Take Your Kids Fishing (10/12/10)

Closing day of trout fishing was quickly coming. My 11 year old son and I decided to head north to our little trout stream one more time before the snow flies.

Alec is already an accomplished fly fisherman, he started with fly rod in hand when he was 5 learning to roll cast on a small Tennessee Smoky Mountain stream. For a little man, he can put a size 14 Adams right on the money, no drag dead drift. He knows how to read the stream very well; dissecting pools, runs and undercut banks like a seasoned pro. As his guide, I not only help put him on fish but also get the pleasure of holding his hand as we walk up or down stream together. Not a bad deal at all.

The only problem I have with fishing with my son is that he keeps score. He’ll be the first to tell everyone when we get back to camp how he out fished Dad 18 to 6 or how he caught the biggest. The problem is he’s almost always right and it’s a little tough getting smack talk from your own offspring.

We had fully planned on hopper fishing, but the winds were pretty strong making casting difficult, So we opted for casting spinners. Alec picked his favorite spinner, a rainbow pattern Panther Martin, I put on solid silver Blue fox. It was a great day, about 55 degree’s, slight overcast…perfect conditions. We fished upstream for about 2 hours. We landed and released a mix of 12 brown and brook trout. Again, Alec had big fish of the day, in fact he caught a small steam trophy. His first was a 11+ inch brown that gave him quite a tussle, while I was re-rigging my own rod, he made a spot on cast to a log on the far bank, hooked, landed, photo’ed and released into what measured out as a 15+” Brown. Fantastic Fish. Ill probably get it mounted for him. I struggled to land a few smaller browns and where we expected to pick off a few brookies, in a normally well populated pool, was empty except for one 10” brookie in full fall color. Alec even takes better photos than I do. We finished up at an easy exit, chatted with a couple of older gents, and hiked back to the car.

Great finish to another fantastic season. Seems to get better and better as the kids get older. Incredible memories that will last a lifetime. My 8 year old daughter will be walking in the stream with me next year. Cant wait to get outfished by both kids. Hope my ego can take it.