I was recently fishing the Yakima River in Central Washington. Despite being a beautiful day with moderate temperatures, winter still had the fish firmly in its grip. If there were fish in the river they were hunkered down deep, nearly comatose. The result was that catching wasn’t real good. In fact, it was non-existent.
As I was returning to the truck to call it a day, I observed a little girl, who appeared to be about 7 years old, and her dad with fly rods in hand, doing their best to entice a fish to come to their offerings. The little girl was all business as she flailed her rod wildly back and forth. Her strike indicator looked to have been wrapped around her rod so that her fly wasn’t even getting out on the water. That didn’t seem to dampen her enthusiasm as she kept at it while dad watched from a safe distance. I hope he stepped in and gave her some assistance with her tangled line. 😉
Watching this little girl having fun, spending some time with her dad on a beautiful day served as a reminder that fly fishing is about more than catching fish: it’s about getting outside, enjoying nature, spending quality time with friends and family. I was tempted to holler to her as I crossed the foot bridge, “Hey, little angler- have you gotten hooked on Olive the woolly bugger, yet?”
I opted not to interrupt her fun.
There are times I wish I had picked up a fly rod when the kids were young. This is one of those times.