Tradition Starter and Memory Maker!!

Mark Nosacka and his son JP fished with me on Saturday, doing an instructional half day at Nacoochee Bend.  Mark, having done a little fly fishing before, was wanting to get his son JP started off on the right foot.  I'll tell you, JP was a great student.  He listened well and tried hard to carry out my instructions.  He asked great questions and had a smile on his face all day....  especially when he realized that he had caught more fish than his dad !  Both he and his dad hooked fought and lost a "Nacoochee Toad".  You guys will just have to come back and put those fish in the net next time!! 

 

Rex Gudgel

FFF Master Certified Casting Instructor 

A 25" BENDER

The following report is from Rex Gudgel:

We had a great time at The Bend yesterday! Fishing with Tony Land and Rick Hill (long time patrons) for a half day. The action was just about non-stop. Lots of hook-ups and most of these made it to the net. You could tell these guys have spent time together as good fishing friends by the way the ragged on each other all day long. If you can't rag on or poach your friends, then who?

Great day, guys! I hope you'll come back soon. By the way, I will be down to St. Pete to do some inshore fly rodding with you.


Tony, congrats on the 25 incher!


Rex Gudgel
FFF Master Certified Casting Instructor

More Toads from the Frog!

Today I fished with K X 2...Keith Calhoun and Keith McFarland at Frog Hollow. The morning started out great with lots of takes and several fish landed. Then it s-l-o-w-e-d down! We caught fish through the day but they were hard to come by. The last hour made up for it. K. C. took several fish up to 20" and lost a couple that were on the plus side of 20"....on DRY FLIES. K.M. quietly kept casting, mending, stripping, drifting, repeating and caught a couple. Then, Oh My ! I can't even explain what happened next, because you wouldn't believe it...it was one of those things where you just had to be there ! If we had a video of it we would get a million hits on UTube. Lets just say that big fish can swim up waterfalls and this old guide can still walk on water to land big fish ! All in all "I'd rather be lucky than good" any day ! Great job to both Keiths and here is a picture of KM's 26 1/2 " by 18" 10 pound rainbow. 

Rex Gudgel

FFF Master Certified Casting Instructor

The Standley Cup!

On November 17th I was privileged once again to host the Standley Cup Fly Fishing Tournament. Not only host, but guide, direct, judge, referee and MC! Let me explain. Ralph Ripley and John Standley met in 1975...they were in the Army. Obviously a strong friendship was created there. Ralph left the service in '95' and started his own company (which he still owns and runs). John? Well he continued on in the service and at 70 years old (last year) he was still flying (as a pilot) in support of the military in Iraq. They have fished many places together, including Costa Rica, through the years, but they choose to come back to fish with me here at Unicoi every year for their own tournament, "The Standley Cup". To say that these two are competitive with each other would be an understatement!! What started out as a friendly "dinner bet" six years ago, has turned into a full on tournament with written rules, score sheets and an awards ceremony with the trophy presentation! Trying to explain the needling and trash talking that goes on would be pointless..Let me just say this as a barometer to the degree of needling ...John brought Ralph a hand crafted table with a hand painted trout on it as a consolation gift this trip... because he knows how upset Ralph gets when he looses! The comment was, "this painted trout will be as close as you'll get to catching a fish!" The gift was given to Ralph the night before the tourney just to add a little extra pressure. Like the mailman, neither rain, sleet, snow, or dark of night will keep these two from their appointed tournament and fishing fellowship! The tourney has been held in every type of weather and water condition. Maybe I should say "come Hell or high water!"

Congrats go out to Ralph this year for overcoming a tough day at Frog Hollow and a two year slump to take home the Standley Cup. The friendships and memories that are made on the water are lasting and important...even cherished. I would like to thank these two gentlemen for making me a part of this event year after year and adding to my memories and friendships.

Rex Gudgel (FFF Master)