05/02/2013 - North Carolina Trout Fishing

Kevin, Chuck, and I took a day trip out to western North Carolina to do a little fly fishing for some trout in a delayed harvest stretch!  The weather was pretty overcast and gloomy, but we had an absolutely awesome time with some tremendous fishing!

Here's a few pics from the day!


Well, we weren't expecting it that day, but were lucky enough to get there right as the state was stocking the river! Pretty cool how they drive a ATV around the woods to spread out the stocking!



Chuck is already laughing at me and my camera!



Kevin, getting his gear out!



I guess I was a little pumped, I was dressed and ready to fish before Kevin even had his sneakers off! haha



A quick little group shot before we head to the river!



No camping, delayed harvest area, lots of trout!



Kevin, our friendly fly fishing guide!



A nice, lush green hike to the river...



Beautiful river!



Very scenic...



Nice shot of Kevin getting ready to wet a line...gin clear water!



And a nice shot upstream in the stretch we fished



Do you see what I see?!?!



My first North Carolina trout, a nice brookie!



And another...



Chuck joins in on the fun, he had an absolute blast!



And another brookie...



And another nice one...



And another...good times!



And another, lot of fun!



And another, skinny little guy...



Then I saw a nicer one swimming along and actually saw it suck in a leaf and spit it back out thinking it was a bug?  Either way, I could tell it wanted something bigger, so I tied on a wooly bugger, gave it a toss, and landed that very fish on my first cast...awesome!



Then a little while later, Kevin made his way upstream and hooked into a really good one...this fish ran him down to his backing!



The fight is on!



Kevin, making his way over to my side of the shore...



Calm as can be...but he knew it was a good one all along!



Kevin's biggest NC trout with the flyrod to date, a beauty of a rainbow!  Glad I could be there to share the experience with him, awesome!



A little while later, we started to move upstream in search of some more fish...and came across this nice stretch.



Where I landed this nice brown trout!



And further upstream, there was this beautiful pool, definitely some fish in there!



Another shot from down the bank...



And a little father/son shot with Chuck and Kevin!



Chuck didn't take long to get into a few fish, he was on fire!



And I caught another nice brookie...



And another brookie...



And then landed this nice one, Kevin was nice enough to come over and snap a quick pic!  We fished this pool for awhile and caught a few more and then made our way back to the trucks...



A little texture fun back near the truck...



Closer...



And as we drove out, I jumped out of the truck to get a few shots of the river...beautiful, scenic, big boulders, totally awesome!



Another shot of the river...



And one final shot of the river before heading on home!



Back at Jan's place, Chuck broke out a surprise jacket!  He was actually one of the original members of the Black Knight Bowbenders in Jackson, NJ before they moved down to North Carolina!



Totally awesome!  BKB style!



And he was a pretty good shooter too!



Black Knight Bowbenders of Jackson, NJ!



Well that's all for my second day in North Carolina!  An awesome time with some old friends, and a few fish landed to make it that much better!
Can't wait to head back down and spend a few days fishing that river, one day just wasn't enough!

05/01/2013 - North Carolina Wells Fargo Golf Event

Well, this was Day 1 of my trip to North Carolina to visit some old childhood friends I haven't seen in 20 years, the Kachilos!
There's a series of blogs coming, each with their own set of pics and experiences with the Kachilo family!

I drove down the previous day from New Jersey, and headed directly to Kevin's place where we spent most of the evening catching up and BSing, and of course talking a lot of golf!
We woke up nice and early to attend the Wells Fargo Pro-Am Golf Event that was taking place nearby.
I had never been to a golf event before, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

Given the recent bombing at the Boston Marathon, security wouldn't allow bags into the event, so I had to pick a lense and go with it.
I chose the Nikon Nikkor 24-70, but in retrospect, the Nikon Nikkor 70-200 would have been a better choice.
It was very cool to see all of the professional golfers and snap a few pics of them along the way!
The resulting pics came out good enough given the rainy conditions, most are heavily cropped and the lense just didn't have enough reach for most shots, but I made due and had a great time!

Here's a few shots of the day!

Kevin and I swung in early for a little Swing Analysis



Kevin, ready to go!



The guys, setting up...



Meanwhile Kevin poses with his new car...



The guys practicing on the range while we wait...



