HERE WE GO………………………

After months of planning and weeks of work, we give you – the new – the improved – the all-encompassing…

 

OwlJones.com

 

Let the Fly Fishing World Domination World Tour Begin…

I lied. Another next-to-the-last-post…

I didn’t mean to, but I lied to you guys. 🙂 This is the next to the last post. I promise.

Why another next-to-last post? Well, I’ll tell you why….

This Friday Night, Feb. 25th,  (ready or not! 🙂 LOL ) is our Grand Re-Opening Big-Hoopla-Party Event and it’s going to be a blast!

Here’s what you’ll find if you tune-in between 8 and 9 pm EST:

A surprise interactive experience!

A Free Flies Give-Away ( how’s a dozen #20 tungsten zebra midges sound to ya?)

A .50 PER FLY discount for the first three orders placed between 8pm and 9pm EST.

The release of a brand new fishing video!

The unveiling of our new Blue Ridge Mountains Photography site!

And more stuff that we’re keeping for a surprise!

So be here at 7:45 PM EST this friday, and be at ……..well, we’ll let you know where…at 8PM for our Grand Re-Opening-Big-Hoopla-Party-Event!

* If by some chance you’ve already stumbled onto the site in progress, we’d like to ask that you please help us to keep it hush-hush until Friday night! Thanks! 🙂

Our 100th Post is our last…

It seems that if you’re going to keep up with the Joneses ( pardon the pun),  you’ve got to make at least one post saying your leaving, quitting, retiring, moving or running off to be a circus clown. First the Unaccomplished Angler retires and then “Favre’s” on us, Troutragous! goes on Hiatus!, Blog Cabin Angler and Windknots and Tangled Lines get face-lifts, and Fishin’ the Ridge up and moves to blogger without leaving us a single bread crumb….so I mean I’d feel like I wasn’t part of the gang if I didn’t follow in their footsteps, ya know? And since we’re not quitting, retiring, running off to be a circus clown (again) or leaving, that only leaves you with one guess. And when you figure it out, you can also add to the startling revelation that we’re headed to new home water (virtually speaking) the fact that this is not, in fact, the last post you’ll see here. See how I did that? I got you all ready to hear we were leaving and the whoooosh! Pulled that rug right out from under ya! We’re actually leaving after the post after this one. Read on:

There’s work to be done. Lots of work. And more than anything right now I need to focus on getting it done as quickly as possible. So, unless there’s some very pressing matter that just must-must-must be posted here at FFSBR, there will only be a “redirect and update your blog-rolls please” post after this one.

I’ve been hinting at this for a while now, trying to break it to my fellow bloggers in the easiest way I can. The good news is that we’re cooking up some new fishy-goodness and when you see it, you’ll undoubtedly get all teary eyed and emotional; lean back from your computer and with a deep longing sigh of satisfaction and joy let out a hearty………. “meh.”

But that’s ok. That’s ok! Because we’re going to fill the new BaseCamp up with so much over-the-top non-meh-y goodness that you’ll be saying alot more than “meh” very soon.

So to everyone who has so graciously listed us on your blogroll and allowed us to be a part of your daily lives, we offer this sincere apology for asking you to change the url this one-last-time. I have already been made to promise that we will not change it again for at least 50 years.

Hang on there – don’t get that Dashboard worked into a frenzy yet though…

I’m not quite ready for you to change it yet – this is just a tiny little open-the-flood-gates siren sounding the alarm that a new chapter our plan for fly fishing world domination is getting very, very close.

When the website building is complete and the content starts to flow, I’ll come back here and make one final post with the new URL.

As we say in the South when leaving someone’s house after a visit….

“Ya’ll come with us!”

Friday Fish-Sticks

Unfortunately, this Friday’s “Fish-Sticks” post has been postponed.  Here are a few silly things to help you along into the weekend…

 

 

 

 

 

Listening to Reason…

Ok, so that’s not exactly what I’m talking about, but I can’t help it. Something in me thinks that’s funny. ( I’ve tried to purge that “something” for 20 years, but no luck.)

When do you “listen to reason?” Do you have that little voice inside your head that tells you to do something, or (more often for me) not to do something? When you’re fishing a dry and something says to you ” you know, a bead head Hare’s Ear would probably do better…” do you change right away? Or do you wait to see if the voice goes away?

If you’re hiking an unfamiliar trail and you come to the not-s0-proverbial “fork in the road” what do you do? ( Don’t say “take it!” 🙂 )

If you’re thinking all week about going to River S, and then on the day before your trip you think, ” I wonder how River B is fishing these days?” – do you change plans and head for River B? Or, do you stick to the original plan and head out for the river you’ve been planning on fishing all week?

Maybe I’m the only one who has these little voices that sometimes try to tell me to change course or change flies? I realize how open I’m leaving myself here. 😉 lol But, I’m willing to do that to hear what you guys have to say?

Do you follow your instincts even if it demands that you change course “mid-stream” or stick to the plan? Maybe you have a story where sticking to the plan paid off – or a story where going with your gut proved to be the right decision!?

