Today I got the chance to take my 4 year old boy Finley to the river and give him a chance at his first steelhead. You see as well as wanting to become a super hero Fin also would like to become an accomplished fisherman like his dad and his grandpa before him and I would love just as much to help at least with the fishing part.

Fins first steel in the net

With Finley by my side I selected a hole that requires no more than a role cast to set up the drift so it would be easy for me to help Fin through the movement. After about six casts we had the drift we wanted and the indicator was down, it was a one salt buck, the perfect kind of fish for Fin to cut his teeth on.

Finley’s first steelhead

The next fish took about fifteen minutes to decide it wanted to play as well so by that time Finley was playing at catching his own fish with a stick when I told it was time to reel in another and he did like a champ.

Finley with his 2nd steelhead

Its day like this that any fisherman father lives for, the sound of being asked “dad can we go fishing?” and rewarding that little future fisher prodigy with his first steelhead. This was one of the best days ever!

A proud fisherman