Welcome Fall!

I love fall.

Fall means pumpkin patches, corn mazes, and fairs. It means fall leaves and cooler weather. It means caramel apples, pumpkin cookies, apple cider, and hot chocolate. It means scarves, hats, boots, and cozy sweaters.

For the Fetzer family, fall also means fall fishing season, when the brook and brown trout are spawning and filling their bellies in preparation for winter. It’s a wonderful time to go fly fishing as the trout are particularly hungry, the weather is cooler, and the leaves on the trees surrounding rivers and lakes are lit up in vibrant hues of orange and red.

This week, we started our fall fishing season off with a day trip to a beautiful spot on the Sevier river. By “day trip” I do mean an all day trip. It’s funny how day trips take an entire day of preparation now that we have a third wheel. Planning the meals, packing the bag, planning wardrobe, etc. For such a tiny person, Emma sure requires an awful lot of stuff and I have learned that it comes in handy to be over prepared.  I spent Monday getting things ready as we planned on leaving as early as we could on Tuesday morning.

Tuesday arrived and as soon as Emma was fed and dressed, the car was packed with fishing gear and snacks, and Daisy and Emma had been loaded in, we were on our way. The air outside was cool and crisp. Fall air. A perfect day for fishing.

After exiting the freeway, we traveled on a smaller, windy road for some time. We met up with the river and drove alongside it for several miles. The leaves, while not fully transformed, were beginning to turn. The drive was beautiful. I kept my eyes directed toward the window and watched as we passed mountains, trees and deer.  The journey itself is often my favorite part.

We arrived at a beautiful stretch in the river that looked promising, so we pulled off of the road and began assembling the rods.  Sam looked at the water and noted skeptically that the river looked a bit too high. I, ever the optimist, ignored the comment excitedly thinking of all of the fish we were about to catch, even imagining that I might hook into my biggest brown to date. I woke Emma and lifted her from her seat. After feeding her, changing her diaper-not once but twice, and bundling her up, she was ready to go. Sam double, triple checked that he had everything that he needed in is pack (as he always does). I took the first turn with Emma in the chest pack and also carried the lunches on my back in a small back pack. We stopped for a quick picture, propping the camera on top of the car after setting a timer.

 It’s a little blurry-but I love it!

Off we went on our fall fishing adventure. As we walked down to the river, Emma excitedly kicked her legs and giggled. That girl lives to be outside. The first thing we had to do was cross. Sam was right; the river was a bit high which made it tough for my 5’2” frame to wade through the water carrying a wriggling baby and a pack full of food. I put my hand on Sam’s shoulder as we crossed to keep my balance. Daisy, who despite being part poodle is a mountain dog at heart, swam alongside me bravely to the other side of the river. Sam took the first hole, tossing his giant streamer hopefully into a ripple near the right bank. Nothing. He continued up a ways and still nothing. We waded forward and I threw my hopper to a few holes with no luck.

Emma and I stopped to eat lunch on a rock after a while and watched Sam (who couldn’t be bothered to stop). Daisy stood on the bank, staring intently at Sam, waiting for him to hook into a fish. At one point, she got tired of waiting and swam out to him, only to realize that she couldn’t touch the bottom where he was standing. She paddled back to shore. Daisy has always loved the water.

We waded on. At one point, the side of the river we were wading through was littered with small rocks that had come from a rock slide off of the mountain above. This made it particularly difficult to wade and at one point I lost my footing and bashed my knee into the side of the rock covered bank. At that point, I was a bit frustrated and we decided it might be time to make our way back to the car and find a new spot to fish.

Sam and I had been to a place that wasn’t far from here before and Sam suggested that it would probably be lower water and easier to wade there. So, we climbed in the car and headed towards a new spot where we hoped we’d have better luck. I was grateful for the break and glad that Emma had a chance to nap in the car. I enjoyed another scenic drive along the river. This time we wound around The Big Rock Candy Mountain on our way 

Once again, we unloaded the car, strapped on our gear, and pulled Emma out of her car seat. She wore an ear to ear grin as I helped Sam get her into the pack. I sometimes worry that our trips will be too much for Emma but, she surprises me again and again. Her eyes beamed with nothing but excitement as we walked down toward the river.

We tried this new area. Hole after hole after hole, no luck. Nothing but a couple of nibbles here and there from smaller fish.  Daisy trekked through the bushes beside the river and became covered with burrs which took several minutes to untangle out of her fur. When Emma became hungry again, I sat on a log on the side of the river to nurse her. It made me think of how it must have been to nurse a baby in the pioneer days. These days we have special pillows and covers and sit comfortably inside with support under our arms and behind our backs.  It was a much different experience with my feet dangling over the river, awkwardly holding Emma, while ants crawled across my lap. She fell asleep to the sound of the river, so I held her there with her head laying on my shoulder for a short nap. As I sat, I thought about how lucky I was today to be sitting in this beautiful place, enjoying this time with my family. My best friend, our daughter, and our puppy all together and doing what we love to do. I love days like this. I offered up a small prayer of gratitude and squeezed Emma a little bit tighter.

Well, I didn’t catch my biggest brown that day. In fact, we didn’t bring in a single fish all day. But, as Sam quoted on the way home “A bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work.” We were both happy to have had the chance to get out and wade through a beautiful river while enjoying the fall air and the turning leaves.

The rain started just when we hit the road and Emma looked curiously out the window as it pounded the side of the car. As we drove home, Emma quickly fell asleep in the back seat  and Daisy curled up on my lap while Sam and I planned our next fall fishing adventure-there are many more to come.

Welcome fall!