Die Another Day

Today will be a day that will stick with me for a long time, and not because I spent a great day fly fishing with my brother, Kris, and long time friend, Davis Russell-Smith.  Today the three of us experienced a two-ton Toyota Tundra barreling toward us out of control, providing a very unpleasant near-death experience. But before that, we fished.  

 

 

"Damn! Did I bring the wrong boots?" David asked out loud, projecting his English accent and looking inside his boot for a size.

"Don't tell me..." I answered back, fearing he was going to go through the day with no boots.

"It wouldn't surprise me if they were wrong!" David added, "You damn well sold them to me!" He said with a laugh.

"What's up?" Feef asked, after layering up from within the cab of his truck.

"Nothing... David just hasn't fished in so long that he forgot how to gear up!" I said back, and picked up his boot to loosen it up for him.

"Why thank you, Erik!" David said, laughing. "Are you going to help me tuck in my shirt too?"  

"Wouldn't surprise me, David. After all, you are getting old." I said, handing his boot back.  David plopped his boot on the ground and stuffed his foot into it with a grunt.

"I am getting old." David echoed back as he synched his boot tight. Together we put our fly rods together and found our way to the river.

 

I watched a few fish rise before I selected a size 18 BWO adult pattern to offer up as a meal.  Feef had gone upstream to throw a streamer, while David remained across the river tying on some nymphs.  With my fly in hand, I waited for the fish to show itself again, and it didn't disappoint.

"Erik, a fish just rose right in front of you!" David yelled to me from across the stream.

"Really?! Gee, I didn't see it!" I yelled back, sarcastically.

"Well, catch it then." David said.

The fish rose again, and by now I had the fish's feeding timed.  I laid out a well-timed cast, and a mouth took in my fly.

"Boom!" I yelled lifting my fly rod to set the hook on the fish.  By the time Feef came down to aid, if needed, I had netted my fish and held it up for a picture.  

 

 

"That was a nice fish there, Brother." Feef said to me as I dipped the fish back into the water and let it slip from my fingers.

"Anything on the streamer?" I asked.

"Nothing." Feef said bitterly, as I redressed my fly. 

Whooping and hollering echoed down the canyon wall, catching our attention.

"What is that?" Feef asked. 

"There must be someone on the mountain." I said, as we both scanned the canyon wall.

"There!" Feef yelled, "I can see three guys up there... They look like they are sliding down."  It took me a sec, but I saw them, and brought out my camera to take a picture.

 

 

I looked back down and saw another fish rise.

"Here..." I said, holding out my fly rod and recapturing Feef's attention. "...catch that rising fish over there." 

Feef took my fly rod and looked to where I pointed. He saw the fish and it didn't take long for him to get hooked up!

 

 

"Yeah, Brother!" I yelled over to him.

"Feels good to fight a fish again, Brother!" He said back, with a happy growl.  Feef held his rod tip high as he brought in the fish close enough to get our first real glimpse at it.

"It's a nice fish, Brother. Don't screw it up!" I said with excitement.

"I'm not!" Feef said, bringing out his net and scooping up the fish.

"Yeaaaaaa!" Feef yelled, after seeing his fish fill up his net!

"Let's get a pic!" I said, and Feef was happy to cooperate.

 

 

I called David over so he could have a shot at a rising fish.

"Did you see it, Dave?" I asked, after a fish rose.  I had already given Dave the fly that was working so there was no question that it would work.  

"No." He said.

"No? It's right in front of you." I said, and this time he saw the fish. 

"Okay, I see it." He said, and pitched out his fly. 

"Erik, you need to make these flies with a big white top so I can see the bloody things!" Dave complained. But it was true; even I was having a hard time seeing his fly.  Another cast, and we both watched for a rising fish.

"That's you!" I yelled as a fish rose, and David set his hook.  

 

 

"How could you see the fly?" David asked, as he fought his fish.

"I couldn't, I just figured your fly was in that same vicinity." I said loudly with excitement.  David brought his fish in fast, and I had my camera out for a picture.

"No!  You are not getting a picture with me and this little fish!" David said laughing.

"Come on, Dave, little fish have feelings too." I said, but Dave didn't even touch his fish, he just dipped the net back into the water, after netting it, so the fish could slip away, unharmed.

 

 

"I guess if I caught a small-ass fish like that I wouldn't want a picture either." Feef added, after Dave's fish was long gone.  

