It all started when Jere said THIS Saturday at the August meeting. That put me on short notice to "improve the path" not taken in two years. In that interim the wind and time had played havoc on my trail to the Rapidan. What used to be a well manicured trail was now hard to find. We left my wigwam at 0845 on a very warm and muggy morning. As guide I broke trail by sweeping the spider webs and pointing out ankle buster depressions.

We walked across one of the old mining roads and into my neighbor's lower 10. Almost at once a hidden trail camera caught us digitally! Then we found the tree stand, fortunately unoccupied. Next up the trees thinned out lighting a well manicured dirt bike course. Curses, we were now trespassing on the letter writer's property and there he was glaring down the hill at us. I quickly moved us back onto the Willis Tract and out of legal trouble.

Eventually we came to the Brintly Prospect Mining road which made walking in wading boots easy going to the Rapidan. All we had to do next was negotiate down a steep slope, fight through the greenbriars, poison ivy, and ankle grabbers to a gravel bar for a quick rest stop and slug of juice from the water bottles.

I made a command decision we should go upriver so Jere & Lloyd could experience new waters. Ignoring my sage advice about the water depth they plunged in and to my surprised the silt prevented them from a dunking. We have got to this silt under control!!!

Lloyd scored first on a jumbo Bluegill, see photo, and the games began. Later upriver Jere, who was way below me, hooked the best fish of the day and three jumps later lost the best fish of the day. As I didn't receive a guide's tip at days end I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and confirm it was a 13 inch smallmouth.

At the end of the fishing Jere took over the guiding duties and led Lloyd and me into a very deep pool that almost swamped my waders. Jere did not receive a tip. Jere found the Blind Ford road which starts with a nasty, slippery, muddy, bank. We were now back on the Willis Tract downstream from were we started the day. Old Ranger's Credo, "never return the way you came" which is how we avoided the natives and saved our scalps.

On the way back we three tired and sweating voyagers slogged in and around the frog ponds in what some call a road. As we trod along the question of the right course to set became a bone-of-contention. I wanted to head across country to my lower 10 acres and Jere wanted to hike to Spotswood Furnace Rd. So we compromised and followed a road that took us back to the Brintly Road and we once again we under the ever watchful eye of the letter writer.

Both Jere and Lloyd will have there own versions of this "CLUB" outing which you can take with a grain of river sand (my left boot had 1/2 pound of the stuff). Watch what you volunteer for and never take a short cut that you haven't used before, esp. in wading boots.

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Hope you're fishing.