Gone Fishin'

When you have worms - go fishing.

Granpop has a friend with a private pond in the middle of a cow pasture. With our night-crawlers in hand, we drove out to our own little private fishing hole for the morning. There was a little dock on one side of the pond. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful morning.

Grandma Joan bought our Brown Eyed Girl a brand new Barbie fishing pole this week. Grandpop fixed our Brown Eyed Girl up with a bobber and a worm on her hook. She cast the line out like she was a pro. With in about 2.5 seconds you could see a little blue gill swim right up to her line and take the bait.

I barely had time to put Mr Blue Eyes in the stroller and get the camera out. Our Brown Eyed Girl reeled and reeled and as the little fish fought the line.

And just like that, our Brown Eyed Girl caught her very first fish!

She loved every second of it.

After petting the fish and then kissing the fish, Grandpop unhooked him and tossed him back in to the pond. She cast the line again.

In a matter of seconds, she had hooked another one...

The fish were slippery and wet and they made her giggle.

Catching fish in this pond was like taking candy from a baby. As soon as you dropped your line in the water, you had a bite. It was harder to catch the night-crawlers than it was to catch the fish. For a three-year-old, it was the perfect fishing hole. The perfect fishing experience.

Grandma Joan decided to grab a rod and give it a shot. She cast her line way out in the middle and got a bite.

She reeled him in.

She caught a bass.

And although he was a beauty, we were just here to catch and release. Sorry Grandma Joan, maybe you can catch him again someday. Maybe Grandpop would mount him for the living room.

Grandma Joan, we know he is a keeper. You don't have to work at trying to convince us.

Before putting him back we showed Mr Blue Eyes. He didn't quite know what to think about the little bass.

Maybe he just needed to catch one himself.

Everyone was fishing, everyone except Mom. So I got my daddy to bait my hook. I cast out the line and waited a few seconds. Ka-pow! I had a bite. I reeled and reeled and grinned with glee has I unveiled my catch.

I had my daddy unhook the fish for me and we put him back in the pond.

You heard correctly.

My daddy still baits my lines and unhooks my fish.

I cast out my line and was preoccupied with watching my Brown Eyed Girl reel in yet another fish. Grandpop asked me where my bobber was.

My bobber??? Oh yeah. I was still fishing...

I firmly grasped by rod and gave it a little crank to reel in the slack. All of a sudden, something took my line - hard. I slipped my camera back in my pocket and started to reel. The more I reeled, the more the fish fought. Periodically stripping the line back. This had to be a big one!

As I reeled him in closer to the dock, I would catch a quick glimpse of him under the water. This was not a blue gill. He was BIG!

Grandpop could also tell he was big. I was advised to guide the fish over to the shore so Grandpop could help me get the fish out of the water. He doubted I would be able to pull it out, up over the railing of the dock. As I maneuvered the pole and line closer, I was informed I had caught a bass.

I had never caught a bass before in my life.

I was excited, giddy, and I felt very accomplished.

It was a gigantic catch. Especially from a tiny little pond in the middle of a cow pasture.

My Brown Eyed Girl thought my fish was pretty cool too.

All this fishing and excitement was exhausting.

Our Brown Eyed Girl's attention span slowly slipped away. She moved on to bathing the worms in a bucket of water. After a few casualties, Grandpop suggested taking JC for a little walk. They walked over to the other side of the pond and Grandpop tossed JC's retrieving toy in the water so that our Brown Eyed Girl could watch him swim.

Grandma Joan and I stood there on the dock, catching fish - I had to suck it up and bait my own hook and take off my own fish. It was very liberating. 

Mr Blue Eyes snored from his stroller.

Grandpop and our Brown Eyed Girl hiked around the pond. Laughing.

We were all smiling.

The sun shining on our faces.

The fish biting.

We agreed that moments like these were good for the soul. Standing there in the middle of that pasture, over the pond was easily God's greatest church.