The Return To Atlanta

After almost eight weeks on the road, it was time to head back to Atlanta. Something that I had not mentioned is that before I had left on my trip, I had no idea where I was going to live when I returned. I had not landed a job yet and therefore was free to move where I wanted. One day while traveling across the western United States I came to the came to the conclusion that I was going to move south and live in the same city my parents. They had moved to Atlanta in March and I had decided that I had enough of the northeast. I was not particularly into cold weather and fully clothed woman for half the year, I wanted to live somewhere where the pool season was twice as long as winter. So upon my arrive in Atlanta, I informed my parents that I had decided to stay and be close, which they were thrilled to hear. I had spent the previous five years living at college, working various DC internships or participating in summer long Arabic programs, so I had it had bern awhile since I had been around them outside of Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was nice to be home and temporarily back home living with them.

So I am now living with my parents and looking for my first job out of college, I was also looking for friends... I was able to find both. I landed a job at the Atlanta Journal Constitution selling advertising space to small & local businesses in Sandy Springs. At the AJC I met my first fishing buddy, Charlie, and he introduced to me to almost everyone I know and also my favorite trophy waters, Dukes Creek. Charlie and I started fishing Dukes Creek together four years ago, and together we have worked on figuring out the winning formula.

Dukes Creek is widely recognized as one of the toughest, if the not the most technically challenging water to fish in all of Georgia. It has the perfect combination of narrow water, lots of trees, overhanging branches and wild spooky trout. The trout in Dukes are big and spooky, they got this way being pellet fed and heavily fished week after week. If you are able to fish these waters on a regular basis you are lucky, but if you can catch fish there on a regular basis you will be able to land trout anywhere. Dukes is by far my favorite trophy waters simply because it tests my abilities, challenges my patience and most importantly gives me extreme satisfaction when I have a successful day or land one of their legendary pigs.

So You Want To Start Fly Fishing

Over the weekend I was thinking about the blog and what I was going to write this week. I realized I totally forgot to chronicle my trip to the fly shop where I bought all my equipment for the first time. And then also realized that this was the beauty of blogs, unlike books they don't necessarily have to go in order.

So this reflection dates back to my days in Lancaster, PA where I had finished my senior year in college. I had just received a few graduation checks, most notable from my grandma who generously gave me $500, in total I had received about $750. So in my mind the only thing to do was buy fly fishing stuff. I had been fly fishing for about two years at this point and had really gotten into it but I had neither a rod&reel, wader, boots or even flies! So I cashed my checks and headed to the local fly shop.

When I arrived the good ol' boys there heard the magic words..."Outfit Me Please". To any fly shop owner those are like asking a drunk if wants to go to an open bar. These guys were no different, their eyes lite up and they started to wait on me hand and foot, but that is not always a good thing for a greenhorn like I was at the time. These guys were shamelessly trying to sell me everything in the store. I quickly realized this and said something that I am still thinking about whether or not it was the right ting to say, "Guys I only need the essentials." I said that because they were telling me I needed to gloves to protect my hands from the sun, I needed to get this, that and everything thing which was not necessary. I was planning on buying boots, waders and vest. It was my hope they would just give me everything else, but I guess when people know they have an easy sell sometimes they get greedy.

When I left the shop I had most of the essentials but not all of them. I think my not buying all the crap they were selling, they purposely left out some of the most important little things. I walked out with waders, boots, vest, fly box, flies, pliers, wading stick, and net, but I was missing one important thing. They failed to mention a very vital component of dry fly fishing, dry fly goo/powder. These guys sold me nothing but dry flies but never told me I needed some kind of floatant, and that's why I believe they were playing some kind of inside joke on me. So below I have done all you newbies a favor and listed everything you need to start fly fishing.


Essential Check List
Rod/Reel/Line
Wader&Boots or Choacos
Polarized Sunglasses
Vest or Hip Pack
Split Shots
Tippet
Fly Box w/ Flies
Dry Fly Floatant
Strike Indicators
Net
Forceps or Scissor Pliers

The Great Adventure

• My friends and I met up in Seattle in the end of May and set-up base camp at a friend's house. We rented an RV out of Everett, WA and set out on the open road. The second stop we made was at Glacier National Park in Montana. We hiked into a lake near the Canadian border and my friend Jake landed a nice little grayling. Besides that day we didn't fish again but we did do everything else. If you are interested here is the shameless plug on that story - http://www.onelastroadtrip.blogspot.com/ - Anyway it was a great trip and that day was memorable and furthered my emerging interest in the sport.

A funny story from that day had to do with my friend Bob, a great and very intelligent guy, but I sometimes question how smart he really is. He decides that he is going to take a dip in an high altitude lake in the first week in June. I don't exactly think that is the smartest thing to do, but hey to each his own. I posted some pictures of the sequence of him jumping in and running right back out. I also posted a few goodies from that particular camping trip, there were 16 total stops in that road trip so if you like what you see, visit my other blog linked above.

Hey Guy

TP who needs TP, I got a whole pocket full of these leafs.

The Beginning

The first time that I ever went fly fishing was in August of 2002 while visiting the Eagle county Colorado with the folks. We were going to be out there for about a week and the old man asked if I wanted to try it, since it was fishing I jumped at the opportunity. We booked a trip with one of the local fly shops, Fly Fishing Outfitters, and little did I know that this trip would have a dramatic effect on my life.

We left the fly shop early in morning and set off to cattle ranch located somewhere between Aspen and Vail. As we are gearing up and I went to get my ipod from the car and was immediately advised by the guide that I would have my own symphony waiting at the river. So we hoofed it down to the mighty Colorado River in the middle of hundreds of cattle and three peaks over 12,000ft, it was simply an amazing place. I spent the whole day learning how to fly fish with my dad and we were able to get a few fish in hand, solidifying the fact I was going to do this again. While learning how to navigate my way through the river I fell, which over the years I have learned is a trend for greenhorns wading. I guess you could say it was my baptism into the fly fishing lifestyle.

Where the Banjos Play

Fly Fishing in the South

Greetings Ya'll,

My name is Craig Holman and I live in Atlanta, GA, home to Southern Fly Fishing. I have been fishing my entire life, catching my first first fish at my grandma's at the age of 5, it was a catfish. Since then I have had tight line fever and my fishing has evolved from an enjoyable hobby/interest to an obsession. I have fished around the world, from the ponds on Amish farms in Lancaster, PA to open ocean of Cairns, Australia. It wasn't until my a trip to a cattle ranch outside Aspen, CO, that my fishing focus started to zero in on the sport of fly fishing.

After graduating from Franklin & Marshall College, I moved to south where I could enjoy warm weather, Southern Belles and of course lots of fishing. When I arrived in Atlanta, I was already planning to leave, my college buddies and I had planned one last adventure before we started our journey into the real world. We were embarking on a 6wk RV trip around the Western United States and having only gone out fly fishing a handful of times, I turned to would become my local fly shop, The Fish Hawk, for help. Well its been over four years and fly fishing has taken an entirely new role in my life. These are the experiences , stories, thoughts and everything else that has made fly fishing apart of my lifestyle.