Fishing Trip with My Children

For the July 4th long weekend, I’ll be taking two of my children up north. We’ll be at Tall Timber in NH. We will fish the cold headwaters of the Connecticut River, just a short drive away from Canada.

 
I’ve been making flies and prepping our gear. I look forward to this trip each year, as it is a time to have a shared experience with some of my children. And, I can give them a gift that is hard to get: learning a technique (called “Euro-style nymphing“) that nearly all pro anglers employ. I won’t fish much and will focus on guiding the children.

There are many, many good memories from prior visits. This time, it will be a bit of a milestone. One child, a truly gifted angler, is about to go to college and has been to the lodge often. For the other, it will be her first time up. It’s a rite of passage in the family: Once you are a certain age, you get to go on the trip and learn how to fly fish.

So, bookends.

I started going to Tall Timber in 2007 and have been there nearly every summer. Eric, Ed and I did a partners’ off-site there, and that was a lot of fun.

Tall Timber is family-owned, and it’s a treat to go up there. The siblings now own and run the lodge. Your life and its circumstances may change, but Tall Timber is very consistent. Some families have been going for decades.

You run into old friends, too. Tom works the reception area and is the hunting guide, Linda manages the restaurant, and David is the chef. The menu is filled with robust and filling dishes, and the bartender always pours generously.

The river up there stays cool year-round. The trout and landlocked salmon are usually guarded but can be duped when they see the right fly presented in the right way. There are some real monster-sized fish in that river, and they tend to hold in the same areas year after year. And, the scenery is drop-dead beautiful.

Here’s a video that captures what it’s like to be up there. It is a timeless and special place. For me, it always feels like heaven on earth.

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