Capt. Eli

Eli, 5, running the boat for his brother Asher and me.

Eli enjoys to going fishing. There's no doubt about that. However, I sort of think he likes paddling the johnboat around the lake even more than he likes to try to catch fish. He's gotten pretty good at it, too. For a not-quite-6-year-old, Eli shows surprising command of the boat, especially considering that he works from the middle and has to move a couple of steps to switch paddling sides.

It used to be that when I handed Eli a paddle I was resolving to happily cast from wherever the boat happened to spin, which effectively meant not really fishing for a while. I didn't mind that at the time, but I have to admit that I kind of like him easing Asher and me along a bank so we can cast for bluegills and bass. In truth, I like it better than him slinging a hook past my nose when he casts from the center of the boat!

Yesterday wasn't a big fish catching day. We got a few bluegills in one mid-day pond lap. A couple of them came with Capt. Eli paddling, so I'm giving him guide credit for those fish!