In the summer months when I wasn’t camping with dad, I spent a lot of time in the saddle. Tacking up early in the morning to beat the heat and casually plodding down the trail and taking in my world. Naturally as I got older, my rides would grow longer and take me further from home to explore another new trail I found. Eventually, I found the Carson river was practically in my back yard and I thought, ok. Next trip I’m bringing my fly rod. Not always practical when you ride with a friend, however. Ok, next time.
Camping with dad took me many places in the Eastern Sierras. Most of my time with him was spent in the Bridgeport area on Lower Twin lake and several of the small free stone streams in the area. We also explored the west fork of the Carson river and Markleeville area and backpacking the Desolation wilderness. Most of our trips didn’t produce numbers of fish, but we still had good times, even if it was a day wasted looking for new water or roads to explore.
When dad moved to Tacoma in 1995, the adventures changed to salt water and the opportunities that blue water held. We would harvest fresh crab, shrimp, oysters, and occasionally a salmon. Being so much further away made time together more precious and somewhere in the mix, fly fishing was lost.
By the age of 20, I yearned to know more about fly fishing and become better at it. I’d try to cast a fly every chance I got, but something was missing. My old rod was sloppy and slow and my line dry and brittle. I bought a rod at Wal-Mart not really knowing what I was doing, but I needed to step it up. The new set up was better, but I still needed help. A lot of help. In 2006, I tried again and started doing my homework. I bought my first couple of Sage rods and appropriate reels, and hit the fly shop. I remembered a few key flies that were my dads go-to bugs, but I never really had luck with them. I was stumped. Fortunately, Don and Liz were patient with me and with every free day I had, I’d drop in and get a little guidance.
In 2008, I took the 101 class at the fly shop. Liz looked at me puzzled, “But you already fly fish, I don’t understand why you’re taking the class?” she questioned. I replied, “I have major holes and gaps in my knowledge I need to fill, and my casting.... ugh my casting.” Ugh, my casting... So after six weeks I felt much more confident in what I already knew, and slightly overwhelmed by what I didn’t know, but it elevated me to where I needed to be. I took my new found knowledge and hit the water. Oh boy, look out!
Today, I still don’t know everything, and I don’t consider myself anything resembling a pro, but I can and do catch a few nice fish. I was incredibly blessed to meet many remarkable people who have encouraged, inspired, and lifted me up in the last two years, and I’m deeply appreciative to those who have come into my life. I love my home waters, and I love to find new water. There’s always room to learn something and somewhere new. I will always have a need to wander and explore where my need to fish takes me, because for me, it is truly more about the experiences along the way.
~ Whitney Inmon ~