"It's not all about catching fish, you know!" David said in protest, "It's about being out and enjoying the wilderness with friends!" 

"Yeah!" I said loudly, "That's what I say too..." I turned to look at my brother. "...when I catch small fish."

 

 

I hooked into another nice fish, but it snapped off when my fly line knotted up and was suddenly stopped by the guides as the fish ran. Another feeding fish caught my eye quickly, and it looked bigger than what any of us had caught so far.  

"Oooooo, go get that, Brother!" Feef said, also spotting the fish.

"Don't screw it up, Erik." David added, for some extra encouragement.

I crept closer to the fish, practically crawling through the snow, to get into a good casting position.  The fish was close to the bank and would spook if I approached it any other way. My first cast sent my fly right into the low hanging bush that sheltered the fish's feeding lane. I broke off the fly after some rousing from my audience, and was back casting in no time. Then it happened: I was close enough to see my fly float into the fish's feeding lane when it's head came up and ate my fly!  The fly line wicked off the water as I set the hook, and as soon as the fish felt the pull it shot off tail-walking out into the river!  The fish was bigger than I thought, so I stood quickly as my reel screamed to life.

"It's a pig!" David yelled, watching from downstream.  The fish was running hard, and leapt completely out of the water... where it spit my hook.

"Damn it!" I yelled, throwing my rod back into the snow behind me. 

 

"Well, you almost impressed me, Erik." David said, adding injury to insult.  

"I didn't see it, was it big?" Feef asked, as I sulked in silence with my hands holding my head.

"God, it was a pig!" David said, and he was right.  It's not very often I pitch a fit over a lost fish, but it just got to me because it was in such a difficult place to cast. I deserved that fish. 

Both Feef and Dave went back to fishing as I finished up my little pity-party.

 

 

The sound of the water flowing by us was magnified due to the silence created by the falling snow. A slight breeze was cooling the already freezing temperature, which aided in the decision to go back to the truck and warm up. With everyone having caught a fish today, we decided to end the day early and go home to grab an early dinner.  We did not expect what would happen next.  

 

 

Feef kept his truck in 4-wheel drive while we slowly made our way back out of the canyon.  Around a blind corner and headed down a slight decline, we pulled up next to a car that had slid off the road into a deep ditch.   

 

The car was high-centered, and there was no way they were getting out without help.  After Feef found his tow rope, David strapped on the chains he brought for some extra grip.  

 

 

"There was a Subaru stuck in the ditch just back there." One of the guys said, pointing to a section of disturbed snow. "It took six of us to push it out, but there was no hope for our car."

"How fast were you going?" Feef asked, as David finished tightening up the chains.

"Slow, I would say 20 miles per hour." The driver said.

"Hey! Were you the three guys sliding down the canyon earlier?" I asked.

"Yeah, that was us. Were you the three fisherman we saw?" The driver of the car asked back.

"Yep." I replied, and brought out my camera to snap a picture of them.  

Driver, Friend who lost his phone, and the other one.

With the rope in place and tire-chains secured, Feef hopped in his truck to pull out the car. The chains dug away at the earth as he stepped on the gas, and just as the car started to budge... SNAP! The tow rope broke, and the hope of pulling out the car was lost.    

 

The tire-chains take forever to remove, so David got to work on them right away. With the driver side done, he moved over to the passenger side of the truck. This side was near the snow filled ditch away from the road next to the steep incline that continued up the canyon wall.   

"What's going on, Dave?" I asked, as I saw him stick his head behind the tire and struggling with the chains.
"I can't get this link..." David said with a grunt, as he stuck his hands back there again, feeling for the link.  We were both kneeling when we heard yelling.
"Oh, $#!t! That truck is not going to stop!" The friend with the red hoodie yelled, pointing up the road.  
"$#!t, He's going to hit my truck!" Feef yelled, as I looked up...
1...2...3...4...

1... I looked up to see a silver Toyota Tundra barreling down the hill traveling at 35-40 mph. Its wheels were turned towards the large ditch, but the truck was not turning.  Instead it was coming straight toward us, only seconds from slamming into Feef's truck with a force that would pin both David and I under Feef's truck and most likely into the ditch.
"DAVID MOVE!!!" I yelled.

