October 7, 2017. I caught my first fish ever. I know self-praise stinks (my great-grandmother used to say that) but I am so proud of myself. I actually caught three in one day! What! I used a Tenkara Rod which does not have a reel. So when I caught the first one, I freaked for a second- what do I do!? So basically I had to pull the rod enough so it was taut and able to pull the fish to shore. And luckily my handy fisherman came over and helped me unhook the little fishy. My second fish was a big one! Again, my handy fisherman helped me unhook the fish and his cousin, Gage, took a picture of us. We ended up keeping this one, and right there, Corbin gutted it and we took it back home. We smoked him up the next night. And then on our way out of the Gross Reservoir that day, I was dragging in my fishing line and bam! A small fishy hooked himself right on my fly! We were all shocked, and laughed so much. Turns out, I was the only one who caught fish that day. It was so much fun, I am definitely hooked.
Things I still need to work on:
- Being confident to hold the fish. I was so nervous to actually hold onto the fish for a picture. It was slippery, slimy, and squirmish!
- Tying the fly to the fishing line. Right now- my handy fisherman does this for me, luckily because you need to know certain kind of knots that I do not know… yet!
- Unhooking the fly hook from the fish’s mouth! Because I have a hard time grabbing the fish, unhooking is a real struggle for me. No solo fishing days for me.. yet!
I’ve been able to learn from the master, my partner, my handy fisherman, Corbin. He has been fly fishing for over a year now. He really got into last winter and I come with him and watch. At that time, fishing was not for me. I love to be outdoors, and soaking up the sun, or trudging through the snow, so following my fisherman around was not a big deal for me, but I did not give fishing a try. I really enjoyed watching him and grabbing the net when he caught a fish.
However, when we got our trailer together last May, I still was not down to try fishing for myself. I think my personality gets in the way. I want to be good at things, even if its my first trying it. For me, I would try to fly fish, pull back and forth and I couldn’t get it. I would get frustrated easily or be embarrassed for being so terrible. What I needed to realize was that something like fly-fishing, is extremely hard to get it the first try.
Nevertheless, this summer I really jumped in and asked Corbin if I could try fishing with his fly fishing rod. He has been as patient as ever trying to teach me in all my frustrations. And look! It paid off. If you need me. . . I’ll be at the river catching my next dinner.
Wild-Free 