Son, 3, lands fish on fly rod
Simon Cosper recently went with his family to the Guadalupe River near Kerrville, where his 3-year-old son, Eli, caught his first fish.
Not only did the youngster catch his first fish, he caught a bunch of others, including Guadalupe bass and a variety of sunfish. And to top it all off, he caught them all on a fly rod using a dry fly.
Cosper said as the sun climbed higher into the sky and the warmer the air temperature got, the fish in the river began to concentrate in deeper pools with shaded areas.
“I found a little hole below some moving water that was holding a ton of fish around noon,” he said. “As I eased up to the edge of the bank, I saw fish just scatter everywhere. It looked like the perfect situation for a kid, because it seemed like
there would be plenty of action and excitement.”
Cosper grabbed his 3-weight fly rod and a dry fly that looked like a grasshopper, and he and his son snuck up to the river’s edge.
“I put the rod in his hand, pulled about 8-10 feet of line out off of the reel, and then helped him make a short roll cast
with the fly,” he explained. “As soon as the fly hit the water, all sorts of fish came rushing out of the shadows like piranhas. They were fighting over the fly, and Eli’s eyes got big with excitement.”
Cosper had attempted to take his son fishing before, but this was the first time everything seemed to click.
“He started catching fish on every cast,” he said. “Some of those little Guadalupe bass were putting up a great fight on that light action fly rod, and the bream were aggressive as well. He was having the time of his life reeling in those fish.”
Young Eli caught about 15 fish in the short adventure.
“It was almost like the first line of a book, or first chapter of a journey,” Cosper said. “I’m a huge A River Runs Through It fan. This moment with my son just felt like a scene out of that movie or book. It was perfect.”
