A Boy's First Bass

There's something iconic about the Largemouth Bass. It's really the unofficial "posterfish" of American freshwater inland fishing. Don't get me wrong, there's lots of fish species out there that are total trophies but, there's just something about a Largemouth Bass....the way it looks....that HUGE gaping mouth, that unmistakable dark stripe painted down the length of it's strong body...it's jet-black eye...it's blood-red gills...the way it hunts, the way it strikes, the way it fights....There's a reason that the store isn't called Pickerel Pro Shops.

So, I've documented at length about our fishing experiences this year...that Gavin was introduced to fishing about 3 months ago with a simple rod and length of line...and, honestly, that's what I thought "fishing" was going to be for him this year, just dangling off the dock and snatching up bluegills and sunnies all Summer. That rig lasted about a month, then he said that he was ready to cast. I did a few weeks worth of hand-over-hand with him on my rod and reel...he'd flip the bail and hold his hands right under mine as I casted out. Then he wanted to try it on his own. The only reel that I had for him was an open-faced reel and, for those not in-the-know, is MUCH more challenging to use than the traditional kids training reel called a "push-button". I put a bobber at the end of his hookless line and taught him a thing or two and within one afternoon, he was able to cast out on his own fairly well. That led to him casting out a baited hook and eventually nabbing his first completely solo catch: casted, hooked, and reeled in all by himself.
And that's pretty much where we are at. he's still too little to bait a hook or unhook a fish but he's pretty much got everything else down pretty well. There's definitely some "proud papa" moments when I watch this little 4 year old boy sit there as something is nibbling his bait....paitent....waiting for just right moment to set that hook. It's impressive.
A few weeks ago we started dabbling in plastic and rubber bait. I picked us up some off-set hooks and rubber worms/flukes. Personally, I like the live bait. I love catching big fish, but most days I'm more content to catch 15 small/medium fish than 1 lunker. Live bait, on our pond, is a sure thing....and I'm good with that. For me, just being out there on the dock with my boy is the highlight...the fish caught is just the gravy. Gavin, on the other hand, has been much more interested in the rubber baits. He's had this white rubber super fluke on his line for the past week. He'll cast it out and pretend to have something on his line and yell "get the net"....sometimes even before his bait hits the water. He's got nothing all week....and he couldn't care less....I think that he too just mainly likes being out there.
So today, he and I are out there fishing, I'm snatching up the occasional bluegill and he's casting and reeling in next to me. Then he says "I got one"...I don't even really react at that point, thinking that it's just another one of his little pretending sessions. He says it again " I got one...a BIG one". At that point I glance over and see his line laser straight heading into the water and his pole bent sharply. "Yeah...you do" I say...."Reel! Keep your line tight!".
He handles himself like a champ and, in a classic yet inevitable shift in roles, I grab the net to help HIM land HIS big fish:



My boys first Bass. Signed, sealed, and delivered all by himself. Just under 2 lbs. Just over 16 inches. He was psyched, I was more psyched for him. He got his Big Fish.

I am so grateful to have rediscovered my love of fishing, especially with my boy. There is nothing in the world like getting to spend that much time with him, so close together, talking, joking, teaching, laughing. Being out there gives me so much time and opportunity to pour into his little life on so many levels. I look forward to many more years of quality time on the dock with my boy. Big Fish or not.

"Many men go fishing their whole lives without knowing that it is not the fish they are after" - Henry David Thoreau

Lunkers and Leafy Greens

Let me just start by posting the best first:


I pulled this mother out of the lake this afternoon. Now....let me post my "fish story"...
I started Gavin fishing for the first time early this season....we had pulled a million bluegills and sunnies out of the lake, along with the occasional catfish and the gift pickerel that we nailed....He's becoming quite the fisherman, even at 4 years old, the kid is learning how to set the hook like a champ....in fact, today...I taught him how to cast an open-face reel....I figured, why bother with these push button junkers...just teach him the real deal...anyway, he nailed it. He's a bit sketchy on the back swing but, he's nailing the release. Very "proud papa" moment there, but nothing like what would come later in the day.
So today, we're on the dock...a pretty standard day of fishing for us....he's pulling in bluegills every 5 minutes or so...usually, a day fishing on out dock turns out like this:

a bucket full of bluegills, fun as anything for a four year old...but after a while, Gavin decided that he wanted to practice casting. I took the hook off his line, showed him a thing or two, and let him rip, bobber only. I, in the meantime, strung up my pole, sent the line low and casted to an area that I I've pulled some impressive catfish out of this season. I'll spare some details here but....suddenly...I got a hit...I mean, a HIT. If you've fished long enough, you learn how certain fish hit. "Kivers" poke and prod and then zig-zag the whole way in. Bigger stuff like Catfish and Bass hit quick and strong and pull strong in one direction. This thing took my bait (just a simple hook and night crawler) and RAN. I said "Gavin...I got a big one"...he immediately knew what his job was...drop his pole and get the net. I reeled this guy in and Gavin was right there with the net in the water. I wasn't sure what I had on the line until it was about 7 feet out from the dock. After I saw that it was a MOTHER of a Bass, I was freaking out. Gavin got the net in the exact right spot in the water. I got down on a knee to start to lift this lunker to the surface and grab onto his bottom jaw with my fingers when.....suddenly....**SNAP** my line broke.
The biggest Bass I've ever pulled out of my lake in my life dropped and fell.....right into Gavin's net. We pulled him up onto the deck and got the hook out. It wasn't until things calmed down that I realized that....the only reason that we landed this fish is because my son...my 4 year old son, knew exactly what to do in the moment and performed marvelously. I realized that, through it all, I didn't give him 1 command or instruction. he just knew what to do. He was trained for this moment, and did exactly the right things. Had he not been at the ready and on point, this would have been just another story of "the one that got away", but...not the case today. I have to say....that was more impressive than the fish we landed (well, almost :^).
We showed the girls, snapped some pics:


and then let him go . I know, I know...here come the comments "why didn't you eat him"..." I can't believe you let that thing go"....well...gutting, cleaning, and filleting will be next years training. This year, we'll just continue to focus on catching them.

Also tonight....
I had to thin out our lettuces. I planted way more than we needed....which I guess is a good problem. Anyway, I decided to do a major harvest and give individual bags of lettuces and spinach to the participants of the day program that I run. Both kids helped me harvest. Ivy helped me wash:


then we dried:


Then bagged:



I'm sure that the folks at my program will enjoy these garden treats.
It was a very busy, yet very fulfilling weekend for our family. The Lord is using us to serve others in so many neat ways. I'm grateful for the Servant Heart of my wife and kids. That He is using us (and especially the little ones) to bring Him glory through service. I'm specially thankful for the down time that He gives us...and the blessings, like garden greens and this HUGE fish, that He sends our way....

Pickerel Party

I just got finished telling Gavin how lure fishing takes much more patience than worm and hook fishing. He persisted, I conceded, and we tied on a little crawfish lure. 3rd cast....



...we land this mother.

There goes that theory.

Holy Catfish!!

The boy and I pulled a nice one the other day...then another...then another.

I've unofficially labeled our fishing area as Instant Gratification Cove.

I'm completely introducing a false reality to my son of what actual fishing is...when he realizes that in most lakes it usually takes more than 15 seconds to catch a fish...he's going to be devastated. But for now...

Our pond is actually one of about 5 or 6 ponds that are connected through pipes under the roads in the area....there's a slight current running through all of them. At one point, years ago, before this area was developed, my bet is that it was actually just a healthy river. The development of the area included a series of dams which pooled up these small ponds and lakes. For our little lake, there is a dam at the one end with a spillway that only lets water when it storms or when the snow melts. The upshot is that the current sends lots of wildlife down into our lake...and then has nowhere to go. It's like our pond is Uber naturally stocked....frogs, turtles, FISH. tons of them. If you can't land a little bluegill inside of 10 seconds off our dock, there's something wrong with you.