U.S.A.



Kevin, strapped in and ready to rock!



2013 Wells Fargo Championship!



A little chipping practice



We run over to catch up with Bubba Watson as he finished a hole.



And head to the next tee



Bubba eying it up



Kevin watching on



Bubba's approach



That's Bubba's ball there from his approach shot, but that old timer (amateur) playing in the Pro Am with him had some game!



Bubba sinking the birdie!



And on to the next hole!



Long baller!



And his approach on that hole with his caddy looking on



On to the 13th hole...



Bubba and his caddy deliberating



Bubba swinging for the fences and his trademark high finish



And as they walk to the approach shots



We move on to the next tee to grab a spot and catch another monsterous drive!



After watching Bubba Watson for a few holes, we head over to catch Rory McIlroy play a few.



Such a great swing



As we head to the next tee, we notice Rory running for the fences...literally...restroom shuffle!



Phew, relief huh buddy!



Back into the game with a nice drive!



And a nice approach chip shot



Rory was awesome about signing autographs...gave me an opportunity to grab a few close ups.



Signing autographs like crazy



And another autograph



Maybe it started wearing on him...or he was really suspicious of this guy haha



C'mon Rory, smile! :)



On to the next tee, post drive with a ghostly onlooker!



Rory explaining a shot he played earlier...hey Nike, call me!



Good eye contact finally and a wry smile! ;)



More Rory...



Getting ready to hit his iron finally as the hole was backed up a bit...



And the finish...



The green he was hitting to...



Some more shots of the course



Beautiful greens



And nice little creeks running through.



The crowds were growing



Quite a bit on the 18th



Then we moved along to observe some Ricky Fowler action, and came across his absolute, hands down biggest fan EVER!



Here comes Ricky!



Ricky rockin the Puma yellow!



Definitely a big following



Great finish...



And some refreshment!



On to the approach!



This is what I call the "Where's Ricky's Biggest Fan?" picture...kind of like "Where's Waldo?"



Kevin found him!



As Ricky moves up for his approach, it's a real nail biter to watch!



Ricky finishes the hole in style and moves on to the next!



Entering the tee box



The finish of the drive...



After Ricky Fowler, we jumped over to another green where I got this nice shot as Phil Mickelson approached.



Phil, playing out of the sand...



Always smiling too, with his caddy.



The putt after the sand shot.



Phil and his caddy on to the next hole



I had to shoot through some guys for these tight shots, but they came out pretty cool. Nice sequence of Phil's finish...



Finish...



He likes it!



One to the 6th hole with Phil...



Phil and his caddy assess the situation



Phil's got a plan



And his finish



The view down to the hole as they walk down...



And the chip up on to the green.



On to lucky #7...



Kevin is having fun!



Mickelson getting ready to tee off...



Goes over the plan with his caddy...



And then drives the ball a country mile...really cool sequence of his contact (you can see the ball here) and through the finish



Phil's drive sequence











Someone's summer cottage along the golf course...not sure how they manage to get by in that shack...rough life I tell ya!  :)



Beautifully scenic



Kevin...continuing along as we track Phil...



As we walk along I come across a funny sight...at least one other guy thought it was funny too...the other guy, not so much haha



Poor kid...he needed a nap!



As we reached the next hole, the crowd was building and we came across none other than the man himself, Dave Chappelle!!! OK, just kidding...but man he looked just like him, so we had to snap a picture, then everyone looked at him as I yelled, THAT'S DAVE CHAPPELLE!!! That guy hates me for sure haha



Crowds are definitely growing! Looking for Dave?



They hustle after the tee shot...



View of the hole...



Same view, less people...



Given the growing crowds, we headed to the next tee and it was already packed....shot of the fairway...



And Phil teeing off!



Boom!



Phil's approach and the final shot of the event's pros as we headed back to the truck....



Along the way, I came across these nifty little lightning lines on the trees to protect them...pretty cool!



And we swung by the practice range on the way out one final time...



Then we headed to pick up the car I won...haha yeah right...I wish!



And finally the course map!



And the Fed Ex Standings at the time of the event!




Well that's all for Day 1 of trip, definitely had a great time at Wells Fargo with Kevin!  Lots of laughs and an awesome experience!
Stay tuned for the follow-up blogs from North Carolina!