Fishin' On the French Broad with Chris of Whitewater Sportsman

Share

('’)

by Billy Carestio
on Monday, September 07, 2009

I hadn't been fishin' in nearly ten years. I had just completed a very difficult RN BSN program. Chris pushed us off the bank of the French Broad, and as soon as we hit the current relaxation washed over me like a gentle wave. My tackle had been prepared for me. I was told to cast into lines of turbulence after the rocks jutting out of the water. Fifteen minutes in and I had my first fish.

We floated down river deftly moving between large boulders. The easy to use rod and reel was in constant motion searching for the playful strikes of smallmouth bass. Thirty minutes had gone by and I had already pulled five fish from the water. Each fish that I caught was carefully removed from the hook by Chris to be caught another day.

As the morning fog began to burn off the competition between Justin and I began to heat up. We'd toss in the anchor in a large eddy aside a rapid and I managed to pull ahead of Justin's fish count with three nice smallmouth bass in a row. Justin by this put had caught a catfish, a rock bass, a brim and several smallmouth bass. I had to force myself to pause from fishing at one point to eat and drink a little breakfast.

Nothing is better then enjoying the fresh air and mountain views offered on our outing. After a short break it was back to the tackle box. Chris navigated our raft through the tightest of creases expertly. We splashed down through the Alexander wave and found a nice spot where Justin pulled a gorgeous 2-1/2 plus pound bass from the ebullient waters. The only downside of the trip was that Justin caught more fish than me, this time.

Comments

About the Author - Billy Carestio

Contact Billy Carestio:

Learn more about Billy.