It'll take a little longer if you want to land one of the bigger fish in the lake...a nice bass, pickerel, or perch. But...at 4 years old...a fish is pretty much a fish....so right now the boy is king of all God's creation out there.

Life's not so bad out here these days....the fish are biting... the seedlings are up....the fruit trees are blossoming....the kids come in every night covered in dirt...we're dining on garden asparagus....my seasonal allergies are making me want to scratch my eyes out but...a small price to pay for the simple life.

Go Spring!

Cold Weather Crops with a side of Ichthyology

Many folks, this time of year, get very excited about The Final Four....us? we get excited about The Final Frost. 'cause that means our cold weather crops can go in the ground.
Aside from the stuff that's been in since last season...garlic, asparagus, some perennial herbs, and onions that we put in 2 weeks ago....we put our early Spring crops in today. We planted:

Strawberries (our patch was looking a bit sparse...I guess a bunch of plants didn't make it through the winter)
Spinach
Kale
Swiss Chard
Lettuces
Carrots
Snap Peas
Broccoli

There's this weird aesthetic that comes from planting stuff from seed....you look over the gardens after you just sowed...and it looks no different than it did before you sowed...still just flat dirt...but now there's this life under there....this hope...this tiny little seed (have you ever seen a carrot seed?? those things are about microscopic!)..in which some amazing chemical reactions (and a few miracles) will take place inside of
that eventually will yield sustenance for my family...it's actually a pretty amazing thing to comprehend.

I get giddy thinking about 2 weeks or so from now...when those tiny little seeds have germinated....where their roots have formed and headed South and their stalks have somehow found North and pushed themselves upwards into the sun....where leaves form and absorb the sun's energy....while roots absorb nutrients from the soil....to grow and mature and provide EXACTLY the nutrients our bodies need to sustain life. I can't imagine that there are many atheist gardeners. I don't see how anyone can watch a seed become a fruit yielding plant and not see God's Hand in that transformation.

It's funny about gardeners....once you've got crops in the ground, you are so much more in tune with nature and weather and what's going on around you....It's raining tonight....which I'm psyched about....I didn't connect my hoses and sprinklers and water my seeds today because I knew it was going to rain...and I know that it's going to rain again early next week...which will be perfect for my seeds to come alive. Sun, heat, rain, dry spells, wet spells, water tables, paths of the sun, birds, rabbits, critters, wind, shade...all of these seemingly mundane things take on so much more importance when you rely on a combination and understanding of all of them to help your crops along. I think back to the early settlers, who had literally life or death riding on the success of their crops....they would have cut off their pinkie finger in exchange for weather.com, right?

Anyway...here's to hoping for a good crop yield this year. I got a couple pictures from today's planting (the kids didn't stay out too long...it was Coooooold today):




Adding in some strawberries to the bare areas of our patch.


Looking foreground to background:
The first garden will be tomatoes come May
Behind that..Spinach
then Carrots
then asparagus/strawberries

Next...since Gavin has become such a pro fisherman in the last 4 days.....we've decided to photograph each different type of fish that he catches...so's that we can learn a bit about them. Here's the different types that he's landed so far:


Bluegill.....some might call it a Pumpkin Seed...or a kivver


Sunfish...or "Sunny"...also called a Kivver by some.


Golden Shiner. I don't remember ever landing these as a kid....in fact, we used to buy shiners to use as bait...they were only an inch or two long, though. I'm not sure how or when these guys got introduced to our pond....but they are cool looking, no? (Ivy thinks so.)

That's about the size of the fishing tally so far....we spotted a MOTHER of a bass the other day, but he swam right past our hook.

Now, for no reason other than she's cute as nails....the girl:


Epic hairdo on this kid...I've never seen anything like it.

We're having a blast getting dirty in the garden and on the dock...hope you are too.