Bill wanted to learn how to fish for trout. We met at the bait shop and since I did want Bill to catch his first trout today we brought a myriad of bait which included red wigglers, night crawlers, crickets, corn, salmon eggs, power bait and spinners. Our next stop was Rabbittown for some nourishment that will hold us most of the day. Our destination, the Soque River. When we got to the parking area we suited up for the fishing meaning donned our fishing vests which made us walking tackle boxes. We crossed the road and started down the river trail for about a ¼ mile stopping at the first step down into the river. I explained to Bill how to put a cricket on the hook and where to cast. If you’ve ever started doing something new and following all the rules and got it right, well, Bill got his first fish. It wasn’t a Trout, but it was a fish after just a few casts. This spot I chose to teach Bill was the easiest to fish as it was close to the start of a long trail through the woods to get to other fishing spots. After a few minutes with no other bites we moved on. Our next stop was a long sand bar adjacent to a deep trough and plenty of room for the three of us to cast. Don had joined us at this point. We all put on something different to see what they were biting. We’ll we all were getting bites, so we kept at it. While letting Bill cast on his own he caught his first trout. This is always a good feeling for me as well as for Bill. It was a nice Rainbow.

Following several casts Bill & I caught several trout. We then gave our spot up to a dad and his sons and we moved on. After exploring to find our next spot we discovered that there was no other safe place to cast from. The weather and time had changed the course of the river and it wasn’t as I remembered it. We headed back to the beginning of the trail and decided to fish the deep pool and river bend beyond the bridge. We crossed the road, then the bridge and walked to the trail heading down to a wide beach. Again, there was plenty of room for the three of us to fish. There were clouds of gnats circling around our heads annoyingly.

The fish there were smaller, but we continued to catch trout. After catching a few smaller fish, we decided to quit and head to the Mark of the Potter. This was a store that sold hand-made pottery from local artisans. It was also a place to see some awesome Trout that were two to three feet long below the store’s deck swimming around in the huge pool of water below the cascade. On the deck there was a Purina Trout Chow gumball machine where you could put in a quarter and get a handful of pellets to drop down onto the multitude of swarming Trout. Heading back home we learned that the teacher caught 4 trout and the student caught 5. Bill don’t be mad but you’re hooked for life.