Blue Ridge Parkway - 4/1/2017

Somewhere along the Blue Ridge Parkway

This last weekend we did our now-annual 3-day weekend visit to Linville, NC for the opening of trout season. We meet up with some good friends who've been doing this for years and have kindly invited us to share in their tradition. We rent a cabin, let our kids play together, eat, talk, and if we're lucky, catch some fish. There's no kayaking on this trip – we just wade into small streams.

Flowers blooming in the front yard before leaving for Linville

Part of the tradition is getting up very early on opening day to stake out a spot on a river and cast a line in right at 7:00 AM. Unlike years past, my family was on the ball in terms of getting up early so we got a decent selection of locations. It was chilly – in the mid 30s – and the water was cold! And unfortunately it rained a lot in the week leading up to our trip, so that morning the river was also swollen, fast, and muddy. Only one fish caught among half a dozen people.

We moved locations frequently hoping to improve our luck. We fish a bunch of rivers and creeks in the area that I can't remember the name of because our friends do most of the location selection since they know the area really well.

By the afternoon the waters were calmer and started clearing up. But the bite was still really slow. My wife and I each caught one fish. Brook trout. It's a real treat to catch these fish because they're so pretty.

Normally we'd fish on Sunday too, but my kids had some activities already scheduled for Sunday afternoon back in Raleigh. That was a shame, because it seemed like the fishing would be better – warm, sunny, and the water had lowered even more. But it was not to be.

Still, we go more for the company than for the fishing and on that account it's always a success. And I managed to capture a couple of decent photos while I was there.

At least I didn't get skunked!

Looking forward to next year!