Or as Lucia spells it "Joja."
Jack's brother, Dickie, and his family live on St. Simons Island. Unfortunately, we don't get to see them as often as we'd like, so we were elated to receive an e-mail from Dickie last week, telling us that he and our nephew, Jack, were considering a Spring Break fishing trip to Center Hill Lake.
We sent some information about places to stay and eat and offered whatever concierge services we could provide, and late Wednesday afternoon, Dickie and Nephew Jack arrived at Lakeside, a rustic resort up the lake from us on the other side of Smithville.
Husband Jack and I were on the way home from Cookeville when Dickie called to let us know they'd made it, and we quickly arranged to meet-up for dinner at The Rose Garden Restaurant at Silver Point, which is only ten minutes from Lakeside and on our way home. Incidentally, The Rose Garden also has some of the tastiest fried catfish in these parts, and we knew it was sure to be a hit with the Georgia boys.
Over dinner, we strategized the best plans for fishing on Thursday and Friday, in consideration of quirky weather and rain in the forecast for late Thursday night into Friday. Figuring that Thursday would be the best day for boat fishing, we parted ways with plans to regroup on a rented boat sometime the following day.
Lakeside wasn't able to make direct arrangements for a boat, but Dickie was able to rent a boat at nearby Edgar Evins State Park, and shortly before 11:00, we were on our way to the park with tackle, cameras, and a picnic in hand.
The boat was nice, clean, and had plenty of room for more than the four of us and our gear. Life jackets were provided, and there were appropriate sizes for all kinds of passengers from babies on up. Because we didn't arrive at the marina until noon and the boat had to be returned by 4:00 p.m., we weren't able to travel far up the lake (or is it down the lake?), but we did get to see Center Hill Dam from the water, which I haven't done in a LONG time, and found a couple of nice spots to fish on Indian Creek. The wind made the water choppy, so it took us a little longer than it would've on a calm day, plus Dickie's hat blew off his head and into the lake, and we spent a good ten minutes fruitlessly attempting to rescue it.
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| Dickie in his Southern Soul Barbecue hat. |
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| Minutes later, searching for Dickie's hat. |
Maybe this summer someone will find it on the bank, wash it, and give it a good home.
Husband Jack scored the first catch of the day, a nice little Smallmouth Bass, and when he hooked another one later on in the afternoon, he quickly handed his rod and reel over to Nephew Jack to let him land the fish.
When the fish flopped off the hook and landed it the floor of the boat, I scooped it up and showed Jack how to hold it by the lip for long enough to get his picture made.
The Jacks caught a few more little bluegill, we saw a water snake from a safe distance, and then it was time to head back to the marina. We arrived just at 4 o'clock, and the rental guy was nice enough to help us get our things unloaded.
The plan for Friday was to stream fish for trout - Nephew Jack got a new flyrod for Christmas that he hadn't yet used, and he hoped to catch his first trout with it on this trip, but strong thunderstorms in the wee hours of the morning and the arrival of a cold front made fishing difficult.
Because of the rain and wet in the morning hours, we again waited until midday to get underway, meeting for a tasty lunch at Collins River Barbecue in McMinnville before wetting our lines in the Barren Fork River below the dam at Pepper Branch Park.
The sun came out, and the weather was absolutely delightful, as were our attitudes, but other than a couple of bluegill caught by Jack and Jack and one weird little skinny fish I managed to catch, we came up empty handed.
Next on the list was Sink Creek at Keltonburg, a place to fish on the way back to Smithville. When Jack and I had passed the creek on our way to lunch, the water was lively but still clear enough to fish. By the time we returned in the afternoon, the creek had swollen and turned into a swirling, muddy mess. Undaunted, our fishermen trudged down to the infamous mill pond, and I'll just say this - if Jack Anderson can't catch a trout in the falls there, nobody can.
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| Jack doing a roll-cast with his flyrod. |
The boys fished, and I prowled the landscape with my camera.
The fishing was disappointing, but we all had a wonderful time just being together on a fabulous Spring afternoon.
Before Dickie and Jack departed for home this morning, we treated them to a big family breakfast on the farm with Mom and Dad. Jack made homemade biscuits. We fried bacon and made a big pan of scrambled eggs. Mom tripped to Smithville for some hot, fresh donuts and had put together a nice fruit salad. We all laughed and visited together as long as we could, and then it was time for the boys to load up and start the trip home.
They've promised to be back - if not in the fall, definitely again next Spring.
We're already looking forward to their return.
Photos from this adventure are at this link:
