Marriage Vows And Carp

Yesterday afternoon, carp numbers eighteen and nineteen came to hand.  One fell for the Mysis Shrimp - the other for the Curvy Crazy Charlie in white and silver. 

Today, Carol and I are to marry at 11 o'clock.  At 8 o'clock this morning I had carp number twenty of this season on the reel.... courtesy of the Mysis Shrimp.  About thirty minutes later, number twenty-one and I said hello, and, yes it was the Mysis that did the dirty work. 

Carol and I have known each other for forty years and we are indeed best friends.  So, it is past time to make our relationship "official" and get hitched and stitched.

Now, for a honeymoon... it was Carol, not me, that suggested camping at our beloved Blue River.  I swear to you this is the absolute truth - it was Carol's idea.  Of course I hopped on that suggestion like a duck on a June bug. 

But, we had nearby storms last night and the sky is threatening today.  Our camp-out honeymoon trip will be delayed.  Sunday and Monday also looks stormy, but we both have a week off and we'll get to Blue sometime this week.

I am so very thankful that both of us share a lifetime love for the outdoors.

Since we can't get to the river Blue and start the honeymoon, we made other plans.  Carol loves Red Lobster and I like Bass Pro, so a trip to Oklahoma City, leaving our rural settlement behind, will be made after the ceremony.

I do need to get some more material to tie more Crazy Charlie's and Mysis Shrimp. 

Preacher just called and he's getting ready.  Guess I better get out of these waders.

Storing Up At Bass Pro

It couldn't have worked out better. Long before even considering today was Father's Day, a trip to Bass Pro had already been planned. With the summer-like temperatures quickly coming on, it's time for me to go into fly-tying season. Fly-tying season for me usually begins around this time of year and will last until the middle of September or so. Long story short was I was really in need of some vital stuff to tie the flies.

Last night while participating in an event at the Chickasaw National Recreation Area, my daughter Kempy walked up and handed me a card and said, "Happy Father's Day!" Inside the card was, of all things, a Bass Pro gift card. Hot diggity dog... daughter must be psychic.

Checking with Charlie Wright I found that he also needed a few things as did another friend, so today's trip was going to certainly be a worthwhile undertaking.



I've mentioned before the picture in the men's outhouse at Bass Pro. Today, I decided to take a picture of the picture. As you can see, there are two anglers on what is labeled Sulphur Creek in 1902. Sulphur Creek is now what we call Travetine Creek. From the looks of the stringers, this little creek was evidently one heck of a fishery at one time. Too bad progress has diminish the fishing at this fine little waterway.

There were a lot of folk at Bass Pro today, and I guess they had the same idea as I did... which was to spend Father's day blowing money.

At the fly shop I struck a conversation with a gentleman who was looking for material to tie up a special midge pattern he ties. He mentioned that it was a killer on Blue river and of course the conversation took off from there. I think the gentleman was from Duncan, Oklahoma and much like a number of us, he prefers the wilderness areas at Blue. It was neat talking with him.

I'll start my fly-tying season tomorrow and hope to have somewhere between three or four hundred flies done by trout season. Last year I didn't have time to supply Scotty at the One Stop, but this year I plan on correcting that issue.

Only 102 days left to trout season at the beautiful river Blue.

Getting Ready For The Season Of Rainbows

On the prairie ocean each October there is a flurry of activity in the fly-fishing community as we try and get ready for the approaching season of Rainbows.

Trout season officially opens at Blue River on November 1st.

Yours truly has been busy on the vise trying to tie up some scuds for Merc in a trade deal we made. Merc is bringing me some special mayfly emerger patterns for the size 18 scud patterns I'm tying for him. Damn...I never realized size 18 scud hooks are as small as they are and I've had a heck of a time getting five different materials tied on that small hook. To get a dozen I'm going to have to tie twenty because some simply will not pass.



Last weekend I realized there were a number of things I needed for this trout season so Miss Carol and I hopped in the prairie schooner and drove to the closest fly shop which is Bass Pro in Oklahoma City.

Now a lot of people in the fly-fishing world may not like White River Fly Shops but for this simpleton they have the basics of what I need.

I'll have to say the customer service was great at the fly shop this time around. A young man approached me and asked what I needed. I simply said "GPX WF5 floating." This guy immediately turned around and grabbed exactly what I asked for.


I grabbed a few other things including some tying hooks, split shot, and tying thread. That was about all I gathered up but still didn't get out of Bass Pro less than two-hundred dollars. You see Miss Carol has her own likings.


Bass Pro was extremely crowded this particular weekend and if a fellar didn't know better he would of thought it was Christmas time. I don't know what the deal was but people were shopping everywhere which is good news for Bass Pro I guess.


Miss Carol and I watched them feed the fish in the aquarium and then we made our exit.

Soon as I got home I realized I forgot to get the dadgum bead heads I had on my list. Oh well...that means we'll have to plan another trip to Bass Pro. Dog-gone the luck.