How long have I been fly fishing? Recently, this question has entered my conversations with clients and friends. To answer the question, it’s been almost six years now since I first put a fly rod in my hand. So how did I get to where I am now?
I wish the answer was as simple as, I went to the river and caught fish, but I’ll need to add some context. Let me tell you about the beginning. It was, how do I say, brutally slow! It took some time just to gather the “correct gear”. It wasn’t until ONE YEAR into fly fishing when…, I caught my first fish on a Lampson Speedster reel with an eight foot Redington rod. It was by all accounts…the smallest fish I have ever caught. But it brought me so much joy to think that I had finally fooled a fish! I had decided to venture into Waterton Canyon with some other fishing buddies and we scouted out some prime areas for fishing. The rainbow warrior size 18 was the fly of the day! Little did I know how effective this pattern was and I continued to use it for many future trips.
So now 6 years later with way too much purchased gear, my favorite aspect of the sport in the last two years has been introducing my father to the world of fly fishing in Colorado. To be honest, I probably took him out 3 times before he ever caught something. You can blame that on the teacher, haha! As I was teaching my father, I started to see just how intricate and how much knowledge I had gained from 6 years of experience. Time on the water, countless youtube videos, so many lost flies, and more and more time tying flies made me realize just how hard this sport can be if you want to teach it well. Over the course of my learning, I have to give credit to several people including Aaron Crooks, Ryan Jonas, Mike Herr, and Devin Olsen. All these men encouraged, taught, pushed, and refined me to dial in the art.
Art, (aka my father)…has always been up for an adventure. He seeks out opportunities that put him in the outdoors so he jumped at the chance to go fly fishing with me. After the gear purchases, he was dialed in with Orvis and a slightly beat up fly rod and reel. Like I said, it was a slow start but I remember a day in Cheesman Canyon where my dad hooked into so many rainbows I lost count! The more he aims his sights in on fly fishing, the more I see myself in him. So here is to you Art! Thanks for being a pal and joining me in my obsession for catching trout.