Erin and Finn came to town for one day and one night with one thing in mind. Finn wanted to fly fish with his mom for Mother's Day. Both mom and son live in Texas, and Finn loves nothing more than to catch fish on the fly between his multiple baseball seasons. Though the trout are far and few between, Finn has cut his teeth on largemouth bass, panfish, and redfish in Texas. At 15 years old, he was ready to share the sport he loves with Erin. Both were troopers, especially given a long travel day, and we met in Avon in the Vail Valley at 2 pm. A later start was a nice change; however, I think some of the spots we fished had trout with sore lips because they were not eating like they normally do earlier in the day. Bug activity certainly plays into this as well, and the proof was in the empty skies and birds nested down. It was an overcast day with rain all around us, but thankfully, we didn't experience rain until we were geared down at the end of the day and safely in the vehicle.
40-degree water temps proved a little much for Erin, who enjoyed her mother-son afternoon photographing and encouraging Finn. She hooked a few fish, experienced wading in the Eagle River, and promised she "gets it" and why her son loves fly fishing. We talked about entomology, the importance of a "dead-drift", safe wading practices and dynamics of casting as well as parenting, kids and sports, and getting the little ones outdoors. Finn meanwhile hit a power hour, and the fish started feeding heavily on Blue Winged Olives and Mother's Day Caddis. He landed his personal best trout and lost others that we both felt rivaled the one he landed. Tired and cold, we left happy. Finn was able to share his passion for fly fishing with Mom and play with a bunch of rainbows and brown trout, while Erin got to spend time with her son during his break from baseball seasons and go on a fun Mother's Day adventure filled with new experiences and her favorite Vail Valley outfitter company.