Desire of the Heart

This was the email I got last week.

..."My daughter and I got your name from Pastor Alan. My daughter is 11yo her name is Emma, and Emma wants very badly to catch a Salmon"....

What could I say except... "When are you able to go?"

So off we went to a stream full of promise, but... could it deliver a young girls wish. Rain filled the dibbits in my driveway and I was banking on the rain stopping as soon as we reached the stream. We geared up with sunglasses in hand. The sun came out while salmon were  moving up the rocky slopes of our adventure.

Being Emma's guide, I hooked her first salmon and was directing her as to how to hold the pole and palm the reel. The fish was resting for sometime in deep water. I think Emma got a couple of thrashing rolls out of the fish and then a small run. When the fish took off it snapped the line as if it were 8 0 fly tying thread. 

We saw many more fish moving past us. Emma had developed some nice casting, and even almost hooked one on her own.

It was just about time to leave when another Chinook hooked up. I handed the pole to Emma once more and she held it steady keeping the pole tip up. I quickly clicked some photos of the battle. It moved into a strong current and was ready to run again. I netted it and Emma helped land the salmon she had been hoping for. The smile on Emma's face told me she was hooked on fly fishing for salmon.