编者注:这是一个以木材河为特色的三部分系列的第二部分. 第一部分介绍了林河州立公园和费尔布拉夫的生态旅游可能性. 在这个故事中，出版商莱斯·高与经常光顾这条河的费尔布拉夫居民交谈.
For the people of Fair Bluff, love of the Lumber River comes naturally.
牧师. 雷Lundy, pastor at Fair Bluff Baptist Church from 1979 to 2009, 花了好几个小时钓鱼, 划船, 和他妻子在河边露营, 孩子们, 和孙子. 他和父亲在家乡康威附近的小皮迪河和瓦卡莫河上钓鱼长大, S.C.
“我小时候是一只河鼠，”蓝迪说. “My father went fishing every week when it was warm. He let me go with him, but only after I learned to swim. He always told me you have to respect the river.”
牧师. 雷Lundy and 托德科比 share a few moments on the Fair Bluff River Walk, which runs for nearly a mile along the Lumber River. 所有照片由Les Hig提供
The town embraced Lundy and his wife Linda when they arrived in Fair Bluff. That meant spending lots of time on the river with friends and parishioners.
他指着秋千和沙滩的方向，那里有几十个男孩和女孩在黑暗的水中游泳. 当地人仍然称它为“米妮洞”，以米妮·瓦德尔命名，她经常在那里钓鱼.
Lundy remembers building fires on cold days with his son Jonathan, 在冰冷的水中清洗鸭子. The family often had picnics along the river, and he and Jonathan would take three- to four-day overnight trips, putting up on sandbars to spend the night.
“我记得有一天，天气比地狱门的铰链还要热，”伦迪说. “Jonathan told me there was a bad thunderstorm coming, so we hunkered down and it rained like you were pouring water out of a bucket. When it passed through, it was like someone had turned on the air conditioning; it was nice and cool.”
Lundy says he awoke sometime early in the morning to the smell of a wet deer, then heard the unmistakable snort of a bear. 一股潮湿的麝香味表明熊就在附近，可能是在鹿的踪迹上.
When Lundy opened the tent, the bear was nowhere to be seen. 他之所以讲这个故事，是因为它强调了当涉及到木材河时, the wilderness is “right out your back door.”
伦迪说，河滨步道和这条河提供了一种在其他地方很难找到的宁静.
Time on the river is second nature to people in and around Fair Bluff.
“我认为有些人天生就有这种能力, that wanderlust where you don’t know what’s around the next bend in the river,蓝迪说. “It’s something that’s innate in all of us, and I kinda feel sorry for people who don’t ever get to experience it. 我想当我要离开的时候，我脑子里最后一件事就是我在河上的时光.”
Lundy is naturally affable and gregarious. He enjoys chatting with people on the Fair Bluff River Walk, 它蜿蜒四分之三英里穿过凉爽的柏树和水橡树的树冠. 他和琳达在木板路上走了很多天，她步行，他骑着他的卧式三轮车.
They meet people from all over the East Coast, but locals especially enjoy the meditative powers of the slow-moving water.
托德科比, who lives just across the border in South Carolina, is taking a stroll on the boardwalk on a perfect, 阳光普照的傍晚时分. 布莱恩特和伦迪开始谈论钓鱼洞和一座三层楼的树屋，这是河边钓鱼和打猎的人多年来分阶段建造的.
蓝迪向布莱恩特展示了穿过红腹沟的老式蒸汽机轨道床. The tram transported logs from Butters Lumber Company in Boardman to Nichols, S.C.大约在下游30英里处. The old trestle supports barely show above the water.
卢克·罗宾逊和他的狗库珀.
同样在河边，卢克·罗宾逊带着他9个月大的狗库珀散步和游泳. The dog clearly has great affection for Robinson, 谁说他从一个打算“扔掉剩下的垃圾”的人那里得到了库珀,“大概是在路边.
“I’m going to get some ice cream and give Cooper a treat,他说，然后消失在木板路的一个弯道周围逐渐暗淡的光线中.
•••
很少有人能像威拉德·斯莫尔那样在木材河的下游钓到更多的鱼, 谁在4月19日满96岁. 他在费尔布拉夫镇担任了48年的专员，也是费尔布拉夫福特公司的共同所有人, 当地的福特经销商.
“People don’t realize what a good fishing river this is,斯莫尔说. “We’d lock the dealership on Saturdays at 1 p.m. 我会开着我的福特野马，开着我的小船去河边钓鱼，一直钓到天黑.”
小的鱼主要是红胸鱼和硬头鱼，这是比目鱼的一种.
每年的7月4日，斯莫尔就会关闭经销店，一群人会划桨逆流而上，在沙洲上打湿鱼线，煎鱼. 这种情况持续了20年左右.
