Remembering Dad

I met David nearly 20 years ago during my brief time as a bad college wrestler.  David and I worked out together over the summer and went to several tournaments together.  At that time, David was already 40 years old and he roughed me up regularly on the mat.  We've maintained a relationship through the years, and I'm glad when we get together there is no longer any blood or bruises.

David's father was really into fly fishing many moons ago.  He built many rods and loved to tie his own flies.  As my fly fishing passion has further developed, David decided he would like to get on the water again with a fly rod and give a go at these steelhead I keep talking about.

It's been 22 years since David had a fly rod in his hand.  So, today's experience was a new beginning in fly fishing.  We spent the day getting David used to handling the fly rod, casting, and managing line.

Often in this type of situation it is difficult to get a fish to hand, let alone early in the day.  But, today was an exception.  We spent about 20 minutes in the 1st run of the day readjusting to the gear.  As David began looking more comfortable, I suggested we move to another run that should hold fish in the fast stained flows of the day.  It didn't take long and David's reel was screaming with his first fresh chromer.

This hot lady made a good first impression with long sustained runs that boasted her strength.  David was an excellent student as I coached him on battling and bringing the fish to hand.  As he admired the fish, I could see David remembering the days of old when he fished with his father.

As the day progressed David continued to improve.  The fishing was pretty tough today with the faster flows, but he was persistent.  As the day was winding down, David was doing an excellent job of accurately placing casts and maintaining good drifts.  In the last run of the day it all came together.

I pointed out a shelf on the far side of the stream and asked David if he thought he could now cast across the stream and maintain a good drift along the shelf.  I had caught many fish in the past along that self in the conditions this day presented us.  David was confident he could make the cast and manage the drift.

His line dropped at the top of the run along the shelf.  David made a nice mend in his line and BANG!  A beautiful fresh little buck came jumping out of the water.  The fish made a strong run up stream and David needed no further coaching.  He kept excellent pressure on the fish and even did a great job of rapidly reeling in line as the fish darted towards his feet.  In no time he brought the fish to submission and it was in the net.

At the end of the day, David said he thinks he will get out his dad's old rods and get them rigged up again and put them back to work.  I don't think the day could conclude any better than that.

Whether your fly fishing skills are a little rusty or even if you have never had fly gear in your hands at all, I'd love to help you put some beautiful steelhead like these in your hands too.  Call me...  LET'S GO FISHING!