A Day in the Stream
珍妮弗·奧爾鬆 / Jenifer Olsson
I stepped out of my four-wheel drive to meet my client and his wife.
He was strong and solidly built. He looked like a model for an outdoor catalogue. The fishing vest was stiff with newness； all of the correct hardware， shiny and untested， hung from his chest， like tools in a toolshed. The felt on his wading boots was as white as snow. A handcrafted net swung on his back. The rod had never gotten wet， much less caught a fish， and the line was shiny from lack of use. The reel was on backward.
“Typical beginner，” I thought， rich and， like many rich people in my experience， probably demanding.
I reached out to shake his hand. A firm grip grabbed back.
His wife， an attractive woman brimming with confidence， took a photo of us， then waved goodbye with an arm heavily weighted with turquoise bracelets.
First I turned his reel round. He smiled and shrugged. Then we began his casting lesson on the lawn behind the main ledge.
To my surprise， he was one of those rare people who connected with a fly rod almost immediately. It just looked right from the beginning， and he was charmed by the way the line seemed to magically flow above his silhouette on the lawn.
“I could just stand here all day and cast.” he said， smiling.
We did not have to travel far to the water， since a perfectly sweet little creek ran along the last nine kilometres of the rutted dirt road I had travelled that morning. The warmth of the sun raised the water temperature enough to awaken the rainbow and cutthroat trout that slept， and the caddis flies were dancing their erratic dance， here and there， over the water.
Even in hip waders we were overdressed for the ankle-deep creek， but we stepped in， waded out to the middle and faced upstream. My client cast， and I pointed to the place the fly should land.
“Oh， hey！ Look at that，” he said when the first fish struck. He was truly awed. The second time a trout struck， his shouts of surprise and joy rang up and down the creek， and we happily reeled in a sparkling， 20-centimetre wild rainbow.