Little Brookie

Catching my first fish made me even more thirsty to catch another. I continued, but never caught. One trip out to Cape Hatteras produced one small fish for my cousin, Maximus Prime, but that was the closest I got for a long time. 

Maximus Prime and Michaela

One day, returning from an errand with an older friend from church, we somehow got on the subject of fishing. I mentioned to him that I was super interested in fly fishing, and he said he would loan me some equipment that he hasn't used in years. He used to fly fish, but somehow fell away from doing it. I jumped on that offer. After getting his gear, I looked up a ton of videos on how to cast, and on all of the other basics. I started practicing in my back yard. I tried to fish a few times, but after about 4-5 separate fruitless attempts I was getting frustrated again. 

In October of last year, I took my Outdoor Club to South Mountains to do a hike. We knocked out 7 miles in only a few hours, and had some extra time to run around and explore the creek by the Jacobs Fork parking area. I saw several people fly fishing, and I saw SEVERAL trout. I was astonished because I hadn't ever seen so many before. I convinced my wife to go up there the next weekend with some friends for a picnic. I brought my friend's gear, and did a little fishing. I had (and have) no clue what I'm doing, and I saw the trout sucking in and spitting out my fly before I could hook them. After about half an hour I finally hooked one, and was able to reel it in. I called my friend's daughter over to take my picture (she was running around exploring with my SLR) and I tried my best to keep him in the water close to me and only pull him out when she took the pic. It took her a little while to get to me and when she did, the fish got off. I had several witnesses though that I actually caught one. It was about an eight inch brook trout. My first fish (and only fish as of yet) on fly. I was stoked.