Saying Goodbye To A River

When it came time to move last weekend, the only regret I had was saying goodbye to a river. It wasn’t just any river. This was the river that gave me my start in fishing.

The river ran through the property we were living on and was a five-minute walk from our house. Starting the winter we moved in, Darrell would take me down to the river and point out features he thought were interesting. At first I took nothing in. But eventually I began paying attention to the nuances of the water, looking at the holes Darrell excitedly pointed out, and I began to understand how complex a river can be. I learned what areas were likely to hold fish under certain circumstances and when to fish them. I learned to read the water.

One of the last fish I caught in the river.

During trout season we would fish the river almost every day. With both brook trout and atlantic salmon eagerly biting most days I became hooked (not literally, thank goodness). As time went by I started visiting the river by myself on days when Darrell was working late. I quickly learned how to release fish on my own and how to tie lures on after I lost the previous one in the trees or the grass or under a rock.

One of Darrell's last catches in the river. It bit something other than a spinner!

The river was were I spent hour upon hour learning to cast. It really is a fine art to cast accurately into a small stream. After watching my casts go every which way and rarely end up in the water I was quite happy to realize this spring that my accuracy has improved and I’m able to get my lure into more difficult locations than before.

In the river I learned the joys of using an ultralight rod. After many unsuccessful days at the river I was finally given an ultralight rod that allowed me to cast easier and feel the bites. It made all the difference in the world. The first brook trout I caught out of that river came on the ultralight and my confidence soared. From that day on I was never without that rod.

A typical catch from the river - the great majority of fish we caught in this river were biting our spinners.

Spinners were gold in the river. I found it really difficult to use spinners in the spring though as the water was high and fast. Keeping my spinner in the water was not easy. Eventually I learned the patience and techniques to choose the right spinner for the situation and use it accordingly. There were still plenty of nights that Darrell out-fished me, but as my confidence in the spinners grew I noticed I was staying pretty close to him in number of fish caught.

I took this picture on one of the last nights we spent at the river. Jack loved his time at the river and I think that night he knew he was saying goodbye to it.

I truly believe that I would not have gotten the fishing bug if were not for the river. It was the perfect place to learn the basics and catch some fish. There were so many days I dreamed of leaving work early so I could get to the river. Even when trout season was closed we spent a lot of time walking the banks and climbing through the cedars as we followed the water. The river was a place to go to relax. Down by the water everything seemed right with the world.

This weekend I said goodbye to the river. I’m sure we will get back there to fish once or twice a year, but it won’t be the same as before. So I said goodbye to the river, a river I liked to consider my own. I can close my eyes and see every detail of that section of water I had become so familiar with. I will always be grateful for the river and all it taught me. There is an abundance of fishing spots near our new house, but I will always have a soft spot for that first river.

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argosgirl

Sporadic blogger and sometimes podcaster who loves fishing, the outdoors, hanging with her animals, gardening, and reading manga.

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