My love for fly fishing began, as a young girl, at my father’s old antique desk, picking through drawers of feathers and fur and shiny “mermaid hair”. After making my selections, my dad would show me how to use them to tie flies. Although my flies were purely artistic expression, I remember looking at the flies my dad would tie; intricate, beautiful recreations of mayflies, salmon flies, even grasshoppers.  Although it may have taken me another 20 years to learn how to actually use those flies on the river, the kindling of my love for fly fishing started there in those drawers.

After having a daughter of my own, I was reinvigorated to actually get out and begin to learn the craft of fly fishing. “A” was 4 months old on her first day trip to the rivers of Western Wisconsin, now at 3 years old she has her own bamboo 3 weight fly rod, hand crafted by her grandpa, that she fishes with alongside me. This year we were lucky enough to follow Grandpa Steve and spend a week drifting down the Madison River near Ennis, Montana for the second year in a row. It was a trip he took with his father many times and now a family tradition for us as well.

We were a little anxious to see how “A” would do in a boat, on a river, in the hot sun, for 6 hours or longer. Of course she blew any and all expectations out of the water and enjoyed every minute of it from island hopping the gravel bars, to the excitement of the catch, to taking naps cuddled in Grandpa’s lap.

The day started with a mid morning launch, as we pulled out into the river we headed into some small rapids which provided a fun ride as well as a lesson in boat safety (“Hold on tight!”) “A” loved the excitement. As we turned the first bend we found some cattle coming down for a morning drink.

As the river calmed, we found our way to the first gravel island and got out to have our first try at the rainbow and brown trout the Madison River is so well-known for. Grandpa and “A” headed upstream while we fished near the boat. Within a few minutes Grandpa had hooked the first fish of the day, as well as the christening fish for “A”‘s handmade bamboo rod. The fish was a beauty and a good test of the rod which handled it beautifully. There was plenty of excitement all around.

Soon we climbed back into the boat and headed for our next island. Grandpa provided a sturdy lap, some fish tales, and licorice snacks.

On the next gravel island it was Mom who caught the first fish. “A” quickly ran over and identified it as a “Big Brown” before we even had it out of the net.

These gravel islands provided the perfect rest stops for “A” when she would start to get antsy sitting in the boat. She would spend most of the time flipping rocks over to see what kind of bugs and nymphs were present 0r catching huge salmon flies and throwing them into the river to watch the trout gulp them up. As the afternoon sun got hotter she would use the boat rides between islands to cuddle up with either Grandpa or mom and get in a quick rest.

Overall we would call “A”‘s first drift boat trip an overwhelming success and hopefully the beginnings of a life long love for the joy and excitement of exploring rivers by boat and by foot. We know Grandpa Steve is sure excited to have a new “Rower in Training”!