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Summer and fishing seem to go hand and hand. The idyllic idea of catching a gigantic fish with dear old Dad. Thing is, it usually isn’t so idyllic.
How it really goes:
Family starts off all excited with a cooler full of worms and gatorade.
Kid casts and hurts their sibling who was smart enough to stand behind them. Sibling cries. Dad helps get it safely in the water.
“Dad, my string broke”
“Dad, my worm fell off”
“Dad, its been in the water 3 minutes. When will the big fish jump on it”
“Dad, its been 5 minutes and no fish”
“Dad this is boring”
“Mom, did you bring my DS?”
“Dad, when can we go home?”
Parents pack up the car and head home with their Norman Rockwell dreams crushed.
Multiply the above scenario by as many kids as you bring with you.
I know. We have been trying since the kids were little. We have tried every lake, reservoir and have, yes, resorted to those ‘shoot in a barrel’ places (shhh….don’t judge).
So when my husband decided he wanted to learn how to fly fish with the teens I just rolled my eyes. Not only has regular fishing been a nightmare, I couldn’t imagine how Carter would manage that in his wheelchair.
But Father’s Day was nearing, we were spending the weekend in Keystone and I thought we could maybe just book it for Bob. I called Summit Fly Fishing and booked Bobs appointment and I added on the end of the conversation “is there anyway a wheelchair user could fly fish?” Not only did they say yes, they were super excited to have Carter come and try things out as they are getting ready to put a program together with Project Healing Waters. Apparently most wheelchair users can use a float and enjoy fly fishing in a fairly typical way.
I think the staff was as disappointed as we were when we got there and found out that Carter would not be able to use an adapted float after all. His age was a big issue with their insurance. But they were happy to accommodate and teach all the boys from the waters edge and honestly, it probably worked out better for us.
They all had a great time and Carter caught the biggest fish. Which may, or may not, have been rigged. I’m not sayin’ one way or the other.
But what made this such a great day was having the guides. Instead of “Dad, my line is broke”, it was “Chip, my line is broke”. While teaching them all how to tie flies and cast lines, they took the stress off Dad and gave everyone a nice day, with not one thought to the wheelchair.
Now, that is a fishing memory with dear old Dad that every family would cherish.
Do you have some great outdoor adventure stories to share? I would love to hear them. Come chat with me and the Traveling Mom network of writers next Monday night on twitter and tell me your adventures! Travel Guard, a travel insurance plan provider, recently launched it’s new “Great Outdoors” plan and they are sponsoring this fun chat.
Here are all the details:
WHEN: June 25 9-10 pm EDT (8-9 pm CT; 7-8 pm MT; 6-7 pm PT)
WHAT: Twitter party – Adventure Travel
HOW TO JOIN: Follow the hashtag #TMOM
PRIZES: RSVP here and join the party on June 25 to be entered to win a nifty prize!
Wondering what the heck is a Twitter party and how TMOM Monday works? Click the link and find out.
*Our guided fly fishing tour was provided at no cost by Summit Fly Fishing. Travel Guard is compensating me for my involvement in their twitter campaign. Personally, I think most families should by travel insurance to cover their adventures. But I really think that any special needs family is foolish to not. Been there, cancelled that too many times! Carter wants to disclose that the fish were released back into their happy lake after we took their picture and that no fish were harmed in the making of this blog post.