I fished with my dad early this spring for trout on Duck Lake back in MT. His health was not good. After a walk of a few hundred feet he need to stop and catch his breath. My dad has congestive heart failure, and it was just difficult for his heart to get oxygen to the rest of his body. He didn't let it get him down and steadfastly fished most of the day, taking frequent breaks to relax and catch his breath. A few weeks later they put a pacermaker in to regulate his heart and improve his circulation. My dad claims he is now the bionic man, and feels better than he has in years. The doctors finally cleared him to do some phyiscal excercise, so he headed out here to chase some carp, telling me he had it "all figured out." I though this was particularly funny since the only carp I've ever seen him catch were all snagged in the dorsal fin!

KB joined us for the day and we hit one of our favorite flats. The fishing was good, the company better but the best part was the fact that my dad could get out and enjoy himself. He only need one rest during the day, and spotted fish and snuck up on them like a seasoned carp pro! The first fish we got a really good shot as was the perfect situation. A nice carp was tailing in 3 feet of water about 20 feet away. I pointed him out to dad who was already stripping line from his reel. The cast was true, dropping the fly about 1 ft from the feeding fish. The carp slowly lifted his head, eased forward and dropped his mouth to the bottom once again.

"He's on it!" I said just as my dad lifted the rod tight and the carp exploded out of the shallows. I took one look at my dad's face and let out a loud whoop. KB came running to take some pictures and we both watched as the fly line flew from the reel in seconds. My dad reached for the reel to slow the escaping fish, only to pull his hand back and yelling "ouch!" as the carp wrapped his knuckled hard with the handle. Dad tried another tactic and jammed his fingers into the spool, putting pressure on the rapidly dissapearing backing..."ouch!" he yelled again as the backing burnt his fingers. Eventually the carp slowed and dad fought him back to us. The fish made a second run into the backing, but with much less enthusiasm and on his return Dad was able to lift the head to the surface and I got the net on him.



We caught more fish today, with some great takes each. None of us went home without seeing our backing multiple times, and like my dad, I went home with burnt fingers (like father, like son I suppose.) I could have been skunked today and still drove home with a smile after watching my dad hook that first fish. It was simply a perfect moment, and thankfully, we have many more to come.