His Place Newsletter - February / March, 2004

          Hello! 

Well, winter is in full swing...  Up until the last couple of weeks, it hasn't really been that cold, as far as winters go.  But today, there was as much snow on the ground as I've seen since we moved here.  Must have had at least 5 inches, however a lot of it has already melted, and I doubt it will be here for more than a day or two.

It was really heavy snow, however!  Really slushy and water laden.  So heavy, in fact, that Steve and I spent about 2-1/2 hours getting the snow off the top of our boat dock, as the weight was literally starting to sink it.  I guess I should clarify the whole "we" thing, though.  Steve climbed on top of the dock, and I just offered (many) suggestions from the ground.  After all, if he was going to fall in the river, I would need to be there as a witness, anyway...  :-)

They've been running water fairly regularly for the last couple of weeks, since we hit this cold snap.  Even though the water's been a bit unpredictable, the fishing's great, just be prepared for whatever nature (and SWPA) send your way!  :-)    

February / March - 

What the fish are biting on… 

Fly Fishing - Streamers - various sculpin, minnow patterns, and white jigs are all the rage right now.

Burn and rip your flies, boys and girls!  :-)  You may also try some red San Juan worms, and egg patterns in high water.

Bait - Powerbait in good old reliable white and chartreuse, wax worms, and river minnows if you can trap 'em!

Artificials - Countdowns & Rogues - silver/black and black/gold, Colorados in silver/gold, and Rooster Tails in Rainbow color and White are working really well right now.

Big Fish of 2003... I mean REALLY Big Fish of 2003.

The Date - November 9th, 2003.

The Place - The White River, somewhere not too far away from His Place...

The MAN - Mr. J. Holinsworth

The Fish - "Big Bertha"  Female Brown Trout, 36" Length, 24" Girth, estimated weight 32 lbs, using AGFC formula.

The Equipment - a 4 wt. FLY ROD!  Yes, I said a 4 wt. Fly Rod!

The Official Net Man and Photographer - Mr. Travis Caperton

Time to Land - approximately 45 minutes.  OK, so really, Mr. J. did more moving toward the fish than the fish moved toward him, but it worked!  Truly a team effort, without the spotting and excellent net handling by Travis, this fish would have been just "another one that got away".

Time to Revive - approximately 45 minutes - she swam away mean!  Yes, this is what Trophy Catch & Release is all about.  Thanks to incredible sportsmen like Mr. J. & Travis, extraordinary fish like Big Bertha remain in the White River, for YOU to come try your hand at...

Record - This fish set the record for the White & North Fork Rivers Outfitters Association Catch & Release Program for 2003.  We're looking into other Catch & Release records that it may have beaten as well.

J. H. & Travis have already been back, and received their free night for the release of this beauty!  

Workin' with the Stream Team...

Well, we've got another little project that may be of interest to you that we're going to start reporting on soon.  We've applied for and received a mini grant from the AGFC Stream Team Division to start taking water quality samples.  The stream team provides the equipment and training to take the measurements, and we periodically take samples and record and report the results.  

It interested us because it's something we can do to help make sure the river stays healthy!  As soon as we learn about how it all works, and what the readings mean, we'll start posting the info on the web site.

Fish Story of the Month! 

Ever seen a Wolf fish?

OK, so it may not be a full blooded wolf...  We're not actually sure of its parentage, and we're certainly not going to ask!  But I can tell you one thing for sure - if you see this particular animal fishing here, you may want to leave well enough alone...  That's because this canine takes his fishing very seriously - and if you try to take something from him,  well...  I guess I'll just tell you the story.  A special thanks to Charlie Poe for sharing the story and the photos for this month's "fish story"... :-)

(Oh, and one more thing before I get started...  Phyllis, you have been vindicated!  Since most of you don't know Phyllis, she's one of my sisters.  Not too long ago, she was staying at the resort with us for a couple of days, when she swore up and down she saw a wolf come on up out of the spring creek and run right by her at about 2:00 AM.  We just said, "Yeah...  Right, Phyl.  Sure you did.  Uh-huh.  No, really - we believe you..."  So, a note to my sis - we really DO believe you now!)

OK, so back to the story.  It was a crisp winter day on the White. Charlie Poe and a couple of his buddies are wade fishing out in front of the resort.  Not too much later, Charlie notices someone on the hill pointing down to the mouth of the spring creek, as it runs down into the river.

This is when Charlie first sees him.  We'll just call him "Woof", for lack of a better name.  Seems that Woof had himself something to play with in the spring creek.  He was jumping straight up into the air, bouncing back and forth on the rocks, and was just happy as could be.

Well, Charlie had to go over there and see what all the ruckus was about.  As Charlie approached, Woof wasn't particularly happy to share his play toy, but eventually backed off far enough so Charlie could get a good look.

As he looked into the creek, Charlie could see that Woof had pinned quite a nice Brown in a little pool, and was just havin' a big time with it.  

Well, all I can say is that Charlie had some other ideas, and the "ownership" of the fish had now changed...  :-)

So, Woof was just sitting back a piece, glaring at Charlie, biding his time...  Frankly, I would be more than a little upset too, if someone had just taken MY brown trout!  

But it wasn't over, yet.  Woof waited patiently until Charlie got out his camera and had a picture taken of the fish.  Then, Charlie took one of Woof, too - hence the "less than pleased" look you see in the picture above.  Then, Charlie put the camera back in the Ziploc bag and momentarily set it down on the ground, turning his back on Woof while returning the fish to the river.

Now was Woof's chance!  Woof ran at Charlie full speed (that would be enough to put the fear of God in to anyone, really...) and then he jumped!!!  

...  only to grab the bag with Charlie's camera, and take off!

Quid pro quo, wouldn't you say?  (You thought I was going to say something like, "jumped on Charlie and bit him in the behind", or something like that, didn't you???  I can imagine that Charlie himself may well have been thinkin' something along those lines...)  

So, then who had the upper hand?  Yup, it was Woof, and he knew it.  Charlie chased Woof close to an hour, and never even got close...  Finally, exhausted, Charlie had given up on ever getting his camera back.

As Charlie stood by the mouth of the spring creek, Woof came over the hill, camera bag still in his mouth.  Woof casually sauntered down the hill, stopping only a few feet from Charlie.  Woof looked right in Charlie's eyes, let out a growl while violently shaking the bag with the camera in it, then set it down.  Woof then allowed Charlie to pick up his camera, turned, and disappeared over the hill.

So, we don't know exactly where Woof is nowadays, but if my sister was right, he's still in the area.  I wouldn't worry too much about it though...  But if you do see him, just don't try to take his fish, OK?

In Closing...

Once again, please remember to support the minimum flow initiative by signing our on-line petition.  Although we had been looking forward to getting our copy in the December / January time frame, it now looks like summer...  

We'll keep you advised on this vital legislation as it comes down to the wire.  And remember!  It's OK if you live out of state - we still need YOUR signature! - Just check out the Hot Issues section of the website.

As always, remember to pray for our soldiers, and our president, as we walk through these times.

May God Bless and keep you and yours...

Until next month - Good Fishing!

Julie