If you haven’t witnessed the spectacular artwork of Paul Puckett, you are truly missing out on one of the richest talents in the world of Fly Fishing art and culture. Paul’s work includes mediums such as watercolors, oils, etchings, and sharpie fly box illustration. His subject matter ranges from his famous Catch & Release paintings, to scenic landscapes, and even to topo-map illustrations.

In today’s world of catch and release fishing, these ‘fish portraits’ are a great alternative to mounting your big fish. According to Paul, “Catch and release paintings to me are so much more than the actual fish. They reflect the feeling that comes with catching your first rainbow on a fly rod; the rush that comes from an Alaskan salmon burning line from your reel. When the client sees these paintings s/he remembers the weather that day, the coolness of the water, the way it felt when the fish finally sipped the fly. A catch and release painting is a way to capture the memory, and everything extraordinary that goes along with it.”

Custom Fly Box Illustrations, by Paul Puckett

Whether your looking for a beautiful painting to put over the fireplace, a way to encapsulate that memory of THE fish, or simply want the coolest fly box in town, Paul Puckett is the man for the job. His artwork is just another great way to relive your trip with Reel Job Fishing for a long time to come.

Check out some of his works below, or visit his website at:  paulpuckettart.com Paul Puckett lives in Atlanta, GA, and can often be found working down at The Fish Hawk in Buckhead off Peachtree Rd. Stop by to check out his work and ask a few questions. The Fish Hawk is a top notch fly shop and my home shop down near Atlanta, and I recommend them highly:

One problem clients find when they’re trying to book for the great fall fishing at NCF is that they don’t book far enough in advance. Anglers need to understand they’re not the only ones trying to get rid of their August trout fishing sorrows. To ensure your target fishing dates are available you need to be calling now to reserve your spot.

So what should you expect to be fishing during the fall at NCF? We generally start with big dry flies when we first approach a hole. Then after we land a fish we’ll then switch to a streamer or nymph rig to mop up the remaining willing trout. There’s really no better time of year than the fall for anglers to catch fish on dries, nymphs, and streamers. The spring is great, but you won’t find the dry fly fishing comparable. Remember, the trout sense the winter approaching and in turn, they increase their feeding to build fat reserves for the upcoming spawn and winter months.

So take it from the Reel Job Fishing staff, if your looking for a great time to fish NCF, the fall is the season you want to be on the stream. Our close proximity to NCF allows us unmatched monitoring of the fishing conditions from our competitors. In other-words, we know what bugs are on the menu, and what sections are fishing the best day to day.

Below is a short film we shot last September at Noontootla Creek Farms. Check it out if you haven’t seen it already. Even if you have seen it, we’re sure it will get you excited again for this coming fall fishing at NCF.

For more information about Noontootla Creek Farms and booking reservations, please visit our website or contact us by phone or email.

Keep it Reel,

Reel Job Fishing guide, Eric Welch says, “I’m expecting to see a new Georgia Smallmouth Bass record landed during the drawdown, and I’m hoping it’s out of my boat during one of my guide trips”. So what’s the rush in booking your trip, I mean after all doesn’t the lake drawdown every year? The lake used to be drawn down significantly annually during winter months in the past, but the TVA says once the dam is repaired, there will not be another draw down to this extent ever again.

That means none of us will have this opportunity to capitalize on this mega bass bite ever again.  So check out your calendar for this coming fall, call your favorite fishing buddy, come up with a good excuse for your boss, and book your spot for the upcoming bass action. We promise you’ll thank us later after you’ve iced your arm for a week and replaced your burned up reel.

Smallmouth Bass like this should be the norm this coming Fall.

Please practice catch & release during this drawdown on all smallmouth bass.

If you have any questions regarding the upcoming bass frenzy and want more details about our guided lake trip on Lake Blue Ridge, feel free to give us a call or drop us an email.

Keep it Reel,

There’s nothing like driving north for seven hours

New River Smallmouth on the Fly.

