on their fly reel suddenly break free and watch as thirty feet of fly line and backing gets ripped off the spool by the current while you are trying to battle a 14in brown knows just what I am talking about.

    While surfing the web the other day I came on a few pieces of gear I would love to have.  Over in England Hardy reigns supreme, or at least it use to, so what would be better than that classic piece of machinery.  I found a few at the North East Tackle Supplies and the Fly Depot other online sites that would fit the bill.  The G Loomis rods aren't as old as the Hardy but boy do they make a nice rod.  I got the chance to look these over at the SE Fly Fishing Show and had to wipe the drool from my chin.

 Anything from Abel would be killer but the limited edition ones rock.  Way out of my price range but seriously they rock.  I found this one with a killer red fish on it and.... well what can you say.  Sweet.  Maybe someday they will put my art on a killer reel of theirs..... Now that would be a Dream Piece Of Gear!!!

    What would be your Dream setup?

Painting Browns

After a very hectic few weeks my wife and I sat outside on Sunday afternoon to enjoy the peace and quiet of just being home.  With a beautiful sky and the soft breeze rustling the trees my wife settled down to enjoy her new book and I broke out the paints.  It has been over a month since I had picked up a brush and I struggled to get back in the groove but eventually it started to come back.

 With the Wisconsin browns still fresh in my mind I went to work trying to recreate their stunning colors.  Of course no painting or photo can do them justice but I gave it a shot.  This 8x10 painting only took me ninety minutes to complete and it showed, but while working outside one needs to work fast to overcome the fast drying action of the sun.  This PlenAir style is always rougher than the more finished product of working in a studio but when one wants to paint just to do something while enjoying the fresh air, it is a satisfying past-time for any artist.

  One additional benefit of completing a painting is such sort order is that I have additional time to fire up the new grill I got for fathers-day.  That's right, you can be jealous, I got a new grill.  As my loving wife knew before she surprised me, I prefer the cooking power of good old fashion hot coals to the gas powered grills so prevalent today.  But this isn't your dads kettle grill.  Its got a small propane charcoal lighter for starting the coals, and adjustable rack for heat and an easy to clean tray to remove the spent coals.  In short, this thing is sweet and I can almost guarantee that the butcher-shop is going to get a fair amount of business this summer.  Grill ON!

Day 2 In Southern WI

The Browns Amazing Color

Our day two on the southern Wisconsin streams did not start well for me but it ended with some stellar fishing.  Truth is, much of the day could not be expressed in words but luckily I have the pics so for this post it is pretty much just going to be a picture show so enjoy.

That mess of a fly is a large beadhead hairs ear

I nice Brown right after the release

This spring spilled right into a pool that held mountains of trout

This trout got hooked on a large red BeadHead Brassy.  I hooked quite a few on these # 12 flies.  After I lost the last one of these flies I had in the box with a bad back cast into five foot tall grass I switched it up to a smaller brassy which the trout never even looked twice at.  I eventual whipped out a white and red #14 Prince Nymph which hooked a few but by far the best luck came with the good old #12 red.  It wasn't till later when I was looking through the pics that I noticed the ribbon of blood running down the trouts mouth.  The way it looked in the pic it appeared that the Nymph was coming to pieces but I assure you this lovely brown was released relatively unharmed.  A little blood never hurt anything.

Besides the nymphs which the browns eagerly took, a few nice trout took to the air in search of the dries.  After trying many flies in the box I came to the realization that my box of dries just wasn't deep enough in the smalls.  I only had four or five dry flies under size 16 but as you can see from this little guy, 18,20, ans 22 sizes were what the trout really where after.  Next time I will come to the river prepared.

My buddy hooking yet another

In the end we caught a ton of fish, had a great time, and created some killer memories that will last with us a lifetime.  I was sure glad I made the trip, hurt hand and all.  If you have never fished in the southern area of Wisconsin before and you have the opportunity, TAKE IT!  I have never seen so many fish in so many miles of water.  We never really hooked into any huge monsters but we saw them and I know they are there.  Maybe next time I'll coax one to bit but for now I am satisfied with the amount I have hooked.

