Greetings loyal TVAngler reader!

As most of you already know, I recently decided to ditch the Huntsville/New Market, AL, area for sunny Florida. It’s been a long, slow, arduous process so far – the tale of which, filled with excitement, romance, despair, anxiety, bureaucracy and copious amounts of rum would fill pages upon pages.

But I digress – THIS post isn’t about the journey. It’s about the signs…

As I started the process of moving down to Florida, things just seemed to line up perfectly. For those of us with Faith, this seemed like the will of the Almighty. For those agnostic type people, it was a long string of beneficial circumstances and situations that happened to occur just right, at just the right time.

Anywho, this soon turned to anxiety as I’m now waiting on TWO separate job offers. I know I’ll get one or both sometime, but until I do we’re in a holding pattern. And so, obviously, I began to doubt the Almighty’s will, questioning whether I’d made the right move or not. I was still wavering back and forth on the 4th of July, when my Brother-in-law suggested we go to Sebastian Inlet – a Florida state park he was fond of and that was close by.

Sebastian Inlet is just south of Melbourne and boasts a variety of accompaniments – a beautiful beach, boardwalk and store, surfing, boating and, yes, fishing. A large bridge hacks the park in half with the ocean pouring in to or out of the inlet, depending on tide. Matter of fact, when the tide’s really cookin, the water flow looks like a formidable white water rafting river. The inlet side, to the right of the bridge, has a great little lagoon area, with a nice sloping white-sand beach for families to relax and play in. The ocean side, one the left, sports some fantastic waves for surfers and more energetic beach goers. (more…)

A few weeks ago, Hawgdaddy and I were fortunate enough to fish some private bass ponds that belong to a friend of ours. I had taken some photos during the trip that I wanted to share with all of you. My appologies that it took so long to post them, but they are up nonetheless. Some turned out really well, and some…well not so good. I suppose that’s all part of playing the amateur photographer role. Hope you enjoy!

Nathan makes a difficult cast to a 4 pounder he saw near the bank.

Looking on as Nathan battles a large bluegill in the distance.

This was one of the many large bluegill in the pond.

Nice shot of a little bass I caught earlier in the day.

I've always had good luck fishing around docks, and today was no exception.

This was a pretty neat picture. It looks as if the grass was framing Nathan's fishing net.

Behold the mystery of the mighty bamboo fly rod!

A really pretty view from the lower bass pond. Good friends, plenty of fish, and a beautiful creation...what more could a man ask for?

God Bless,
Dewayne

I saw an old friend on television tonight. Jacqulyn’s parents called to tell us that Captain Roger Hill was on the O’Reilly Factor on Fox News. I caught the last minute or so of the segment and plan to read the transcript if it’s available tomorrow. Roger’s story isn’t about fishing. This is one of those cases where things more important than fishing have intruded upon my life.

Roger and I were friends in high school. He and I both participated in the Big Brother/Big Sister Program, and we shared the same three “little brothers.” Roger was a year older than me, and the idea was for him to mentor me so I could take over when he graduated. He was also a great basketball player, but most of all, he was an all-around good guy and a good friend. Jacqulyn and I graduated with Roger’s sister Mona. We lost touch with both of them shortly after high school. I knew Roger was attending West Point and by all accounts was doing well.

I hadn’t heard from Roger in better than seven years, as nearly as I can remember, until someone sent me a link to a story in the Washington Post. I can’t really describe how I felt. It’s difficult to reconcile all those years, that soft-spoken, shy guy I used to know and the battle-hardened man who was placed in the impossible situation described in the article. Someone like Roger should never have to face situations like that.

But he did, and he’s not alone. There are thousands of our young men and women stationed in the Middle East right now. They did not choose to be there, but they chose to serve wherever their nation sent them. They chose to give up the things you and I take for granted, like being able to go fishing after a tough day at work or sitting down for supper with loved ones or not getting blown up when we drive down the road. And they do it for us. They don’t do it for fun or for kicks. It’s not a game, and they don’t come out unscathed, assuming they come out at all.

