On Sunday afternoon, with the wind light, a slight overcast and the air temp at 68, I nudged my 2 year son Matthew and asked, "Do you want to go fishing?" ...
The best I could tell, he said:
" Bishes? - Wa-wa ! ".
( In 2 yea old Jargon, that means "Fish? Water? Let's Go!" )
And so off he (we) went...
We headed over to a fresh water pond in our neighborhood and I calculated that our window of opportunity would probably be between 5 and 15 minutes at the most. (Directly propoprtional to Matt's attention span.).
We did take a few minutes to dig up some bait on the edge of my wife's herb garden. (mom, please forgive us.)
Here's Matt - Ready & armed with 2 earth worms, two grubb worms and a 3 foot Zebco rod with a 202 reel .
We setup on the lower level of the dock and I sat Matt in my lap and baited the small red Lazer Hook with a white grubb worm about 1/2" long. I casted the Grubb about 5 feet off of the dock over by a pilon and gave the rod to Matt and asked him to watch the bobber...
And it seemed no sooner had the bobber hit the water than it jumped twice under it went ... Fish-On!
><> Matt reeled in his first fish - It was a hand sized Crappie!
Great Job and W.T.G. Matt! <><
What a joy it was to watch the action. He was both curious and excited. I placed the the fish on small towel. Then, seeing that he had part of the grub left on his hook, I tossed it back in and started getting my camara ready. No sooner had I focused the camara, Matt had his second hook up...
Matt jumped, and started reeling... Fish #2 was a bit smaller and Matt landed it with expedience...
Great Job, buddy !!!
I couldn't help but think,
"Eureka! An Angler is Born!"
Matt caught on from there and we proceed to re-bait the hook and get back down. He keep saying "More, Daddy..."
The fun continued and and I let Matt work the rod anyway he wanted. He was doing a jigging thing, sort of and had some success when he left it still long enough. It was a small exercise in patience for me, and a very valuable one that. He had one other hook-up which we released healthy, just like the others. Great Job, Matt!!
We ran out of bait there soon after, despite me trying to cut the last earth worm up into 1/4 inch pieces...LOL  We found one last earth worm at the base of a bush under some mulch and used it up quikly, then shifted grears and hit the playground for some fun.
All in all it was great father-son afternoon and our goal was met - have fun, spend some quality time together and catch fish !!!
Once again, Congratulations, Matt ! I think we need to welcome another Angler to the family
Love, Dad
* * *
PS - For Saltwater, Inshore action: Please let us know and well put a trip together to meet your needs! We like to cater to family outings and other parties up to 4. Call Fletcher at 757-292-7702.
Good Luck and Tight Lines!, Fletcher Dunton USCG Captain OUPV
|