Went to one of my favorite little bluegill holes yesterday afternoon. Usually I’m the only one there, but yesterday there was a kid there, 13-14 I’d say. And he had my spot! He was fishing two baitcasters, baiting them up and laying them on the bank, and sitting back in the shade waiting for a tug. Looked like he was using chicken livers and fishing them on the bottom. While I was there he horsed out 3-4 catfish, probably 14" or so. They weren’t biting real well, but I managed 3 of these guys on a hopper with a pheasant tail dropper…
…but every time he pulled one out he looked over to see if I was watching. Actually I was doing just what I came to do, but I know he was feeling superior. Smug little punk.
I am a little confused. You were taking gills off the top and this poor kid had to settle for catfish dredged up from the bottom. You got to have all the fun. It is only fair that he get to fry up some catfish and hushpuppies as a consolation prize. I hope you gave him some praise. We need to keep kids in the game long enough for them to discover fly fishing. It might as well ruin their lives too.
David
Seems like that is the way it has alway been and kind of good to know it continues. Just remember, Walmart will sell you a catfish rig any time you’re ready.
If I remember correctly the copperhead was a lawyer running for a local office so the transitition was an easy one there and the crayfish was a guy in South Dakota who walked in to a pool she was casting to a rather large rising rainbow.
That kid was watching your behaviour more than you realize. Think about it, he had plenty of time to observe your fishing while his baited lines rested on the bottom.
Recently, in my local warmwater haunt, there has been a steady hammering of threadfin shad by everything that swims and is big enough to consume one. It is very convenient for me to take a short 3 mile drive to town and fish the local dock for a few hours on a given day or evening. Lately, and to mention, over three sessions, I have had the pleasure of sharing the vast dock with a young lad (about 10 yr old) and his gaurdian grandfather. The younger has seen me with nothing but a fly rod, and over the course of fishing, has asked me many intelligent questions pertaining to fishing in general and about my fly fishing methods. Now this youngster is no slouch of a fisherman, and frequently skunks his grandad! So I don’t see him for a week, but one day, I am out on the dock, minding my business, and hear someone hollering my name. It is the kid, running full tilt from the parking lot down to the dock, fly rod/reel in hand. He was so excited to show me his new rig. Within 10 minutes after I had given him a few pointers, repaired his leader, and tyed on a small clouser fly, the boy was smacking crappie! His grandad, a soft spoken Vietnam Veteran, confided in me that earlier that day, the poor kid had been thrashing his new fly rig around, getting mighty frustrated, and hollering about how he “hated fly fishing rods!” He thanked me as he had no experience with flyfishing, and had hoped to find me to help the lad out. I had no qualms about spending a few moments showing him enough to get him catching fish and focusing on the game. I hope he sticks with fishing vs all of the other distractions our children are faced with today.
My wife tells me to grow up all the time. My grand daughter laughs when she hears that and says “Please don’t grow up grandpa”. I like the way my grand daughter thinks.
Good for you aa. Even if he doesn’t stick with fly fishing, you’ve given him a gift he will most likely always remember. And half a century from now, he may be paying it forward again, for the umpteenth time.