The 3 A.M. Brainstorm…

 

It’s 3 am again and I’m awake. I’ve just banged out a few EHC for an order and I’m sitting here trying to unwind. But I can’t get a few things out of my mind tonight. Maybe if I just come out with it here, I’ll be able to sleep a little before the sun comes up. We’ll see…

 

I’ve been thinking about people  and businesses tonight. About how different we all are in alot of ways and how my view of things isn’t necessarily anyone else’s view. About how I’d do things, if I could…and about the way things are done by others. I’m trying more and more these days not to be that “glass half empty” kinda guy that I’ve been for the last 20 years, but every time my faith in mankind is somehow renewed, something happens that makes me shake my head with confusion or disbelief.

Recently, it’s things like this:

I talked with 5 fly shops about doing give-away’s for you guys. Only one had the decency to email back and politely decline ( Unicoi Outfitters ~ Helen, GA). Another acknowledged that they’d not replied, but that was all – and then they “never replied some more.” The other three didn’t reply at all. All five of these shops I have visited and bought things from. Apparently, none of them could understand the concept. (Which makes the Hook and Hackle guys who brought you the rod give-away look even more like the geniuses they are…)

Another company keeps making promises, and then keeps delaying and making more promises.

Wendy’s can’t get my order right. Not one Wendy’s. Anywhere. In a month.

There’s apparently a fly tying event to benefit Project Healing Waters going on in Asheville. I tried to email them about donating a rod or two, helping them tie up some flies, or anything else I could do. It’s not that they turned me down or said they didn’t need my help….it’s that they never even bothered to reply at all. ( I guess they have what they need, but still – a simple “no thank you” would have been nice.) So, not only do I not get to help in any way with this very worthwhile project that’s right in my backyard, I don’t really feel much like promoting it either. ( Although I suppose in a way I just did! LOL )

 

And this spring, when I need more pine straw for the flower beds, I’ll no doubt have to load the stuff myself because no matter how I ask, the guys at Lowe’s never seem to want to help me load it. I used to work for Lowe’s and I don’t really mind loading it myself, but when I see them standing around talking on company time it makes me wonder how good my Lowe’s stock might be doing if they hired people who would actually work? How much better would your local fly shop be if they were all like Hook & Hackle or Unicoi Outfitters (who misunderstood the give-away concept but at least had the courtesy to reply)?

 

 

 

It also makes me wonder how it is that I can’t get a job, but these slackers ( the Lowe’s guys and other retail workers who have apparently never heard of the phrase “if you have time to lean, you’ve got time to clean” ) are still employed?

How do you run a business and not reply to emails? How do you hope to be around in 2, 3 or 10 years in this economy by hiring people who give you so little in return for the wages you pay them? How do you think you can create business growth and a future in any field by making promises you have no intention of keeping?  The answer? I have no idea….

 

But I am going to try to get some sleep now.

 

Is it too much to ask that we slow down just a little bit and think about how we’re treating each other?

 

 

Don’t answer that…

 

Deal of the Year?

Yesterday, I received yet another flyer from a sporting goods company. Apparently this economy is driving them to advertise like crazy these days, because it seems like I get one every few days or so….or maybe like the rest of us, they’re just ready for warmer weather!? This one yesterday was from Bass Pro Shops, and since we have one less than an hour from the house here I decided to give it a quick scan. I found the usual “deals” which amount to $10 off here, $20 off there and hey – these days ever little big counts right? Right.

So then, on page 23 (I think, since the pages aren’t actually numbered) there appears a Cortland Fly Line for $9.97. It says the retail value is $59, but color me skeptical. They don’t list the name of the line. Is this 444 Lazer line – or something else made especially for BPS? We’ll never know I guess. And it only comes in 5, 6, or 8 wt. ( Poor old 7 wt……..I guess the days of the 7 wt. are finally totally over….)

Anyhoot, even if it IS a special line made for BPS, if it’s a floating WF line for $9.97 that’s a dang good deal.

There’s also a stainless steel fillet knife for $1.50.

The final catch is that you can only get these prices on Thursday March 10th, and by the time you get off work and get down there they’ll probably be all out of the $10 fly line. Just a guess.

Anyway, for what it’s worth – there ya go. The Deal of the Year….or not?

Maybe this nearly 1/2 off Sage rod at Cabela’s is actually the DOTY?
*Not Shown Actual Size

10 Best Ways to Ruin a Trip

The following list of the 10 Best Ways to Ruin a Trip are, sadly enough from personal experience. Mostly.

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10. Lock your keys in the vehicle after phoning home to say everything is fine.

9. Get stuck on a Forest Service Road 7 miles from camp –  at 2 am – because you thought it’d be fun to “drive around and look for deer.”

