I took Sharon and Richard Donnel out for a day of fly fishing in the Smokies with a generous dose of instruction last weekend. They’re local folks from the Knoxville area who decided they wanted to spend more time in the stunning mountain scenery so close to their home. Both were pretty quick studies when it came to fly casting. They weren’t zipping out 70′ casts or anything, but that’s not necessary here in the Smokies and c’mon, if you expect someone to do that in a few hours you need a reminder what it’s like to start fly fishing when stage one is “Hold the fat end of the rod”.
By the time we stopped for lunch they had received several strikes each but hadn’t quite mastered the art of the hook set. Trying to accentuate the positive I pointed out that the tough part is behind you when you’re fooling the fish into eating the fly.
You could say things improved after lunch.
This was the first fish Sharon caught on a fly rod: a 19″ wild brown trout that ate a #16 Royal Stimulator. You read that right. An exceptionally rare large brown trout in the Smokies on a dry fly.
Don’t hate Sharon because she’s beautiful. Hate her because she caught the fish of a lifetime the first time out.
In all seriousness, congratulations to a great lady and congratulations to Richard for being married to such a great lady!