It was my great honor to guide two groups on Dry Run Creek on Saturday.
First there was Wyatt Gage, 4, in his second crack at Dry Run. It was extremely crowded but we squeezed in at the top end and fished a drop off to the last outlet at the hatchery. We nailed some nice fish, including an 18 inch cutthroat.
Wyatt is like his daddy, Jeremiah, a natural born fly fisher. He cranked in this cutthroat with no real issue. He had a good grip on my Orvis Helios and brought that fish to Jeremiah’s net. I was next to Wyatt to make sure he was not pulled off the rock ledge I placed him on - a perch that made me nervous but Jeremiah gave me the thumbs up on.
Then later I took Mandy and Barrett Robinson’s two girls, Piper and Reece. We were late in day and fished the falls area of Dry Run. They are 5 and 6. They both caught 3-4 fish and both got brookies.
These are great kids. They listened and did exactly what I told them.
I am not sure all this young can do this. But they were fired up. We kept it simple. Basically high stick nymphing and dragging the indicator and fly back to set up another drift. No casting.
Clay is learning perhaps the biggest Joy in fishing. He took my Grandsons there one day and they had a great time. On the way home, the youngest woke up and told his Dad, I caught my first fish today. Doesn’t get any better than that.
The Robinson girls were so much fun. Girls listen better than boys and don’t have any bad habits from playing around with a spinning rod.
Barrett, dad to Piper and Reece, went fly fishing with a guide that morning and caught some fish, his first trout on a fly rod. As the girls piled in that afternoon from their time at Dry Run, they were talking to their dad about his day on the river. He had seen from about 30 yards away as I worked with the girls. He said, “Well, girls, just so you know, you two smoked me today. I didn’t catch nearly what you caught.” Kristopher was coming home from Utah with Becca and could not guide Barrett. I wish he had been able to because he would have done better than we did on Dry Run Creek.
But Dry Run is a special day. As the girls (and Wyatt) get older, they can catch them 50 or 75 in a few hours. It’s that neat of a place.
