|
Below, you'll find extensive information on leading
fishing reports articles and products to help you on your way
to success.
Grandpa's Pond
By A.J. Klott, Sat Dec 10th
We can learn alot from kids. Last Friday, which incidently was St. Jean Baptiste Day inQuebec, was also the day we decided to have Grandpa's Pond dayin Shady Cove, Oregon. Everything went off just as planned. In Shady Cove, anyway.
A beautiful early summer day, this is the annual "take the kidsfishing and make sure they catch fish day", that we have to helpbuild interest and enthusiasm towards for our littleones. The pond is not large, and really is a watering hole for the fewhead of cattle that roam the hillside on Grandpa Ray's miniranch. At some point, a previous owner or large water spout,deposited several Crappie, Smallmouth Bass, and who knows whatelse into the tiny pond.There, the fish have flourished,reproduced and turned the pond into a lovely little startingplace for kids to learn to fish.Truth be told, the adults liketo use it for a confidence builder also. The fish don't get verybig, and like an overcrowded meadow, it is nice to thin the herd. Anyway, my five year old daughter and her school buddy Jameswere excited and donned in hats ready to go fishing. Acouple other lads, Sterling & Saxon-- were supposed to attendbut unfortunately their Dad must have had some bad Oatmeal anddecided to do some toilet trolling instead. I know--too much information!! Meanwhile back at the pond... Grandpa had the worms ready and we had three poles ready togo.(for those of you who cringe at the term"pole"-- it isacceptable when referring to kids fishing!!) Two of the poleswere standard issue, fish tested, Fenwick "rods", the third wasthe little "Barbie" pole I bring out for my daughter eachyear--complete with Tiggger bobber and bright green line. The kids are always overly excited at first and can't wait toget the lines in the water. Luckily, it took all of thirtyseconds to have the first nibbles and soon Tigger was "scubadiving" below the surface. I think the fish wait all year for us to show up too! Of course both my daughter and James want to claim the firstfish and they are clamoring for the chance to reel in a six inchfish on the "Barbie-nator" fish slaying machine. I appeal toJames manhood and the chauvinistic "ladies first" approach, andhand over the pole to my daughter. She loses the fish in the weeds. Lesson number one is learned, sometimes the fish wins. Lessonnumber one "A" is also learned, --that it is O.K. for a dad tolook less than manly with a Barbie pole-- but not a five yearold macho boy!! It didn't take long before the next fish was dancing around withthe worm, and soon the kids were reeling in fish left and rightand dropping them into the fish bucket. Well, I guess we didmost of the dropping into the bucket, since the kids thought thefish should just submit quietly when being removed from thehook. The flopping and wiggling of the fish induced happyshrieks and giggles and once the fish were "stabilized" into thefish bucket-- then it was O.K. to pet and observe the fish in amore controlled environment. Kids are pretty accepting at this age. They seem to understandthat it is O.K. to appreciate and find the fish "cute", as wellas have them for dinner. They are fish afterall, and there is noworry of "endangered species" on Grandpa's pond. Kids usually also have the attention span of a Cocker Spaniel atthis age, so after about a half hour of catching fish,(andreleasing the small ones) in order to keep it interesting forthem you have to get creative. The first thing I do, is tell the kids that now we are going totry and catch the Shark that is in the pond. James thinks thisis really COOL. He is a little skeptical, and more than surethat Sharks don't live in small ponds in Shady Cove Oregon-- buthe is willing to go along with the "fish tale" after I let himknow that these are "freshwater" Sharks. As I show him thespecial technique I use to entice the "freshwater" Sharks fromthe murky deep- I cast into the reeds and as the bait starts tocircle I ask him if he thinks that
it might be a Shark nibble.The battle is on and James is reeling in with hopes of catchinghis first pond Shark. The bright green line yields another Smallmouth and I explainthat the Sharks are tricky in these waters and sometimes "grab"a smaller fish and pull the old switcheroo trick, where they putthe small fish on while the line is being reeled in. James is skeptical once more. Here comes lesson number two.We fishermen and budding fishermen,live for the thought that the big one is out there somewhere andas long as we have a chance to catch it--we will keep comingback. After a few"switcheroos" it is time to "venture" off to thegreat unknown. The other side of the pond!! We grab a pole and without so much as packing a lunch or snack,we head off like Tom Sawyer, Becky Thatcher and an old bald HuckFinn. Twenty yards later we arrive at the wilds of the other side ofthe pond. I explain to the kids that I saw Shark bubbles over here, and wekeep the Shark tale active. By now, the kids interest has turned to building a "bridge" overthe great Bovine river-- which is a two foot irrigation ditch-and crossing back and forth to test its engineering. Then mydaughter of course wants to play "little house on the prairie"and starts doling out instructions for the homestead to James. Irescue James by sending him on another adventure. He is to gosolo on a mission back to Fort Fish Bucket, and bring backanother nightcrawler. It is a trip fraught with dangers, likecow pies and cockleburrs. I wish James well and soon he issending messages back to our camp of his "leaping" over cow piesand battles with hostile sticker bushes, which have apparentlyriddled his socks with attachment. James returns from thefrontier with a nightcrawler. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!! Sara, not wanting to be left out of the great adventures, andhearing of James harrowing tales of the trail, now wants to headto Fort Fish Bucket on a mission of her own. I let her know thatthe well being of our continued stay out in the wilds of Northpond country, will be determined on the success of her trip toFort Fish Bucket, and the return of further provisions, in theform of a couple more nightcrawlers and a couple of hooks. Being forewarned of the imminent cow pie dangers, Sara is wellprepared for the journey, and soon is stocking up at Fort FishBucket. Her return is delayed, as there are bugs to observe,bullfrogs spotted on the water, and flowers to pick. She finallyreturns to our outpost--sans hooks-- which must have been lostalong the trail. This limits our stay in the Northcountry, andwe soon head back to Fort Fish Bucket, with a few more fish--and tales of the wild. Lesson number three is for the adults. There is so much fun to be had along the way, and the true joyof is ALL the things that go on, in and around the actof fishing. The stories, the anticipation, the environmentaround you--all things that can be overlooked when we are hellbent on CATCHING fish. We caught a MESS a fish that day and when we got back to theranch--it was time for the cleaning and eating of our dayscatch. Lesson four, is that you should wear gloves when cleaningthose spiny sharp little Crappie and Bass-- or at least havesome band aids ready. Lesson five, was that as fishermen and fisherwomen we shouldalways have respect for the animals that give their lives up tosustain ours. The kids enjoyed eating the fish as much as thecatching, especially when you mixed 'em up with enough mashedtaters. James even wanted to bring some of his catch home so hisdad could have some. We talked of the days successful and James shared withus- tales of another trip to Applegate lake--where he,his dad, and some friends caught some trout. Guess they weren't able to catch any Sharks either!! About the author:A.J. Klott Author, writer of humor,and "fly tack"peddler.A.J. writes about the people,characters and modern dayevents that surround the world. His first book is dueout in December of 2005. If you need a laugh or a fun gift,visit his website at: http://www.twoguyswithflys.com
|
