Last cast

Jordan Johnson had knots in his stomach as he drove north with his son Patterson, who was in the waning hours of his 15th year.

They were heading for their last fishing trip together on Dry Run Creek, a special trout stream that empties into the North Fork of the White River below Norfork Dam. Hence its name, Dry Run Creek was originally a dry ravine downhill from the Norfork National Fish Hatchery. In partnership with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the fish hatchery diverts overflow water from its trout rearing operation into the ravine to create a year-round stream. It is full of giant rainbow, brown and brook trout. Anglers may only use lures with single barbless hooks, and they must release every fish they catch. Fishing is allowed only from sunrise to sunset.

Here’s the kicker. Only anglers younger than age 16 and mobility-impaired anglers of any age may fish there.

Johnson, spokesman for the Clinton Foundation, and Patterson Johnson have fished Dry Run Creek about a hundred times since Patterson was eight years old. Patterson had only a short time to get in one last visit before his 16th birthday. He and his dad wanted the whole family to come, but their schedules would not mesh. If this pilgrimage were to occur, it would have to be alone with Jordan who would, of course, be allowed only to net Patterson’s fish.

Finally, the pair picked a day. Jordan checked Patterson out of Episcopal Collegiate Academy at noon on a Friday. Three hours later, they were at Dry Run Creek.

“Going up, I was really nervous,” Jordan said. “I was worried that I would put too much pressure on him for that moment, that I would inadvertently build up to expectations that couldn’t be met.”

The Johnson family, which includes Jordan’s wife Angie, son Keeton and daughter Staley Catherine, has been going to Dry Run Creek since 2014. All of the kids are avid fly fishers. Patterson is much accomplished and adroit, but Jordan and Patterson agree that Keeton is on a different level. He’s a savant. Fishing is his language. It’s coded in his DNA. Staley Catherine can hold her own with anybody.

In the early years, Jordan said he made sure the outings were light and casual.

“We’d make a day of it,” Jordan said. “We packed lunches. We packed snacks. If it was cold, I took a propane heater from my deer stand. They fished when they wanted to fish. When they wanted to skip rocks or play in the water or run up and down the creek, that’s what we did. They broke plenty of rods. They’ve all taken their own different styles, and that’s neat seeing how they’ve progressed.”

Over time, Jordan noticed that certain flies work better than others on Dry Run Creek. Jordan assembled a “Dry Run Fly Box” especially for fishing Dry Run Creek. It contains 16 different flies, including San Juan worms, small versions of the traditional wooly bugger, scuds, three different soft hackle patterns, three egg patterns of different sizes, sowbugs, mop flies, elk hair caddis, copper Johns and assorted zebra midges.

“It’s all pretty simple, basic stuff,” Jordan said. “As they get older, they figure out where they need to put a sinker depending on the flow, where to put a strike indicator, that sort of thing.”

On that last visit, Patterson started fishing at about 4 p.m. He tied on an orange soft hackle, a selection raised Jordan’s hackles, but Jordan bit his tongue and remained silent.

“I’m thinking, ‘That’s the worst fly to throw on a sunny afternoon,”https://www.arkansasonline.com/” Jordan said. “He caught 35 or 40 fish in two and a half hours.”

Once he entered the water and began casting, Patterson’s countenance transformed. It was like flipping a switch that educed something from deep in his soul.

“He’s a quiet kid, but he came alive,” Jordan said. “We talked about school, about girls, about religion, about family. I’ve never heard him talk that much before.”

“I have dyslexia,” Patterson said. “I deal with a lot of English problems. When I fish, I feel relieved. I, like, zone out from everything around me and go into a thought of peace. I’m grateful that I get to go there.”

At the end of the day, the Johnsons checked into their cabin at Whispering Woods. They had supper and then spent the night watching Rocky III, Rocky IV and Rocky V.

At sunup the next morning, Patterson was ready to resume fishing. As the pair walked past the sign at the entrance to the creek, Patterson turned to face his dad.

“He said, ‘Dad, it’s OK. We’ve had a lot of good times here, and we’re going have a lot of good times in the future doing other things,'” Jordan said.

Using just about every fly in his arsenal, Patterson caught fish after fish after fish.

“He was asking, ‘Remember when I caught that fish? Remember when my brother caught that fish? Remember when my sister caught that fish? Remember falling down the stairs and breaking all those rods?”

An older angler, a Trout Unlimited representative, was nearby surveying results of a TU habitat improvement project.

“He could probably tell we were doing a father-son thing,” Jordan said. “He came up and gave Patterson a medal, which I thought was really thoughtful.”

Near the end, Patterson closed the circle. A kid from Kansas City was having severe difficulty casting in the creek’s tight confines. Patterson invited the boy to fish his spot and taught him how to make the all-important roll cast.

“That’s exactly what I hoped this place would do is help pass it along,” Jordan said. “Patterson saw an opportunity to help someone else fish this place in literally his last hour to ever fish there himself. He’s not getting any of that time back, but he made sure he helped that kid catch a fish before he left.”

As the clock ticked down to the end of that final hour, Jordan got apprehensive. That moment was bound to be intense. It was, but not in the way Jordan expected.

“I’m wondering how we’re going to end this thing,” Jordan said. “He’s probably going to get a little emotional. He probably won’t want to leave. He caught one more, held it up and said ‘Dad, I’m ready. Let’s go.’

“That’s when I freakin’ lost it,” Jordan continued. “I netted his last fish on Dry Run Creek. He hugged me, and we walked out.”

Patterson held it together for his dad’s sake, but his emotions roiled, as well.

“I was really sad knowing I was never going be able to throw another line there, and that kind of made my cry when I came home,” Patterson said. “I was sad and happy at the same time. We still have Heber Springs.”

    Keeton Johnson (right) netted brother Patterson’s big brown trout during a 2017 trip to Dry Run Creek. (Photo submitted by Jordan Johnson)
  

    Patterson Johnson and his dad Jordan Johnson enjoyed many trips to Dry Run Creek since 2014. (Photo submitted by Jordan Johnson)