Sixth Grade Science

The other night our son Will asked me to help him study for his science test he was having the next day.  In usual fashion, we go through the questions at the end of each section of the chapter for review.  He is a smart kid and knows most of the answers, so I try and trick him up, but like I said, he is a smart kid.   This particular chapter was on Mollusks, Arthropods, and Echinoderms…. bugs and stuff for the rest of us.  We got to Section 3, “Insects” where it discussed the metamorphosis, a fancy word for the growing cycle of an insect, and then it dawned on me, this is a great lesson in fly fishing! 

When you are fly fishing for trout, you either fish a dry fly on the top of the water or a nymph underneath the water.  Sometimes both…. which is called a “dropper”.  Which fly you use depends on so many different conditions that it takes a lifetime to learn; hence one of the wonderful attributes of the sport.  Anyway, once we reached this point in the chapter, I ran and grabbed my fly boxes and gear and explained the similarities of what was in the book and what was in my boxes.  The book explained the logic and progression of life while I explained why trout like to eat certain things at certain times.  I told him about being on a stream in the evening when the miracle of “The Hatch” occurred and I was surrounded by thousands of caddis being born right out of the water.  What an amazing sight!  What is even more amazing is when you find the fly that matches the hatch in your box, tie it on and then the fun really begins.  I continued to explain how trout rise to the surface to eat these freshly hatched morsels and you just hope that you float your dry fly right on top of them.  My personal favorite is a #14 Elk Hair Caddis.  It has always been reliable and most of all, I can see it.  Fortunately there was one Caddis left in my box, as the last several hundred I have owned are hung in trees limbs somewhere in a stream or river of my past.   Will got a kick out of that one, but I know it's just a matter of time before he gets hung in a tree and I sure hope he has more patience than me.  God help him…

We finished up the questions at the end of the chapter and we both felt pretty good about the next day's exam.  I don’t know if I was correct in my fishing logic, but to an eleven year old boy who loves to fish, it was the gospel.    

Wm