Dream Stream Fly Fishing: Father Daughter Contemplation

My daughter Chloe and I went fishing this morning to the dream stream section of the South Platte River. Chloe took a little break and sat on the rocks and actually took a little nap in the sun. She then got up and said, "Ok, I want to fish now." She hooked 5 large fish on 10 casts including this beautiful Brown. We had a wonderful discussion on an age old question: What causes a big fish to take a fly? The usual variables were considered such as: skill, intuition, past experience, ability to problem solve etc. We also considered "luck" and "fate," "things lining up," although these are quite mysterious and abstract. In the end we did conclude that while prior experience, preparation, skill and luck, etc, all can come into play when we hook a fish, yet, there seems to be "some-thing" else. This "some-thing" else is what I am trying to write about in my book.

Today at the Dream Stream...Trico hatch was thick with large trout gulping along the banks. The usual tiny dry flies caught fish as well as a standard nymphing rig witth black and gray RS2s.