I have several old paper shotgun shells that I have had for at least 45 years. These shells are at least 70 years old and I have been wanting to shoot one to see if it would even shoot or go bang. The results were surprising and now for next year I want to kill a deer with one.
The shells, 20 Gauge #3 Buckshot and a slug
Test firing results at 25~ yards. All 20 pellets hit the paper.
See the video where I test fired a 70 year old # 3 Buckshot on Youtube.
Lots for sure. My wife and I decided to spend our 32nd anniversay in and around the town of Abingdon Virginia. Now you know I love fishing but of course this was not a fishng trip and I did not fish but I did check out several places for a later date. This blog post will be about the eating places we visited while there and the places we visited and the sights seen and then some fishing spots !!
***see towards the bottom for the fishing spots****
I checked out several places for fishing and found some really nice spots but I will start off with the restarurants . The lady at the Marriot suggested the Puerto Nuevo , The Girl and the Raven Cafe, JJ's Restaurant & Sports Bar , and Tenderloins.
The first place we ate at was Puerto Nuevo . This Mexican restaurant is very nice and the food and service was great. They had an awesome looking bar as well and I can reccomend this place highly.
I can reccomend this place to anyone who enjoys real Mexican Food .
The second place we ate at was here- THE GIRL & THE RAVEN
As you can see this is a very nice place with a lot of character. They also have a drive thru!
Breastfast is served all day here but when I was looking at the menu I could not take my eyes off the Brisket Sandwich just delivered to the people beside us. I had to have one and I was not disappointed.
The 3rd place we visited was JJ's Sports Bar. No outside pictures as it was dark outside but this place delivered as well.
I had the Hamburger steak plate and I can say this was probably the best hamburger steak I can remember.
another home run.
The place we did not have time for was TENDERLOINS but I can tell you it was packed the 2 times we drove by there. lots of people means good food.
Now I will show you some of the sights around town. Then the fishing info which will be lots !
Main Street
The Barter Theater
Many famous performers have done some early work done here including Gregory Peck, Patricia Neal, Ernest Borgnine, Hume Cronyn, Ned Beatty, Gary Collins, David Birney, and Larry Linville.
This Winery is located right on the South Fork Holston River, During May thru late August when the lake is at normal levels you can bring a boat up to it. The rest of the year the lake is drawn down and the lake is then maybe 1 mile downstream, so in the winter you will have to drive a car to it.
Here is/was the current Wine Menu
The one big attraction in the area is the Creeper Trail . This trail is like the Tobacco Trail near where I live in that it is a trail on top of and old railroad bed. This trail runs from Abingdon to White top mountain covering 35 miles. This is an Awesome trail to hike or bike on. No electric bikes are allowed. Also , the trail in many many places is along Laurel Creek and the S. Fork Holston River so Biking and fishing could be done here as well. You can acess this trail at many places but we chose to access it at Alvarodo Station right on the South Fork Holston River.
South Fork Holston Tailwater Below South Holston Lake
The water comes out of South Holston lake very cold and this means the Trout can live in a river they normally could not and it extends for 18 miles below the dam. Brooks, Browns and Rainbows are here. I access it just above the Bridge on Holston View Dam Rd. there is a small weir dam just above the bridge. You can get out here and wade below the weir dam well down past the bridge. You can even stand on the dam when the water is low.
Here is a video of me on the lower dam.
Just above the little dam is Osceola Island, then halfway up this island is another Weir Dam (actually 2 since this one is on both sides of the island) The water from the first dam up is of course a little deeper but just below the second one it is shallow enough for wading especially between the 2nd dam and the foot bridge just down stream
This is the upper weir dam. This picture was taken from a foot bridge to the Island.
This footbridge leads to some trails on the Island and you can walk around the whole Island and access all the water around it. We walked the Island trail and found some Running Cedar and some Beaver sign
Above the upper weir dam is a boat ramp where drift boats and other boats can access the river and fish but you are limited to just above the weir dam to up near the Lake dam . Here is that ramp .
Above this ramp is a fishing walkway/pier with some neat rod holders
Bank fishermen have a lot of fishable water below this dam without having to wade. I will be back here for sure with some fishing gear. Here are some photos we took from on top of the dam looking downstream then above at the lake.
The Next place I scoped out for fishing was at the Creeper trail at Alvarado station. SEE UP ABOVE for pictures of the trail and Alavarado Station.
The trail here is following the South fork Holston River. We hiked upstream maybe 2 miles. Plenty of places to access the water but it has steep banks(except right at the station) and sometimes veers away from the river. This is more likely Smallmouth bass water vs trout water. A better option would be is to hike down the trail which leads to a bridge over the lake just downstream of the confluence of the South Holston River and the Middle Fork Holston. In the fall and the winter when the lake is low the two rivers can be accesed here and are free flowing. When the lake is at normal pool the lake goes up both rivers a half mile or so It is aprox a 1 mile hike from the Station to the bridge. The lake level on this trip was 1709 feet in elevation. I think the lake is close to 20 ' down.
Here is a video of a guy doing just as I thought you could do. He has hiked down the trail to the Bridge and is fishing the river. You could also keep hiking as the trail runs along the Middle fork for aprox 1 mile then it veers away from the river. At full pool during summer this place where the trail veers away(1mile after bridge) is probably where the river meets the lake then. The lake comes up to the vineyards in the summer.
I also checked out the lake at the Washington Co Park boat ramp. This area has a very nice ramp and parking area. There is also a park but its closed in the winter. I took several photographs here and you can see the brush and trees put there for crappie etc so when the lake is full this would be a good spot for bank fisherman to catch some crappie.
I enjoy anything in the outdoors. Mainly canoeing and fishing but, also hunting, hiking, I love to plant trees and also search for big trees.
I grew up just outside Burlington, N.C. where my parents house sat on a bluff overlooking the Haw River. I can thank the Haw for getting me started in the outdoors. I Have 2 YouTube Channels as well. Mack's Extreme River Fishing and Mack's Public Land Hunting.
Thnaks, Mack
