Shine.

I've been busy but fortunate.  The early spring has provided an abundance of good weather and good fishing. The outings are coming at a pace of about once a week or so and that is actually more than I could have expected. I have not been out on the weekends, which is my usual slot in past years, but I've found my boots wet on weeknight evenings. There are a few bonuses to this but the thin crowd is probably the most enjoyed. That and the opportunity to see sipping trout as the sun makes its final shine behind the trees. One such outing had me alone in the midst of a decent caddis hatch. The fish were excitedly rising for the artificial for a good solid hour. I tailed an emerger off of a beige elk hair caddis, size 14, for some fun on the top. Consistent dry fly fishing in mid April seemed like a treat to both me and the fish.  And we were the only ones there keeping each other company.

 On another recent evening I had the fortune of my favorite company, my kids.  With my wife out to dinner with friends, we strung up and suited up in our driveway.  My daughter, now a young lady much to my everlasting surprise (will it always be this way as they grow?) no longer fit into the adolescent waders that she once splashed through the rivers with.  That was okay, she thought, she'd gotten a 35mm camera for Christmas and offered to be the photo journalist of our evening pursuits.  My son, now grown into her outgrown waders, was excited to hunt the trout with his nymphed up rig as we arrived to the water.  To my sheer joy, he hadn't really lost a step in his under the surface pursuits; he flipped his late grandfather's rod like a champ, fly line just off the water while following carefully the indicator underneath his rod tip.  Within a few casts, both kids began to shine.

I hope you are all getting the opportunity to shine this spring.  Tight lines.