 After a long day we had a beer and took the opportunity to rest and eat a picnic table placed stream-side in memory of an angler you once stalked these same waters.  I could not think of a better tribute to that angler who I never knew than to pass on a place for future anglers to rest and reflect on a stream he obviously loved.  I drink a toast to you.

An IL & WI Trip Filled With Fish, Family, & Blood

Wisconsin Brown

It is hard to compress a few weeks of vacation in Illinois into one quick post so I'll spare you the details of my sister-in-laws wedding, the family stuff, the various places we went and people we saw, and I will pretty much stick to the fish I caught.  I will warn you however that this is one very long post.

Its worse than it looks!

My first few days was faily uninteresting.  I fished the Mississippi river and caught some white bass, saw about four large Northern Watersnakes swimming the shore line and spent my mid mornings biking nearly 100miles on The Great River Road, a section of which spans from Savana Illinois to Moline.  Unfortunately on my fourth bike ride, and the one on which I had been planning a longer 60 mile round trip ride, I took a 90 degree corner at about 20mph that happened to be filled with loose gravel.  A long and painful story later, I spend six hours in the ER getting gravel removed from my hand and stitches put in.  My first investment when I get home will be a pair of bike gloves so this kind of pain wont happen again.

One Big Stripper Hybrid

Hybrid

A few days later, after convelessing on a couch, my brother in-law made it out to fish the Mississippi before the festivities of our other sister wedding.  If you caught my last post then you will remember this fish and the story behind the catch.  If you haven't read it then flip over and check it out or simply check out the photo.  It speaks for itself.  I will also mentioned that I still remains the biggest fresh water (non cat) fish that I have ever seen.
    After that catch it was on to the wedding and other family events but as soon as that was over I packed the car and headed up to the Driftless area of SW Wisconsin for two days of fishing that areas legendary brown trout.
    I met up with a friend of mine from college and his neighbor and for ten hours we stocked trout up and down this stretch of river that I have only read about.  I was amazed at the amount of trout stacked in this stream.  Pilled up like cord wood in late fall, these wild browns were amazing and for a guy that is use to hunting elusive trout in the low PH waters of the Blue Ridge mountains, these cow pasture and spring fed stream trout were a dream.

A Trout In My Good Hand

    Beautifully colored and extremely selective, these trout behaved unlike any I have ever fished.  I was told that the water levels were low for this time of year and that might have accounted for their reluctance to take my droppers but I still managed to trick a few into taking the hook.
    I also took some time to help a new fly angler land his very first trout.  After watching him cast to some selective trout, I handed him my rod and gave him a few pointers of shooting line and the pin-point casting (neither of which I can claim to be a master of) and then I cheered with the enthusiasm of a school boy when a trout leaped from the depths and took his sedge.  I even clapped my hands, completely forgetting the still oozing wound from the bike accident.   Its amazing how rewarding it can be watching someone new to the sport hook into a beautiful trout on a dry fly.

A New Anglers First Trout On A Dry

From then on we fished for a few hours more and I took some amazing pics both of trout and the landscape.

One of the pics I fell in love with was a pic of a thistle that bordered the stream.  The angle in the background was my buddy who shortly after this hooked into a nice fourteen inch brown.

Thistles On the Stream

In case you are wondering, these thistles hurt every time you run into them in the tall grass.

    Finaly at 10pm wee checked into the hotel and made our way down to the local bar for some Wisconsin beer and some down home cooked meals.  Sharing stories of the day on the water and the past trips we have taken, we all looked forward to the following day.  This Wisconsin trip was only a two day event but it is just to big to cram into a single post so day two will have to wait.  And if you ever get a chance Fat Squirrel and New Glarus's other brew, Spotted Cow, are two great beers you need to try.  If there are only two things you ever try from the state of Wisconsin, do yourself a favor and try the Cheese and Beer..... The trout fishing ain't so bad either.

