For many that head out to the waters, a memorable day is one where they catch the biggest fish of their life. Or, it could be that day they catch the most fish. But for me, this day will go down as one of my most memorable. Because on this day I fished with an individual whose desire to learn fly fishing, whose tenacity for going where he has never gone before and despite his physical abilities would not give up on the moment.

On this very cold (16 degrees) start to our day, Lou Forbringer joined up with me (kenny klimes) and Hai Wright for his graduation trip. I hope Hai won’t mind me telling a little of his story. Hai was born in Vietnam in 1972 (that would make him 45 years old – I thought he wasn’t a day over 35!). If you know your history, the war was still raging over there then.  Unfortunately for Hai, he contracted polio as a baby.  Today, he wears a brace on each leg and needs a cane to walk.  One of his shoes (and now wading boot) is built up to help him walk a little straighter. He has very few muscles in either calf which makes it very difficult to walk but he works through it.  Why am I telling you this? Because now imagine walking in water, on rocks and boulders, long distances along the river.  None of this stopped Hai on his graduation day.  His spirit, tenacity, fearlessness, and perseverance I saw in him made me think how lucky I am to have the opportunity to teach fly fishing to all.

We fished the Maramec Spring park this day.  Lou took off to his spot as Hai and I went out on one of the few “penisulas” in the park to try our luck.  Hai worked his way into the water and we found him a nice flat spot for him to stand and fish.  Hai entrusted me to ‘hang on’ to him in case he lost his balance in the water.  And as all of us do when we fly fish, Hai lost himself in the moment.  His first trout ever on a fly rod was taken early on a mohair leech pattern.  Then we had a fun time trying to entice several trout to take the dry fly.  They would look and refuse.  They would open their mouths and refuse.  A few takes happened but were lost as they threw the hook. But the cool thing was we laughed and enjoyed the moment.

We broke for lunch and then headed to slightly deeper water. This became a challenge as we didn’t realize that with very little muscle in Hai’s legs it became difficult for him to keep his feet planted in the water.  One time his legs just floated up away from him.  BUT, he never got discouraged as I caught him and as he got upright and settled back on the river bottom, he said that maybe getting some ankle weights would help him keep his feet firmly planted.  WOW!  Most people would have said I can’t do this but not Hai.  Let’s get some ankle weights!!??!  I love it.  He made me smile as we cast for another two hours.

We met up with Lou at the end of the day and all went for fellowship dinner at Missouri Pizza in St James.  Lou had a good day fishing and we caught a few fish too.  Just another day on the water? – not by a long shot.  This one will go down as a very memorable day for me!