Natalie's catches her first fish!

On Saturday, I took Natalie and her second cousin Adam to a pond in Iowa to go fishing. And by fishing, I mean, waiting for the fish to fight over your bait...there is quite an over population in the pond to put it lightly. But, for me, going solo with two young kids to catch fish like this, was better than a guided tour with Bill Dance.

So we head out there with a small box of night crawlers, which at this point to the kids, was just a little white box. We borrow some fishing poles from the neighbors and head out to the pond. Little did we know, the pond was home to a snapping turtle, or so we were told later. We didn't see the little guy, but I was carrying a solid metal tackle box, and I knew how to use it!

When we got out to the pond, we headed out to the south-west corner, where the locals had already told us was the extra sweet spot (not that we were going to need any help catching fish). Here is where it got interesting...

We get all setup...poles have bobbers, weights, hooks, etc., the only thing missing is the worms. Natalie was holding the box of night crawlers, knowing that we were going to put the worms on next, but not really understanding what all was involved...I almost think that she thought these were gummy worms, and this was going to be another craft project from preschool...boy did this project go beyond what she was taught in school!!

So I open the box, after prying it out of Natalie's eager fingers, and much to Adam and Natalie's surprise, the worms were quite active and did not like the sunlight they were now exposed too. I quickly asked them who wanted to put the first worm on the hook....no response. I thought I would go a little easier with the next question, "who wants to pick out the first worm?"...still silence...only the chirping frogs and buzzing mosquitoes could be heard (which by the way were out of control...deep woods off was not taming these beasts).

As you could imagine, I got to pick out the worm, and tear a portion off because the hooks were small, and then put the worm on the hook. Natalie explained that this was not very nice to the worm, but we had come too far to let the worms feelings ruin our fishing trip.

I thought I would test the waters first before letting the kids loose. I throw the line in, and instantly the bobber goes under. I set the hook and starting reeling in. I get the first to shore and pull him out of the water. He was a little 6 inch pan fish. Both kids are excited. I look over at Natalie and she says, "dad, I want to catch a bigger one than that." Ouch.

Trying to regain my manhood, I ask the kids which one wanted to throw the first back in, and again, the peanut gallery was silent. So, manly dad gets to throw it back in, and I start to regain my position as alpha fisherman.

Hoping to build on their excitement, I try to get one of them to pick out another worm, but I had no luck. I get the pole setup again, throw the line in, and let Natalie take it for a spin (Adam politely let Natalie go first, a true 6 yr old gentleman). Just as before, we had a fish on the hook in less than 5 seconds. I helped her bring it in, and here is what came out:



This little guy was half the size of what I caught a few minutes before, but Natalie was in heaven, and I couldn't be happier for her either. She did not have any interest in taking the fish off the hook, or putting him back in the water, but she was happy to have caught it!

Next was Adam's turn, and he was eager to catch one of his own, and I don't blame him. I get him all setup and get the line in the water. We get a bite, but the sneaky fish stole the worm. We bait the hook again and try one more time. Boom, another fish is on the line. We reel him in, and here is what came out:



Adam and Natalie either caught the same fish, or a very close relative, because they looked exactly the same. Adam was going to help me throw the fish back, but after I explained that the fish had a spiky dorsal fin and how to hold the fish, he let me take care of it.

Once both kids had caught their fish, they were ready to go home. We loaded up the gear, still no sight of the turtle, and headed back to the house. As I am typing this story, in the comfort of my basement in PA, I remembered that I left the box of night crawlers in the basement of my inlaws...Al/Terri, if you are reading this, can you please throw the worms outside for me...sorry, I forgot to do that!!