Took my boy Sebastian (7) fly fishing for the first time. My boy became a (fisher) man today when he caught his first trout with a fly. Kaloo kalay. (I'm sure there is some Tahitian culture that does the same) A beautiful 6 inch brownie. he caught 2 more after for a gran total of 3. He now wants to be a fireman, pilot, super hero and a fisherman. We need juniors in this sport. I suggest always taking your sons/daughters with you. It great way to spend quality time with them and in a pinch, you can send them up a tree to recover your precious, home tied killer fly.
The day was fine, the good Lady Annalee sang her siren song and I felt compelled to answer. I am but a man and my will is weak, so I bid my adieus and grabbed my kit on my way out the door. The sun shimmered silver on the water and the melodious play of the riffle shushed my mind to calm. Living bars of slithey gold beckoned and teased as they made brazenly for the nymph and turn at the last. Like a French lover, I relish the challenge and try a different approach. The nymph is presented with pinpoint accuracy, it touches the water like an infants kiss and dives immediately down at the insistence of the tungsten bead. She bumps and tumbles over the rocks, enticingly resplendent in her squirrel and peacock boa. Irresistible, the trout takes up the offering. The sacrificial lamb bounces forward screaming 'Strike...Strike'. The hook is set and the game afoot. She runs and dives, hither and thither trying to throw this invisible force that demands a landward sway. Her strength is a dwindling reservoir but she finds enough for one last long, deep run. At last, she succums to the insistent will of the rod and comes to the net exhausted. I wet my hands and reverently pick her up casting my shadow over her to protect her eyes from the glaring sun. gently I remove the offending liar from her lip and ever so gently return her to her home. She turns to the deep and twice, thrice waves her tail and is gone. The willows sway gently in the lazy breeze and the Lady Annalee sings softly her siren song.
Had a fishing date with a friend who has not fly fished before. After basic instruction in how not to hook yourself in the neck and more importantly, not to hook me, we set about flogging water. Demonstrating in the water, I hooked into a lovely juvenile brownie approx 6". This was promptly followed by another few. Finian, unfortunately, did not catch anything but got, as he says, a few sniffs.
Fin headed home after about 2 hours on the river and I continued. By end of day, 5pm, I had caught 15 fish. The smallest was an astounding 1 1/2" with a size 16 fly. Greedy little beggar. The biggest was a respectable 13". Grabbed some wild garlic while I was there. Looking forward to some great nom-noms tomorrow. PS. Ephemera are on the up and some fish on the rise. Promising start. So it was a lovely Sunday and Gretha, she who must be obeyed, decided she wants to have a BBQ and I was commanded to go out and bring forth trout. Not being a man to hesitate at an opportunity to go fish, I briskly saluted, about turned and head out the door grabbing my water flogging accouterments with me. Not wanting to devoid the river of all its trout, I decided that the 13" brownie would do nicely (and it did together with wild garlic harvested from the river bank and salt and pepper harvested from the local supermarket.). After having gone for an inconvenient splash about in the river, I can assure you that the river is indeed wet and most certainly cold. Parts of my anatomy are only now recovering.
Thank the good Lord, open day has arrived. Went out to the river bright and breezy with worpal rod in hand. Down at Ballyhaise I went down the recently made stairs at the bridge and entered the pool gingerly. My weapon of choice on the day was a bead heap PTN and a micro pheasant tail. 3 casts later I was into my first trout. This was shortly followed by another. At the end of day, I picked up 12 fish of which 7 were trout (1 of 13") and 5 salmon parr. The majority ranged between 4 to 8 ". A good start to a, I hope, brilliant season.
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