Father's Day is here and it is time to think about fly fishing with Dads. As both a son who fishes with his father and a father who fishes with his son, I feel well qualified to type a few words about the subject in honor of the holiday.
Dads seem to have a way of shaping what kind of anglers and people that we become. They can teach us about reading the water and fly selection, but some of the best lessons learned are a bit more obscure. Here is a list of things that I have learned over the years while fishing with my dad.
1. You can eat a can of Beanie Weenies creekside with only a business card, but you should never read the ingredients on the tin of potted meat that you just had for lunch.
2. If you bait fish, your lunch will probably taste like nightcrawlers and corn no matter what you are eating, so why worry about what's in the potted meat?
3. If you go deep sea fishing and your father keeps repeatedly asking you if you are sea sick, the polite thing to do is pretend to be, so that he can take a break from fishing to take care of you.
4. Be careful of the barbed wire while trying to high step over a waist high fence. The same premise applies to electric fences and the call of nature.
5. It is entirely possible to land a trout and prevent your son from falling into the river at the same time, without losing either the fish or the son.
My father and I recently received an invitation to fish a private stream that is managed by a rather exclusive fishing club. It is so exclusive in fact, that in order to become a member someone has to die to free up a spot. Since most of the membership appear to be in pretty good health, this might be our only chance to fish this water for some time. I have the sneaking suspicion that we might feel a bit like Andy and Barney did that time they got invited to visit the country club in Mt. Pilot. The fishing should be great none the less and I know that the company will be first rate.
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