Short Story bout The Cast, and touch of The Taste.
The Cast. The car door slams shut, “Everybody in?” , last check before we head out. “Yup!” And we’re off and runnin’. As always I can feel the slight tension of the unknown that awaits in the clients. “Where ya from? How long are you in town?” A quick background check on me and some smartass humor and a sense of ease sets in.
Somehow, and I’m not sure how, as we make our way down I-70, someone says “so what do you think of Obama?” , quick silence, “I really don’t talk politics or religion when fishing, hell I’m not even going to ask what it is you do in the real world” “You guys want to know what a sex dungeon is?” Laughter all around, and the talk turns to what matters……fishing.
We pull up to the spot I had in mind for us, and no one else is there. “Nice!” I say, glad we’ve got it to ourselves. I gather up all the gear and after a quick once over, it’s down to the river.
Now it’s time for a quick lesson, the simple “meat and potatoes” of what I want these guys to remember just to get started. “Does anyone ever get hooked in the ear or anything?” “Yup” I say matter of factly. I then relate the story of a fellow guide who was hooked in the tongue by a client and everyone winces and sticks out they’re tongue as if to be happy it wasn’t them.
I start getting people set up in the water, working more individually with each, and then……..”I’ve got one!”
All heads turn up river to the newly lucky fisherman flailing about, line everywhere, all things I tried to teach gone.
“Get that tension on him!” I yell, running quickly net in hand to help. And like a sudden splash of cold water, the line finds its way to the right place and the fight is on. “Enjoy it; this is the fun part”, cheers come from the small audience that has abandoned their rods to come watch. And slowly but surely the large trout gives in and makes it to the net.
“YAY!!!!!!!” Now come the photos followed by the easing of the beautiful fish back into the water. A high five or two, and it’s back to business. After a few more hours of “BIG upstream mend” and “Hit em!” and a few more successes, the ability level has improved ten fold. As things slow I hear the cue, “Man, fly fishing makes me hungry!” And it off to the next portion of our trip…The Taste.
The Cast and Taste trip is designed as a special way to spend the day on the river fly fishing and dining in our amazing state of Colorado. A four course meal with a little wine to top off something unique to Minturn Anglers.
As the Chef/ Guide in this story I won’t go into the details of the menu, but suffice it to say it was enjoyed by everyone, and no one talked about politics for the rest of this day away from it all.
Billy McMillan is a Senior Guide and Chef at Minturn Anglers.
