Keep Your Dogs Water Cold @ 107F

This weekend was hectic as I spent it dog sitting, working, and helping others after the bad streak of storms that came trough on Sunday. I stayed busy with a lack of time for photos so I have grabbed a few from friends and the web but you will get the idea.





Keeping your dogs water Cold:
My parent have a yellow lab Buddy that stays outside in the backyard, coming in occasionally during bad weather to enjoy A/C during the heat. I was responsible for keeping his water drinkable as it was 107F this weekend. So rather than throwing ice in the water bowl only to watch it melt in less than a minute. I recycled an idea I learn while working landscaping in high school: The Frozen 2 liter bottle.

Find a two liter Bottle fill with water till the top of the label leaving room for expansion. Throw it in the freezer for a couple of hours.

The you have two options
1: Throw the bottle in the bowl and let it act as a ice block
2: Cut the bottle off and have a lick able ice block

-Either way your outside (Or Inside) dog can enjoy cold water for hours, leaving you with the feeling of being a responsible dog parent.

The fish even felt the weather:
In the dog days of summer you can go fishing, leaving you with a loss of water weight, mosquito bites, and sunburn. I spent the latter part of the days fishing only to find a few yellowbellys deep on a beadhead stonefly and a few bass on a deer hair frog moving it slowly with little pops. Even days when the fishing isn't so great it can always turn into a good time to work on you casting.

Sunday storms came fast, left fast and a mess behind.

Sunday afternoon the storm system from Virginia came into North Carolina with solid red showing on the radar. Still at my parents house where I am a volunteer firefighter the fire calls where numerous as trees where down and houses had been struck by lighting. I spent Sunday behind a chainsaw for a couple of hours. Only to spend Monday behind a chainsaw at a friends house in Greenville helping his family clean up as they lost a few trees. I was graciously paid with a great dinner and good conversation.

Overall it was a good weekend I kept buddy's water cold, caught a few fish, and helped some people in need as I hope one day when I need help someone will return the favor. 

J.Jones

Small Town Largemouths On The Fly

This weekend I found sometime in between working to cast a few flies. I had the luxury of fishing my home turf as I like to call the ponds around my house. There are a few disadvantages to being from a small community, most of them to do with everyone knowing what you have done wrong such as speeding down the road, or missing church on Sunday. However everyone knowing you, your folks, all your relatives and yes even your dog has its perks. Mostly in the form of fishing or hunting permission on various farms.

In the console of my truck holds a wrinkled coffee stained index card with a list that features name the nicknames of all the ponds I have access to fish. Some that include "The lighthouse", " Mr.Rossie's", "Angus Acres", "The waterholes", and a few more. 

They are not all fly fishing friendly, some require a boat others spinning outfits, but there are a few that are fit for a backcast. These few spots are where I spend most of my time trying to find that six pound or above lunker on the fly. I didn't find the one this weekend but I did find a couple of good ones and a lot of small ones. The majority fell for a black and red closer minnow fresh of my vise, and a few others on a deer hair frog. 

Different ponds bring different shades of bass. 

Caught a lot of this size.

Lucked up of this good sized one. 

J.Jones 

Keep your cell phone dry and alive

Today was a nasty rainy day outside in the Raleigh area, so what to do either sit inside watching swamp people or go fishing. I chose the second option and set out with a few flies and my 5wt down the creek to the mouth of falls lake. I was in pursuit of some bass and bream, however stumbled upon the freshwater red fish also known as la car-pay (freshwater carp). With a light sprinkle I pursed the carp without much knowledge or equipment. The day was spent with two hook ups, one thrown hook, one snapped line, and a 5wt reel caught with its drag screaming and backing out.

The 5wt was no match for the seven to ten pound carp I hooked up, however some drag screaming therapy was nice. With a rumbling stomach I headed back to the house only to be caught in monsoon like rainfall. Now soaked from the twenty minute hike back, I was thankful my cell phone and camera made it to the dry pack.

Its time to throw away that Ziploc bag and order a dry bag for your valuables.
This is the best investment for valuables and a must have for the active outdoor user. Cell phone, iPod, camera, fishing license all protected and keys they are good to as many bags float. Many different brands are available the particular one I use is a dry pak. They also have a size for most items, the coolest thing I like is the ability to still use the device while it's in the case. Touch screen phone or iPod work well, as for listening to those they sell a model that includes headphone jack. So get smart about your gear and protect it spend the $15 dollars, this is a purchase that is simple but saves a lot of headache and money.