Fishing With Dad

 Summer time in our household means going down to the river and fishing with dad. Of course, when doing anything by a fast moving river, extra caution is needed. Hoping rocks to get to the best fishing spot is not uncommon and dad likes to get out there and look up and down the river for the good spots.

 Once dad has checked out the best spots for each child, depending on their age, he gets them set up with their own poles and tackle.

 Our youngest get the safest spot, near the river. Finding a calm spot in the water right before and right after fast moving water is a favorite hang out for fish.

This year Jeff taught our youngest how to fly fish. No more tricking her into sitting in one spot with a fake worm on her pole. She has watched the bigger kids and knows how to do it right.

 The water does move very swiftly in the river, and while this part of the river is not catch and release, most of the fish caught go right back into the river.

 Dad on the other hand spends most of his time fixing the flies, unsnagging the lures from rocks, trees and whatever is in the river that seems to snag them. Luckily for him I didn't come on this fishing trip. I'm worse then the kids. Usually I snag them all behind me on trees and bushes and never make them into the water. When I do, I'm very good at snagging logs. Surprisingly I have never found a fish in the trees.
Thankfully my husband loves seeing the kids happily fishing.

 Fishing is not expensive, unless you're into the big boys. A little pole can be bought at Wal-mart or a garage sale for under 20.00. Flies tend to run more, but if your local river allows live bait, worms are the way to go.

 The wild life down at the river is always on the move and is waiting to snag your catch away from you. Usually we see otters. They are such a curious little animal and will follow you up and down the river all day.

This otter turned out to be a beaver. My husband is sure he has never seen one on this stretch of the river before. He was not a bit scared of the kids or my husband. We are a bit unsure if he was just friendly or defending his territory. I thought maybe he was tired of waiting for them to lure in a fish and decided to come out and wait for one himself.

Taking your kids on a simple little fishing trip down to your local river is one way to spend the hot summer evenings. It builds wonderful memories that they will have forever, even if there is no catches. Our oldest daughter did catch 4 but she released them all.