Feb 22, 2010

A Chance to Act: 5th Annual Oxford Children's Home Fishing Tournament

In a couple of months you will have the chance to bless a child or teenager through your love for the outdoors. The 5th annual Oxford Children's Home Fishing Tournament is scheduled for Saturday, April 24th. From cooking hotdogs, buying fishing rods to catching bass, there are ample oppotunties to get involved. Contact Mike & Paris Routh for details. You won't be sorry!

Below is a copy of a blog post from May 2009 about last year's event

If I had to choose between a beautiful sunrise and the smile on a child's face the decision would not come easily. On Saturday, at the 4th Annual Oxford Children Home Fishing Tournament, I experienced both and there are fewer things in this world that compare.
Mike and Paris Routh did another excellent job and had the most participants, largest number of volunteers and highest amount of donations thus far. Below are some pictures of the day. The 5th Annual Tournament is on slate for April of next year. To get involved send me an email! You'll be blessed and that's a guarantee!

Feb 16, 2010

Out-takes: Nehemiah 9:6

You're the one, GOD, you alone; You made the heavens, the heavens of heavens, and all angels; 
The earth and everything on it, the seas and everything in them; 
You keep them all alive... Nehemiah 9:6 (Message)

Feb 9, 2010

The Winning Drive

Its that time of year again......and the Super Bowl is practically upon us. There are two teams that were #1 seeds that are going to play for professional football's most coveted prize....the Super Bowl Trophy. There are two teams that have sacrificed, worked hard, put in long hours, faithfully put in the time in the rain, snow, cold, heat, you name it. Simply put, a price was paid for admission to this game. And if its like this year's game, and like some of the the playoff games, the team that has the ball last ends up winning. And they have to figure out a way to do that. Great teams and players do just that.....figure out a way to turn something into a win.
Such was the case with a recent trip with regular customers and friends Larry Tomar and Dan Camia. We've spent many a day on the water doing trips together, and in all types of weather, and Larry and Dan are pretty good at this fly fishing game. Whether good conditions or poor, they usually do really well. Give them the right set up, direct them to the right spot, and its a done deal. They know the game, and they get the job done.
We were fishing one of my private waters in Virginia, a stream whose limestone pools are stacked with twenty inch trout. Some are true leviathans.....some are 10lbs or more. The water was up, had some color to it, and I knew we'd kill them. A rare gift....this day was going to be one to write home about.......like, "get ready guys........we are going to whack 'em good today and you guys are leaving with sore arms." Well, that was the way a typical day usually goes.
But not today. We fished rigs that work well on this river I know well, I mean, I know where the fish are under most any conditions and can pretty much guarantee that the guys are fishing where the fish are....and in this river....its not a question of whether fish are there or not....'cause they are.