My birthday was on the 12th of May (mark your calendar for next year! ) and Kristin gave me the most awesome present. She told me that it was going to arrive a week after my birthday but that it was the best present ever.

So I waited, impatiently, but I waited and wondered what in the world it could possibly be. On Thursday around 4:00 pm she said ‘Oh look, your present is here!’ while we were sitting in the living room and I looked out the bay window to see my buddy Dave from Maryland standing there looking in the window.

I hadn’t seen Dave for about a year and a half and was definitely surprised to say the least. I was even more surprised when Kristin told me that she had arranged for a day of fishing with Greasy Creek Outfitters on the New River! Thats www.greasycreekoutfitters.com, by the way- you should check them out if you are coming to the area.

We went out Saturday and hit the water with Forest who was our guide and floated on a custom fishing raft for 8 hours fishing, lying and concocting more lies to tell. Forest is a Pro-fisherman that was happy to teach us the finer points of angling along the way, giving us instructions as to where to cast the lure. Thankfully, he was also very patient as bass angling is not casual or easy- you have to place your casts in the right spot and cast often to get the fish. Unfortunately, the spawn has just ended which leaves the fish to tired to strike, but we caught three each in spite of it and had a great time. Mike Smith owns Greasy Creek and he is another fine fisherman who is very involved in the environmental health of our streams and rivers here in Virginia.

Because Forest and Mike are intent on making sure that the New River maintains its title as a small mouthed bass mecca for anglers, you can only catch and release with them. As a matter of fact, Forest carried back some discarded fishing line we came across to make sure that the only thing left behind is a ripple on the water. I thought that was pretty cool.

Forest comes highly recommended by yours truly; he was a good sport when I gave him some light-hearted ribbing and he can dish it out too. I will definitely be heading out with Mike and Forest in the future- I want to learn more about angling and I can’t think of a better way to spend the day than lazily floating down the beautiful New River.