40
JAN/FEB 2019
41
FISHING|
BEND TO BRYSON CITY
“ON GOOD AND BAD DAYS, FROZEN RIVER BANKS AND ICED OVER
WADING BOOTS, THE RIVER HAS CALLED UNTIL THEY COULD TAKE
NO MORE. AS PARENTS, WE COULD NOT BE HAPPIER”
BY HEATHER KORMAN
Anders Korman in brown lenses with
a brown trout.
P: George Vanderpool
Bend is approximately 2,509 miles away from Bryson City, North Carolina. That is prob-
ably one quarter of the amount money spent, the exact number of hours spent fishing and
tying, and the amount of hooks it took for our boys to make it there.
This November, Bryson City was home to the 2018 US Youth Nationals Fly Fishing Com-
petition. We traveled there from Bend in hopes that Anders and Isaac would fulfill their
dream of being invited on to the US Youth Fly Fishing Team. This was the journey of their
lifetime. We were just the chaperones, the schleppers of the bags and the frozen river side
waiters. We would be in their shadows.
We packed our bags with an unfathomable amount of rods, reels, hooks, flies, lines, and
anxiety. When your kid has worked endlessly for something and a competition is the end
of the line, the stress and pressure surpasses anything experienced this far. It’s worse
than driving with them for the first time or awaiting their arrival after a late night out. Erik
Isaac Korman on a dif-
ferent kind of inter-net.
P: Anders Korman
and I called upon every god and deity until we realized their dream rested solely in their
hands. We had nothing to do with it. No amount of begging or pleading with the universe
would work. We were powerless to ensure their success.
Our boys have been in the river or on a lake since they could walk.
They toddled in the small rapids and pools, chasing fish on Snoopy rods, looking deep into
the darkness of the lakes and rivers. This way of living has never left them. Through dif-
ferent sports, schools, and friends, the river has always been their home. On good and bad
days, frozen river banks, and iced over wading boots, the river has called until they could
take no more. As parents, we could not be happier. If they had to spend time, then the
river or lake was a worthy companion.
This adventure to North Carolina for the US Youth Nationals Competition was quite pos-
sibly the hardest trip of a lifetime. They had done competitions before but this one was the
game changer. We worried for weeks leading up to it, we worried when we were there, we
worried when they caught fish, and we worried when their nets were empty. But surpris-
ingly, they did not. As each competition day took place and each fish was caught and
measured, we breathed a little deeper and realized the kids had this totally under control.
The competition days ended and fish numbers were counted. The inevitable loomed.
Would they make the team? Would they not? In the end it didn’t matter. What we learned
from our 16-year-old boys is that success is not in the gaining. It is in the doing. The
hours spent, the miles traveled, and the money thrown down all for a dream that will not
leave you alone - this is what mattered.
As we awaited the team announcement, my heart beat slower than it had in weeks. My
stress dropped and my grip released from Erik’s hand. They had already won. They were
healthy, they had worked really hard, and they had overcome. The river and the fish they
chased were forever a part of them. We realized then the invite on to the team was only
going to be the icing. They had already been given the cake.