I know you were wondering.
A fly rod magically showed up on my doorstep in August. Someone knew I was itching to try fly fishing.
A 9′, 5wt 4pc rod/reel set from Redington. It’s their Crosswater – a perfect rod for beginners I’m told 😉
My friends had a hike planned in RMNP for the next weekend. I wanted to go – but I also wanted to try my hand at this fly fishing thing. I “Googled” the hike and found they would be passing some lakes on their way to the top. SO forget the whole hike, I would go, but stop 1/2 way and make my attempt. They could grab me on their way back down.
I went to my local fly shop  to help me find the best fly rod, where the guys were super fab and helped me to set up my line and pick out a few flies appropriate for where I was going. They also introduced me to floatant and rented me two fly fishing videos to watch. Word. I had no clue what I was doing!
Fast forward to the day of the hike.
Packed up and ready to go, we headed out and up.
We hiked for over an hour before we reached the lake.
This was my stop.
My friends took a few obligatory ‘first’ pics and headed on their way.Later I would find out that they were making bets on how many fish (or lack thereof) I would catch.
Where’s the love peeps?!
I tried my hand at swinging the line around for about 2 hours. At one point I got it caught in a tree behind me and a man came to my rescue and actually climbed up the tree about 10ft to unhook me. Another time I wasn’t so lucky and just broke it off. I expected this. It comes with the territory of learning how to cast a 9′ rod. With bait fishing I was used to casting with much smaller rods and of course it’s a totally different method to boot.
There were a few other fishermen wet wading along side me that day. No one was catching anything. I took the opportunity to relax, enjoy my beautiful surroundings and practice my casts. I knew my friends would be making their way back down shortly – so I moved on down to the outlet for just a few more casts.
Not to be disappointed.
And yes I have the death grip on that fish.
I need to work on that.
Honestly, I’m not even sure what kind it was. I think it was a cutthroat – but I could be wrong. I was so excited I didn’t look at it close enough.
Success. The End.
Or not really – I doubt this will ever end.
I’m hooked.