2... I turned towards the ditch and leapt over it, scrambling up the steep embankment to avoid being pinned under Feef's truck. I looked back at the truck, and saw that it was not going to slam into Feef's truck: the driver kept his foot on the gas to propel himself in the direction his wheels were turned. The only problem now was with the speed of the truck, there was a chance it could bypass the ditch, slam into the steep embankment fast enough to climb it before it stopped, and it was headed straight towards me!   

3... The truck slammed into the large snow pile that lined the road, causing it to explode in a cloud of white.  I backed away, scrambling down the embankment towards the back of my brother's truck, without taking my eyes off the Tundra.  The truck flew into the ditch and slammed into the far end of the embankment.

4... A tsunami of dirt, rock, ice, and snow was so large that it completely disrupted my vision of the truck.  Like Luke Skywalker avoiding being squashed by the foot of an imperial walker, I dove backwards without looking where I would land. While being pelted with the wave of earth created by the truck, the last thing I saw was the truck tipping on two wheels, before it came to a stop.

I opened my eyes, and felt something weird under my chest, like I was on a soft, round rock.  I pushed up to realized I was on David's head.
"Sorry, Dave." I said, as he got up and removed his glasses that were caked with snow. 
"Holy $#!t man, are you ok?" The driver of the white car came running towards me to help me up. "That came so close to hitting you." He finished, as I stood. 
"Is everyone ok?" I asked, looking to see David up and my brother standing by the driver side door of his truck.  The kid with the red hoodie ran over to the wayward truck to see if they were ok, and they were.

I walked over to Dave who was brushing snow off his hoodie.
"I thought that truck was going to roll after both those tires came off the ground." David said, checking his glasses.
"I saw that too." I said with a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. 

Everyone was shaken up, but okay.  I pulled out my camera, and the beeps emitting from it indicated I had turned it on to take a picture.
"You're joking, Erik..." David said in disgust, "how can you think to take a picture right now?"  His reaction made me laugh, but with everyone ok, I saw no harm in taking a picture.

The Tundra that slammed into the ditch was stuck, but the gentleman inside had a tow chain, which Feef used to pull him out. As they worked I walked to one end of the road, while one of the other guys walked up the opposite way to slow down any incoming traffic.

  

With the Tundra unstuck, David helped secure the gentleman's tire chains on his truck to help pull the original white car out of the ditch. The Tundra tugged on the white car, and the tow chain did it's job by pulling the high-centered car out of the ditch. 

 

 

From there we let the three guys go ahead of us as we made our way out of the canyon, but not before one more task.  The car we helped pull out had low profile tires, and did not make it up the hill.  The tundra got ahead of it and attached the tow chain to pull it the rest of the way up the hill.

"So much for getting back early." Feef said, as we followed the two vehicles up the road. We passed them when they stopped to unchain the car, and we waved goodbye to our new friends as we cruised by.

 

"Man, I thought he was going to hit my truck." Feef said with a relieved sigh, reliving the moment in his head.
"I'm glad we didn't get hit." I added.
"Well I had Erik jump on my freaking head as he tried to get away from the truck." David said loudly. The image of David pulling his face out of the snow with his glasses and face packed with the frozen element made me laugh.
"Yeah, laugh it up, ERIK!" David said, laughing along.
"Well gentleman, I guess we'll die another day!" I said.
"Oooo, James Bond!" Feef said happily, and drove us back to Boise all safe and sound.

PS. If you happen to find some keys on the South Fork road, please bring them into Anglers Fly Shop. 

Winter Dry Fly

It had been a while since I had dedicated an entire day to dry fly fishing.  With all the streamer and euro nymphing techniques to learn, I had put aside my dry fly-only days to expand my knowledge in becoming a well-rounded angler.

"I'm only going to dry fly fish today, because I don't nymph!" Travis Swartz said, as we pulled in to gas up. 

"I don't want to hear it!" I said quickly.

"Oh geez, here we go!" Travis said, rolling his eyes.

"The last time we fished the South Fork, you threw on a nymph before you hit the water." I said, matter-of-factly.

"OKAY! I'm sorry, I didn't know you were going to take every word I said so literal." Travis said with a sigh, before he continued. "I guess, for YOU, I need to say that I would rather dry fly fish, but will nymph if I have to."

I sat and stared at him after he finished.

"What?" He asked.

"I didn't know you were so sensitive." I said, calmly.

"What?! NO!  I'm, just... I don't have time for this." Travis said, and stepped out of his car to fill his tank.

"Hey!" I yelled out to him, "Want me to chip in?"

