GENTLEMEN!

Larry L typed:
"Tom Nakashima" wrote

I remember one recent
trip I gave a fly to a stranger, about 15 min. later he hooked up as
I had not a single strike. Later he came by and offered me the
fish. I just smiled and told him to keep it and commented on his
great presentation skills.

One of last season's greatest highlights for me occurred on the
Henry's Fork just above the log jam....
snipped nice story

Since it's story time. . .

Last year, my older son (you know, the guy with the metal-rod-construction
spine) decided to take my dog for a walk at the secret spot. About 100 yards
in, there was a woman sitting on the bank and her young son was in the water
flailing away with a completely improperly rigged fly rod. We stopped long
enough to let the mother pet the dog and to find out the boy's father had
passed away a few months back. I took the kid, about 12-13 years old, back
to my car (always properly stocked with fishing gear), rerigged his rod
(backing installed, turned the line around on the reel, new leader, etc.),
tied on a wooly bugger, and gave him about a dozen flies to start him off.
We went back and I showed him how to cast - pretty funny if you've ever seen
*me* cast. Kinda like the blind leading the blind. anyway, the kid was
pretty jazzed, and the mother was beside herself thanking me. I had to leave
before it got too maudlin. My son promptly asked me why I was so much nicer
to other people's children. ;-)

A few weeks later, I was back there to do some fishing. The boy was back and
said his mother was sitting and reading downstream about 1/2 mile. He said
he hadn't caught anything the day we met, but he went back the next day and
caught several little fish I assumed were brookies. On this day, he went in
the river at the same spot I'd left him the last time and was casting fairly
well.

I see this kind of stuff not as a "nice thing to do", but as a duty to
society. If that kid gets into fishing instead of trouble, it's sure worth
the time. AFAIC, all the kudos go to the mother for continuing to spend the
time to get the kid on the river.

.. . . and, yes, I usually share any info I have (normally minimal) with
others around me who are interested, but I've seen a few pretty nasty people
who feel their info and talent is theirs and nobody else's. Grumpy ol' farts
usually, even grumpier than me.
--
TL,
Tim
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http://css.sbcma.com/timj/