Cottonhill COE (Oct 9-11)

This was a shorter trip today, 135 miles. It was a very pretty drive the way we came. We picked up a lot of Argentine ants at our last stop and brought many of them with us. We had to do some spraying. Here, the problem seems to be gnats. Also the lake is choked with weeds. Hopefully, we can still fish. Our site is nice and shady.

Friday - Ants made their way along about 50 feet of satellite cable to get to the MH and we are out of spray. We found the local dollar store and took care of them. One way folks combat these Argentine ants is with Comet around anything that touches the ground. John had an idea to put cord into a container of Comet and run the cord around the wheels etc. it is important that the cord lays totally flat, so the area must be swept first. The fishing continues to be poor. 

Saturday - The families next to us didn't have a long enough cable to get their satellite working, so John loaned them our spare. They were elated that they could now watch Florida State play, and invited us to watch with them. We spent the afternoon, enjoyed getting to know them and shared burgers on the grill.

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Whitetail Ridge COE (Oct 3-5)

Monday - This was the longest leg on our return to Florida, covering 230 miles. It was cloudy most of the way, but cleared up when we neared LaGrange. We got set up and had Joan's stuffed pepper soup for dinner. This is a beautiful spot on site #47, on the lake. We went down to the boat launch and fished for a few minutes, but John lost the only biter.

Tuesday - We woke up this morning to a beautiful sunrise. This is something we miss at Trackrock because of all the mountains around us. Not complaining, though. Later in the Morning we took our Tenkara rods back over to the boat launch area and caught a bunch of bream. Most were too small to keep, but there were a few nice ones. John had a very large bass on, but the 4 pound test tippet on the Tenkara was no match for this fish. In the evening we fished there again using the 6wt fly rods, but it was much slower.

Wednesday - In the morning we drove over to the Horace King Recreation Area nearby and fished from shore. The shoreline has more gravel here and is less muddy than by the campground. The bream are larger here, but since we were going to go grocery shopping afterwards, we couldn't keep any. This time it was Joan's turn to hook a large bass, but the result was the same with it breaking off. We had the most success on small yellow hoppers. After doing some needed cleaning of the motorhome and dinner, we took our cane poles and plastic worms over to the boat launch. Together we hooked and lost three nice bass. It was a beautiful, warm evening.

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Smokemont Campground GSMNP (Sept. 8-11)

Monday - It was a pleasant 89 mile trip here and we arrived and got set up around noon. We had lunch and talked to our neighbors Bill & Jean from Westminister, SC. Joan watched John fish the river right behind our MH for about an hour. He caught a small trout and lost another. We were excited to discover there are at least a few fish here in the campground. John used a hopper with a greenie weenie dropper. Joan spotted a huge hornets nest hanging from a tree. We were glad we didn't disturb it, since it was very active. We reported it to the rangers. 
Tuesday - It cooled off nicely in the night, making sleeping pleasant. We made our coffee, then took our walk along the river, checking out places to fish. After breakfast we donned our wading boots and walked down to where Bradley Fork (the river here in the campground) empties into the Oconalooftee. However, there was already someone fishing there, so we moved upstream a few hundred feet. We each caught one and lost 2 (John) and 3 (Joan). As long as we have action, we're happy. It rained in the afternoon. Supper consisted of chicken and rice that Joan mixes up and John cooks on the cast iron Dutch oven. Delicious!!!! In the evening, we were treated by our neighbors, Bill & Jean, to watermelon and a nice chat. We were joined by other neighbors Harry and Barbara. Harry kept us entertained with his many stories.  
Wednesday - We took our coffee and checked out some places to fish upstream. We found the best places to get to promising holes. Later, when we actually fished them, we were disappointed that we struck out. Joan used the 4wt. while John stuck with the Tenkara. We also tried heavier nymphs and John tried a dry fly, but still nothing. 
Thursday - The weather forecast was for rain all afternoon, through the night, and most of the day on Friday, so we decided to pack up while everything is dry and head home a day early. If the fishing was better, we would have stayed. We fished in the morning from the bridge near our campsite up to the group area, but resulted in Joan getting one strike. The water is very low, a little to warm, and very clear. We had a good drive home and got resettled before the rain came at Trackrock.
Added Comment - We got an e-mail Friday from our friends Bill and Jean who were in the neighboring site, and they told us that it was a good thing that we left early, since they said they had a terrific storm Thursday nite and that a large limb came down on our site. It would have hit the motorhome on the back bedroom and done considerable damage. 

Trackrock 2014 (Summer)

We've taken a vacation from the blog, but you can view pictures.

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Special Needs Kids Day at the Hatchery (May 14)

We joined with many other volunteers to help special needs kids and adults catch eight trout each directly out of the runs. We wish we could have recordings of the squeals of joy when they caught fish. 

Veteran's Day at the Hatchery (May 9)

We joined local Trout Unlimited groups honor our vets at the Chatahoochee National Fish Hatchery. Hundreds of trout were released into Rock Creek for their enjoyment. Dozens of our vets had a great time catching them. Lunch was provided, consisting if hotdogs, slaw, beans, and brownies. John fished and quickly caught his limit of eight trout, with Joan bagging them. We brought them back to Trackrock where John cooked them on the smoker. We invited our friend Peg over to help us eat them. They were delicious. 

Trackrock 2014 (Spring)

We arrived April 1 and got set up quickly. We had some cleaning to do before we were able to play. The fifth wheel was in good shape, so that didn't take very long.

April 23 - We took the Tenkara rods down to the Nottely River to a hole we have finished several times before. There was one person there fishing who said he had caught one trout. We moved down a little ways and it didn't take John too long before he had one also. Sadly, he lost it trying to get the stringer out of his fishing pouch. However, Joan soon caught a nice sized one and John caught two others. We brought them back to camp and really enjoyed them for dinner.

April 24 - We had an early supper at Jim's Smokin' Q and enjoyed their awesome ribs. After, we put on waders and fished another spot on the Nottely. This is a stocked area, so it is great when it has been stocked recently, but when the bait fishermen have taken them out, not so much. However, Joan managed to pull one out of a hole. John had to settle for a creek chub and one rainbow that took a swipe at a Prince Nymph.

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