Fishin’ With the Boys

Our last day at school was December 16^th; it was a long week with 7 finals and our annual Christmas Dinner in my room…the bottom line was simple, I knew that I was leaving for Missouri at 4am on Saturday, the 17^th and I could easily deal with a hectic week, especially knowing that I would soon be trout fishing. This trip would be a bit different as it would only be my two boys; Harrison and Jonas and one of the new boys in our family, son-in-law Jeremy.

The trip started early, as I said, we left at 4am (3 am Missouri time) in hopes of being on the stream as near 10am as possible and that was indeed the case as I made my first cast at 2 minutes after 10. The weather was near perfect; a bluebird day with temps in the mid 40’s and I had my 6 weight rod loaded up with my type 3 full sinking line and one of the standby’s…an olive wooly bugger. The first few minutes were hit and miss; I literally had hit after hit but couldn’t land one fish. Finally about 10 minutes in I landed the first of what would be 47 trout on the day.

It is hard for me to believe and if you are a parent you will quickly agree…but Harrison was to turn 21 on Sunday the 18^th (it seems like only yesterday that we brought him home from a Wyoming hospital) and with that in mind we had a little early birthday; I had a new fly rod, a Cabela’s TQR rod, 7’6”, along with a new reel and line. We put it together on Thursday night and it was just like he was a little kid again and had gotten a new pair of shoes, he couldn’t wait to get to Bennet and catch a fish with his new toy.

Jonas’ only worry was whether or not he could or would catch more fish than Harrison. After a long week of finals and a few weeks of basketball, he was certainly looking forward to some down time fishing with the rest of us.

Now Jeremy is the odd man out and by that I mean he is the newby to the sport…and full of questions, all good ones. The trip out was spent answering and discussing some of the nuances of fly-fishing. Last year Jeremy went along and caught 4 fish on his first day, quite a success. If you have ever trout fished…or should we say fly-fished for trout you know that they can be somewhat fickle and often complicated. I tried to assure him that no matter what it would all be good…and for sure the camaraderie would be pleasant.

By the end of Saturday the 17^th we had all caught fish; Harrison was officially a few fish ahead of Jonas, IU had won yet another game and we all had our bellies full of some awesome taco soup that Beth had made for us…life was good.

I was up early on Sunday, looking forward to another great day of fishing, on top of going to bed the night before at 9pm. Harrison was indeed 21 and he would later that day tell me that his only prayer was to catch more fish on the day than me; he would almost get his wish as a low pressure area was to move in the following day and the fishing slowed way down, bottom line is that we both caught 17 trout on the day. All four of us finished up at the same point, just above the Whistle Stop Bridge in zone 2; all of us fishing right next to each other and frankly all of us were a little frustrated with some difficult trout…but the fellowship was second to none. As the horn went off at 4pm we all packed up our equipment and started the long walk back to our duplex at the head of the spring.

It is at times like these that you find out the true character of those around you. I have two great boys; I like them both, a lot; not every parent can honestly say that. I watched in the last few minutes of the day as a dad was working with his 5 year old son…finally the little boy set the hook on his first trout. His excitement turned into screams and it was a great sight. In the same field of view were my two 6’5” boys and it took me way back to their early days and all our many hunts and fishes together. It was all time well spent and has made them what they are today and what they will be in the future. And then there was Jeremy; he had had a rough day fishing but had not quit or slowed down the entire day. I knew he was discouraged and frustrated but he didn’t show it; he was a trooper and, as always, a lot of fun to have around. Our walk back gave us time to lament the day and solidify relationships; we had caught fish, harassed each other a few times, watched eagles cruising back and forth…all while Enjoying the Great Outdoors.