Last week I saw that DNR was having one of their fishing rodeos at a local state pond that I was somewhat familiar with. My wife and I have been talking about taking our boy fishing here soon and decided this would be a good first trip, if the weather cooperated.
Well we got up around 7:00 am and peeked out the window, it was a bit cloudy but did not look bad so we got ourselves together and headed to the pond. When getting to the pond there were a good many people there but not bad. We registered, got the items DNR gives to the youngins and made our way to find a fishing spot.
Now my boy is only a little over 2 yrs old so we were not quite sure how he would take to the fishing, but if nothing else it was time we got to spend some good, quality time together as a family.
We found a spot and I baited his rod, a little 3ft dock demon with a spinning reel, and I made a cast for him. Hit the water and less than a minute we had one hooked. He comes over and I help him reel it in. It is a good looking little catfish, I think DNR must stock these catfish for the event as everyone seemed to be catching them regularly. We take it off the hook. I show him how to hold him and we put him back in the water.
As I am getting the hook rebaited my wife asks if we are keeping any fish. I said we can keep some of the catfish if she wanted. Well she was wanting to make a catfish stew and after that she had to say no more.
Cast again and a few moments later my boy and I were reeling in number 2.
We fished for about another hour and a half, longer than we expected his attention to last, and then he started getting hungry. Wife packed him a lunch so he sat down and ate and when it was time to reel he would come over and reel the fish in. He caught about 5-6 and I reeled in three that he did not come over to help with.
We kept five decent fish that would be plenty to filet and make a good stew with.
They had some other activities going on but the only thing that my boy was able to do because of his age was building a bird house. A local DU chapter was in charge of it and did a great job helping the kids build the bird houses.
By this time lunch was ready so we enjoyed a hot dog and bag of chips. After we finished eating the boy was showing signs that it was past nap time so we packed it up and headed on home. DNR did a great job with the event and I was quite impressed. I enjoyed speaking with the wardens about what they saw this turkey season. They did a great job interacting with the kids and all seemed very happy to be there. We are looking forward to going again and hope to bring a friend or two.
A few other photos my wife took while we fished:
Enjoying the spoils of his labors:
Sent from the Strut Zone
