I took a friend and his son camping and fishing this weekend. Our sons have been best friends since they were about 5 years old. I got my buddy to try fly fishing a few years ago at a lake. Action was slow, but he got a little action. Enjoyed it, but wasn't quite sold. So this weekend, I took him to the perfect training grounds for a new fly fisher. This little creek is swarming with hungry little redband rainbows and a few brookies mixed in. Nothing big. A 10 incher is a lunker here. But even the 6 inchers are mature and reproducing.
We camped for 3 nights and fished the creek, a bigger river, and a few lakes. We also took some time to let the boys swim in the river and a lake, do a little cliff jumping, shooting, etc. Great weekend and couldn't have been much better.
My buddy wasn't so sure about fly fishing and not bringing the gear rods, but I convinced him. I set him up with a 3wt and I had a 2wt. I'd go ahead and spot a good plunge pool with a decent tailout that would be a no brainer for several small trout. I'd let him at it, coach him up a bit, then look around and pick the little pockets around me. It was insane. Just touch the water near a boulder with a foot or so of water, and even if the pocket was less than a square foot, 90% of the time I'd have a fish on instantly (or at least a hit and miss). Meanwhile he'd work on his technique and hook up with 1 out of 10 hits. He was having a hard time managing the slack and the currents and then missing the takes. I'd usually spot several takes before he would realize he missed them - especially after the dry fly got waterlogged and was subsurface. Luckily the fish were plentiful and forgiving. The presentation didn't matter. Surface, subsurface, dead drift, swinging, waking - it was going to get smashed. He had so much fun it was like a kid in a candy shop. He didn't want to stop. By the end, his technique had improved considerably and eventually we'd just take turns on each nice plunge pool we came to. Seemed like every 30-40 yards was a great pool, and in between would be a dozen pockets you could pick on the way to the next pool.
We put a lot of miles on the Jeep, exploring areas I haven't been to before. Some names I'd recognize, others I never heard of. The boys had a blast, but didn't fish too much. They preferred exploring and swimming. The larger river we fished was a tough one to crack. Didn't have a lot of time to figure it out. Ended up catching several northern pikeminnows - a few pretty big ones. I'm sure my mistake was fishing streamers, but that was easier than the hopper dropper I probably would have tried if alone, but wanted to try something a little easier for a newbie. The boys thought they were cool, but I was disappointed and plan to try again someday to find some trout. Looked like a great river to float, but didn't see anyone floating it.
My buddy couldn't stop talking about how cool fly fishing was. He's ready to get his own gear and keep practicing at the local waters. Mission accomplished!
Pikeminnow heaven
Big fella...
They boys were happy with them
Beautiful country!
The creek - sure do love rock hopping and aggressive little trout on the 2wt. Perfect boulder hopping - could go for miles.
Beautiful little trout!
The fellas after 3 nights and ready to head home.
We camped for 3 nights and fished the creek, a bigger river, and a few lakes. We also took some time to let the boys swim in the river and a lake, do a little cliff jumping, shooting, etc. Great weekend and couldn't have been much better.
My buddy wasn't so sure about fly fishing and not bringing the gear rods, but I convinced him. I set him up with a 3wt and I had a 2wt. I'd go ahead and spot a good plunge pool with a decent tailout that would be a no brainer for several small trout. I'd let him at it, coach him up a bit, then look around and pick the little pockets around me. It was insane. Just touch the water near a boulder with a foot or so of water, and even if the pocket was less than a square foot, 90% of the time I'd have a fish on instantly (or at least a hit and miss). Meanwhile he'd work on his technique and hook up with 1 out of 10 hits. He was having a hard time managing the slack and the currents and then missing the takes. I'd usually spot several takes before he would realize he missed them - especially after the dry fly got waterlogged and was subsurface. Luckily the fish were plentiful and forgiving. The presentation didn't matter. Surface, subsurface, dead drift, swinging, waking - it was going to get smashed. He had so much fun it was like a kid in a candy shop. He didn't want to stop. By the end, his technique had improved considerably and eventually we'd just take turns on each nice plunge pool we came to. Seemed like every 30-40 yards was a great pool, and in between would be a dozen pockets you could pick on the way to the next pool.
We put a lot of miles on the Jeep, exploring areas I haven't been to before. Some names I'd recognize, others I never heard of. The boys had a blast, but didn't fish too much. They preferred exploring and swimming. The larger river we fished was a tough one to crack. Didn't have a lot of time to figure it out. Ended up catching several northern pikeminnows - a few pretty big ones. I'm sure my mistake was fishing streamers, but that was easier than the hopper dropper I probably would have tried if alone, but wanted to try something a little easier for a newbie. The boys thought they were cool, but I was disappointed and plan to try again someday to find some trout. Looked like a great river to float, but didn't see anyone floating it.
My buddy couldn't stop talking about how cool fly fishing was. He's ready to get his own gear and keep practicing at the local waters. Mission accomplished!
Pikeminnow heaven
Big fella...
They boys were happy with them
Beautiful country!
The creek - sure do love rock hopping and aggressive little trout on the 2wt. Perfect boulder hopping - could go for miles.
Beautiful little trout!
The fellas after 3 nights and ready to head home.
