fishing, day 2

This little trout head turned out to be a solid choice (note the pinched-down barbs); After I caught this rainbow, my pop unhooked it for me since he had waders, and I got a chance to snap some quick shots. I don't like to prolong the amount of time a fish is out of water for the sake of a picture because staying that much longer out of the water could ultimately kill it, but if the opportunity is there and it's a short window of time (i.e. a few seconds, as it is being released) I have no qualms.

I caught a bunch of fish today (!), but owing to the fact that I caught them using the spinning rod instead of the fly rod makes me feel a little like I cheated. Only because the spinners are so much easier than the fly rods. Oh well, practice makes perfect, and today I wasn't going for perfection - just a good old afternoon of reading the river and getting that adrenaline rush from first bite to catch & release. My pop made the last cast of the day and caught a big native rainbow trout and as he released it he said, smiling, "That one last cast!"

fishing, day 1

I hung out in a patch of bright yellow flowers and watched pop tie on a lure/cast while admiring the surrounding foliage. I wish I had brought my Wildlife of North America book with me to figure out what was what! Anyway, I chilled with a fuzzy blue butterfly that was smaller than the lure I used today, then settled into a patch of young willows (probably not willows, but I was hoping they were) and observed the fisherman again. After looking closely into some blue eyed grass to admire the tiny flowers I looked out toward the marshier grass and, spotting something red and black, found a lost lure - a hand tied 'woolly worm' which pop is stoked to try out sometime.

My pop and I set out to fish around 2 this afternoon, and as he geared up I spent about 15 minutes working on my casting technique with the fly rod. It is an amazingly elegant and precise set of movements, deceptively simple, and for every nine or so 'meh' casts I feel like I only got one awesome cast. Ouch! I felt like I was ten years old again, just getting a feel for the spinner rods and casting my roostertails straight into the plants on the other side of the bank. Quite a humbling experience, and after only about an hour going up and down the bank, I tired and switched the fly rod for the camera and watched my pop, who is a master of reading the water and hooking fish. But he never toots his own horn and almost dismissively says "Well, for having fished here for 30 years you'd think I'd know something by now!"