When the New River is on, it’s ON! Fifty to hundred plus fish days is not uncommon with a fly rod.  We threw everything at them during our float, but no particular pattern in the end really turned the smallies on. Instead, as we pulled up to the take out the first day, all we could do was debate about what each of us thought created the slow fishing.  Was it the multiple fronts that lead up to the trip, the significant water level drop during out float, or the fact that every fish we did catch was completely gorged to the max.  I guess we’ll really never know, but one things for sure, I’m really happy we decided to change our game plan to wild trout fishing for the remainder of our trip.

So our second day, we moved locations and I got the pleasure of being introduced to a fantastic wild trout stream loaded with rainbows and browns.  The first day we landed around sixty trout between us, with several of them in the 14-18″ range.  We had our opportunity to land a few in the twenty-inch class during our visit. Those big fish takes however, came on streamers and despite some good hook ups, the big boys failed to end up in the net.

Our third day we finished up around 2:00pm with a trout count around thirty fish.  I won’t say the name of the stream since I’m sworn to secrecy, but supposedly the stream has the fastest trout growth of all streams in the area. It was absolutely amazing to see how healthy and fat the trout were.  For instance, the sixteen inch trout we caught had big thick bodies of twenty plus inch fish.  I”m talking three-to-four inches across the backs…., it was awesome.

Click on the Photos for Larger Views

If we wouldn’t have changed our game plan the second day and stuck out the New River for the remainder of our fishing, the trip could have very well been a complete bust.  However, we adapted to the current fishing conditions, changed locations, and got into some epic wild trout fishing for August.  Next time you find yourself in this situation don’t be afraid to completely change up your fishing itinerary. More than likely it will save your fishing trip.

P.S. That means packing enough gear that will allow you to change species and fish effectively.

Keep it Reel,

Hook: Orvis Bass Bug Hook 8810 3/0

Tail: Yellow & Barred Red/Orange Marabou

Thorax: Copper Tinsel Chenille

Legs: Round Yellow Rubber Legs

Head: Chart. Estaz

Clawdad tied by Chuck Kraft - Courtesy of Ben Austin

Keep it Reel,

Erik Hove with a nice Jefferson River Bow.

Langdon Attaway with a nice Jefferson River Brown.

Erik and I will be hitting the Toccoa River very soon and we’ll give everyone a fishing report on how it’s fishing with the warm temperatures. If you’re interested in having Erik guide you this fall for trout give us a call and we’ll gladly set it up. Thanks for forwarding us some of the photos from your trip guys, we enjoyed them.

Keep it Reel,

Here’s Luke Filmer’s latest mounts from Blackwater Fish Replicas. This is what you call replica perfection everyone. Look how close these mounts are to the photographs of the originals provided. It’s amazing…, if you’re looking to get a mount of one of your trophies done, I highly recommend contacting Luke Filmer. The attention to detail is striking.

Click on Photos for Larger Views

Blackwater Fish Replicas Cutthroat - Luke Filmer

11- pound Columbia River Rainbow

Luke's Columbia River Rainbow Replica

Let Luke know that I sent you and he’ll take extra care of your trophy mount.

Keep it Reel,

Click Photos for Larger Views

Dave enjoying the vacation

I’ll be heading out of town this weekend with the BRM crew to do some filming and fishing for smallmouth bass up in West Virginia. It should be a great trip and I look forward to posting all the details on the blog. Hopefully when I get back our temperatures will have cooled off.

Lake Blue Ridge - August 15th, 2010

The lake will have to be down 55 feet before you will be able to put in off the TVA concrete ramp at Blue Ridge Marina. All I can say is you better be prepared for the best smallmouth fishing ever. I’m expecting to see  the lake record smallmouth and possibly the state record smallmouth bass broke during this lake draw down. When TVA gets these repairs done we may never see Blue Ridge Lake drawn down like this again. Since the water has been dropping there are fish already breaking top water like it’s fall. We caught some on tubes and dropshot yesterday.

This Fall we will be doing float n fly trips on area lakes. If you have never tried it, it will only take one trip for you to be hooked. If your looking to fish the only lake left in Georgia with Big Smallies I encourage you to call and book now our calendar is starting to fill up.

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RJF Guide Eric Welch

Tight lines,

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