8. Set your tent on fire with a flung marshmallow.

7. Break your rod. Then break your “back up” rod a half-hour later.

6. Realize you remembered the extra propane cylinder, but you left the camp stove in the garage.

5. Forget the rain-fly for the tent. Then realize it’s ok because you forgot the tent, too.

4. Remember the 3 cans of beanie-weenies, but forget the can opener.

3. Fish for 2 days with a fly that has had it’s hook broken off.

2. Forget to pack deodorant.

1. Find out on the second day in the woods that being “pretty sure” you packed the TP wasn’t good enough.

Pedro Fills In…

Frustration Vacation

Did you ever have one of those weekends where you thought that maybe God wanted you to stay at home? That maybe some greater cosmic force was upset that you ended up in the Great Outdoors, taking in the beautiful weather and the warm sun? Did you ever stop, look up at the sky and ask “What do you want from me?” I guess I should have know from all the dead skunks along the highway on the way up here this weekend. Apparently it’s skunk mating season, according to my friend Chris. They must all want to mate with Freightliners and PeterBilts from the carnage along I-85.

Well anyway, let me take you through the weekend I’ve just had in case every trip you take turns out peachy-keen. I suppose I shouldn’t be feeling as frustrated as I do, after all the weather was great and the company yesterday was awesome ( my good friend Chris was there) – but we caught few fish. A few. 3. Between us both.

So the fish didn’t exactly go nuts for us, right? That’s ok, right? Yeah, well it would be ok maybe if it was spring already. But this winter! This cold, long, snowy winter that everyone in the South seems to be so sick of enduring…this winter is making it really hard to swallow 3 fish a day between two anglers. I don’t just want fish, I NEED FISH. I enjoy the nature and the woods and the water, but I don’t go fishing to sit on a rock and think about art. If I didn’t like the catching part of fishing, I’d just leave the rod at home and take up hiking I guess…

But, 3 fish a day –  What was I thinking? That’s ok! Because today I only had to swallow one fish. In a river full of 15-30 inch trout (that’s right…..30 inch trout in a public river) I caught one 11 inch brook trout. That’ll show me for complaining about three fish I guess! At least I didn’t break a rod this weekend.

I did twist my ankle and run a #22 Griffith’s Gnat through my index finger though. And I inadvertently froze two bananas out in the truck last night. You know what frozen bananas taste like? No? Trust me, you don’t want to know.

So, this morning I wake up to find that I’ve overslept and I make it to the river at a “rooster crowin’ crack of dawn-ish” 11 am. The river was crowded yesterday. Today it is twice as bad. Somewhere to stand and cast to a fish? Hope you brought your own rock. I eventually find a rock to stand on and this is where I perform the incredible feat of 5 hours +/- of fishing and one little brookie.

Then, I decide on a “non-camping” dinner and stop at Wendy’s. This will make the third time I have ordered the new funky cheese Chicken Sammich and NOT gotten one. Do they even make this thing? Are they just advertising it’s asiago cheese, juicy tomato and crispy bacon to lure  you in and then give you a PLAIN OLD CHICKEN SAMMICH! THREE TIMES WENDY’S! THREE TIMES you have totally screwed up my order. PS – your new FRIES stink, and tonight they were cold. That will teach me to check the order at the window. And by the way, it’s odd that you can always be super-slow in taking my order, but so pushy when you suggest that I take my change, my drink and my food in like .003 seconds. GIVE ME A MINUTE, will you! I have the same number of hands as you do, you idiot – and one has a wallet in it, the other has the change you just gave me. Shoving a large sweet tea and the bag (with my order wrong, mind you) in my face isn’t going to make me go any faster after I just waited 7 MINUTES FOR YOU TO SAY “CAN I TAKE YOU ORDER?” HELLO? ARE YOU NUTS?

Alright. So then after eating my PLAIN CHICKEN SAMMICH ( FOR THE THIRD TIME! GGRRRRH! ) I decided I’d download the video I shot today. There was precious little catching, but I did get a couple of decent shots of trout ( not of the monster 30 inch ones we saw, unfortunately…). I download the video, process it, save it and start to play it back before uploading it online so I can share it with you guys. Guess what? No, really. Guess. You’ll never guess. Never. Nev…..THAT STUPID GLITCH IS IN MY VIDEO AGAIN EVEN THOUGH I CHECKED IT FIVE TIMES BEFORE SAVING IT AS A MOVIE! SO, NOW I HAVE A MOVIE THAT I THINK IS PRETTY *$&# FUNNY, BUT I CAN’T SHOW YOU BECAUSE EITHER MY COMPUTER, THAT (#@&$ WINDOWS MOVIE MAKER, OR THIS CHEAP KODAK CAMERA KEEPS SCREWING UP THE VIDEO! I’m sure I’ll put up the video for you guys eventually, even with the errors in it…but I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to spend an hour putting something together only to have it come out screwed up with no warning.

And now…….I’m so frustrated I can’t sleep. Horray. Like I don’t already have enough of THAT problem as it is.

So, let me ask you guys – have you ever had to ask yourself if maybe you would have been better off at home?

Spring. Please hurry. I can only practice running from bears for so long. . .

 

Spring. Wonderfully Trouty Spring.