"No, that's ok..." Travis said, unhooking the nozzle and sticking it in his car.  "Besides, I wouldn't offer to help you."

"Fair enough!" I said, and after filling up we took off to the South Fork.   

 

We geared up quickly and made our way to the river.

"Tell you what..." I said, "I'm going to cross the river here so that you can have this side all to yourself."

"OH! So you're saying that you will cross the river and hog the honey-hole, while I stay on this side to scrounge for a fish?" Travis said, adding, "Yeah... I have fished here before too!"  

It was true, I was about to hog all the glory while Travis watched with envy from the bad side of the river as I caught fish.

"Let's both cross the river and take turns picking off fish." I said, back-peddling. 

"No, no, no... I would hate to crowd you." Travis said, and when I hooked into a fish almost immediately on the other side, he considered my offer.  

 

 

"Come on, Trav!" I yelled over to him, "There are fish rising all over the place here." 

Travis ignored me, so I pitched out another cast, and WHAM, another fish! 

"TRAVIS!!!" I yelled out, so Travis could watch me bring in my fish.  

 

Before I could re-fluff the CDC on my suspended midge, Travis had made his way across the river to share the honey-hole.

 

 

"Did you see that?" I said, as another fish rose within easy casting distance.

"Yep!" Travis replied, and laid out his fly in striking distance from the fish; for Travis, that was pretty good...

"Come on, you." Travis said in a hushed tone to the fish, just before it ate his fly!  Travis lifted his rod, and the weight of the fish was imminent.   

 

"OH!  This is a nice fish!" Travis yelled, "At least 28 inches." The fish ran a few time before Travis was able to get its head out of the water for me to scoop up with the net.

"That is a nice fish!" I agreed, but it was no 28-incher. 

"You're getting a picture of me." Travis demanded, as he admired his fish.

"Oh can I, please?" I asked, sarcastically.

"Yes you may." Travis replied, as he fumbled to grab his fish.

"Don't lose it." I suggested. 

Travis just looked up at me with dead eyes, and said, "Really?!". 

Just as Travis lifted his fish out of the net, he lost grip of it and, luckily, dropped the fish back into the net.

"Give me your fly rod." I offered, and Travis handed it to me to free up total mobility. Though his hands were free, he was still unable to handle his fish.

"You want this picture so bad that you are going to screw it all up." I said.

"No I'm not!  It's just this fish, it won't settle down." Travis complained.

"Oh, sure...blame the fish." I added.

"Would you just be ready?!" Travis said, raising his voice.

"Yeah! Go!" I said, with the camera ready, and Travis picked up the fish.  

"Got it!" I said, before Travis gently slid his fish back into the water, and watched it swim away; his attention on the released fish was short due to another rise just in front of him.
"They are everywhere!" Travis said happily.
"Go ahead and get it. You need to catch up." I said, and Travis didn't waste any time.  He presented a fly to the rising fish, but the fly fell short of its target. Travis pulled more line out of his reel and went to make another cast, and a tree snagged the fly on his back cast.
"Aw hell..." Travis said, looking back at his fly.

 

"Stay there, I'll get it." I said, as Travis started to walk towards the snag. The tangle was not bad, and Travis was back to casting in no time. With a quick readjustment in his casting lane, Travis presented his fly perfectly, and the fish didn't disappoint. After a quick fight, and more fumbling around with the fish, Travis managed to hold up what he called a 31-inch fish for the camera.

 

"Okay, my turn." I said, casting to more rising fish.  The blue winged olives were starting to hatch, so I quickly switched flies after a few refusals.
"Gotcha!" I said, setting the hook on a fish.
"I'll show you how to handle a fish!" I said to Travis, who was watching with a camera ready.  My fish got close, then made another run, tearing line from my reel.
"WHOA!" I yelled, as my reel screamed to life.
"Here we go!" Travis chimed in.  The fish was putting up a great fight, but my 4wt fly rod was holding its own.  Finally the fish came in, and I scooped it up into my net.

"This is how you hold a fish for the camera!" I yelled at Travis, whom had fumbled with both of his fish before we could get a picture of them.  I held the fish and brought it up, but the fish kicked hard and out of my hands.  SPLASH!  The fish hit the water and there was no net for it to fall in.
"NO! NO!" I yelled, as Travis laughed at my blunder.  The fish started swimming away, but I knew I still had it hooked.
"Get over here!" I yelled, and raised my rod to bring the fish back to scoop up.
"Okay, I'm ready." I said, this time having a better hold on my fish as Travis snapped a picture.