Big Upper Mississippi Striped Bass

I haven't posted much over the last few weeks mostly due to a lack of things to post about. I have done a fair amount of fly tying, did some fishing and did some art but until today it all just kind of seemed bland.  This morning, with a massive weather system raising the river 2 1/2 feet in 24 hrs and dropping the temps down to a chilly 43 degrees, I met my brother-inlaw on the banks of the mighty Mississippi river just north of the Moline, IL.    We launched the boat with little expectation of catching anything due to the weather but still were eager for the morning on the water.
In the first five minute he had hooked into this hawg and took us on a ride below the lock and dam.  For seven minutes we speculated that he had either hooked into a big channel cat or Mississippi flathead.  What we didn't suspect was that he had hooked into the biggest Mississippi striped bass I had ever seen.  I have fished that stretch of river nearly my entire life and nothing I had ever seen had even come close to the size of that bass.  It was a fantastic catch and I got the video and pics to prove it.
In the end we took the pics, looked around unsuccessfully for a scale, and then let the beast go for another angler to catch.  We never even discussed keeping it and it wasn't till later that I thought what a great trophy that would have made, but me and my brother-inlaw are much alike when we fish.  He still might look down on my fly fishing since he is strictly a spin guy but we two are never late to the water, we beat the sun to the dock, and we simply fish for fun.  The trophies and creel limits are an afterthought and only the pics and memories are what mater. Well done bro.

Summer Reading

   What can you say about a good book that hasn't already been put into words?  Truth is nothing, but since I love to read and I seldom mention books on this blog I thought I would devote at least one entry to the books and authors that I recommend everyone read.  Warning: This Is Not A Fishing Post.  If you don't read anything longer than a 250 word blog post then this might not be for you but if you do occasionally pick up a book, grab a beer, and sit on the deck then listen up.
    First up is my all time favorite books by my favorite author; Ernest Hemingway.  I have read nearly everything he has ever written including dispatches to the Toronto Star newspaper when he was just starting out.  A few of those early writings were even laced with fly fishing the great north woods.  The Sun Also Rises also has a bit of fishing but its mostly about Spain, Bullfights, and a group of ex-pats that go to party.  Great read! and if you don't get it all in the first read then read it again... I have 4-5 times... I'm fairly dense.

 
 If you haven't read any Robert Louis Stevenson then you are one depraved individual.  What kid doesn't like pirates right?  Anything by him is money.
    Then there is the few that go along with him like James F Cooper or Jack London, both of which are great authors even if Cooper can be a bit long winded.  I would also say you are safe with anything that Mark Twain penned. As a kid that spent a whole lot of time on the banks of the Mississippi, his book Life On The Mississippi opened up a whole new world for me when  it came to understanding what this country was like back when Samuel Clemons was a riverboat captain.  Roughing It wasn't that bad either.

    Which brings me to a great work by one of our nations top exploring teams; Louis and Clark.  The Journals Of these two men are a must in any woodsy persons library.  If cant stand reading history (honestly I just worked with a guy that said he hated history....I was dumbfounded) then at least have it as a reference.  I found it fascinating to hear how open and wild this country was only two hundred to three hundred years ago.
    Bartrum is another more dry account of exploring this country before it was made a country and might be interesting to Southerns but L & C would be the most notable and easy to find choice.

    If you are looking for a bit more of a political underlining theme then look know further than Ayn Rand.  "Who Is John Galt?"  If you don't know then pick up this book.  It was written sixty or so years ago but could have been written yesterday.  As a girl Rand escaped the communist revolution and saw first hand was a socialist society can do to the human spirit.  A lot of schools and media outlets shy away from this book because of some of the politically unpopular views but I think every person should at least take a look.  Its a big book - we are talking War and Peace big - but it is much easier to get through than Dickens.

Next is any first hand account of a WWI, WWII, Vietnam, or any war veteran.  Seven Roads to Hell was picked because It Was Amazing.  If you don't read history then you don't understand the sacrifices people went through to make this country great.  I have many first hand accounts on war including many that come in this series of World War II Library books, some of which were written by German Panzer commanders and a Japanese Zero pilot.  Do your country proud and pick up a war biography.  You just might learn something.

 When you are all done with that then relax with some easy reading.  Louis L'amour is one of Americas gems.  If you want an easy read and one that is about real men fighting for what the believe, then pick up any L'amour book.  You will not only breeze through them but they will take you back to the times of Billy The Kid and Wild Bill Hikcok.  If you don't feel like Clint Eastwood after sitting a spell with a Sackett novel then you are one hopeless soul.

