Little River Road

[Carlito]

Originally Posted by downtownfish

My girlfriend has been talking about reading on the bank as I fish on our upcoming trip in october. I am stuck on whether to tell her about the bear attack which will freek her out, or not tell her which could lead to her not being as alert.

I would tell her just so she is aware, but point out to her that literally millions of people visit the Park each year. Bear attacks happen, but they are very rare. My girlfriend is completely aware of the risks of bear encounters in the park, and in fact she has had multiple close encounters (more than I have!). Even so, she is always happy to join me for a fishing trip, and we hike/backcountry camp very often.

This is way off topic, but I have an extra can of bear pepper spray that I bought for a trip to Alaska. I bought two cans from mountaingear.com (one for me and one for my folks), but it turns out you can't fly with pepper spray. Doh! Anyway, I want to keep one, but if you or anyone else would like a good deal on the other one, let me know. I paid $40 each for the magnum size, and they came with holsters. I'd be glad to get $20 for it, and it would definitely offer some peace of mind to have it handy "just in case."

cdhill33@gmail.com if you are interested.

[cardfly]

Jeff,

I like your avatar and the way you think.

I just started fly fishing a couple of years ago and when I caught my first trout in the smokies, I came home bragging about catching it and it was at least 4 inches long, then I got the pictures back.

If I had kept my thumb OUT of the pic I may have gotten away with the 4 inch lie but no way with that thumb in there. It may have been 2 inches if I was lucky.

I still have the fly that I caught it with.

[jeffnles1]

Originally Posted by cardfly

Jeff,

I like your avatar and the way you think.

I just started fly fishing a couple of years ago and when I caught my first trout in the smokies, I came home bragging about catching it and it was at least 4 inches long, then I got the pictures back.

If I had kept my thumb OUT of the pic I may have gotten away with the 4 inch lie but no way with that thumb in there. It may have been 2 inches if I was lucky.

I still have the fly that I caught it with.

David,
To totally come clean on tha avatar picture, the hand next to my HUGE trout belongs to my son. He was about 12 at the time that picture was taken.

I've tried to tell folks that he has freakishly large hands and that trout really weighed about 4lbs. That is until they see the #16 size fly in its mouth then it's come clean time.

That's the one bad thing about digital cameras, expecially the waterproof kind, we take pictures of the fish we catch and they frequently shrink after caught.

Jeff

[silvercreek]

That is a problem with digital cameras. I think it has to do with digital compression. They have cameras that have facial recognition. They need one with fish recognition that does not reduce the size of the fish from what we remember. I think it would be a best seller to fishermen.

[cardfly]

Maybe it's something in the air that effects or measuring abilities when in the smokies. I took a buddy for his first trip and he claimed his first trout was a monster. I told him not to be surprised when the pictures came back and it was only about 2 inches long.

He called a week later and couldn't believe it was only about 2 inches long. Hmmmmm

Pound for pound, trout are the most freakishly strong fish so they just seem bigger. And I'm giving up taking pictures.....

[downtownfish]

Pound for pound I would have to say peacocks or any chiclid for that matter are the strongest fighting fish. Sometimes I think I hooked into a tarpon to find out its a 3 pound peacock. This maybe not be apples to apples, but they are strong fish.