Jason Borger | Tuesday, 2 August 2016
Last Saturday was the best day of my fly fishing life. Caught nothing but bluegills and pumpkinseeds. Barely even caught any myself. My daughter caught a pile, though, including her very first fish by herself on a fly rod.
It all seemed so simple. I rigged up her little Echo Gecko, she picked out an Adams emerger from my go-to trout box, made a more-or-less cast, and it was fish on! But isn't that the way a first fly fishing experience should be for a kid--simple (and fun)? I think so. Matching the hatch and struggling with drag and 7X tippet can come later.
Immediaely following that first fish--and. every. single. fish. after--was a veterinary discussion about the health of eyes, scales, gills, tail, followed by attachment of fin tag (imaginary—see "Finding Dory" for reference). Also had to apply a radio tag (again imaginary, see the children's book "A King Salmon Journey"). Then back in and on to the next dozen.
In the end, it turns out that my daughter likes to go fly fishing with her dad. That makes me pretty happy. But, in addition to the fish, we also had a great time eating a bag of stale snacks, throwing a few rocks at imaginary crocodiles, and getting ice cream cones instead of lunch. I can't think of many better things to do on a lazy July morning....
