Anglers Journey's - Notes from a Day on the Water

A big day on the water with Capt. Jon Ray for my Dad and I yesterday. Jon and I fish together pretty regularly in all sorts of styles and for all sorts of species, and my Dad's joined us on a number of Winter steelhead trips. But this was my first full day dry fly outing with Jon (or any other guide). But, perhaps best of all, it was my first outing in my boat!

But first, Dad's epic day. He was eager to get in on this trip. Although he's fished dry flies for years, he really had little first hand knowledge of fly selection. fishing tactics, and the myriad of other details (in all candor, I was definitely lacking, too). On the drive up he explained that his goals for the day were more about learning than about catching fish. Well, he got BOTH. Over the course of a float, he hooked, fought, and landed two 17" brown trout, as well as a personal best 20"er!!! You could see his confidence and excitement level grow with each fish. A really cool experience. And, I got to learn how to be both oarsman and net guy and to work with my angler as a team. All of this while a top trout guide coaches you both from the stern. Pretty cool! I think Jon enjoyed it as much as we did.

Everyone I've talked to has told me that DVD's, books, and YouTube are a poor replacement for time on the sticks. And my first outing proved that totally true. But this time was completely different. Most things have an "I get it" moment, and yesterday was no exception. Suddenly flailing turned to confidence as I found myself able to apply what I've learned. Muscle memory kicks in and suddenly you are able to not only recognize WHAT you need to do, but HOW you do it. Sure, I wasn't perfect, but I kept us out of danger, and was able to focus not on pure survival, but on subtleties like boat position for my anglers The odd part, to me, was that it was nearly instantaneous from the moment we set off. It was as if a switch was flipped in my head, and my muscles. "Oh, I get it now...".

Also, I got to chat with a guide who averages over 200 days a year on the water, and who rows a nearly identical boat, about boat and trailer set-up. I've already got a few tuning ideas to make my boat perform better, be safer, and last longer.

Yeah, I got to fish a bit, too -- though for me that was definitely secondary. Caught a bunch of small brook trout and missed out on 3 nice browns due to bad hook-setting.  But for both my Dad and I, an epic day!

-Sean-