I don't have very many fond memories of my father or my childhood, but one thing that he was willing to share with me was his love of fishing. The only really thing of value he taught me was how to fly fish and it is an activity that has enriched my entire life. I was a better father because of his neglect and I try to be a really good grandfather as well. My grandson is 5 and he has went along as we fished as a family before, but he has never went with me specifically and solely for the purpose of fishing......well until now that is! lololol
Since he is only five and still extremely prone to the "wiggles" and bouts of inattention lololol I figured we have a few more years before we can tackle the art of fly fishing. I recently bought him an inexpensive spider man rod and reel combo that came with a little extra gear and a super cool tackle box! I added a few necessities to his little tackle box like a pair of pliers, hand sanitizer, hooks, bobbers, sinkers, finger nail clippers, and a small knife.
We headed out in the early afternoon to a small pond near where we live and we stopped prior to getting there in order to buy a box of worms, snacks, and drinks. Once we got there it took us a bit to get everything rigged up and we spent some time getting him practiced at casting the line. After he worked through a few casts of frustration, he began to get the hang of it and was ready to get to fishing.
As I expected, it did not take long for him to become a bit restless and want to hunt for bugs and explore around a bit. I did my best to keep him close to the rods, but I figured going into this that I would have to keep an eye on both poles lolol It was several hours of absolutely no action whatsoever when all of a sudden his bobber began to move a bit and even though I warned him several times to keep an eye on it, the fish kept stealing his bait...much to his building anger towards them lololol While he was extremely preoccupied with capturing the various insect life around the lake, a fish hit his line and kept the bobber under. I began screaming for him to grab it and he battled with all his might to bring in a decent sized pan fish! Of course, it did not take long at all for him to get bored with watching the line and he drifted back to the insect expedition. All of a sudden a few minutes later a fish hit his line so hard it began dragging his little pole off the banks. I hollered at him to come grab it as I dove for it and slipped on the muddy edge of the pond I was just able to grab the very end of the pole as my arm was about shoulder deep in the water and I was flailing belly down in the mud and mire lolololol I dutifully handed it over to him and he was able to land the small bass pictured above. He was grinning ear to ear with the catch and made my muddy misery all worth it! lolol
All in all it was a fabulous day to fish and spend time with my little buddy. Thanks for reading and remember each of you are special and deserve someone to look at you the way Elijah does that bass!!! lolol
All That Is Gold Does Not Glitter,
Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost
-Tolkien
