Travel Delay Irony

Traveling to Minnesota during December, I know travel delays are a legitimate possibility. It should be no surprise that instead of reaching my destination early in the afternoon and maybe even fishing a little, I've spent the day in the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, and won't get to my hotel till nearly midnight.

The irony of it all is that the delay and a missed connection came from ice on the wings this morning in Atlanta!  It's 40 degrees and raining in Minneapolis. The other irony is that I could have driven to Minnesota in the time I'll end up traveling today.

I've Fished Everywhere, Man. I've Fished Everywhere

Deadwood, South Dakota; Buffalo, New York; El Salto, Mexico, Bartow, Florida...

OK. I haven't fished everywhere. It sort of feels like it, though. I've been running a lot since the first of the year, especially for the past few months, and have gotten to fish in a huge variety of settings for  many different kinds of fish. Best I can recall, I've caught fish in 13 U.S. states, plus Mexico, so far this year. The current species tally stands at 23.

Excepting a trip to South Carolina to cover the Forrest Wood Cup in a couple of weeks, I have no travel plans through the end of August. That could change, but it's OK with me as it doesn't. As much as I enjoy fishing other places, I sure miss being home when the trips come one after another. Plus, I don't get to spend much time fishing around here. If plans stay as they are, I'll likely slip out several days to fish trout waters in Georgia or the Carolinas, local ponds and maybe a big lake or two with a local fisherman.

Plans change quickly when opportunities arise, though, so I won't make any bold statements about where I will or won't be fishing over the next few weeks.

Travel Prep

Today is al about packing and prepping stuff for a week on the road. Tasks range from gathering gear for at least three different kinds of fishing to making certain camera batteries are charged and memory cards are cleared. I'm mostly working in a triangle, going from bedroom to office to basement, but occasional satellite missions take me to the truck with stuff that's fully gathered or even to the store, post office or money machine. Fortunately, I'm up-to-speed on deadlines, so I'm not trying to squeeze in writing between other stuff.

Nathaniel and I leave tomorrow for Tennessee to fish a couple of days on Center Hill, Old Hickory and/or Priest for bass, crappie, bream and whatever else might happen to bite, but as of now I'm thinking we'll blast out dark and early and do some trout fishing in the North Carolina mountains along the way. From Tennessee, we'll steer west, to Arkansas, where we'll spend a few days fishing in the Ozarks. Two of those days will be on the Buffalo River, water levels allowing, float-fishing for smallmouth bass. One day might find us in another trout stream.

We'll wrap up the trip with a day in Mountain View, Arkansas at the Dulcimer Jamboree. No fishing plans there. Just a day of good music and time with friends.

Then it's back to Georgia and back to writing fish stories.