You get to start from scratch when you are teaching a boy to fish. There are no bad habits to break and no preconceived notions. Your knowledge of fishing goes unchallenged (a rare thing). They learn fast and it is very satisfying to watch.

When Luke turned 16 his life suddenly got a whole lot more interesting. He had his license and a car, and those fishing trips with old dad started to seem a lot less exciting. There were now other options to consider. Flyfishing is a fascinating sport and, while it has a certain rhythm to it, it is rarely fast paced. A young man in his teens tends to be more interested in things that make your heart beat faster, not things that make you feel more relaxed.

Once in a great while, I will lay a guilt trip on Luke to get him to fish with me. I'll say something like "some day you will look back and wish you had fished with me more". Although I am pretty sure this is true, I don't like to do this often.

For quite a while after Luke stopped fishing with me, I fished alone most of the time. Fishing alone does have its advantages, it's quiet and you don't have to share your stretch of the river with anyone. You can usually catch more fish when you fish alone. The down side is that you don't have anyone to show the big one to, and the laugh therapy is missing.

Eventually I found some other flyfishermen that I was compatible with and I don't fish alone as much as I used to. Fishing with full-grown men (Randal and Chris are overgrown by most standards) provides some advantages over fishing with your son. The language tends to be more colorful and the topics of conversations more wide-ranging. At times these guys make me laugh until I can't stand up.

When Luke gets older, he might come to appreciate some of the things that I like about flyfishing a little more and come back to it. At least I hope he does. As much as I like to flyfish with my pals, I would still like to have some more fishing trips with my son.