The story behind the pic....
A year and a half ago, shortly after I moved into my current home, I had learned that steelhead come into Irondequoit Creek, a small creek running through parks all of the way to Lake Ontario. It's only 1.7 miles from my house. I was (still am) a novice steelhead angler - never really fished for 'em before.
I had fished the creek for browns with dries and nymphs during that summer with good success. I noticed that it was in the "Great Lakes Special Regs" section, and could be fished year round. So, one early October afternoon, I stopped down and gave it a whirl. Incidentally, my daughter asked me to "keep a fish" for her and her husband just a couple of days before.
Since I only had a couple of hours to fish, I started at the "handicapped pool", a place with wheelchair access for fishing, and worked my way up into the gorge. I had just started when the fish hit, and the fun was on. I had an audience from the handicapped parking area, and some nice young guy offered to net it for me. He did a professional job of netting it - no plunges or stabs, just let me lead the fish into the net. (Standing on the lip of a waterfall, it was no easy task! For either of us!)
Remembering my daughter's request, I painfully decided to keep it. I didn't have a camera with me, either. But the young guy who netted the fish for me offered to take a couple of pics of me, and get them to me.
I hadn't received the pictures for a long time, and had forgotten about them. Last June, I was stream fishing there again, and had just finished for the day. I was putting my gear in the back of the pickup, when I heard a voice behind me say, "I think I have something that belongs to you....."
He had misplaced my address, so had been keeping an eye out for me. As I said, a nice young man.
I still don't normally carry a camera with me. Cost me a nice shot of a fantastic steelhead last fall, some other "average" steelies, and some gorgeous browns (including a 20 lb. fish! My personal best!). But I carry too much with me as it is.
Still proves to me that you meet the nicest and friendliest people when you go fishing. Not all of 'em, to be sure, but the vast majority.
BobK