Finally again...

Northern New Mexico has been tough to fish for us this year with high gas prices in the Winter and the Spring, high winds in the spring, fires during the summer and ash from the burned areas running off in the late summer choking the streams in the Jemez Mountains area.

The last time we went fishing was in October of last year which is very unusual. My Great-Grand Daughter Kyra has been anxious to go fishing all year. Kyra sent me an email last week which said "Grandpa, do you know when are we going fishing?"  Well, I replied "next week." After all, that is my job.

I picked up Kyra Friday after she got out of school and when we arrived at our home we loaded my truck with all the stuff we needed for a day trip to the Pecos River, north of Santa Fe in the Sange De Christo Mountains (Spanish for "Blood of Christ").

We hit the road early Saturday morning and arrived at windy bridge about 7:15 am ready to fish. The water was a little high but clear and the weather was nice. It was evident that it rained the night before. I was hoping to take a lot of pictures  while fishing with Kyra so I was prepared for that also.  After we setup our gear, we hiked a couple of hundred yards upstream where a large pool formed around a boulder was and began casting in the water with little action for awhile and about 9:30 the fish started to feed.

She has been a quick learner and it is evident when I let her use Grandma's open face spinning reel.  I showed her how to use it once and the first time she cast it perfectly. Her Dora fishing pole with a Zebco reel will no doubt  be handed down to her younger brother Conrad soon. I guess it is time for her to graduate to the next level. By early spring I will start her working with a fly rod.

And Kyra caught her first rainbow of the day shortly after.  The fish were picky to say the least but that did it not dissuade Kyra's stick-to-itiveness. We got several hits but no more fish to hand. When a man and his young son came up across from us and started to fish the same hole we were fishing we decided to go to another spot. So much for fishing etiquette...and a valuable lesson for Kyra.

We decided to fish in Dalton Canyon in the day use area and fished there for about an hour with a few bites from "bait stealers." The fish were there in the stream today but difficult to catch. Kyra asked, "Grandpa, when do think we will have lunch?" and since it was 11:30 I said, "We can eat now, let's go back to  Windy Bridge where there are picnic tables." She agreed...

We drove back to Windy Bridge and broke out a great lunch we prepared together while swatting some bees away. Once the bees left we began eating our lunch. While we were eating I told Kyra, "I wish the fishing was better, but just you and I enjoying being together is more important and she agreed." Saying, "You are right Grandpa, that 's what is really important." We say these things to our children and Grandchildren hoping to make easier for them, after all, when they are catching a lot of fish it is more fun...but Kyra really meant what she said.

We finished our lunch and chose to fish the original fishing hole where we started and within an hour Kyra caught a nice German brown. After that, she got several hits but no fish to hand. She finally said "Grandpa are you ready to go home?" and I said "Whenever you are." So we packed up our stuff and drove around the town of Pecos and visited the Pecos National Monument to take some photos and we rounded off our trip with the traditional ice cream cone at the Pecos DQ and started for home.

I used to take Kyra's Mother Valene and her brother James fishing on the Pecos when they were Kyra's age. I was hoping to take Kyra to all those spots where her Mother fished but most of the spots were crowded with other anglers.

Glad to be a Grandpa...

...tight lines...Phil