A Love Affair with Rivers
Even before I learned to fly fish, I remember loving rivers.
The sounds: bubbling, gurgling, rushing.
The smells: wild mint, freshness yet damp and clean.
The sights: riffles and runs, pools, drops, eddies.
The tastes: cool and wet, refreshing.
The feels: smooth and silky and cold.
Putting all of my senses to use, I drank up every aspect of rivers and still do today.
As a child, my two favorite activities around rivers were throwing and skipping rocks and building dams and rerouting their flow in side channels. Thanks to my older, sports-obsessed brother, I was fairly proficient at skipping rocks and throwing them as far as I could or aiming for a specific target. Of course, we’d have to wait until our angling father was a way upriver before hurling these projectiles, but hurl away we did. We’d create challenges and entertain ourselves for a good chunk of the day.
Once we completed our impressive feats of rock throwing, we’d switch over to being in the water. Moving the river rocks around to create a pool below a rock dam or introducing woody debris entertained us for hours. We’d change the flow upstream to move this way or that to watch the water flow to our will. Childhood summers for us were a dream while spent on and in rivers.
Learning to Fly Fish
But then I learned how to fly fish. My dad taught me, but I pretty much already had it mastered just from watching him, at least so I thought. He got me a fly fishing package for my 10th birthday, and I couldn’t have been more excited. I ignored my other gifts and rushed into the front yard to piece it together and string it up to start casting. I spent hours out there and made sure I was on the lawn every evening when my dad came home so he could understand my dedication and give me a few tips.
We’d practice knots at the dinner table and go over fly names and applications during long winters. The casting practice continued and occasionally we’d head to a pond nearby to see if some of the lunker rainbows would take our flies, but the real introduction came that next summer when we finally made it to the river.
Catching My First Fish
Kid’s waders weren’t a thing, so I braved wet wading with some sturdy boots while holding tightly to my dad’s outstretched hand to cross or get into position. Once in just the right spot, I recalled my yard casting practice and tried to put all the pieces into place I’d learned and studied. With a Goddard caddis tied to my tippet, I cast to a good-looking run where I’d seen my dad catch numerous fish over the years.
My first cast was decent, but my drift was atrocious. I hadn’t accounted for the currents and knew nothing about mending. With my dad by my side, I took a couple of steps closer to lessen the obstacles. I cast again, got a good drift right near a seam under a willow branch, and much to my surprise, my very first fish lunged for the fly and I actually set the hook. After a brief fight thanks to a strong current downstream of us, I landed the rainbow with a perma-grin on my face.
While that fish set something off in me that has yet to (and I hope will never) be fulfilled, there were plenty of days where rock throwing and dam building seemed more fun. We’d start the day fishing, but as soon as the fishing slowed, my brother and I would reverse our plans and build dams and move water. Then with our stomachs growling and my dad continuing to pursue “just one more”, we’d revert to our rock-throwing days to end his fishing and feed us instead.
Passing it On
While I don’t spend much time not fishing on rivers any longer, I do recall those days with sincere fondness, and when I guide kids, I often take breaks to throw rocks and build dams because it is not all about catching fish all the time.
Rivers provide endless fascination for me and that is exactly what I try to instill in those I guide as well. Rivers connect all of us, yet speak to some more than others. No matter how we interact with them, we should use all five senses to learn which one speaks the loudest and encourages continued curiosity.
Check out a few of our properties that’d make the perfect destination for a first catch!
