Never gave using a Hebe a thought.

 

Today was one for everyone who enjoys nature.  Didn't get up until 7:30 and was out on the porch checking the temp when I heard the noise a hummingbird wings make. She acted like I'd invited her for breakfast, sat right down on the feeder and took a drink, then sat and drank at each of the other three "flowers" on the feeder. When she was done she rested for a couple minutes on a limb of the apple tree and then took off south across the yard climbing as she went to get over the ridge on the other side of the river. Jean and I always leave the feeders up for a few days after the locals leave as somehow, travelers seem to find them and refuel on their long journey south.

Finished breakfast and looked out the sliding glass doors to see two adult does come together and start licking one another's heads and ears. It went on for a good five minutes. My best guess is that they were trying to get rid of ticks or lice that they themselves couldn't reach. Their gentleness, patience and willingness to help one another is a lesson all of us need to learn from.

Gave some thought to yesterday's shellacking. Where I was fishing, the sun set straight down stream and as the temp dropped, the bugs stopped and the fishing was over all within a few minutes. Today I fished a place where the river ran north to south and the sun went behind the western hill long before sunset. At three-thirty when I started, half the river was already in shade. The bugs kept flying and the fish kept rising. 

While on the river mother nature continued to provide me with noteworthy experiences. What appeared to be a yearling bear crossed the river about 100 yards down stream from me. He didn't seem to enjoy the crossing, running and jumping all the way across. About ten minutes later momma crossed in the same place (now about 75 yards below me. She proceeded with a done it before attitude but didn't really waste any time. A little while later an adult bald eagle flew up river while I was fighting a fish. He lit in a tree on the ridge above me and watched until I landed the fish. Didn't give me a thumbs up, just got up and left when the fish was in the net.

The fishing - A promise is a promise. Lets just say that today was quite a bit better, in all respects, than Monday and Tuesday combined.   

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Had To Get Out The Neosporin For The Tooth Cuts On My Index Finger.

  To say the Delaware  is a hard river to figure is an understatement. Yesterday was an overcast day that had fishermen thinking olives. Turned out the water was probably too warm for olives and too cold for sulfurs, in short, a dud. Today the air temp was a little cooler, (I think), with a mix of sun and clouds and the sulfurs, (both yesterdays and todays), hatched. The fish? At least where I was, went nuts, threw caution to the wind, and ate everything that came down their feeding lane, both with and without hooks. Heard from two sources that the sulfur hatch at the red barn was also very good today. If my last report on the red barn sulfurs was erroneous, blame it on Ed who has been in Hawaii for the last two weeks, (hence no reliable red barn reports). The fishing mid-day was so good, and the number of fishermen in the "Zone", (it's Friday afternoon), so high, that I decided to fish down river during the evening hours. Fished a pool in the middle section from 6:30 unt...
Read more

Fishing A Cold Blow From Out Of The North.

  Jean came down and we spent the weekend watching wildlife in the backyard, driving around the area and enjoying two "nights out", one with David and Maryann, (the apprentice Troutfitter Inn cleaning lady). A shout out of thanks to her for spending four hours on the road to have dinner with us. Not sure the company or the meal was worth the drive. We drove up to Stilesville to witness the hordes of anglers, and then along the reservoir all the way up to Walton, where we usually stop and go in some of the shops. It was threatening to rain so we elected to keep going. It was raining on top of the mountains but we took route 206?? to Downsville anyway. We hit the rain part way up the mountain and then drove down the other side to Downsville in a torrential down pour. Came out of the rain at Downsville and drove down route 30 with the intention of checking  out the trout in some of the BK's thermal refuges, saw the muddy water at "Jaws" and drove back to the Lordvi...
Read more

Don't let that that rain come down.

 My South Holston river friend, (one of only two people who will fish with me), (the other is currently on injured reserve), is up for a visit (he brought his boat) and today we floated. There might have been some question about where we chose to float (no one else launched where we did), but we enjoyed the fact that we never saw another fisherman, let alone another boat, on the river all day. The weatherman might well have gilded the lily a bit when he predicted a chance of showers and a high temp of sixty degrees. It rained all day, and the temperature peaked at fifty three degrees. When I read the forecast for the rest of Mark's stay (rain for the next four days) I was thankful that we got in the day that we did today.  How was our day? We sucked it up, paid an extra $5.00 to launch (didn't have the proper change), parked in the wrong place (got a note from the owner where we put in), never made it to the predetermined takeout place, and had a delightful day counting bugs (...
Read more