Watch Out For TC #69

It’s hard to believe that four years ago, TC had no interest in fishing. I am not sure what happened, or if she was struck by lightning without me knowing it, but one day she decided that she would like to go with me in the woods. Now, I think she was getting a bit protective in that she really did not want me to go in alone and this was her way of making sure that I would be ok. Or the other side of me said that she really enjoys the outdoors and the ability to see wildlife in the woods while we travel, and I did not enter into her decision to become part of the caravan. The best answer is probably a combination of both.

I remember the first time very vividly. She brought a few magazines, sat up front in the canoe and read while I fished. I could see her raise her head and watch attentively as my line synched up with a fish on the end. Then as the year moved on, she spent more time watching and less time reading until the last day of that season as we were coming off the water. I remember her asking if she could try a cast or two. My reaction, being a warden’s son and a law-abiding citizen was, no you don’t have a license.

The following year, she took more of an interest and we purchased her very first license. She began to be a student of the art and really surprised me when she started her casting. To take it one step further, she decided that she was going to go to an LL Bean fly fishing school, so we drove to Freeport and she took part in an adventure school that taught her the art of casting. From that day forward, you could see that her goal was to understand what it took to make that fly sit on the water with as little effort as possible. I must say that she has come a long way and now she is working on longer casts and has really excelled in that as well. Her focus has changed from wanting to fish to catching fish.

So we move forward to catching fish. Now, TC can be quite competitive and has been almost all of her life. I have to admit she gets that from growing up in a family of ten children. Knowing all of them well, I truly understand where she was coming from and how she became so competitive. So it really did not surprise me what took place one day when we were fishing on Little Pleasant Pond. As I recall, the water was fairly calm that day and the fishing was pretty good. The limit on that pond is one fish and I had caught mine already. I kept looking out of the corner of my eye at a little cove in the pond where I took interest in a certain fish that just kept rising. TC saw it too and in no time asked me to take her over there in the canoe. As we got there, the fish continued to do summer salts in and out of the water. I planted the canoe at a safe distance where I felt we would not interfere or spook it. TC started her assault and was just coming up a bit short of the rings the fish was creating. She tried and tried, but had little luck in planting that fly in the ring. So, being the calm collected person she is, she blurted out, “get this canoe closer”. I responded by saying that if we got any closer, that fish would stop jumping. You could see that she was not amused with my response and without a word; she pulled that pole back and fired it at the ring just created. The fly landed dead center in the ring and in no time that trout grabbed the fly and took it under. Her eyes got two times bigger and she went to work trying to land that fish. It was not long after that, she reeled the trout in, and it was indeed a very nice one. My fish was lying in the boat and she immediately made me aware that she thought her fish was bigger than mine. And to her credit, she was right.

Now as time has passed, she has become more adept at how to use that fly rod. She has graduated to a large arbor reel, which helps with the retrieval. Her casting ability is getting even more refined and she always does a great job on the all-important presentation.  She is still learning some of the terminology and pole fishing technology, but I know she will get there. We are spending more time in the woods and we are both enjoying the time we spend there. She continues to ask me questions about how she is doing and what she can do differently. My responses are small with very little to offer or add. I am always mindful of the fact that she is dedicated to doing it right and to the best of her ability.  To that end, she has a big head start.

I recall recently while visiting her ninety year old father, where she spied some flies that he had been working on. Rosaire, knowing that his daughter really enjoyed fishing, reached over and took a couple and passed them to her. There was one, in particular that he pointed out, and as usual, told us that he was the only one who could tie it and that I would not be able to make it as good as him. Get a drift of where TC gets her competitive spirit? He put it in a cup and told her that she would catch lots of fish with it. The weekend after that, we decided to give it a try. TC tied it on and darn if he was not right. TC caught four nice trout on it before no time. I got to give him that one, but I did keep the pattern and when I sit down at the tying bench, I will make a few, and yes, better than Rosaire’s. There is one other thing I should mention on our day of fishing. When we got to the pond, there was another group fishing as well. I watched them as TC and I caught quite a few fish. They did not catch one. They kept coming closer to our boat and would stop fishing and watch each time we netted a fish. They must have gotten fed up with it because they eventually headed to shore, loaded their boat and left. TC also learned how to weed fish that day, dragging her fly in the weed bed. I recall her asking as she got stuck and eventually pulled up some weeds, if that was correct. I told her that was perfectly acceptable and that I had been told a long time ago by Rosaire that when the fish are in the weeds, you have to go in after them, and when you catch weeds, you are doing good.

As time marches on, I am looking forward to our time together in the woods and hope to continue it for years to come. I know that the competition for the bigger fish will subtlety be there and that is fine, as long as I catch it! My only question is, do I keep giving her lessons or do I just stop before she passes me? I think in some respects she has already driven by.