2/3 Elk Report

[rlockwood]

I took my 10-year old to the Elk for his first fly fishing trip on Saturday. *We bundled up and fished 3 hours. *Overall, it was a great day to be on the water. *The sun was out, and with enough layers, it was a pleasant day. *I didn't even need my gloves.

Most of our time was spent trying to get his cast going, and we primarily used one rod with a san juan worm. *He missed one strike, and I caught one 9 inch rainbow.

We worked our way down to the bend, where the water was the lowest that I've seen it. *We waded onto the sand bar in the middle of the bend, where I thought I would let him practice his cast, while I did some "serious" fishing. *Of course, in the first minute, he made a tentative cast, hit himself in the hand with the fly (luckily no hookup *:) ) and dropped his rod in the water. *Instinctively, he reaches into the water to get the rod and puts about a gallon of water in his waders. *It actually wound up being a funny end to a great day.

I've now got myself a built-in fishing partner. *If he can just catch a trout, I know he'll be hooked for life.

Robert

[DryFly1]

Sounds like the first of many memories he will remember forever! Always good to hear father-son fly fishing stories. A kid on a stream-is a happy kid! My son is 4 and I started taking him fishing last year. Will be camping and FF with him in the mountains during the weekend of the Cookout/troutfest. Looking forward to him catching the bigger one!

Mark.....

[Grumpy]

That's a cool fishing report, it's not all about the catching, it does sound as if you caught a new fishing partner though ;)

Grumpy

[kytroutman]

It will get even better when you are the one falling in and your son is the one doing all the laughing.

[rlockwood]

That time is probably not too far away. *With my size 14 feet, I have a God-given ability to take a dunking.

In retrospect, "funny" probably isn't the right word. *But, it seems like the hardships of fishing also make for the most memorable moments. *I can vividly remember the times I've taken a dunking, woken up with water in the tent, and broken a rod. *Most of those moments get retold in stories where there's a sense of nostalgia and humor, even if it's not funny at the time.

In that sense, I hope that we'll be able to remember my son's first dunking for a long time and chuckle about it in the process.

Robert

[kytroutman]

Robert I agree. I have been "baptised" more times than most Baptist. My 14 year old loves it and as the arthritis gets worse in my ankles, the near misses happen more often. I guess that's why they sell the wading staffs.