Boys Playing Hookey

[Spiel]

....This past Thursday I took my son (Connor) and my girlfriends son (Isaac) out for a little river fishing. Now neither of the boys have ever experienced this type of fishing nor have they ever worn waders. They were quite excited to go and I had no trouble waking them up early. I might add I decided to take Brook (my new puppy) for her first fishing outing as well.

 

We arrived at our destination at the crack of daylight and quickly got geared up (I would only be observing and assisting this time) and headed down the hill to the creek. I was immediately dismayed upon seeing the terribly low water levels. None the less they were pumped to be out of school and were quick to jump in and check out their waders....lol. A short walk down stream and we spotted out first pair of chinooks sitting an a shallow riffle, to say the boys were awestruck at the size of these fish would be an understatement. I decided to set the boys up with mepps 3 spinners in hopes of initiating a reflex/aggression type response from the fish but the low levels allowed these already spooky fish to turn tail and run so onward we went.

 

 

Soon after they spotted a very large male (20+) sitting in mere inches of water. After failing to entice a strike they decided to get a closer, much closer, in fact they were petting it.

 

 

After tolerating their presence for a few minutes it turned tail and ran after Isaac tried to lift it up....lol

 

 

We continued on downstream for about a mile with the boys pretty much testing their wading skills and seeing how deep they could go without falling in. Oh and my puppy was also a real trooper, wading when she had to and swimming across current areas when it was to deep to walk, not bad for her first fishing trip.

 

 

There was a real lack of fish to be had due to the extremely low water but most every pool we encountered had a few fish and the boys kept trying.

 

 

I tried to explain to them they they might have better luck if they were not standing right in next to the fish but they didn't seem to care, they were happy to be exploring the ability to get deep and yet stay dry.

 

The last pool we came to had a good number of salmon (both cho and chinook) as well as a few brown trout but try as they might no action. This fish appeared to have been pretty gun shy and judging by the gutted carcasses on the bank (pigs!) I was not surprised. Eventually they gave up in favour of firing their sling shots. Not being one to idly stand by with so many fish about I decided to give it a few casts. I was rewarded fairly quickly with a couple of hits from surprisingly agressive coho males who slammed the mepps 3. But being somewhat rusty I was unable to get a good hook set into their bony kypes. But it did get the boys worked up enough to put the sling shots away for a few more casts.

 

 

Eventually they gave up and we worked our way back to the van. While Brook was a champ she was beginnig to become somewhat tired due to dragging around a few pounds of water mud and burrs.

 

 

It took me and the girlfriend 90 minutes to de-burr the poor girl!

 

The boys were still pumped when we got home and were asking when's the next day they can play hookey.

I told them it would be soon.

[SlowPoke]

Great report Spiel, they'll probably be yanking you outta bed next time!

-Brian

[irishfield]

Looked like a great day out Bud and they are lucky lads to have you as a "teacher"... for sure.

[Bly]

I wish someone had taken me to play hookey like that....lucky lads!! Brook looks too cute even if she was tired and dirty.....thinking she really enjoyed the day also Thanks for sharing and I too like wading around in the water exploring when the fish aren't biting

Edited October 27, 2007 by bly

[Whopper]

Awesome report Chris!

 

Fish or no fish to be out with your boys and a new pup too.....

 

PRICELESS

 

[Deano]

Great report Spiel, looks like eneryone had a great day. They learned a lot more than they would of in school. Life experience, one they'll never forget.

[Muskieman]

:thumbsup_anim:

 

Good Stuff!!

 

I play hooky with my son ,, when ice comes it's at least twice a month..

 

makes for good memories.

 

Skippin' school & work to go fishin'

[tbayboy]

Great report. Love the pic of the chinook taking off and your poor dog - that must have been fun getting rid of those burrs.

[fatherof3]

great report and time spent with the kids

[solopaddler]

That's great! Nice that you made the time to take the 2 boys out.

I know from experience that despite the fishing being slow the kids will remember trips like that.

[lew]

Awesome stuff Spiel, that's a great way to spend a day !!