Well, it’s summer again. The creeks say so, and the fish say so, and good fishing is becoming more exclusively a morning proposition with just a little activity right before dark as well. The night fishing action has not turned on for me yet, despite my best efforts; but I continue to get out in the dark hours at least a couple times every week.

Joey is done with kindergarten and Aiden is out of preschool, and for the next few months I’m back to full-time daytime Dad duty with both boys.

I missed it.

When Joey started kindergarten last Fall I thoroughly enjoyed the one-on-one time with Aiden, and Joey was so happy and proud to be in kindergarten and riding the bus, that it was an easy adjustment. But, just like when I was a kid, Joey was very much ready for summer vacation.

We are filling the days  with bike riding, baseball, hockey, gardening. yard work, more bike riding, hiking, family visits, swimming, and — you better believe it — fishing. So, while I’m becoming an expert in patching bicycle tires and skinned knees, the boys are learning how to catch wild brown trout. It’s all possible now. This is the summer I’ve been waiting for.

I sort of have a personal rule that if either of my boys ask to play baseball, play guitar, or go fishing I say yes. You know … all the important things.

“Dad, can we go fishing after breakfast?”

“Well, yes, son. Yes we can.”

The comfortable sense of peace and curiosity that comes over these boys when close to a trout stream is something that I only hoped for but didn’t necessarily expect. I’ve been around enough kids now to know that being out there isn’t for everyone. So I can only continue to hope that they maintain their natural love for the same things that I do. These fishing environments and the goals and obsessions that come with trout fishing are good for me, and I think they are good for my boys too.

We fished a couple days in a row. Yesterday we got out too late in the afternoon and the fish reminded us that it was summer.

Today we were out in the late morning and the fish were fairly active on nymphs — long, pink, rubber, squirmy ones.

Brothers

Enjoy the day.
Domenick Swentosky
T R O U T B I T T E N
domenick@troutbitten.com