So my plan was to get up early every morning and head to the dock. On Sunday morning after waking up later than early, Water was trickling along at a speed the dock guy called about half a generator. What?!?! I said. There are a total of four generators at the dam and I had always thought that each generator had an off/on switch. So either 100% or 0% running. Apparently, this is not true and now there is an infinite amount of variations to the amount of water that could run through the dam and affect the levels and speed of the current. I was heartbroken, simply defeated. However, I pulled right out of it like Tom Hanks in Sully, because that was stupid thinking. Also, I have not seen Sully, I just assume there must be a scene where Tom Hanks tells his co-pilot “on the count of 3, I am going to tell you to pull up. And you are going to pull up like your life depends on it. Because it does.”
Anyway, I tend to over complicate and over react to things. Then I balance that out with over simplifying them and imagining myself as Tom Hanks. Might be crazy, but it works. You should try it right now.
So, on morning one, my wife broke the seal and landed the first trout. My daughter mustered all the patience of a 7 year old and lasted a solid 20 minutes. I thought that was pretty good, but she did not manage to land her first trout. Unfortunate, but we got all week. And sipping coffee with a couple lines in the water, staring out at this, aint too bad.
I think we did some other things that day, but made an important decision – we were going to rent a boat for Monday afternoon. Boating Taneycomo is a whole can of worms for me. I usually have to drive and man the trolling motor. People tend to also blame the driver when fish aren’t caught. The other option is that everyone else is catching fish, but the driver is stuck doing driver stuff and not catching fish. Its pretty much a lose-lose-lose situation and that’s if everyone is competent at fishing. Adding a 7 year old and a city girl means the opening of Busch’s Guide Service Ltd. and the closing of Busch: Big Trout Hunter Unlimited. Also, I cannot stress enough that Taneycomo is tricky, can be dangerous and broken props aren’t comped by the House.
Another note on the fly shop, they are dangerous on regular terms. If you’ve ever spent $80 on a bunch of flies that weigh less than a quarter, you’ll understand. However, when the fly shop’s connected to the resort you are staying at, it gets real easy to just grab a handful of stuff and say “put it on the room”. Do not do this. I was pleasantly surprised at the end of the week. I thought we had spent the GDP of a large Caribbean nation, but it wasn’t that bad. At the end of the week, it wasn’t that bad. During the week, I was a nervous wreck that I spent my daughter’s college fund (if it existed).
Monday morning found me down at the dock and I think I caught a few too. My daughter came down in her night gown and fished with me for awhile. I think she lasted 15 minutes this time. The diminishing amounts of time spent fishing was not emboldening me with confidence. Out in a boat, a complaining 7 year old (well any-year old) is a great way to test how far you can swim in 47 degree water. So after those 15 minutes, she decided to quit. As she was walking up the ramp, I got a solid bite. I set the hook and started yelling for her to come down. After several “I Got a fish for you” answered with “what?” She finally came down. As she was coming back down the ramp, I caught a glimpse of this fish about 20 yards away. It had a bronze color and fought a little differently than a rainbow. Could it be Salmo Trutta with some size? I was giddy with possibility. So I handed off my rig to my daughter and she reeled like it was a Marlin off the coast of Baja. When it finally got close to the dock, I realize that it was not Salmo Trutta, but a Carp. As I netted it, I could hear it taunt me – “Sucka” it whispered. It was definitely a good size fish and probably the largest my daughter had ever caught –probably 3+ pounds. She did enjoy that and really enjoyed telling everyone how she caught it, conveniently forgetting how I hooked it.
Finally, came time to get out on the boat. We got one of their larger john boats and it was one of my few great decisions. You can fit up to five people with plenty of room. The smaller johns feel like surf boards, especially when the water really gets going. Which sounds kinda aweome – John boat surfing on Taneycomo.
So here is our intrepid angler:
She’s excited, I’m excited, my dad’s excited, my wife’s excited, my mom is excited (to have some peace and quiet for awhile) and we are ready to do this thing.
Surprisingly, we got off fairly quickly. I was expecting everyone to get settled in the boat, then my daughter would have to go to the bathroom. When she got back, my wife would have to go, then my dad would say, “never pass up an opportunity to take a whiz” and he would go. I would frustratedly say I don’t have to go, until about an hour later, when I would have to hold it for dear life. Didn’t happen, to my surprise and chagrin. Of all the horrible things that can happen on a simple boat, a girl needing to use the restroom is one of the worst. It has gotten better on Taneycomo, but there still aren’t a lot of public restrooms on the riverlake. Maybe all lakes need to designate a Potty Cove instead of a Party Cove. When considering the Lake of the Ozarks, both names work, because that place is gross.
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