4/30/22

I kept my foot on the gas. The meeting time was open and you could come and go as you pleased but, once you've posted your ETA in a group text, you felt at least a little obligated to being close to "on time." This place is so beautiful though, I kept wanting to stop and take pictures of the scenery that i was catching glimpses of as i weas driving, probably a little too fast down some sketchy roads, and pretending to relax. I was meeting up with a crew of five other guys for an afternoon of Striper fishing and i was excited to see some guys that i don't get to fish with often enough. Besides, the place we were actually fishing was every bit as lovely as the places i was blowing past. So, i kept the hammer down.

I'm not going to tell you where this place is. I was sworn to secrecy by the man who introduced me to this place. This is his honey hole and i take things like that very seriously. So if anyone on this forum is contemplating on weather or not to invite me to their honey hole, just let be known here and now that THIS guy can keep a secret.

When i arrived some of the crew were already there and catching fish so i grabbed my Nikon and went to work, trying to keep some shots tight so as to not reveal our exact location. ( Naturally, the best shots were the ones with way to much background in them). Don't get me wrong. This isn't a guessing game and there are no prizes for the right answer so if you think you know the location, please just don't say anything. I want to keep in good standing with the crew and any future invites from other forum members should i be so lucky.

The Stripers ranged from two to about five pounds or so. They would fight like they were twice that size. Hooked fish would surface and thrash the water to a froth. I caught one stripping a Clouser Minnow pretty hot and it almost got the rod out of my hands. After having shoulder surgery it felt pretty good to test it out. The shoulder held up pretty well but got tired quicker than i would have liked. I'm still rehabbing it at home so it should get stronger with time. The thing i liked most about this trip, aside from the beauty of the place, was the comradery. Its pretty cool when four guys can line up a few feet apart, cast flies, fight fish, carry on a conversation up and down the line and know one gets hurt. Its a testament to a group of guys who are polite about not hogging the good holes, patient about when to make a cast and genuinely get along good together. I am blessed that these guys let me tag along with them. I am also grateful to the man who brought us together and shared this place with us. Thank you Robert Hunter.

And thank you to Brian Keller (LNT), Chuck Burges (Didya Getny), Kevin Winnet (bono fly) and Justin Prentice (5wtflyfisher) for letting me hang out.




















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Nice!

Fantastic post. Been too long to get the whole group together at one time. So amazing what we have done for each other. Finally ready to talk about the debacle that happened. But Talking about friends for life we might Not can get together all at the same time but that was great to get everybody together at one time! Nice still having a secuded place with a few fish!!! Great times all!

Not only was this a rare opportunity for all of us to get together but, thanks to Jeff (Capt. Mac), the day was very well documented for all time.

Like Jeff, I want to recognize Robert Hunter as the one who “brung me to the party”. Robert has opened up a whole new world to me. If I were to quantify the number of fish I’ve caught because of Robert, that number would certainly be over a thousand. Thank you Robert Hunter!

Being able to stand and fish in proximity to everyone in the crew doesn’t happen nearly enough. I often run into Robert and Kevin but they are usually on Kevin’s boat and I’m on mine. We can chat a bit but we lose touch when we have to start running to find fish. But, on this day, the fish were coming to us so we could all razz each other and fish.

It’s been at least a year since I’ve had the chance to fish with Brian and the last time I saw Jeff was on Ray Roberts at least two years ago. Days like this are few and far between so I’m grateful everything came together and we were able to make it happen.

Cheers guys!

Absolutely some days are slow some days are fast but no matte all memorable!!!

Living the Good Life! Awesome post.

Good to see that shoulder in working order sir!

Adventures like that help put the challenges of everyday life into perspective...

Thank you sir! I think I'm up for some poling the boat around now.

Capt. Mac! As usual, you captured the day in word and image like no other. I've seen up close the amount of work it takes - so much so that few take the time or make the effort. We appreciate you! I too feel extremely lucky to have met such a great group of peeps. And like you said, it was all possible through one kind and generous gentleman years ago, the one and only Robert Hunter!

Love hanging and fishing with all of you. Always a good day when that happens. Hopefully we won't have to wait so darn long next time.