Trading Places

"Do I get to drive?!" Nathaniel asked as I sat down in the front of the canoe he had just put in the water.

"I'm just along for the ride," I answered, whipping a cast toward a dock before he ever pushed the boat from the bank.

We'd fished the same pond from the same canoe many times - just not from those seats. I'd always worked from the back and had done the paddling, letting Nathaniel, who is 11, do the bulk of the fishing.

We'd actually started the afternoon bank fishing and had learned that the bass and bream were over shallow grass near the banks. Nathaniel knew of some similar spots across the pond, and he was convinced the fish would be there. He'd asked if he could take a boat out, and then whether I wanted to go with him.

It turned out he was right about his spots, and I caught several bream and one bass on YUM Wooly Curltails fished on 1/32-ounce Road Runner Heads. Nathaniel managed to catch a couple of fish as well, but he did really fish much. He kept the paddle in his hand and did a good job maintaining good boat position so that I could catch fish.

He said later that it was fun paddling the boat, even without fishing much. "I wouldn't want to do it that way all the time, though," he added.