A couple of weeks ago, I had a half-day guide trip on Dry Run Creek with two 13-year-old boys.
When I met them at the Norfork National Fish Hatchery, I was told they were twins. Most of the twins I have met looked very much alike. These boys didn’t even look like brothers. One of them was about a foot taller than the other. Both of them were eager to learn to fly fish.
My wife, Lori, accompanied me. Her guide trip that day had cancelled, and she decided to go with me, so we could give the boys more individual attention. That is the secret to success on Dry Run Creek.
It was warm and sunny. The temperature did not affect us because it is always cool on the creek. It is located on a tight little valley with a lot of tree cover. The cold discharge of water from the hatchery contributes to the cool.
Frequently, when I climb the stairs out of the creek, my glasses cloud up from the quick change in temperature. There were a lot of young anglers on the stream, mostly from the nearby campground at Quarry Park.
The two lads didn’t look alike and didn’t fish alike. The one I worked with was fairly laid back, but listened to what I had to say and carefully did what I instructed him to do. That is a plan for success.
He caught a good-sized rainbow on his third cast and carefully brought it in. A few casts later he landed a trophy 23-inch rainbow. He landed a few smaller fish before catching another slightly smaller trophy rainbow.
He then hooked a big trout. This one was fighting much more actively than any other trout we had encountered that day. It finally came to the net. It was a 24-inch Cutthroat. They are harder to come by than rainbows or browns.
In the meantime, Lori was working with his brother. It was a struggle. He tended to lower his rod every time he had a big trout on. That allows slack in the line and the trout can easily slip the hook.
I gave Lori and her client the spot where we had done so well. My lad and I headed upstream to another spot. We managed to catch a nice brown and a few other trout. We were looking for a brook trout to get our grand slam but never saw one.
While we were upstream, Lori was patiently working with her lad. He began getting better and was soon into some nice trout. He somehow managed to land the biggest trout of the day: a fat 25-inch rainbow.
We finished the day fishing nearby, and everyone was satisfied with their catch. Every child is different in the way they learn, even twins.
John Berry is a fly-fishing guide in Cotter and has fished our local streams for more than 35 years. He can be reached at 435-2169 or www.berrybrothersguides.com.
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