Day 3: The Ones that DIDN’T Get Away!

Today was nothing short of spectacular!  I suggested that we go fly fishing while we’re out here in God’s country, and Greg jumped on it and planned today’s awesome excursion.  Honestly, I never thought much about fishing.  I know a lot of people enjoy it (especially my husband) but it never really hit my radar.  I’ve been fishing once in my lifetime with Greg at the Gorge in California, and my trophy for the day was a ziploc baggie But in all the years that we’ve exposed the kids to a variety of hobbies like fishing, I myself never joined in…until today!  And let me say…the whole experience was thrilling.

Greg hired a guide, a good ol’boy named Dano from Old Moe’s Fly Fishing, for a float trip on the Green River below the Flaming Gorge Dam.  After a few short lessons on how to “nymph,” which is fly fishing with the bait bouncing on the river bottom (as opposed to dry casting on the surface), he took us out for a half day on his boat.

With Dano’s full attention on me, coaching me every step of the way, I had an amazing first experience.  Greg caught 6 beauties and while two of my guys got away (I choked when it came time to reel them in), I successfully reeled in 3 fish; 2 rainbow trouts and 1 brown trout, and they were big too…all ranging from 18-20 inches!

That feeling when I knew I had a bite was both exciting and overwhelming. My mind was racing, trying to remember all the do’s and don’ts of what to do next. (Greg says I am totally spoiled to have that kind of a first outing.  You don’t usually catch fish that big.)  What a thrill!  The whole day I was beaming…the serenity of the Green River and trying something so new, so out of the box.  Greg’s delighted to see me so happy.  Today will go down in the history books as one of my best ever.

At the end of our float trip down the gorgeous Green River, we hopped in our Minnie Winnie chariot and made our way to Jackson/Grand Tetons and, as icing on the cake, we had no snafus on the road.  Hooray! We’ll be in Wyoming for the next 2 days.

By the way, if you’re wondering if we had trout for dinner tonight, we did not.  Once I greeted my slimy friends, took a few snaps and gave ’em a big kiss, we released them back into the wild.