Fishing is Not Just for Men.

My phone jangled on Friday that just passed, it was a good friend on the other end of the line, “Hey Mike, are you planning on going fishing tomorrow” he said. I quickly replied cheerfully, “I sure am buddy”. So the deal was done and we had a plan together!

He had asked me gingerly if he could bring his girlfriend along for the trip. “Of course you can Dean, she is more than welcome to come along” I replied. Fishing is not just for young men and their dad’s it’s for everyone, man, women and children. The forecast for Saturday said high’s near fourteen degrees and massive fish in the Bow River. Sounds good to me, let’s go! The weather man can sometimes be wrong about the weather but he was right about the fish.

I arrived into Dean’s drive way at high noon right on time; I am never late for a date at the river. We packed into the vehicles and off we went into the unknown. “I wonder where they are stacked up today” I thought to myself as I merged onto the highway. We arrived at the parking lot where we park, and then it’s a half a kilometer into the river from there. I ran into a fly fisherman whom I thought may have just come off the river’s edge. “How was your day I asked”. “I just got here he stated, I think we may be a little early”. Yes he was right we were a little early. We fished for an hour and never even laid eyes on a fish let alone caught one. It was time to pack up and go but Dean is the type who needs to catch at least one fish. We all agreed to pack up and set sails for another location on the Lower Bow River.

Another quarter of a mile down to the river through a friends land and we are upon the ever clearing Bow River eager to cast a hook out and bring in one of those fish the weather man had predicted. We had tried using a variety of minnow imitations and no takers; it was back to the drawing board. I suggested that the fish may not be hitting on the minnow right now and we may need to hook up some spinners. It was agreed unanimously and we each went with different color schemes. Panther Martin for Dean, Bang Tails for Angie and I. Some days you need to work for the fish and today was one of those days. I casted up river and let the spinner bounce on the river bed a couple of times, I then picked it up and retrieved it into the shore line and a Rainbow Trout smashed into the offering. “Fish on” I hollered upriver.

I asked Angie to come down to a deep spot on the river where I was fishing and make a few casts into the hole. She has fished many times before but river fishing is a whole new animal. Her casts were crisp and precise but she was letting the hook hit the bottom of the river to long and her retrieve speed was a little too slow. I suggested that when the lure strikes the water to immediately take up the slack line and speed up the retrieve. She made three casts and was catching on extremely quickly. The forth cast was the perfect cast and her rod was bent over hard, I knew this baby was no small fry. She was so excited all she could do was reel that fish in. I suggested that when the fish went for a run that she stopped reeling; she slowed down and did a very good job bringing the brute into the bank. I stepped onto the rocks and tailed the fish removing her spinner from the silvery rainbows jaws. Angie was amazed at the size of her catch; I don’t believe she had caught anything of that magnitude from a river.

I gently passed Angie the Rainbow, snapped two pictures and released the trout back into the chilly water. I think the smile in the picture says it all! Angie was truly ecstatic and I was just thrilled for her. Dean and I were both shown who was the boss today. That is the true gratitude I have for the sport of fishing, everyone young and old, male or female can feel the rush of a giant fish on the end of their line. I encourage all women to take up this fine rewarding sport of fishing. You get your exercise and the thrill of the catch is unexplainable.  Here’s a toast to you Angie for the fish of the day.