Family time

The past couple of weeks, I’ve been fortunate to guide a couple of father-son teams. I know there are still fish around in our local rivers, and more are showing up every day, with a mix of winter and fresh summer fish.

The first father-son duo I guided was my friend Bryan and his son Adam. We launched a bit later in the morning to accommodate the younger member of the duo. With the late launch and us moving slowly, it sure felt like we were the only boat on the river that day. Bryan is a long-time Spey caster and is very capable. Adam, on the other hand, has been Spey casting a couple of times the past few years and is just starting to get the hang of it. 

Shortly after lunch, we pulled into one of my favorite little spots. I gave Bryan my typical spiel: when your fly gets on the other side of those two rocks, you’re in the game. And sure enough, when he got down to that part of the pool, he hooked a nickel bright steelhead. After a few runs and jumps, we were getting ready to net it, and as he pulled it up next to me, it did a death roll and set itself free. It was just about in the net, and we were going to let it go anyway. 

The following week I was out with my second father son team, Anders and Eric. This time, the roles were reversed: the son is an avid Spey caster and guides in Alaska, and the dad is passionate about fly fishing but hasn’t spent much time with the Spey rod. Again, we launched the boat later than I normally would. Hoping we would not see any other boats, and really take advantage of the afternoon shade. The weather forecast was for it to be in the 70’s. We fished the day away, covering a ton of water. Anders had a good grab in a gnarly, tough wading spot, but couldn’t seal the deal. 

It’s really nice to see families doing things together. My dad passed away almost 15 years ago, and I wish I could have spent more time on the water with him. If you have the chance, get out there and make as many memories as you can. As I write this, I’m sitting in an airplane on my way to Mexico, where I know I will make some great memories with a few long-time friends. We are all getting older and need to make sure we soak up every moment.