Father and son fishing

[Charlie Gonzales]

Fished with Kevin Goding and his father, Bud, yesterday on the American. It was great hearing them talk about stories of when the boys were growing up and dad was teaching them how to fish, the family trips, and building memories. Family time like that is very special and the boys are lucky to have such a great family.

Bud had never thrown shooting head type lines and big flies, but being an experienced fisherman it didnt take long for him to pick it up. Shortly in to the trip Bud had his first blow up on the big Airhead, the fish didnt commit, but it was exciting nevertheless and prepared the guys for the excitement to come. And there was much excitement to come!
The guys ended up hooking about 9 fish total, 5 of them from low teens to one that Kevin estimated to be well over 20lbs! But these big fish get big for a reason and somehow eluded the boat. Its still great watching big fish like that track your fly and enhail it right at the boat.

Bud with his first striper on the fly

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Great Charlie......Bud is a great guy.

**What size and color Airheads are you using?

**What kind of fly line?

[dirtbag]

Do you mind if I ask what general part of the river you have been fishing. My buddy and I have been fishing from sunrise to gristmill and catching fish, but it seems we never hook anything over 5-6 pounds. Nothing against these fish but we have been looking for something a bit more substantial. Any pointers?

[Kevin Goding]

It was fun and will be memorable for me Charlie thanks. I'll get a double digit fish to hand sooner or later haha. Hopefully you got my pm about next week, bro wants to do some fishing.

The big fish are all over, just keep fishing it'll happen sooner or later.

[Jgoding]

From what I heard it was pretty exciting except my bro couldn't get any of the large fish to hand. OH well, next time or next week when I'm back from Panama.... I knew vacationing at this time was a bad idea....

[flyfshrmn]

Charlie,

Thanks for the pic and the good words. Really enjoyed the day, but it's obvious I need to spend more time with big flies and shooting heads to get to the required proficiency level to catch these fish consistently. The good news is that retirement allows me to do so. The fish were impressive and we certainly had the opportunities for hookups. Great day!

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