River Day 07/30/2012

Back on the beach above Mill Creek for this week's River Day.  Pat, Jay, Tim and I were able to make it down to enjoy the evening.  Temps were nice in the low to mid 80's, and the humidity that we've suffered through most of the summer has lowered quite a bit.  We did get a brief, light shower for a while, and you could hear a good bit of thunder, but there wasn't enough weather to spoil the evening.

All of us spent a good bit time fishing, but the fish just aren't very active right now - or at least they aren't in that zone.  Oh well, as the saying goes, that's why they don't call it "catching".

Not much activity on that part of the river.  We did see a couple of personal boats go by, no commercial trips, but those aren't very common on this section anyway.  Quite a few trains going by, both directions.  There were also a couple of Great Blue Herons flying back and forth near our spot.  I was able to get a little video of them, but they were too far away for any good still photos.

Like last week, with all the debris from this summer's storms, there was plenty of material to burn, so like all true pyros would, we took advantage of it.  I'd like to think we did our small part to clean up a bit of the river bank of downed limbs.  Anyway, as far as we could see, we still had the best fire on the river.

River Day 07/23/2012

Big crowd for River Day this week! Two of Ted's brothers, Steve and Mark, were in town for the weekly celebration, along with Pat, Tim, Ted, Jay and I.  We got together this week at the beach above Mill Creek, and enjoyed warm temps, despite a couple of showers.  At one time there was a bit of thunder and lightning, but we never had enough bad weather to interrupt the evening.  We did have to huddle under some trees for a bit to get out of the rain, but that was the worst of it.

Every one got in a little fishing, and there were a few caught.  I'm not sure about everyone else, but I came up empty handed.  That's okay though, I was still fishing.

One of the neat things about the spot this week is all of the activity on the railroad tracks across the river, and this week was no exception.  It's always good to see, and hear, the trains going by.

We did have a nice fire going, but it took a little work.  There was an abundance of firewood available due to the recent storms in the area; trees were down all up and down the beach.  Actually it resembled a war zone.  The problem was, most of the wood was wet, or at least damp.  Anyway, with perseverance, we managed to end up with what we are confident was the best fire on the river.  As a bonus, we managed to do our part to clean up a good bit of debris from the immediate area.

Another great River Day on the New River! 

River Day 07/16/2012

The four regulars made it down to celebrate River Day this week: Ted, Jay, Tim and I.  The weather was good; still warm and cloudy early on, the clear skies for the rest of the evening.  Temps were in the mid 80's.

We spent most of the evening fishing just downstream from the camp, and for once, we actually had pretty good luck.  That spot is never really "productive", but it's easy to get to, and there's room for all of us to fish.  I think each of us caught at least a few, except for Ted, but he didn't spend much time fishing anyway.  Nothing was biting night-crawlers, so everything we caught was on artificial lures.

When we made our way back up to the camp, we even had a small fire (well, small for us anyway) despite the warm weather.  I'm pretty sure it's always appropriate to build a fire at the river, no matter the temperature.


Monday was also Ron's birthday (he and Judy were at the camp), so here's wishing Ron a Happy Birthday/River Day, from all of us.

Jay and Ted getting ready.

Me reeling in my big catch of the night.

Landed one after a dry spell.

Ted finally getting in on the action.

The Harper boys.