I've had the opportunity to fish more with my son lately. It's been good. We walk side by side up the stream and I point out areas where there are likely to be trout. We did this just yesterday. We were out for about two hours, since it was raining, but fortunately there was no wind. Our fish count was about 20 hooked -- bringing them to hand or net didn't always happen as he is still learning how to fight a fish in a relatively small stream.
We both used 380 cm rods, for me it was the Shimotsuke Ten and for him it was the Nissin Air Stage Honryu 380. We both used 10' level lines. He mainly stuck to a #10 UKB while I used a variety of wool bodied sakasa kebari. Pretty much anything fly tried caught fish, as long as the presentation was right.
It was great fun to watch him cast, getting the fly to hit the water first and keeping all the line off the water. He's getting really good at it. He still gets frustrated when he over shoots the cast and hooks a tree branch, but hey, so do I.
Probably the funnest moments were when I'd say, "see that rock, the one covered in moss? Place your fly upstream of there and let it move down to the hydraulic cushion on the upstream side of the rock. Be ready for a take." Then watch him do it perfectly, resulting in a 14 inch cutthroat. Great fun!
He starts back at university next week, so these trips will be fewer, but he is good enough now to hit his local waters solo and come away with a good fish count. Still, I look forward to more outings together when we get a chance.
We both used 380 cm rods, for me it was the Shimotsuke Ten and for him it was the Nissin Air Stage Honryu 380. We both used 10' level lines. He mainly stuck to a #10 UKB while I used a variety of wool bodied sakasa kebari. Pretty much anything fly tried caught fish, as long as the presentation was right.
It was great fun to watch him cast, getting the fly to hit the water first and keeping all the line off the water. He's getting really good at it. He still gets frustrated when he over shoots the cast and hooks a tree branch, but hey, so do I.
Probably the funnest moments were when I'd say, "see that rock, the one covered in moss? Place your fly upstream of there and let it move down to the hydraulic cushion on the upstream side of the rock. Be ready for a take." Then watch him do it perfectly, resulting in a 14 inch cutthroat. Great fun!
He starts back at university next week, so these trips will be fewer, but he is good enough now to hit his local waters solo and come away with a good fish count. Still, I look forward to more outings together when we get a chance.
My 9 year old son and I went on our first multi day camp/tenkara trip this summer. What a blast! Hard to describe how special these trips are.
ReplyDeleteAwesome stuff. I'm an occasional commenter to your blog. I'm keeping this post anonymous. I've really been enjoying the sentiment of your recent blogs about fishing with your son, and how important it is, the job of the father. How important it is to build that solid foundation of love, work, fun and joy until the infant you held in your arms yesterday is a man himself doing the same tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI never got to have that relationship with my own father, he made choices to suit his lifestyle that seem impossible to me as a father. It's hard not to feel a pang of envy of what me and my brother missed out on when I see your blogs, but it does embolden me to work and love as hard as I can in my son's life.
Thank you for sharing these intimate moments in your lives. I am reading it, storing it away actually, to create the blueprint of what th3 relationship with my own son will look like 20 years from now, a blink of an eye. I can hardly wait!
I've always been a loner when it comes to fishing. But I really love fishing with my son. It's one thing that allows us to be friends and yet I can still be "Dad" and teach and instruct. Thank you for your comment.
DeleteGreat seeing the Ti Net and Sutikku in action, thanks for posting. I'm really enjoying tenkara fishing with my young daughter, quality time for sure.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing better than fishing with your kids....nice post!
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