A Letter To My Aunt
This is more difficult than I thought…
July 28th, 2024
Dear So and So,
Thank you for your letter; it was great to hear about Grandpas history in the Army. Dad never really told us much about his past. He always said grandpa had a “desk job”. I love how you and So and So travel with each other. Grace and I went to Chicago back in June for a weekend of site seeing and good eats. Like any Montag vacation it rained on us, but we didn’t let that get us down. A highlight of the trip was frolicking around the airport with Grace. I’ve never not liked the airport. I always make it an experience. I arrive with ample time before my flight, find a good cup of coffee and proceed with hours of people watching. We also visited the Chicago Art Institute. It knocks the pants off the Nelson. That being said, the Nelson is still a wonderful time.
A focus this summer is to not pack my weekends with work and chores. So far, a success. This month I have gone on two personal trips. I find vacations far more relaxing when they have a purpose or a mission. The mission for July is to develop new fishing skills and to venture out into other species. Being a Midwest kid, I feel I have a natural obsession with the large mouth bass. They are both easy and fun to catch but I often find myself growing bored while chasing after them. After watching a series of nature shows on YouTube about trout fishing out in Colorado I was left with an “I can do that” mentality. “It can’t be that hard right?!” I was wrong. I spent two whole days in and around Golden, Colorado chasing the elusive trout. *Not elusive, I am just unexperienced. I returned home after not catching a single fish. A few bites but nothing to show for.
“This is more difficult than I thought…”
Disappointed but not discouraged, I returned home; only to plan a trip to southern Missouri only two weeks later for yet another attempt at catching a trout. Roaring River State Park, being a stocked creek, I thought surely this will yield fish. My goal was to catch one single trout. That is all I need to feel satisfied. I arrived this past Friday July 26th. Check into my hotel and immediately went to bed. My alarm went off the next morning at 5:00 AM. Early bird gets the worm I thought to myself.
I headed off to the state park. The drive alone was a beautiful way to spend the morning! When I arrived at the park, I proceeded to the park store to purchase my trout tag for the day. I along with dozens of other anglers looked eager to get on the water. Tag in hand, I put on my “fly fisher get-up” (waders, net, little backpack, rod and reel, and my ball cap with tag pinned to it) and headed to the water. This is where the story loses excitement. For hours I made big, beautiful casts to no avail. Anglers to my right and left pulled fish after fish out of the water, but for me, nothing. Getting frustrated, I began to ask others, “what are you catchin ‘em on?” One replied, “a little grasshopper lookin thing.” Another replied, “a little white midge; they love it.” I gave a nod and went back to my ballet of casting and waiting. “Here, have one of mine” the midge man said. “I have plenty”
I tied on this newfound lure and tossed it in the water. That was a turning point for my fishing trip. Instead of no reaction like before, now, as the fly hit the water the fish would come up and investigate the lure. The new name of the game is commitment.
I need ONE to commit… At last, I saw a fish come up, open its mouth and suck in my fly. The fight is on. River trout are strong, they spend their days swimming upstream. After a brief tussle with the fish stuck to the end of my line, I finally got it into my net.
Trout are both beautiful and fragile fish. Upon catching one you want to make your interaction with it is as brief and gentle as possible. I quickly removed the hook from the corner of its mouth with a pair of forceps, took a photo, and then returned it back to the water. “Mission success” I murmured to myself.
Eventually I will be back in Colorado for another attempt at catching some trout out that way; maybe I will take some fishing gear when I travel for work, we always have down time in the afternoons and evenings.
Till the next adventure,
