Bonefish on the Brain Bonefish and all that relates (maybe a bit about tarpon too).

I was up near Mt. Shasta again this last weekend with both my girls (daughter and fiancee) to see my folks. There was a beer festival, a patio boat picnic and a little river time planned and that is exactly what came to pass.

This was my fiancee’s introduction to fly fishing (or any kind of fishing) and I made sure she didn’t feel too much pressure.  I told her “I don’t need you to love this, I just need you to understand why I do.” She was game, which was a nice starting position.

With light expectations on the line, we headed off to the Upper McCloud River.  The Upper McCloud is very different in character from the Lower McCloud.  The Upper is less remote, shallower, narrower and home to much smaller fish. Basicaly, it is a great place to start out.

I got Renee all decked out and we were ready. I got her the shirt, some quick dry pants and a pair of wading boots. I figured the waders could wait until it wasn’t 95 degrees out. That was a good call.

My fiancee is actually Dr. Fiancee and as you might guess, she’s pretty smart.  She also turns out to be a good student and it wasn’t long before she was hooking fish on dry flies.  Her first “landed” fish was a small fish that we got to touch the leader on, but it got off before the photo op. In the first hour she hooked 4 and landed 1.

We met my folks (who brought my daughter) after lunch and Renee was still interested in fishing.  With no prodding she picked up the rod and started fishing again and it was then that she landed her biggest fish and got it all the way in.

I brought a bucket along so my daughter could see the fish.  That was a hit.

It was a great afternoon on the water, fishing next to my future wife and having my little girl so thrilled to be there, soaking up the wilderness, and my folks there enjoying their grandchild. At dinner on the way home I asked my daughter her favorite part of the trip and she said it was getting to see the fish in the bucket.  Yes… that did not hurt my feelings.

All said, a pretty awesome weekend. I rather like the way this Marriage #2 is shaping up.

When I asked Renee what she thought of fishing she answered:

I liked it more than I thought I would. I really enjoyed standing in the river.

A woman after my own heart. Now, in under two months she’ll be casting to bonefish.  That might blow her mind.

Tags: fiancee, fly fishing, McCloud River, Trout

This entry was posted on Monday, July 16th, 2012 at 3:08 am and is filed under Fish Tails. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.