To my utter shock and amazement, Mason hooked a fish on his first cast. His angle was accurate, his mend was appropriate, and his hook set was solid. I could not believe what I was seeing. This kid had done everything right and was rewarded for doing so. You probably know as well as I do that a fish is not always earned even if you do everything perfectly. I helped him net the fish and his genuine excitement was almost equal to the level of my own. After a couple of pictures, we released the little guy and the fish looked healthy as it swam off. While I was excited for Mason, I was also concerned that he was going to get the idea that what he was experiencing was simple and routine.
I was glad that Mason had experienced some early success and I assumed that his next few fish might be a little more a challenge. I could not have been more wrong. This newbie, this greenhorn, this novice caught a trout on 4 of his next six casts! As you can see in the pictures, he was all smiles. I was happy to see my son have success on the water and enjoying the experience. On the other hand, I was concerned that this early success would give him some sort of false belief that having success was this easy all of the time.
I didn't want him to be of the opinion that fly fishing for trout was quick and simple. I made sure to not ruin the moment but I knew what was on the horizon for him. I knew because I've experienced it, like other anglers, so many times. Mason ended up catching a few more fish before we had to call it quits and head to camp to set up things before dark. It was a great intro for him and I hoped that his fortune would continue the next morning.
We both woke up and didn't move with the intent and purpose that we had the day before, but that's camping for you. Some mornings it takes some extra effort to get geared up and on the water quickly. This was one of those mornings but eventually we perked up before the horn sounded. Since Mason had demonstrated so much independence the day before, I decided that I would position him near me and that I would fish upstream from him. We started fishing above the spillway and had to wade through some fairly deep water that a shorter person would have struggled to traverse, but luckily, I'm about 6'3" and Mason was almost 6' tall. The horn sounded and I started catching fish. My son, however, struggled.
To Mason's credit, he never showed any frustration or disappointment. He just kept casting and drifting. I made sure to not show any arrogance with my success and instead offered to help him from time to time which he kindly rejected. This made me feel pretty proud because I saw a desire in him to either be successful or fail on his own terms. I saw a little grit in my son and I liked that.
The grit continued as he struggled to catch any fish as the morning went on. We tried some spots above the spillway as well as below the spillway but to no avail. Mason was in a little bit of a slump, but luckily for him, I knew of a spot that was almost always a slumpbuster. By no means is it a fun or elegant way to fish, but it always provides especially about an hour after the horned sounded.
The spot that I am referencing is located just upstream from the spillway near the parking lot that is closest to the spillway. If you are looking upstream, the spot is on the left side near the concrete retaining wall. This is where many anglers clean their fish as they are exiting the stream and discard the unwanted parts of fish. It's also where nomadic trout show up to eat the disposed portions of their comrades. In other words, it's a gut pile and if you have a fly that is white, it will trick fish.
Fishing this spot can still be frustrating. This water is shallow and clear without any current. The fish have plenty of time to look over flies and can be as picky as they want. A few of them are bound to slip up and take a fly down but an angler has to stay focused and hook sets have to be quick. I gave Mason a few pointers and left him to his independence. I fished nearby but gave him the space that most teenagers appreciate. He ended up catching a few and restoring some confidence before we had to head back to camp and prepare for our journey home.
To cap the trip off, I showed Mason how to clean trout and he appreciated how simple the process is. He said that he wanted to eat some of the fish that he caught and I was happy to help accommodate his wish. Mason has always been of the mentality of "you eat what you catch or what is the point?" I fall on the catch and release side of things but I respect his mindset. I passed along a simple recipe and technique for cooking trout in foil on a grill. To my shock, he liked the entrée so much, he ate two of his fish in one sitting.
You never know what is going to happen over the course of a fishing trip, and therein lies a great deal of excitement. Mason had himself some highs and lows in his experience but that is typical in a fishing trip. It is with hope that an angler catches fish consistently and of high quality. Sometimes anglers can get skunked for the entire trip. Most of the time, however, both events take place and create peaks and valleys in a trip. Mason got, what I believe, is an honest fishing trip. Hopefully it is the first of many that we get to share!
No comments:
Post a Comment