威拉德小, 96, 他一生都在这条河上捕鱼，为费尔布拉夫河步道的建设提供了资金. 了照片
大卫小, Willard’s 74-year-old son who worked at the family dealership, says fishing is a way of life on the river, 追溯几代人.
斯莫尔回忆起他和祖父马克西·斯莫尔之间的钓鱼纽带. The younger Small was his grandfather’s designated paddler, “and I inherited my love of the river from him.
斯莫尔说:“他会在天亮前——大约五点半左右——把车停在房子前，然后吹响喇叭。. 没有什么妨碍他钓鱼. He’d even leave the tobacco field if he heard the fish were biting.”
斯莫尔说，他的祖父知道沿河的所有钓鱼孔和湖泊:州线湖, 绿色的湖, 深湖, 大猪猪和小猪猪湖, 等.
斯莫尔的主要任务是划桨, though he occasionally got to fish when the two took a lunch break on a sandbar. 这导致了他一生都在和祖父和父亲一起钓鱼，后来又独自一人.
他记得自己还是个孩子的时候，费尔布拉夫商业区后面有一块地方，那里的商人们把十几艘木船绑在一起，准备一旦有消息传出来，就把它们放走.
“The river and Fair Bluff, they’re one and the same,斯莫尔说.
•••
似乎每个在河里钓鱼的人都有过雷雨的痛苦经历.
威拉德·斯莫尔正在深湖上游钓鱼，听到远处有雷声. Before he could make it home, it rained and hailed like he’d never seen.
“I had to stop three or four times to empty water out of the boat,” he said. “I’m telling you, I thought I wasn’t going to make it home.
“But, he adds, “one of the best times to catch fish is before and after a storm.”
The leaves of a low-hanging tree in the early-morning light.
不管天气有多恶劣, 然而, 斯莫尔认为这条河和他心爱的费尔布拉夫河步道是一个平静宁静的地方.
许多当地人每天都喜欢这条木板路，斯莫尔年轻时也不例外. It’s especially pleasant in the early morning or late in the afternoon, when the water meanders among the pilings. Birds, turkey, otter, deer, and other animals are common sights. It’s a good place to commune with nature.
“If you’ve had a bad day at work or just need some time alone,斯莫尔说, 木板路是你可以独自思考或与上帝交谈的地方.”
•••
来自费尔布拉夫(Fair Bluff)的67岁的迈克尔·戈尔(Michael 戈尔)是Lumber河上最多产的渔民之一.
大多数时候，人们都能看到他骑着自行车，带着一根鱼竿和两个水桶去费尔布拉夫河步道, one that contains dirt and earthworms and the other to hold the fish he’ll catch. 他喜欢扔甲虫旋转诱饵，因为它能吸引各种各样的鱼，而且“这样你就不用买虫子了。.”
迈克尔·戈尔成功地在红腹湾钓了一天鱼后，推着自行车回家.
戈尔 chooses to fish by foot along Red Belly Slough or The Boon, both of which run close by the boardwalk.
戈尔 is one of 12 孩子们 reared by Mildred and Booker T. 戈尔. “I’m the only one who likes to fish,” he says with incredulity.
He has taught his five nephews to fish and to swim.
他的表弟, 小房间戈尔, 迈克尔说他已经80多岁了, was supposed to be with him on this temperate May afternoon, but Cubby has chosen to fish closer to the N.C. 904年桥.
“One thing about Cubby,” 戈尔 says matter of factly, “he does not like a snake.”
碰巧有一条——一条相当大的水蛇——躺在河边一根倒下的树枝上.
戈尔喜欢沿河步道，部分原因是他是帮助修建这条步道的“九到十个人”之一. 他记得自己拖着木材走在一辆骑行式割草机后面，走到最后一段，终点在the Boon附近.
戈尔几乎每天都在附近钓鱼.” He’ll eat fish two to three times a week. “I was eating them every day at one time, but I had to stop.”
He mostly does odd jobs around town for money. 他的房子在飓风马修和佛罗伦萨期间被洪水淹没，但他从未想过要离开.
“Fair Bluff是个好地方，”他补充道.
当天早些时候，他抓了10条鱼，并把它们带到当地一家便利店. He gave them to a man who is too elderly to fish.
他在红腹谷感觉很自在, named after the type of bream that frequent the narrow cut-through.
He throws the fish he’s caught back into the water. “他们明天就来. 你得留点在这里.”
戈尔回忆起他多年的钓鱼生涯. 红腹沼泽是他的第二个家.“It’s cool, it’s quiet, and nobody bothers you,” 戈尔 says before he leaves. “It’s about the only place in Fair Bluff you can get some good, quiet peace…because people are afraid of the snakes,他笑着补充道.
然后他的语气变了.
“You know,” he says with a sense of reverence, “you really can’t beat this place.”
戈尔 heads home over the railroad tracks at Fair Bluff. 他很可能明天回来.