First Fish On A Fly

My brother-in-law is a great guy. He loves the outdoors. He loves science. He loves learning about new things. But up until a couple of weeks ago, he didn't seem all that interested in learning how to fly fish. But then we were sitting around the house after the Boy's birthday party, and I just happened to mention that I had a fly rod and reel and a couple of flies in the back of the van in case anyone wanted to learn how to cast. He jumped at the chance, so we went down to the lake and had a quick lesson.

He was surprisingly adept at casting - surprising,  not because he is uncoordinated, but because, in my estimation, 99% of beginners take a while to get the hang of it. I am not saying he was a perfect caster, but he was able to get 25-30 feet of line out most of the time, and the wind knots that he did get were not so snarly that they were impossible to untangle. He was doing great!

And, he seemed to be having fun, but it soon became obvious that he would be having more fun if he were to actually catch a fish. He got a few bites with the foam spider he had on the end of his leader, but he was not able to hook up with any of them. Still, he remained intense in his casting and in his searching for fish.

Finally, after a couple of hours or so of casting, he connected with his first fish on a fly: a respectable largemouth bass. He even proved to be a natural at holding it out as far as he could so that it looked bigger for the camera. What a pro! I don't know if he is hooked on fly fishing, but it was fun to help him have a successful first trip. Congrats Boyd!

Look, it's almost as big as his head! Wait a minute, so is his hand...