Wow – a new fishing partner!
After years of trying I was finally able to coax my darling wife of 32 years to give fly fishing a try. Of course I had to do some creative encouragement with the purchase of her own fly rod and kayak this past Christmas! To say we were excitied and stressed is an understatement.
We started thinking about the trip mid week and decided to go down to Tenkiller Dam at the Trout stream and give it a try. Weather was suppose to cooperate and it was a good “starter” stream. We began to build up our supplies and needed accessories, like waders, and boots, and completed most of that Friday night. We had to wait till Saturday for the boots, but all good choices. We ended up at the river around 12:15 in the afternoon, sun shining and a little south wind.
Susie had never used a fly rod, so we took a short course in casting. The river section here is smaller so short cast are the norm. We did have to contend with some south wind, but nothing super difficult. After about a 20 minute session we suited up and got into the water. We finally settled into a little deep water hole and began to fish in earnest. We both started with top water poppers, to get some stability in her casting and then shifted to some nymphs and dry flys to finish out. We encountered the usual casting problems (too fast, too slow, wind, weed control, and catching ourselves) but they were not insurmountable. We were lucky to have a small school of trout about 10-15′ in front of us, so we could see with anticipation what we hoped would happen.
As fate would have it, she was successful in catching two nice trout, while I was only fortunate to catch one. Once she caught the first one the race was on!
We moved quickly from thinking about casting to thinking about what are they biting, from thinking about having me tie on the proper fly to “give me the fly box and I will try something different”. I lost my secret fly box to her, I had to borrow flys now.
The anticpation of the next catch was in full swing.
When we first entered the water we were concerned about how long could she stay in the cold water, some 2-1/2 hours later she was still there. When finally decided to get out and get a little to eat, the normal stiffness was apparant, but manageable. We had passed our initiation with catches to our name – we were not skunked!
The weather decided to turn a little cooler when we got out so we decided to pack it in, but the day ended with satisfied looks and great accomplishment on our 1st trip. We are looking forward now to new locations and taking in the sites arond the waters. Look out Sowbug, we are coming over!
In a busy world where we all are going our seperate ways, it is really cool to have your soulmate join in the fun and enjoyment of fishing a stream together. All the enjoyment of spending that quiet time on the water is multiplied when you have your best friend there as well. There is of course that jubilation of getting her 1st catch on a fly rod, and the smile of accomplishment of having done the impossible- maybe even a picture or two, then the conversation of where to go the next time, what flys are you going to tie for her, and what new equipment she needs – maybe you started a snow ball?
Until the next adventure – see you on the quiet stream.
