Danoinark Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 If you have never taken your kids, grandkids or next door neighbors kids to Dry Run Creek then you are missing one of the greatest joys. The only time I had taken my grandson Skyler to Dry Run at the Norfork Hatchery was to watch the spawners try to make it up the falls. I knew it was where children under 16 and those handicapped had the greatest chance of catching a trophy fish but had never spent much time there. Yesterday Skyler and I met JoRob and his son Ryan for Skylers first fishing trip to Dry Run and his actual first fly fishing excursion. He is 7 now and I think ripe for a few trips with Pop to begin what I hope is a life long pursuit. I had him outfitted with my 8 foot LL Bean rod, but also took along his ultra light spinning rod just in case. The regulations allow for single barb less flies and or single barbless lures. I tied on a size 14 olive brown soft hackle and helped him cast until he got the hang of at least trying to cast the line upstream for the drift. JoRob helped out here in that its hard to begin to teach those real close to you to fish period, let along the basics of casting a fly rod. Skyler finally began to have a semblance of a roll cast. At one point a big fish struck that fly hard and I told Skyler to hang on. It was funny trying to explain to him to reel, let out line, let it run, reel line and watching his young hands try to follow my command. We broke off this big one just above the fly knot. We were using 5x and wished I had switched to 4. After awhile Cripple Caddis showed up along with Mark his guide friend to watch the fun. Cripple being a great friend and mentor to me passed along a small green caddis midge to try. We got a few hits on it and I vowed to tie more. The highlight of the morning with help from Ryan and JoRob, Skyler was able to bring to hand this fat little rainbow. Ryan is one of the most proficient young fly fishers I have ever seen. He has superb casting skills and can bypass the adults in the number of fish caught. I hope JoRob posts the picture of one of the monsters that Ryan caught on Dry Run. I just want to thank them for helping Skyler along with Cripple for his advice. You helped make two kids smile. Skyler and me. Dano Here is a picture of how Dry Run looks downstream. Notice the riffles and how its canopied over. There are fast runs and nice pools. Its an Ozarks gem. Glass Has Class "from the laid back lane in the Arkansas Ozarks"
Terry Beeson Posted March 29, 2007 Posted March 29, 2007 Ain't NUTHIN'... I mean NUTHIN' better than taking a kid to DRC... NUTHIN'.... Hey Dano... If I'm not mistaken, that bent over tree behind Skylar... there is a hole right in front of it that usually holds a couple or three BIG HAWGS.... That's also the pool where one of the sisters we were guiding at Conclave '05 landed the big 26 inch Brown... I'm tellin' ya'll.... AIN'T NUTHIN' like it.... Kids with big trout and big smiles... KEWL!!! TIGHT LINES, YA'LL "There he stands, draped in more equipment than a telephone lineman, trying to outwit an organism with a brain no bigger than a breadcrumb, and getting licked in the process." - Paul O’Neil
jOrOb Posted March 29, 2007 Posted March 29, 2007 You are right Terry, there is a deep hole on the near bank that was holding a couple of 25 inchers. Skyler hooked up one of them, but a big fish like that controls the engagment. We had a blast! It was interesting to me that when we all went out on the Fork for some Big guy fishing, Skyler was the only one to catch a fish. I will post a pic of Ryne's big un tomorrow when I get home from work. jOrOb jOrOb "The Lord has blessed us all today... It's just that he has been particularly good to me." Rev MacLean
John Berry Posted March 29, 2007 Posted March 29, 2007 Some of the fondest memories I have of my daughters childhood were times spent on Dry Run Creek. I look forward to my grandson and grandaughter getting big enough to fish there. John Berry OAF CONTRIBUTOR Fly Fishing For Trout (870)435-2169 http://www.berrybrothersguides.com berrybrothers@infodash.com
RiverRunner Posted March 29, 2007 Posted March 29, 2007 I learned how to catch trout on Dry Run Creek when I was a kid. My folks have two photo albums full of pictures of me & my brother on the creek in the late 80's and early 90's. It was a sad day when I turned 16 and could no longer fish there. That deep pool you are talking about produced a 11 lbs brown for me when I was 11 years old. If I ever have any kids, its gonna be great to take them to the same place that I enjoyed when I was there age. I'm thankful that I've had parents who took me when I was that age.
jOrOb Posted March 30, 2007 Posted March 30, 2007 How about a couple more pics of the kids. This one is two kids, a little one and a big one. This wasn't his big fish, but it was a nice brown. jOrOb "The Lord has blessed us all today... It's just that he has been particularly good to me." Rev MacLean
Terry Beeson Posted March 30, 2007 Posted March 30, 2007 This one is two kids, a little one and a big one. You got THAT right!!! Yep... that's the hole. Always seems to be several bigguns there. I just hope no AGFC enforcement officers see that pic of Dano fightin' that fish... TIGHT LINES, YA'LL "There he stands, draped in more equipment than a telephone lineman, trying to outwit an organism with a brain no bigger than a breadcrumb, and getting licked in the process." - Paul O’Neil
Crippled Caddis Posted March 30, 2007 Posted March 30, 2007 Dry Run is an incredible resource and allowing fishing by the kids was one of the more enlightened things the state has done in the area of fisheries. I took great joy in watching the boys (small AND not-so-small!) partaking of the resource. I brought Mark along specifically so he could see Dry Run being enjoyed as it should be since he has a son that just turned 6 years old yesterday. Hunter can already cast well enough (after all,Daddy IS a flyfishing guide!) to be able to enjoy it so I anticipate soon being able to see him fishing there too. As Terry said, if you must borrow a kid from a neighbor to share the experience with. You'll both profit thereby. "You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in their struggle for independence." ---Charles Austin Beard
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