Camping at Big Hank on the CDA River

Our five-year-old grandson, Malcolm, is visiting from California for a couple weeks. Entertaining an active five-year-old is a challenge, so we thought a camping trip would be fun. It was also a good excuse to try out our new fly fishing rods. We headed to the Big Hank Campground on the Coeur d’Alene River where I went fishing with my brother a few weeks ago.

Catching a few Pokemon in Coeur d’Alene before heading off the grid

One of the many perks of being retired is camping mid-week. Big Hank has 30 campsites and only about half were occupied. Our site backed up to the Coeur d’Alene River and was very private.

There’s no wasting water when you have to pump it yourself!

The first day, we explored the river and ended the day with marshmallow roasting by the campfire.

Malcolm got a bit wetter than planned

Malcolm on his new tripod seat

The second day, we woke up to rain, but that didn’t stop us from going out fishing. Malcolm had been practicing his casting, and Shawn and I were itching to try out our new gear.

Checking out Grandma’s flies

Since Papa was wearing waders, he carried Malcolm out into the middle of the river to fish off a rock

We found a deep spot in the river where the trout were jumping, but we didn’t have any luck that afternoon. While we chose to camp in an established campground, there is a lot of free camping space available. We checked out a spot across the road in a meadow. It involved crossing a creek. Our camp host shared that it can get a bit wild out in the meadow, but he keeps the riffraff out of his campground.

The “road” to the free camping

The last morning we went back to the spot where the fish had been jumping. There was already another fly fisherman there, but he invited us to join him. He had caught the “big one” the night before. I tried for a while, but still no luck.

Sporting my new ladies’ waders

After the other guy left, Shawn gave it a try. It didn’t take long before he hooked a cutthroat trout. It was about 8″. Malcolm was not thrilled that he didn’t catch a fish, but when you’re grandparents don’t put a hook and bait on your line your chances for success are greatly diminished.