Yesterday I had a guide trip on Dry Run Creek with Banks (an old family name) and his dad, Edgar. They are from Jackson, Mississippi and it was Banks first day fly fishing. Dad is an experienced angler but had not been fishing in several years. He thought that it would be a good idea to hire me to get Banks started right and give him a bit of a refresher. We decided to take them to Dry Run Creek in the morning and end the day wading the Norfork River to give Dad a chance to catch a few fish.
I picked them up at River Ridge Inn at 7:30 AM. They already had their waders on and were ready to go. It was a cold start (about forty one degrees) but promised to warm up to the mid fifties by mid afternoon. The problem was that there was a lake wind advisory. I knew that the wind would be of no concern on Dry Run Creek because it is in a tight valley and we would be shielded from the wind speed of twenty five miles per hour. We were the first car in the parking lot.
I loaned Banks a pair of wool fingerless gloves. He had a pair of full fingered gloves but we figured that the fingerless gloves would be more effective for fishing. I took a few minutes to rig his rod and we were on the creek in no time. We went to one of my favorite spots and waded out into the creek. I stood by Banks and worked on his casting, mending and hook setting as he fished. His skills began to improve and he hooked his first fish. It was a huge brown and it broke off in no time. I prefer that my young first timers hook and catch several smaller fish before they tackle a big one.
The next trout was a fat fourteen inch rainbow and we managed to net it. Over the next hour he hooked and landed several nice trout. When he lost one, I explained what he had done wrong and how to avoid it. When he made a good cast or a good hook set I praised him. He hooked another big brown and had it on for about five minutes before the big trout wrapped a log and broke off. The next fish was different. It was a fat twenty two inch brown. This time Banks performed flawlessly. It was in the net in a few minutes. We stopped for a few photos and decided to try another spot.
We walked upstream and waded out into the creek. The action was hot. We landed fish after fish. After a while Banks wanted to take a break. When you are working with young anglers, it is important to let them set the pace. I did not want to burn him out on his first day. When he was ready I handed him the rod and he made a perfect cast. It drifted about ten feet and the strike indicator went down. He set the hook. Suddenly the surface of the water exploded with a huge rainbow jumping two feet out of the water. The fight was on. I grabbed my big boat net and got ready to net the fish of the day. It went on for several minutes and Banks did everything right. The big bow reluctantly slid into the net.
We stopped to pose for a photo. The trout was just too much for Banks to handle and we did not want to injure it. I had Dad hold it and took a picture of Banks the trout and dad together. This would become a family memory for years to come! We fished our way out and Banks picked up a few more trout but nothing like the big brown. It was noon and he thought that he had caught enough trout.
We loaded up and drove to the Ackerman Access. After a quick shore lunch we waded up into the Catch and release section and spent the afternoon fishing. Dad caught several and I worked with Banks on his casting. We quit around 4:00 PM and headed for the lodge.
It had been a stellar day for Banks and his dad. They had a great time and we got a young angler enthused about fly fishing.
John Berry is a fly fishing guide for Blue Ribbon Guides.
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