I had nearly worn him out with pictures and fish tales when I would make a side trip from visiting Robyn while she was earning her degrees at Harding University in Searcy, about 45 minutes south of the famous spot where the record Brown trout was caught in 1992.
Paul stayed after me all Spring but we were never able to put the trip together. A window of time finally appeared near the end of September which coincided with his 50th birthday so the trip was scheduled.
We headed out on Thursday afternoon and arrived at the Swinging Bridge Resort (aka fish camp) with a mind to fish.
Here we are on the first morning ready to find out if the rainbows and browns of the LRR were in the mood to come out and play. As you can see we were starting with UL spinning rods and white roostertails.
I think this was the money shot of the whole trip. Early morning fog and a nice view of Sugar Loaf mountain in the background makes a nice picture - even with a crusty old fisherman in the foreground..Check out this video of the first fish of the day.
Here is the happy fisherman with his first LRR brown. Not a record but one for the books anyway.
We caught several rainbows in the 14"-15" range. They were feisty and colorful and not as easy to catch as you might think.
Click on the picture above to see the nice coloration of this fat brown.
Some of the rainbows were dark with lots of spots like this chunky one.
Others were light colored with bright fins and cheek patches.
On Saturday, the river level was down which made for better fishing but when they started generating electricty through the turbines, the water levels below the dam started to rise. The locals all headed down river to get in a few more hours of fishing so we followed.
"Go to Ramsey", we were told so after a quick bite we headed down to see what was happening. When we arrived, we were greeted by this little guy who apparently was a regular at the Ramsey boat ramp.
We nicknamed him "Reek-o" as his odor arrived long before he did. Man if I ever thought about getting a goat, this guy convinced me otherwise. Peeyou!
This was a pretty spot to fish and there were lots of geese to entertain us when the fish weren't biting. I shot some video which you can see by clicking HERE.
All that remains of the swinging bridge above Winkley Shoals is this spot. There was a terrible tragedy here 20 years ago when the bridge collapsed killing five members of a camping group.
There was a lot to see along the riverbank including this beautiful bush. The flowers looked like a wild orchid and the hummingbirds loved it.
Paul proved once again that he is a true fisherman. He caught his limit of five on Saturday.
It isn't hard to see the hand of God if you have your eyes open. This sunset over Sugar Loaf is a good example.
We had a great time and it was a trip to remember. We headed back on Sunday and I arrived home in time for evening worship. I sure had plenty to thank God for!
Next year I'm turning 50 - we are already thinking about possible destinations.
I wonder how late the Connecticut Lakes area stays open?
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