Trout Fishing in North Georgia

August 31, 2019
Clayton, Georgia
Tallulah River

My trout fishing trip to North Georgia started well before daylight as I met my friend, Kellan, and his dad to fly fish the Tallulah River. We researched the trout stocking schedule published by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to determine which mountain stream we would fish. We went from fishing "hole" to fishing "hole" roll casting the flies upstream of the strike zone. We caught several brown trout and a few rainbows!

Deep Sea Fishing in the Gulf of Mexico

June 27, 2019
Gulf Shores, Alabama

"We need to go deep sea fishing this year." That statement marks the start for the planning phase of our annual family beach vacation. For my dad, it wouldn't be a true beach vacation without some saltwater fishing with his sons. This year we had the whole family together so dad and I were joined by Garrett, Joseph and Kala. We were shocked that some of the women wanted to go on the fishing trip and, I think it's safe to say, that may have been their last fishing trip. 

Saltwater fishing trips come in many forms - early morning bottom fishing, late afternoon trolling and overnight, deep-water adventures. On this trip. we met at the marina before dawn not knowing that we were about to have a world-class fishing experience. We started fishing under the infamous Perdido Pass for baitfish which is where most deep-sea fishing trips begin. After loading the live bait well with mullet we motored out to deeper water in search of some red snapper. 

We caught mangrove snappers and red snappers until we could barely hold our rods upright. The midday sun was our cue to begin the slow ride back to the dock. We smelled like sweat and sea salt but we had caught our limit of red snapper!

Colorado Rockies

February 22-26, 2019
Breckenridge, Colorado

It was a long-time dream to ski the Rocky Mountains while they are covered in late-season snow. This was a memorable trip for so many reason but mostly because of the lack of oxygen. I thought of myself as a resilient young man that could handle the altitude with no problems. I could barely sleep at night because I couldn't catch my breath. Most mornings started with a quick ski lesson and the afternoons ended sharing coffee or hot chocolate in a warm restaurants.

My favorite part of this adventure was riding snowmobiles at Vale Pass. The drive to the outfitter wound through narrow mountains roads covered in ice at times but getting to such a remote location was part of the experience. The snowmobile trail increased in altitude so much that the weather changed at the halfway point and it began snowing and visibility dropped so that you could barely see 20 feet in front of you. The sun came out for just a few minutes at the peak of the trail and I was able to take a quick picture.

Arcole Time

January 16, 2019
Arcole, Mississippi

Arcole Hunting Club 

The second annual Arcole hunting trip was a success. David, Mark and I have made a tradition of hunitng this property every year. I made the trip from Atlanta, Georgia on Sunday and we started the hunt on Monday morning. The weather was cold and the Mississippi river was high. The flooded Mississippi river bottoms had pushed even more deer to Arcole's hunting property and we were excited to get into the stand. The first day was slow and very few hunters saw deer. We were fortunate enough the find a section of the property that had not been hunted much and held rutting bucks. I shot an eight point on Wednesday that was trailing a doe on Wednesday. Freddy Smith at Wildlife Reflections Taxidermy does great work and is going to get this trophy on my wall!

This camp is a special place. The members come from all walks of life including doctors, lawyers, judges, retired military officers and law enforcement.