A Former Bait Fisherman Gets Hooked on Fly Fishing -- April of 2007

After moving back to Pennsylvania in the fall of 2006, early the following spring an ol' fishing pal, who I grew up bait fishing with on various ponds and lakes, wanted to go fly fishing this day in early April, so we did.  We had fly fished together previously, once or twice in years prior, and he had caught a trout or two or three with a fly rod and fly, but was yet to fully understand, and/or get into the sport.

On an old friend’s recommendation, we drove to a mid-sized trout stream in Eastern Central, South West North, Pennsylvania, and braved the sub-50 degree early April temperatures, and fished the whole day together.

I loaned my buddy the first junky fly rod and reel with fly line I ever owned, all of the above dating back to 1994, and he additionally borrowed leaky waders from another fisher friend in the area.

I gave my buddy a handful of flies and 7 year old leaders and tippet to send him on his way...  Sorry good friend  --  I just didn't have that much gear to loan at the time, as I admittedly was on a budget, and was at the time trying to get more into the sport, gear included...

Funny though, I don’t recall him actually landing a fish, and I do have a memory or two of him breaking off a fish or two of decent size...  Hmmm.  Wonder what the shelf-life is of tippet.?.?

I landed a good number of trout that day, and took a picture of one of them, which at the time was a fish to rest my laurels on, with pride.  I later learned that the fish in the photo below, as were probably most all of the other fish I landed, stocked fish at some point in their lives, despite this particular creek holding numerous wild trout.

After sharing this photo in excitement of my catch with a different fishing pal, I quickly received an email back from him that read, “Nice internet download”...

Most importantly, my ol' bait fishing pal from our childhood had a blast on this day, and he quickly bought himself all of the necessary good gear needed for the sport, from head to toe, and has never looked back.  I am fortunate to have him as a fishing friend.