| There is something about fishing for trout that | | | | postcard. This was after the three mile hike in |
| reminds me of my favorite vacations. Nothing is | | | | from the road that started with a sign reading |
| quite as relaxing and mentally stimulating at the | | | | "Beware of grizzly bears". To start out, I had |
| same time. I'll never forget my first image of | | | | loaded my line with a Mepps lure so that I did not |
| what fly fishing for trout is really like. The movie | | | | have worry about bait while I practiced. To cast |
| "A River Runs Through It" takes place in Montana. | | | | you let out a couple of feet of slack and also hold |
| It follows the lives of two brothers who fly fish | | | | a couple of feet of line in your free hand. Wave |
| their local streams in Montana with their father. It | | | | the rod forward and back with mainly just your |
| was not long after my father took me to see | | | | wrist, you get the feel for the weight of the rod |
| that movie that we took our first trip out west. | | | | and the line. While doing this you just search the |
| Being from Florida, I loved being on the open | | | | opposite bank for some still water. |
| water and fishing for Red Fish or Snapper with a | | | | Trout love to wait in the still water for food to |
| spin casting rod and reel. Having done this most of | | | | pass by with the current. Then you simply cast |
| my life, I was intimidated by the images I had | | | | just upstream from the still inlet that you spotted |
| seen on the big screen. I was not sure I could | | | | releasing the extra line that is in your free hand to |
| learn a new art of fishing that looked so fluid. | | | | extend the cast. By letting the current do the |
| Montana is a wonderful state that is about as | | | | work you can dangle the lure near the hole to |
| large as California and has 1/30th of the | | | | entice the trout. It takes less time than you think |
| population. I had never seen such wide open | | | | to master fishing with a fly rod and you quickly |
| spaces. Wintertime skiing in Montana had been my | | | | learn that finding the right spot is the difficult part |
| only experience out there, and it was a | | | | that comes with years of practice. |
| completely different experience. We stayed in Big | | | | Fishing with a fly hook is not much different, but |
| Sky and traveled all around that area in search of | | | | floats on the water. It can get frustrating and |
| the best spots. Luckily we had a native Montanan | | | | first and if you find your self with an empty creel, |
| with us who had fished the state since childhood. | | | | just ask a local where Loveland Pass is. This is a |
| He knew every hot spot like the back of his hand. | | | | small lake that is stocked with trout. It's got a |
| All I had to do was learn the new art of fly | | | | great view of the mountains and it is just off of |
| fishing. | | | | the highway. It's a local secret and you can catch |
| We set out to a prairie that had a river on it that | | | | as many fish as you desire. |
| meandered like something you've seen on a | | | | |