Guiding Times
By Coltin Gresser
A friend of DFH, Maggie, had her father come to visit her in Yellowstone this month. Her dad was staying with her for a week to see the Park and explore all that Yellowstone has to offer. As I got to know him throughout the week, I realized he shares the same passion for the outdoors as I do.
As we talked, we would get lost in the stories we told. Most of the stories were about how we grew up fishing and what species we would target the most. Other stories would consist of the love we had for chasing Whitetail Deer through a cold crisp Fall morning.
I had mentioned to him that the opening day of fishing in the Park would be May 25th which falls on a Saturday. Luckily enough, he wasn’t leaving until Monday. Maggie came up to me and said if she buys him his license for the Park, would I want to take him out fishing on opening day. I looked at her and said, “Now what kind of question is that? Of course, I will take that man fishing!”
As I set out to plan the agenda for the opening day, Cian came into the room. Cian is a Boomer Sooner, a true Oklahoma boy to the day he dies. He was raised pan-fishing and catfishing. The wide realm of trout fishing was an eye-opener to him. He had asked me a few days before if I could take him fishing, as he wanted to catch trout for the first time. So, with this in mind, I thought it would be a wonderful idea to take Cian and Maggie’s dad out together and see if I could get them some fish.
I woke up bright and early on the morning of opening day. I had work at 12:30 p.m. so we didn’t have all the time in the world. Maggie and her pops show up on time with the excitement of a kid on Christmas. As we were walking to our spot, I gave them a verbal run-down on how to cast and how to fish the lures we were going to be using. A lot of nodding followed those instructions as well as some confusion.
After about 10 minutes of fishing, they finally start getting the hang of it. I could see the light bulb over their heads shining bright now. Maggie’s Dad asked me if I had any chartreuse-colored lures. He loved the color for fishing for Largemouth Bass and Crappie back home in Virginia. In my head, I was telling myself the chances of him catching a trout on a chartreuse lure were not super low, but due to the conditions we were having I didn’t feel super confident in the choice. I looked through my tackle box and found a spoon of that color.
Now before I continue this story I will say, if you are confident in a lure, you will fish it better than a lure you do not like. With that in mind, I snapped that spoon on for him and told him “Now go catch a fish”. Sure as Hell, if it wasn’t but the first cast, I heard him say “FISH ON!” I ran over there and got the net ready. The Cutthroat was a beautiful brown, gold, and red. Seeing that ear-to-ear smile on his face as he was holding up that fish made my entire day. As he released it back into the lake, he couldn’t stop thanking me. “I was extremely fortunate enough to be able to have my daughter buy me my license for my Father’s Day gift. I was even lucky to be able to catch my first Cutthroat Trout ever. It was around 3-4 lbs. and was a blast on the light-medium setup I was using. I hope I can come back out next summer and be able to go on another fishing expedition.”- Cameron’s (Maggie’s Dad) words on the trip.
After the first catch, we headed to a new spot that had a little hike through the alpine pine forest. When we arrived at the shore I looked at Cian and said, “If you do not catch a fish, you will be walking back to the village”. I was hoping to get that competitive side out of him to help him dial in on these slimy and slippery Cuttys. After about five minutes I tell him to come over to me so I can give him a new lure to use. It was a pink Number 4 Mepps In-line Spinner. I told him that this lure was the golden ticket. As he turned back to the shore to cast, I thought to myself “Man I am going to look dumb if he doesn’t catch a fish on that thing.”
His third cast out. I heard a faint voice “Colt! I got one on.” I looked down his way and there was the Cutthroat we had been looking for on the line. I jumped up from sitting in the pebbly sand and got the net ready. I began coaching him on how to properly fight the fish as the battle of fish against man commenced. The fish finally got close enough and with one quick sweep of the net we landed the fish. We began jumping up and down with the most natural joy a person can have, and another ear-to-ear smile from Cian as he was holding up his fish.
In my eyes, there is no better feeling in the world than watching people hook up on their first fish. I would rather watch the happiness through the people I take out fishing than have the experience first-hand alone. Seeing people enjoy and learn the things I love is what truly makes it worth it.
