This fishing trip will end up being a core memory, which is saying something considering I’ve been fishing for most of my 52 years. Earlier this year I won a full-day guided trout fishing trip with my young pal Landon Cook at our local Ken Sink Trout Unlimited banquet. The inside joke is Landon is someone I’ve known since he was a little kid and I coached him in baseball and football. He’s the son of my best high school buddy’s sister. He got deep into fishing as he grew up and ended up working so hard at it he found himself making the USA Youth Fly Fishing Team! He was part of back-to-back world championship teams, which is pretty impressive for a small town kid from rural western Pennsylvania.
Landon became a certified guide and quickly filled his schedule with clients. We serve together on the local TU board of directors and worked to hold the annual banquet where I won the trip. I wasn’t sure if I’d end up using it given both of our busy schedules, but an opportunity arose when I offered to take my friend Curan fishing. Luckily everyone’s schedules aligned and we were able to get on the water at Yellow Creek Trout Club. I’ve fished at the club before and there are no shortage of big fish there. That doesn’t make them easy to catch though as I learned the hard way. They’re under a lot of pressure to say the least, and that includes all forms of tackle. As excited as I was, I was equally nervous about Curan’s prospects of having a memorable day.
We arrived to the stream around 9:30 in the morning and Landon was all set for us. In fact, he had two rods rigged meaning was going to put one in my hands. I didn’t expect that, but it gave me an opportunity to try a four weight rod for the first time. I wish I could remember what the make and model was but I do recall it was paired with a Lamson Liquid reel. It was lighter throwing than I’m used to, but I adjusted throughout the day. We hiked a good ways downstream to a spot Landon knew well and within minutes Curan and I had our first fish in the net. Both were big too with Curan’s being a golden rainbow and mine a rainbow.
We had success with small wooly buggers early but really excelled with nymphs around the noon hour. The killer combination was the Walt’s worm as the anchor fly with a zebra midge up top. I learned something about how to tie on two nymphs, which is something I’m typically reluctant to do because of the hassle. Even though I’ve been fly fishing for longer than Landon has been alive, he taught this old dog some new tricks. I’ll let the rest of the story be told through pictures, which speak for themselves.