I won’t pretend to understand what it’s like being over there in a situation like Roger’s, and I certainly won’t presume to dictate to you what is right and wrong in all the complicated situations our soldiers often find themselves in. What I can say is that I know Roger is a good man, and I’d trust him to do what is right as well as I would just about anyone I’ve ever known. We praise the Jack Bauer character on 24 every Monday night when he does far worse. I cannot condemn Roger’s actions any more than I can Jack’s. There are those who will, but before doing so, they should consider how easy it is to judge from the comfort of the living room sofa. There are impossible situations where every decision is a bad one, but that doesn’t excuse you from making a decision in the end. You must choose, and I believe that’s what Roger did. From all accounts, it probably saved the lives of some of his men. Yet he stands to be condemned for it. I honestly feel sick whenever I think about it.

I encourage you to read the article I linked to above. Roger’s wife wrote a piece about the situation available here. What I’d appreciate you doing is to read about the situation, decide for yourself what is right, and if you believe as I do that Roger should be granted an Honorable discharge, please write to the Secretary of the Army Pete Geren so saying. I’m uncertain of how exactly to do that, but I hope the O’Reilly transcript will tell once they post it tomorrow. The Secretary’s page didn’t contain contact information that I could find, but there is a general Army contact page. Use that if you can’t find anything else. I’ve held back a little in writing this piece, but if I was the one in charge, I’d pin a medal on Roger’s chest. I believe he made the right decision. I don’t believe he took pleasure in it, but I believe it was what needed doing.

Thank you,
Nathan

I’m fresh from signing up for my three blocks of green power, thanks in no small part to our discussion from the last post. I’ll be short an extra $12/month, but according to the TVA site, I will have taken action equivalent to planting 1.5 acres of trees. I found one site which calls BS on this claim, but nonetheless it seems like a hugely beneficial program, and I encourage others who are financially capable to sign up. The TVA claims are based purely on emissions impacts, while that site covers other benefits of trees as well as getting picky with some numbers (like the methane burning, which is being burned anyway – so why not use it for power, I say).

The DayTripper blog ran a program on several fly fishing blogs to test the reading levels of the various sites. You’ll be proud to know that TVangler achieved an astonishing “Junior High School” reading level! It seems our plan has worked. As you who know us personally can attest, we are uber geniuses. Our challenge, and a tough one it has proven to be, has been to bring our writing level down so as to make our wisdom available to the masses. It’s excruciating work. I took an hour just to perfect that last sentence. It took weeks to get Matt’s first article in shape. You’re welcome, and no need to thank us. Check it out to see how your other favorite blogs fared.

Below I have included some photos of the latest rod I completed, for a customer in Tennessee. It was a 7’6″ 5 wt. medium-fast fly rod built on a Batson Rainshadow blank. I’d like to take credit for hand-shaping the nice handle, but it came almost completely assembled and pre-shaped by American Tackle. Just ream it (giggle) and glue it on. I added a signature wrap that I thought turned out pretty cool. I may start adding something similar to all my fly rods. On the photo of the stripping guide, you can see the results of a new trim wrap technique I learned from the Dale Clemens book Advanced Custom Rod Building. It allows me to do extremely narrow trim bands, even just one thread wide if I wanted. The pictured one is three wraps wide. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

hawgdaddy

The handle and reel seat of the new rod.

The signature wrap featuring alternating bands of green and gold on the ends.

The stripping guide. Green wraps trimmed in gold.

There are only a select few who have heard about my great tragedy this past weekend. For those of you who don’t know, I was told early Saturday morning that my father died in a house fire Friday night. It still doesn’t seem real to my brother and I, but we have definitely felt the effects. I would appreciate all of your prayers concerning this matter, not only for me, but also the many family members my father had. It has been a very exhausting and stressful week so far, and I don’t see it getting much better anytime soon.

Thanks in advance,
Insane
(Dewayne)