 
   If you have read any two of these book that I have mentioned then you might notice a theme.  I like books that feature individuals with drive and determination.  The heroes, be them real or fiction, sport courage and a willingness to do what needs to be done.  You wont catch me reading the Notebook - though I hear its a good book its just not for me - but I have been known to pick up Walden from time to time, but then again there is a man sporting a sort of self sufficiency I hold in great respect.
    If you don't make a pilgrimage to hunt those wild Russian trout that eat duck as an entree - Or if you do and need a good book for the plane ride - read at least one good book this summer.  And no, The Orvis Fly Tying Recipe book does not count even if it is well illustrated.

The Scrapyard Plug Strikes Hard

As they say,"The proof is in the pudding" and brother this fly is swimming in it.  A few weeks ago on a whim I cut up a dozen or so small sections from a wooden dowel I had laying around the garage and proceeded to whip what I thought would be a top water poppers.  What they turned out to be was a sub surface torpedo that hits bass where they live.

So as a service to my fellow fly fishing and fly tying anglers I have decided to post a quick 'how to' on making this fly.  It is also an excuse for me to share my discovery of old technology that continues to work.  No high density foam or state of the art high tech materials here; just feathers, a hook, and wood. 
   First off I know what you are thinking, "That isn't a new fly.  I have a dozen poppers like that in my box already."  And that's just what I thought until I fished it and discovered that this fly is no popper.  I had made it to be a bluegill popper but boss , this bug don't pop.  It swims and it triggers bass to bite.

    The reason why it does this is due to the density of the wood dowel.  Compared to other popper that use plastic, bass wood, or balsa, the dowel is made from high density wood for strength and as such is a much heavier wood.  When you add the hook, the glue, the paint, and heavy wraps of thread then you get this subsurface plug.
   At first I was disheartened by this discovery since I was originality going for a popper.  I proceeded to coat the first few flies with a floatant but that soon wore off and as soon as that popper became a torpedo the bass where on it like a fat man in a donut factory.  I have been out to various ponds since that day and the dowel fly has been a top producer on every outing.
    My last trip yielded me a nice 3 lb bass that took the fly like a cheetah running down a juking, jumping north African gazelle.  After a sporting fight that tested the limits a bass can jump once hooked, I landed the him and resolved to give this fly a name.  What I came up with as a no brainier and a tribute to the junk I got in the corners of my garage just waiting to be used.
    To tie your own Scrapyard Plug use your own imagination - or try and follow these instructions.  It isn't a hard fly to make but then again the best flies never are.

1  - Take a standard wooden dowel from any hardware store cut it down to usable sizes for your hook.   I used a #10-#8 popper hook and a 1/4 in wooden dowel. You want the dowel to be no longer than from the eye of the hook to even with the point of the hook  If the dowel is shorter then that will work even better.
2  -  Using a hand saw or a band saw, cut a slip in your dowel just deep enough to place the hook shank.  This is the most difficult part since the dowel is so small.  I used a pliers to hold the dowel and then took them to the band saw.  A piece of advise is not try to use your fingers to hold the dowel.  You will discover that the saw is sharp and will bite like a barracuda.  Trust me.... it hurts so use pliers.
3  -  Next take the wooden dowel and secure it to the hook shank using super glue.  Do not try and use head cement.  Supper glue is much stronger and will hold the wood to the metal longer than anything else.  I didn't use any wraps of thread before securing the dowel and have had NO problems with loose dowels on the hook.  

4  -  After the glue has dried - an hour just to be safe - I shaped the back of the dowel in a downward slope.  I used a power tool for this but you can use a carving knife or sander.  Another word of warning... Just be careful because again, the fly is small and your fingers will be close to the workings.  A wooden dowel is a hard wood and is difficult to work in small sections.
5  -  Once the shaping is complete then its on to decoration.  You do this just as you would any popper.  I took mine out back and spray painted them green, red, and light blue but its up to you.  In my opinion you can never go wrong with red.  Bass just seem to love it.  After the paint dries then add the feathers.  I also added rubber legs but have since cut all of them off.  Being a subsurface fly the legs twisted the fly in the water and honestly I got more strikes without them.  I know stick to a standard 2-3 trailing tail feathers and a few wrapped around the back 1/3rd of the hook.  Keep it simple....stupid.

