My Dad and I are about to finish our second year fly fishing together.
Which in itself isn't particularly remarkable but there is a reason why this is worth mentioning.

Rewind 2 years and we were barely on speaking terms.
This is due to me having had a huge amount of built up resentment towards him for walking out on my Mum, Sister and I when I was about 10 years old.

This is where an amazing man called Martin comes in.
He is my ex girlfriend's father and on our visits to see her parents in Chester he started taking time out of his busy life to teach me fly fishing in Wales.

Not only did this introduce me to a past time which I am now completely obsessed with.
But it also made me realise how much I'd missed having a father figure, despite convincing myself over the years that I hadn't needed one.

In a bizarre twist of fate, around this time my Dad was bought a fly fishing lesson by a friend.
During one of our infrequent and slightly awkward phone calls, we discovered that we had both recently begun tentative steps in to fly fishing.

This lead us to arrange to meet up for a day at Bewl in January 2009.
At about 9am on that day we both shared the joy of catching my first ever trout on the fly.
I can still remember it clearly now, us both staring down at this 2lb rainbow with huge grins on our faces!
We shook hands in delight, not realising that this was a small step on the path to where we are now.
We have gone from 2 strangers who would meet for dinner and stilted conversation a few times a year, to being best friends who speak on the phone every couple of days and go fishing as often as we possibly can.

We've shared some wonderful experiences over the last 2 years and my only regret is that we didn't discover fly fishing earlier, as we have wasted so many years.

So I suppose the two lessons I have learnt are:-

Life is too short to bare grudges.

And fly fishing is about so much more than catching fish.

Not sure why I decided to share this story.
I suppose was just writing up the 2009 round up section of my fishing log book and realised what a journey we'd been on.

In case anyone is interested I've attached the round up of our 2009.
The 2010 round up will be coming soon too.
(does anyone else keep such detailed log books, or am I just a bit obsessed?!)

Tight lines.

Dan

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In a world where most men seem to spend their lives doing things they hate,
My fishing is at once an endless source of delight and an act of small rebellion.

Well, I think that is a remarkable and quite delightful story, Dan, thank you for it.

I have a Pal whose Daughter cut him dead for years and they eventually got together again, through Golf. First time he told me about it, he couldn't hold back the tears.

I'm lucky and unlucky, in this respect. My Father did a runner when I was about three so I have no recollection of him. I do, still, have a fantastic relationship with my two Sons with whom I have done things all their lives...they are now 38 and 40 and I believe all three of us are still "Best Pals".

Well done you and I hope this doesn't sound patronising.

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Roy

Great story Dan and proof that life is too short to bear grudges.

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www.paypalsucks.com

Well done Dan for the season and glad you and your Dad are getting along just fine. You are only here once, make the most of it!

cheers Diarmid.

Best bit of reading on here for ages Dan, what a great and happy ending.
Well done and thanks.
S.

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"A glint of sun has warmed the air,The flies will soon hatch out, To lure and tempt from their deep lair, The bonnie speckled trout." SKB tackle supporter. I love Furled Leaders.

Dan

Thank you for sharing that uplifting story with us , life is indeed to short

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"Don’t argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience".Greg King

That's great to hear. I'm glad you've worked it out with your father. I remember catching my first trout with my father. It was about thirty five years ago, now, and though my father is no longer here, and though I didn't fish with him after I got into my later teens (something I really regret now) I still fish the same reservoir, and feel him close by there.

All the best.

Great story, thanks for sharing

I really enjoyed reading that Dan, as the senior citizen above mentioned-best read for ages.

I think many people, myself included, have stood on both sides of that particular fence, brought back a few mems. Glad it's worked out for you Dan, tight lines to you both.

P.S. Outfishing your Dad could result in a dip, I look forward to this years results .

Chris

What a great story. Thanks for sharing this with us.

I'm a father to a wonderful son who I love more than anything in the world. He's only 5 but he's been fishing with me a few times already and I've already decided he's my future fishing partner! Doesn't matter what he decides to do really though as long as I can spend time with him.

I once read that the greatest thing a parent can give their child is their time. Think there is some truth in this.