 

I let my fish go and  looked up to see fish boiling all around me. Travis was already timing a fish, and presenting a cast before I had dried my fly.   

It was an absolute dream: together Travis and I took turns hooking into fish.  Laughing like a couple of kids, we casted to fish after fish, hooking a few in the process.  An incredibly large fish rose in the middle of the river, and both Travis and I stopped casting.
"Tell me you saw that!" Travis said in awe.
"I saw it. That was a huge fish." I replied.  The sad thing was, the large fish that just rose was too far out in the river.  The cast wasn't impossible, but it would require us wading out and possibly blowing out the line of feeding fish we were casting to. Also, even if we did wade out, there wasn't enough room for a nice back cast and the fish may not rise again. We both watched to see if the fish would surface again, and when it didn't we went back to fishing.  Though many fish were caught by the both of us, in the middle of the hatch neither one of us was willing to snap a picture of each other's fish.  Regrettably, this picture I snapped of Travis bringing in a fish was the only time I stopped to capture the moment.

"I think we caught all the fish here, Trav." I said, after a while had past without a fish.
"Happens to me every time..." Travis said, pulling up his line. We both made our way back to the car, and to another spot on the river that Travis had had luck in the passed.

Travis hit the water first. I was only a minute behind, and called out to Travis.
"Any rising fish?" I asked.
"Only one!" Travis yelled back, fighting a fish.
"Well, look at you!" I said with a smile, and brought out my camera to snap a picture.

"This one's over 20!" Travis yelled.
"Let's get a picture!" I yelled back, but as I approached Travis dropped his net into the water, allowing enough space for the fish to swim out.
"Darn!  It got away." Travis said, "It's too bad you missed it; it was huge."
"I'm sure it was..." I replied.
Just then I saw a fish rise, and it stole my attention.  I got into position and waited for it to rise, but nothing was happening. Surly I didn't spook it, I thought as I stood still, watching the spot like a hawk.  It rose again, then again before I pitched out my fly.  The fish was not interested in my fly, even after a few more attempts with several different patterns.  With time running out I decided to break the hatch with a Pico ant, and I didn't wait for the fish to rise before I threw it out.  The Pico ant hit the water, and the fish pounced on it! My arm shot up, setting the hook, before I knew what was going on, and the hooked fish thrashed to get away! 
"Well, it's about time." Travis hollered, while wading quickly towards me for a possible picture. But it didn't happen.  As I chased the fish downstream I gained control and brought it up to my net.  A big rock offered a nice backflow which presented an opportunity to land this crazy fish. With my arm reaching up as far as it could, I slipped the net towards the fish, which spit my fly at that exact moment.  The fish, not knowing it was not hooked, sat on the rock for a second, then shot into life, jetting up and over the rock! 
"No!" I yelled, as I slapped my net in the path of the fish. But it was useless: the fish was gone.

"What happened?" Travis asked, now standing right behind me.
"It got away..." I said, sounding pitiful.
"By the looks of it, that's a good thing.  I thought you were trying to club the poor fish to death with your net." Travis said with a laugh, adding, "You just need to learn patience."
"Patience?" I asked.
"Yes!" He said, as we walked back to the car.
"If you had patience you would be holding a trout right now for a picture." Travis finished.
"I don't think you know what you're talking about." I replied.

 

"Can you see the deer?" I asked, after I finished gearing down.
"Well look at that... magnificent creature." Travis said in awe.
"You like deer?" I asked.
"Yes! They are so peaceful. The way they walk and look around." Travis said, as we both watched the deer make its way up the hill.
"What if someone shot it right now?" Travis asked, plainly.
"What? Why would you say that?" I asked sharply.
"I'm just saying... Wouldn't that suck?  I mean, here we are enjoying this peaceful creature, then BLAM!" Travis said, adding some arm gestures to emphasize his point while not looking away from the deer.
"You ruined it. You ruined the moment." I said.
"ME?" Travis asked loudly. "You are the one that needs to learn patience!"
What those two instances had in common was beyond me, so I chose not to respond.  Instead, we both watched as the deer went out of eye shot, before getting into the car and ending a good dry fly day on the South Fork. 

