April 12, 2017 – A Young Man with a Tall Order – Wissakickon Creek

Yep, he's in a cast and in a chair, but he still landed one more than his old man.

It’s been a long time coming with all of our busy schedules, but I finally got Dave and David, aka Team Bucci, out to catch their first trout from a stream today.  Everybody but me had off for spring break today, but I was still able to sneak out in the morning for a while to make good on a promise.  It was a tall, tall order, man.  Young David was in a cast and on crutches, and he needed a chair on a flat surface to sit and fish, AND he wanted to catch a trout or two, to boot.  Those things don’t add up for even the most gifted trout “guide,” so I had my hands full.  The fish gods smiled upon us, though.  They stocked the city on April 11, for one, and my spot that fit David’s unique needs was not taken and actually panned out eventually, even for big Dave, who himself dropped a decent rainbow at the bank.  Only my poor boy took the skunk, but he got lunch and ice cream afterwards, and he got to fish pretty independently all morning too, which is good for him as a fisherman in training.  He got out his own snags and tangles, even picked his own spots and patiently targeted a wily palomino for a long while.  He was doing everything right, so his day will come.  Today was young Bucci’s day, anyway!

First trout in the net.

I have known Bucci for a long time.  He went to elementary school with my younger brother, probably made out with my sister, and has been cutting my hair since I had some to cut.  We have talked a lot about fishing and how his kids have gotten into it more.  Plus, I think my old man, who actually has hair for Bucci to cut, talks up my successes and this blog whenever he gets the chance.  He is my advertising department—if he could only get the name right.  Lotsa Sick Fish, Lotta Sickday, etc.  Thanks, Joey!  Mitch.  Because it started out slowly, I fished more than I expected, just trying let us see some fish to get excited about.  The big palomino sitting in front of the boys helped keep them interested, though, and isn’t that what they were raised for to begin with?  I knew there were fish at this spot, and I even hooked one on a Rapala, but they were freshly stocked fish and a bit tentative.  I don’t throw bait, so I probably made our lives more difficult, but I wouldn’t know how to teach someone to bait fish anymore!  Throwing a trout magnet or a mop fly on a slip bobber rig, I caught a bass, a couple sunfish, and the smallest stocked trout I have seen since Stony Creek this winter, but I also turned or briefly hooked a bunch of trout in this hole (with the fly rod and a midge, I may have had 10 or 12!!), so I was confident that the guys had the right rigs and were in the right spot.  Eventually, it would happen.  

We are going to cal it 12 inches.

David was a fast learner, and his casts were on target.  I eventually watched his float go down as a fish took his magnet.  I think it took him by surprise, so the hookset was probably not perfect, and the fish came off.  Disappointing, but it was a good sign.  Next came big Bucci’s chance.  He hooked and played a nice rainbow right to the bank, where it fell off.  Count it, I say.  Not long after, kid Bucci was yelling from his bankside chair.  I sent my son up with the net, but by the time he got there, Team Bucci had landed the boy’s first trout!  We snapped a couple pictures for mom, and my son got to do the release.  Despite the excited handling, the fish swam away, and we decided to call it a morning.  Instead of poor David climbing up the hill on crutches, we did an illegal park job on Forbidden Drive and got him loaded back in, me serving as flag man (a summer job I actually held for a few years in college 😎).  Team Bucci was grateful, and I was appreciative of how long my son stuck with it, and I think we all had a good time.  When young Bucci is back on two feet, I think he can get a few next time.  Congrats, David!