Mentioned this in the past. For several summers I piloted the gear and a few scouts in the big raft on about a 95 mile whitewater run down Oregon's Deschutes river. With the exception of the next to last day we broke camp, floated, and made camp each day. That left little time for more relaxing endeavors for us adults. On all of those trips we had only one kid express a sincere interest in fishing, and he exercised his Zebco and bucktails to no end at every opportunity. Sadly not a fish to be had, and on the fifth day he lost the nut for the winding handle. As we did not have to float that day and were camped on water familiar to me, I pulled out my fly rod after dinner, and we went up to a run that always held fish. I rigged up a couple flies for summer steelhead.
Technique was to cast about 2 rod lengths of line and just do an across and downstream swing. Second cast brought about a 12- inch rainbow to the bank and it was released. About the fifth cast an 18-inch mountain whitefish hooked up and our scout was through the roof with excitement. Largest fish he'd ever been into. About 5 casts later he had a substantial thump with the line stopping and holding firm in the lower third of its swing. He said he could feel some weight, but the fish was holding, and we had a brief discussion on getting off the handle and letting fish run if it seriously took off. My next suggestion was to tighten up a bit and just see what happened. He gave the rod a lift, and about a 30 inch steelhead came flying out of the water getting about 6 ft into the air. For the next 15 minutes or so the fish was all over the river and I was doing my best praying that it would stay hooked up on the barbless iron. God heard me, and we eventually beached about a 12-lb hatchery fish that we were allowed to retain. He was the talk of the camp for the rest of the evening.
That was 15+ years ago, and we still talk of that day every time we meet. Over the years I've taken similar and larger fish, but that one will stay in the memory banks forever. That event also brought him solidly into the fly fishing realm. One of the best of times.
Last edited by 1minute; 12/23/19.
