Fishing has always been a part of my life. It started years before I was born with my grandfather, who taught my father. My father taught me to fish and so on. As a little kid fishing with my dad, I spent the majority of the time holding fish my dad caught or playing in the water.
As the years went on, I stopped fishing. School, girls, sports, all of these other things started to get in the way. Fishing wasn't a priority. I didn't go with my father as much any more.
Then I graduated...
Hello college, hello stress.
My world had completely changed. I went from a tiny town of 600 people to a bustling massive city that stretches from Layton down to Spanish Fork with hardly a break in between. Instead of mountains, I saw buildings. Instead of cows, I saw cars. Instead of wildlife, I saw massive groups of people. It made me miss home. And the longer I was away from it, the more I wanted to be a part of it again. I wanted to return to the way I had been raised. I went out and bought my first fishing pole on my own. After a few trips on my own, I caught my first fish.
I started catching a lot of fish. Then I started fly fishing... this threw me for a loop. I had no idea what I was doing. And it took me more than a month to catch my first fish. But then, I started catching a lot of fish... Fly fishing became an addiction. I started releasing fish just so I could catch them again. I started taking videos of these fish being released. For me, the moment the fish leaves my hand and swims back into the river is my favorite moment.
Just like anything in life, when you start to get good at it, people want you to teach them. I've taught a lot of people over the years; friends, my brothers, friends of friends. Eventually I went and got engaged. Fishing had become such an important part of my life, I had to share it. I ended up teaching my fiancé how to fish. And she started to catch a few here and there.
Then she started to get a little too good and pulled in this lunker.
I was starting to have fun. I could fish, fly fish, teach people to fish. My dad and I started spending hours together on the creeks and rivers nearby, catching as many fish as we could. My dad kept teaching me his secrets, showing me his tips. 25 years later, I was still learning from him. I probably still will.
But this story finally got a chance to come full circle. On a recent trip to Montana, my dad took me out to the Missouri River to catch some fish. He had his normal fishing pole and I had brought my fly rod. My dad hadn't ever fly fished in his life, but he was pretty confident in his pole. The conditions on the Missouri weren't right for his setup, but I was able to hook into two and land one nice rainbow really quickly. We decided to move to a new spot where we could both fish. We headed to Holter Dam nearby, hoping to catch more fish. However, once we got there, it ended up being the same story as the river. My fly rod was lighting up with a new fish every few minutes and my dad wasn't having much luck. Finally, I talked him into trying my fly rod. After 25 years, I had my first opportunity to teach my dad something about fishing. I had spent years learning from him and it had finally come full circle. I got to teach my dad something new about fishing. And apparently I wasn't a half bad instructor. My dad was able to land two fish on my fly rod his first time... not bad, considering it took me over a month! Here he is with his first fish from a fly rod.
While it was a blast fishing with my dad and giving him his first fly fishing experience, the moments we catch a lot of fish together are still my favorite. We've spent 25 years fishing together and I've spent 25 years learning from him. I'm hoping for another 25 or 50 more... this time, the teaching coming from both of us and the fish hitting like crazy.
Fishing has always been a big part of my life. Most of the memories in life I have can be punctuated by moments I've had fishing. My first fish, my first fish on my own, my first fly rod catch, my first time teaching my dad. Some people say their blood runs the color of their favorite sports team... I'd have to say that creek water flows through my veins and chasing trout with my dad are some of the best moments in my life.
This may be a compilation of life stories, but to me, it's one big story that has yet to have an ending written. I just hope the ending is years and years from now and written by someone who didn't even know me personally, but can trace that creek water in their veins back to me, my father, and his father.
