The C-ster's First Fishing Trip - Spring River, AR

10/29/2011

The C-ster had his 2 month check-up on Tuesday.  At 14 lbs 8 oz he was in the 95th percentile for height and weight.  For some reason, that makes me really proud!  We decided that he was ready for his first fishing trip. 

Cheryl and I planned on leaving after she fed him first thing in the morning.  Normally he sleeps until 6:30 or so, but he woke up at 5:30.  Cheryl was frustrated, but I was excited - more time to fish!  We were on the road by 6:45.  Luckily the C-ster slept all three hours and the drive was uneventful.  The eastern flank of the Ozarks is just past its fall prime, as the leaves have turned from orange to bronze.  There is something exciting about being in the mountains in the fall.  It brings to mind so many great memories!

At the river, Cheryl fed the C-ster again while I got the rods rigged and equipment ready.  Cheryl carried all of the fishing gear, food, and baby stuff, and I got the baby! 

My fishing buddy.  Up close and personal!

The C-ster stayed awake for an hour and then slept for an hour, allowing me to fish for the first two hours without any difficulty.  There were quite a few fish rising, so I rigged Cheryl up with a dry fly and the 3wt.  I told her that most of the fish here were planter rainbows, so if she caught a brown or a fish over 14 inches, we would break out the camera.  Cheryl immediately had hits on her dry fly.  Every cast.  The problem was they were all minnows-literally.  Every cast red-sided shiners (I believe) would rise to her fly and sink it.  It was difficult to get a long drift.  After a few minutes she had a good rise, and brought to hand a decent brown, so we broke out the camera.  It was Cheryl's first fish in many months, as she was sick throughout her pregnancy.  She was pretty stoked!

Cheryl's first fish since February, and a nice Spring River brown on a dry fly at that!

She caught another brown on the next cast!  We continued to catch (and miss) fish for the next couple hours until the C-ster woke up.  We took a little break on an island, let him stretch out, and changed his diaper.  Cheryl then went back to the car to feed him, and I fished for another half hour, picking up a few more planter rainbows.  When he was done eating, Cheryl and I ate our packed lunches and made the excecutive decision to try a new access point.


The C-ster chilling on the island. He loves being outside, even in the cold!

 The new access point was pretty, and much different from where we started.  The C-ster fell asleep in his car seat during the trip, so Cheryl stayed with him and talked on the phone, and I went to explore the water.  At first the fishing was pretty slow, but after about an hour, it was like a light switch, and I started to catch fish.  It was nothing spectacular, but in about half an hour I caught around half a dozen fish.  I called Cheryl and told her that it was time to switch.  I waded back to the car, showed her where I was fishing, and assumed sleeping baby watching duties.  

Planter brown.  Weird.  Out west, most brown trout are wild (obviously not native, but wild).  It is different catching planted brown trout.  I don't get quite the same level of satisfaction out of it as I normally would.  Oh well!



From the lawn chair next to the car I watched Cheryl fish.  The sun was behind her, so I couldn't get a picture, but the way the light was I could see her line perfectly as she casted a couple hundred yards away.  It was neat watching her cast.  She is much better than she gives herself credit for.  It was also exciting to watch her set the hook and watch the rod double over on about her third cast!  In the 45 minutes until C-ster woke up she caught another half dozen fish.  When he woke up, I put him the chest pack and waded down to her.  We (mostly I) fished for another hour, and we left.  



The Spring River

We made it back to Northern Mississippi uneventfully, which is how we like it!  Overall we had a great trip.  Cheryl and I were both able to catch a smattering of fish, we saw a couple groups of deer, and enjoyed our time together outdoors.  Equally importantly, C-ster did fantastic.  It is definitely different taking a 2 month old on a fishing adventure, but certainly possible.  I'm sure it won't be his last!