My wife, Lori, and I guided a family with three children last week. This is the third time we have guided them, and we are beginning to understand their differences.
This concept is not foreign to me. I was one of four children and know we were all different. My brother, Dan, and I were avid fly-fishers. My sister, Carol, loved to fish but was not as interested as Dan and I were. On the other hand, my sister, Ernestine, was not an angler. She was always supportive of the anglers in the family. She even served on the Board of Directors of the Mid South Fly Fishers, the fishing club Dan and I were active in.
The family Lori and I guided consisted of Hannah, a 14-year-old girl, Thomas, a 10-year-old boy, and Alexander, an 8-year-old boy.
Hannah was the best angler. Over the past few trips she has bonded with Lori and has become an accomplished angler. She is an intense girl in anything she does and is a straight-A student.
On this trip, she managed to land a 25-inch rainbow and a 26-inch brown. Her dad was stoked. He had wanted his children to land a big brown and it happened. He took several photos before we revived and gently released the brown.
Meanwhile, I was guiding the two boys. I took them to another spot. I started with the youngest, Alexander. He is about as intense as Hannah and truly loves to fish. According to his dad, he has been fishing since he was 2. I have guided him several times and he keeps improving.
This time he caught a 22-inch brown and did not want to stop for a photo because it would take time from catching fish. He ended up catching the most trout, 26, including two browns at 22 and 23 inches. He had a couple of even larger trout on but unfortunately lost them. To land the really big ones you need a bit of luck.
The older brother, Thomas, was not as into fishing as his siblings. I worked with him and he caught three nice trout, including a stout 20-inch brown. After that, he lost interest.
In an attempt to keep him involved, I made him the “net man” and had him net all of Alexander’s trout. That kept him involved for a while, but he eventually lost interest in that, too. I missed seeing him for a while and went looking for him. I found him asleep on a picnic table.
As I see it, children are all different. They will not all be master anglers. But if you watch their cues and go with the flow, they will enjoy themselves and want to return.
John Berry is a fly-fishing guide in Cotter and has fished our streams for more than 35 years. He can be reached at 435-2169 or www.berrybrothersguides.com.
Credit: Source link
