My oldest son, Mason, has been on a few camping trips. He has also been on a few fishing trips. However, he has never been on a camping trip where fishing is the only priority. In a sense, he had never been on what I consider a "real" fishing trip. And while he would tell you that he doesn't love to fish as much as I do, I would tell you that he's still pretty darn good at the sport. He can independently handle himself around a fly rod and doesn't need much help from me anymore. With that being said, he has never put on waders and fished in a current before. Those two variables create a different and new experience for a young angler.
Since the day Mason was born, I've thought about taking him to Bennett Spring State Park. This is where so many fly fishers, including me, have learned to fly fish. I caught my first trout on a fly rod here and fell in love with the sport. To me, Bennett represents the gateway to fly fishing. It taught me the basics that I needed to fly fish for trout on other streams, in other states, and in a variety of situations.
I understand that my passions and my experiences will not be the same as Mason's. Over the course of 14 years of being a dad, I've learned this lesson and sometimes it upsets me. I want Mason to love what I love and have experiences like I have had. I want to share those things with him and I want us to have something in common that will stay with us throughout our lives. I've learned that it is simply not something that is going to happen though.
He tolerates fishing. He never asks to go and reluctantly goes when I ask him to join me. His passions lie in other places and while it took some time to come to terms with that fact, I have. It still stings a little, but I've accepted it. However, I will always look for excuses to give him experiences in the outdoors and I told him that we were going to Bennett. It wasn't an option for him to attend, but a solid requirement. With some hesitance that eventually turned into a small amount of excitement, we arrived at the park.
Everything was foreign to him right from the beginning. Buying a daily tag was strange, putting on waders was a chore, and walking into cold, crystal clear water was almost sensory overload. Mason mentioned, on more than one occasion, that the pressure of the water on the waters was strange as well as the sensation of being cold but not wet. He also struggled with his footing a few times. His entire experience took me back to my first day at Bennett. Those feelings feel more natural now but it was a good reminder of how things felt when I was learning how to fly fish for trout.
Prior to fishing, I tried to give him some instruction on mending line, casting angles, and setting the hook. I told him that all of the principles that he had learned were the same but just needed a few tweaks. I also explained to him that there was going to be a learning curve. I told him that he would miss a few fish and make a few mistakes. I informed him that his success and the number of times it took him to learn a lesson was up to him. I said that he had to pay attention to detail, think before he did something, and to make choices based on what he had learned. I felt like I had delivered a solid plan of action. Come to find out, I don't think it was completely necessary.
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