    PLEASE let me know if this fly gets added to your bass box and if it works for you then send me the pick.  I would love to know if you find as much success with it as I have.
    I know that there is nothing 'new' in the fly fishing world when it comes to fly creation so I consider this a re-discovered recipe.  I discovered this more than likely the same way it might have been discovered back in the day - completely by accident.  It works and that's all I care about.   Enjoy!

Remember When....

My first hook-up with a Yellowstone Cutthroat

  Remember when you where a kid and the summers where spent traveling the back roads of America with the family.  Remember when the only map you had was a road atlas you picked up in a rest stop and no one had ever heard of gps.  Remember when you pulled into Yellowstone for the first time.  Remember when your dad finally found the 'perfect camp site' next to the lake and while the folks set up the tent and the old Coleman stove you and your siblings rushed to the water and couldn't wait to cast to those monster cutthroat.

My Dad and Me on a hike

  I Remember and if you had the upbringing that I had you can even now recall the smells and sounds of the great outdoors.  You can remember that sizzle of a fresh caught trout on that green Coleman stove.  You can remember mom priming that old gas lantern and the glow it provided as the family settled down at the camp table to play a game of go-fish.  The sites, sound, and smells of those trips stay with a person for eternity and that old green Coleman stove is seasoned with those memories that made my childhood special.

The proud angler and his catch

  When I saw that the OutdoorBloggerNetwork had partnered with Coleman I was thrilled.  “Sponsored by Coleman and hosted by the Outdoor Blogger Network, this is my submission for the Coleman Camping Heritage Essay Contest.”   It turned out they where asking for stories and memories about how Coleman products had been involved in my life.  I can tell you that with the upbringing I had the memories just came flooding back.

  When I was a kid taking two weeks - or even a month - out of the summer and disappearing into the backwoods of the western US was a family tradition.  Truth be told I can remember with absolute clarity sitting on top of that bright red Coleman Cooler watching dad priming that Green stove and cooking a true back-country meal of fresh fish and baked beans.  I am not sure how old the Coleman equipment was when I was a kid but I know it was rugged and guaranteed to last.  In fact I am sure my dad still has that same stove today.  And, if I'm not mistaken, that same cooler might still be occupying a small corner of his garage waiting for the next trip into the great outdoors.

Fishing with my bro in Northern California

  Truth is that I was a lucky kid to have the experiences I had when I was young.  My brother, Sister, and I couldn't wait for the summer camping trips.  I can remember packing the car the night before a big trip and not being able to sleep.  I can remember that my folks must have been itching to get going as well because there was seldom a time when we ever left the house on a trip after 4am.  We always were a good two hours into the trip before the sun even got up.
The places we went were the mountains of Northern California, Yosemite, Oregon, Utah, The Blackhills of the Dakotas, Wyoming, and one of my favorites -  Yellowstone NP.  Regardless of the destination, nearly every place we went, fish and water were close by.  Besides the Coleman camping equipment, the fishing poles and swim suits were always a must have on any trip.

    Now that I am grown up, married, and have two kids I have vowed to give my kids the same benefits I had when I was young.  We go camping when ever we can and I am proud that my kids love the outdoors as much as I do.  Even my loving wife, who had never camped before we had met occasionally turns to me and says, "We need to go camping!".   Inevitably, within the hour we have the calendar out and are planing our next adventure.

Camping in SC

    A month ago, while on a camping trip to the beach, my family and I found ourselves wishing we had that bright red Coleman metal cooler with that handy latch on the top.  While washing dishes a few feet away from our cheaply made plastic cooler -without the handy lock - my wife was a few seconds late to catch one brave raccoon snatching our morning sausage from inside the cooler.  After the initial shock of the event had worn off we mentioned how nice it would have been to have had that cooler from my childhood.
    Nowadays my family and I aren't cruising the back country roads of the Rocky Mountains looking for camp grounds on rest stop road maps but we are covering a good deal of prime beach camping as well as Smoky Mountain sites.  When my kids grow up I hope they remember those trip with as much fondness as I do.