Atta Kid

Despite the lack of money, I decided that to waste the remaining days of Spring break would be too much of a sin to ever forgive myself. With that in mind I grabbed the boy and headed south today in search of some trout. 

We're at a crossroads of sorts with the boy. He's not the baby, or "little kid" anymore, but at the same time he can't be entrusted with too many new responsibilities. I've been trying really hard to stop treating him like a child, and today I did my best to stick with that by letting him fish by himself even more than usual. When he was really young, I'd cast, hook a fish and then let him play it in. Later on, I'd just cast and let him take care of the rest. The last year or two I'm letting him do the casting but I'm still right there to help and tell him where to cast and when to set the hook. Today was the first time I let him go on his own. Sure, he didn't have as much success as I had hoped but he still seemed to have a good time and when he does find success it'll be completely his own. Hopefully that will lead to more motivation and work towards being successful. I'm confident it will, as long as he doesn't give up too soon.

Gettin' to it

We arrived on the stream a little late so I was expecting the action to be mid swing when we got in. Unfortunately, the bite was a bit slow to start and we had to work for any action. Atley did well until a slippery bank took him for a dunking. From there on out he seemed less willing to get after it, even when the fishing turned on. 

Sometimes he'd rather just take the pics

When we worked our way up to the deepest hole (and my favorite) of the stretch, Atley decided to play it safe and walk out and around. Too bad to, this hole was where I found several fish coming to the surface and a few willing to fall for an Orange Asher. This was my first time using the fly that I found over on Fly Fish Food (they have a ton of great stuff over there, and some of the best tying vids out there) and I'm seriously impressed. These fish refused my CDC midge that looked like a spot on ringer (to my eye) but would move a foot or more to inhale the Asher. Could be a new go-to! It's somewhat like a Griffith's Gnat, but I've never seen fish react to the gnat like they did to the Asher today. 

You can see how simple the Asher really is

At the top of the hole and around a large rock, I could hear Atley trying to work the run. He seemed to be finding the trees more than the river and was venting some frustration. Although he didn't actually swear, this seemed like a great graphic for the moment:

He kept after it despite the less than ideal casting situation, which made me proud. Then when I showed him how to roll cast you could just see the relief on his face! Doubt he'll need reminding of how to roll cast anytime soon. The rest of the afternoon it was the only cast he wanted to do.

Our day ended with me hooking into several more fish on the way back to the car including a nice fish that was easily the largest I've seen (personally) from this stream. Of course, he spit the hook before I could get him to the net. Can't wait to get back out there again. Hopefully you get a chance to get out and enjoy the water.

- Kidder

They do seem prettier when you catch 'em on top