CutThroat Leaders
Business Member
Good to know fishing guides…
This weekend I was planning on hitting the desert to chase big browns with my son. I called a local fly shop (Three Rivers in Eagle ID) to ask questions on the hatch, etc. I was informed the fishing was slow on the piece of water we were planning on hitting. My buddy Arron, aka “smokeythe beard” gave me some good intel. The day prior, He was fishing a local river and had firsthand knowledge of what was going on. From showing me the spot on a map, the fly’s they had luck with and the time of day the hatch would start… all very good, accurate info. He basically did everything other than cast to the rising trout for us. I just picked up a bottle of his favorite whiskey as thank you…
I have been fishing this river for 15 years now. In all those years, I have never…, not once witnessed a child fishing here. Because this fishery is so technical, I was just hoping my son would catch at least one good fish…
The first fish of the day was a really nice bow that was feeding in less than 8” of water. The dorsal fin was literally exposed / out of the water. My 11 yr old son made the quite approach. He casted up river of the feeding fish, giving just enough distance between fly and fish to get a good drift. His thread furled leader dropped the fly ever so delicately onto the water’s surface. Not being able to track his fly (size 20), he watched for any change in the fishes movement. The fish finally moved only a few inches and my son set the hook… Fish ON!!! This fish made three really strong leaps. I was trying to capture them on camera, but no luck. I was more concerned with reminding my son to keep pressure on the fish then look through the viewfinder. After he released the big wild rainbow, we exchanged high fives, smiles with lots of excitement.
I was overly excited as this was truly the first time my son stalked a feeding fish, set himself up in the proper position for a perfect presentation of the fly and made the cast with no input from dad. It was as if I as fishing with a buddy, just admiring his approach / ability.
We caught lots more fish this day, but that first Bow was the best one. Not the biggest, but the best.
At times, we had fish boiling all around us. There were so many different bugs on the water, that trying to nail down the hatch was not easy. At the beginning, I was making fly changes after only a few drifts. It was then decided to stop worrying about the fly itself, and make the best possible presentation I could make. For years I have been preaching about the importance of great Presentation, but on this day, thus far with fish rising, I forgot my own recommendations and was casting to rising fish like a Wildman. Once I slowed down, and decided to catch one specific fish, things got much better. Sometimes, that meant standing in much deeper water than I was comfortable with, but it put me into the best possible casting position. Sometimes, it meant crossing the river to reach a fish I see sipping drys, but cannot reach from my current position without drag. This is the fishing that I love. Working one fish until you get him or put him down.
My catch rate drastically increased when I forgot about all the rise rings around me and concentrated on only one rising fish at a time… Of course I know this is the best approach, but seeing 18-20” fish surface around, is enough to get me to forget some of what I have previously learned.
I highly recommend choosing one fish at a time and fishing for that fish… It is easy to get distracted with rise rings all around, but more often than not, if you fish for one specific fish, your casting is more deliberate, more concise and the overall presentation will be better. Simply stated, slow down…
All in all, we had a great day. Lots of fish, lots of laughs, and we even made it home to watch a recorded football game with my boy. It was a great weekend
This weekend I was planning on hitting the desert to chase big browns with my son. I called a local fly shop (Three Rivers in Eagle ID) to ask questions on the hatch, etc. I was informed the fishing was slow on the piece of water we were planning on hitting. My buddy Arron, aka “smokeythe beard” gave me some good intel. The day prior, He was fishing a local river and had firsthand knowledge of what was going on. From showing me the spot on a map, the fly’s they had luck with and the time of day the hatch would start… all very good, accurate info. He basically did everything other than cast to the rising trout for us. I just picked up a bottle of his favorite whiskey as thank you…
I have been fishing this river for 15 years now. In all those years, I have never…, not once witnessed a child fishing here. Because this fishery is so technical, I was just hoping my son would catch at least one good fish…
The first fish of the day was a really nice bow that was feeding in less than 8” of water. The dorsal fin was literally exposed / out of the water. My 11 yr old son made the quite approach. He casted up river of the feeding fish, giving just enough distance between fly and fish to get a good drift. His thread furled leader dropped the fly ever so delicately onto the water’s surface. Not being able to track his fly (size 20), he watched for any change in the fishes movement. The fish finally moved only a few inches and my son set the hook… Fish ON!!! This fish made three really strong leaps. I was trying to capture them on camera, but no luck. I was more concerned with reminding my son to keep pressure on the fish then look through the viewfinder. After he released the big wild rainbow, we exchanged high fives, smiles with lots of excitement.
I was overly excited as this was truly the first time my son stalked a feeding fish, set himself up in the proper position for a perfect presentation of the fly and made the cast with no input from dad. It was as if I as fishing with a buddy, just admiring his approach / ability.
We caught lots more fish this day, but that first Bow was the best one. Not the biggest, but the best.
At times, we had fish boiling all around us. There were so many different bugs on the water, that trying to nail down the hatch was not easy. At the beginning, I was making fly changes after only a few drifts. It was then decided to stop worrying about the fly itself, and make the best possible presentation I could make. For years I have been preaching about the importance of great Presentation, but on this day, thus far with fish rising, I forgot my own recommendations and was casting to rising fish like a Wildman. Once I slowed down, and decided to catch one specific fish, things got much better. Sometimes, that meant standing in much deeper water than I was comfortable with, but it put me into the best possible casting position. Sometimes, it meant crossing the river to reach a fish I see sipping drys, but cannot reach from my current position without drag. This is the fishing that I love. Working one fish until you get him or put him down.
My catch rate drastically increased when I forgot about all the rise rings around me and concentrated on only one rising fish at a time… Of course I know this is the best approach, but seeing 18-20” fish surface around, is enough to get me to forget some of what I have previously learned.
I highly recommend choosing one fish at a time and fishing for that fish… It is easy to get distracted with rise rings all around, but more often than not, if you fish for one specific fish, your casting is more deliberate, more concise and the overall presentation will be better. Simply stated, slow down…
All in all, we had a great day. Lots of fish, lots of laughs, and we even made it home to watch a recorded football game with my boy. It was a great weekend
