ol' blue

I just got back from spending a couple of hours with my wife at our local trout stream. She has only been out once before, and hasn't caught anything yet. We've practiced casting a bit in the yard, but haven't had more than an hour or 2 on the water in the past.
Today was a beautiful day, but not for fishing. It was bright sunshine, and enough wind to make casting tricky on occasion. We decided to try it anyway, since getting time to go out without the kids is tough to do, even though we had to hit the water in early afternoon. Not the best time, but better than not going at all.
When we pulled in, there were a lot of people out. We decided to try south from the parking area, and found people already fishing my best spots. We found a couple of holes open, but nothing was hitting, so north we went. I had a spot or 2 left as well as my honey hole, and really wanted my wife to catch one today. Of course, all of the holes were filled with people, so that left my honey hole.
It doesn't look like much of a spot, so it doesn't get fished very hard, but there are always fish in there. I gave Melissa a quick rundown on how to fish it, and let her go after them. Her first cast wasn't in the water for more than 10 seconds before she had her first hook up. And then it was off. Bummer. But a few minutes later, number 2 hit, and we got it landed this time. Not a lunker, but a decent little 10" rainbow. We decided to keep it because my 7 year old daughter wanted to have trout for supper.


Time was running short, but we managed to get her hooked into a couple more, and landed another, which was 12". I had to post, even though I didn't fish much, and didn't catch anything. Getting the wife her first fish on a rod I built for her, and fly I tied for her was a terrific day in my book.
On the way home, she said she was surprised at how much harder it was than she expected, but that made it more fun. I think she's considering tying some flies up, too.