The Poop Pipe

For weeks now the 7th grade students of Anser Charter School have been meeting up to fly fish the Boise River, and the success rate of the students that fish in my section of water had spread like wildfire.  Small talk amongst the students before every outing was about who was going to be the lucky ones to fish the pipe!  Yes it was true, in my section there is a pipe that is clearly visible under the water, and it creates a nice break for fish to pile up behind.  

 

What the students don't know is that directly across the river from the pipe is a sewer plant, and to many anglers this particular landmark is known as the poop pipe. 

The snow was falling thick with a few inches already on the ground, which made for a great day to take pictures. As the students crossed the river, I noticed that every kid was bundled up as if they were going to spend the night at the North Pole. 

Before fishing today, Shawn, the brains behind the class, lined up the students to receive a gift.  The Women's Fly Fishers of Idaho spent a few evenings creating designer fly fishing lanyards for each student, and when each received their lanyard, the smiles that spread across their faces could warm the coldest winter day.

After the quick ceremony, it was time to fish.  John and I had a quick conversation about the recent steelhead planted in the Boise River by Idaho Fish and Game. 

"Wouldn't that be cool if one of the kids got into a steelhead?" I asked John, as we walked to our section of river. 

"That would be cool." John said before we split up and started fishing.

Audrey fished with me first, and after a quick tutorial on how to set a hook she was ready.  Her first fish got away, but the second fish was not so fortunate. Audrey's indicator went under, and she pulled back on her fly rod to set the hook!

"I got one!" She yelled, as the fish leapt from the water. Normally a jumping fish is a fun thing to watch: the leap from underwater as it breaks the surface, and the splash down that quickly follows. Only Audrey didn't give the fish time to splash back down.  At first sight of the fish, as it leapt from the water, Audrey set the hook again bringing the fish straight at my face! I felt like Neo from The Matrix as I bent back to avoid the fish hurling towards my face. Though others may say I looked like a seagull that couldn't fly, as the fish soared by me...

I quickly regained my composure and saw that Audrey was still fighting the fish.  I unhooked my net and scooped up Audrey's fish, making this the first fish she had ever caught!  

 

After a few photos, Audrey dipped her trout back into the water and let it go.

 

"I can't believe I actually caught a fish!" Audrey said excitedly. Her dad beamed as he watched his daughter from a short distance. 

"Give me a thumbs up." I said, lifting my camera, and Audrey was happy to oblige. 

Next to fish with me was Samson, and he wanted a fish so bad he could taste it.  Getting Samson to focus on fishing was a bit of a challenge; I had to lie and tell him that the fish would spook if he talked too much. It worked, but when his indicator went under he didn't set the hook. 
"Samson!" I said, and noticed he was looking away from his indicator. "You had a take!" 
"Oh man!" Samson moaned. 
"The fish know, Samson... They know when you are not paying attention, so you always have to pay attention." I explained, and he went back to fishing. 

Just downstream from us, Luke hooked into a fish.  I walked down to help, just as Connie netted his catch. 

The little white fish Luke caught would not stop flopping. I had my camera ready for a picture as Luke grabbed his fish and held it up.  Just as I snapped a picture, Luke's fish flopped again, right out of his hand. 

Luke quickly grabbed ahold of his fish for a better picture. 

The day was nearly over, and I had walked back to Samson to see how he was doing when I heard a yell echoing from upstream. 

It was John, and Brennan, the student he was fishing with, was hooked into a nice fish. 

"Beach it!" John yelled, and I saw the fish splash as it neared the shallow water. 

"He got a steelhead!" I whispered to myself in disbelief. 

"Can we go see?" Samson asked, and we both ran up to see Brennan's fish.   

 

As I got near, Brennan was doing his best to wrangle his fish. 

"Is it a steelhead?" I asked John.  John shook his head no with a huge smile on his face. I looked over to see the fish, and Brennan was holding up a large-scale suckerfish. 

The smile on Brennan's face was unmistakable.  Sure it was an ugly fish, but it was also the biggest fish caught out of any of the students during this class. Both Kai and Samson gathered around for one last picture with the sucker fish. 

We all stood and watched as Brennan set his fish back into the water, and it slowly swam away.  We walked back to join the rest of the class, and Brennan was reliving his suckerfish experience while the other students listened closely.  I, along with the other volunteers, were laughing about the memories of the class: fish being caught, kids falling in the river, fish being flung in our faces. We laughed and said our goodbyes as the kids filed out and handed in their fly rods for the last time.