O-"fish"-al Engagement

I was fishing with Mark and Emmett at the FRC this morning--and a very nice morning it was, thank you!  Each of us had boated a fish--me a 19" brown, Mark--a somewhat smaller rainbow, and Emmett--his first rainbow that he hooked and reeled in all by himself--and a nice rainbow it is!  He probably wanted to operate the net as well to be fully self-sufficient, but consented to let me net his fish and hold it for the photo.  He tried to hold it but said something about it being somewhat slippery--go figure!

Emmett with his first rainbow

Anyway, as we were making a second pass in search of more fish the alert tone on my cellular phone indicated that I'd received a text message.  I opened the message and it said that Natalie was o-"fish"-ally engaged.  Okay, I'll admit that Mary didn't actually spell the message that way, but it was very much a homophone for my activity this morning.

Nat, presumably after observing Brad's awesome fishing ability at the FRC last month when he visited, must have decided that he was a "keeper" and Brad must have recognized that Nat was a "fine catch" so I guess it was bound to happen.  I think the fact that Brad was man enough to accept that Nat might catch bigger fish than he could have been part of the attraction as well.

Brad with his first FRC rainbow (4/23/2015)

Natalie with her bigger FRC rainbow (4/23/2015) Notice Brad is still smiling!

I think the fly pattern that was used was the "round brilliant" carbon fly. (Rick would probably add that while this fly is very hard, technically it is thermodynamically unstable.  I would respond that it is constructed of natural materials which is much better than if he'd used foam and made some kind of chernobyl hopper to try to attract her.)   Obviously Brad must have had perfect presentation and a drag-free drift and received the desired response from Natalie.  Great fly selection!

The successful fly

The happy couple

Emmet later caught a bluegill, thus ensuring completion of that requirement of his fishing merit badge that involved catching two different species of fish.  He finished with the last fish of the day that measured 22" (rainbow) and was really a fat fish.  He quietly said, "That's okay" when asked if he wanted a photo with the fish.  I think he didn't want to embarrass me by having a photo of a bigger fish than mine.  What a nice boy!  Is he really related to my brothers if he can be that nice?

The proud papa

Oh, and I did manage to catch a few rainbows today as well.  It was a great day with Mark and Emmett!