Father's Day Weekend Start

It wasn't a planned outing. My wife was taking a few of my children to swim in the pond that we often visit, and I felt I was near the end of my productivity, writing wise, for the week. So I grabbed Asher, my 10-year-old, and we grabbed a bit of gear and drove separately to the pond (so we could stay longer, if we wanted to, which we did).

Planned activity or not, I'll count a couple of laps around the pond with Asher as a very nice start to Father's Day weekend. We fished with little Rebel critters lures (him with a Bumble Bug and me with a Micro Craw and then a Crickhopper Popper). We each ended up catching five fish. All except one bass caught by Asher were bluegill, and most were decent sized fish. We also had a bunch of smacks from smaller bluegills. Beyond the one bass caught, we didn't see any others, so I'm thinking that most of the pond's bass have moved a bit off the banks.

Sunday Evening Suprise Bass

Autumn, 6, got called to camera duty yesterday evening when the fish that slurped down my Rebel Crickhopper Popper turned out to be far bigger than what normally shows up in the pond where we were fishing. Although, she'd never used the camera that was around my neck when the fish hit, I think she did a fine job of taking the canoe transfer, figuring out which buttons do what and composing a nice photo of me and my catch.

Autumn and I had determined to make a quick lap around the pond before it got dark. She had only fished from the bank before, so just casting from a canoe was a new experience for her. She caught one bass on a 3-inch YUM Dinger and had a few other strikes. Unfortunately, the one Autumn caught slipped away before I could return the photo favor.

Nathaniel looked at the photos after Autumn and I got back home, and we believe it's the same fish he's caught two other times from the same pond. We call her Melody, after his big, goofy dog. Most bass in the pond, which only covers a couple of acres, weigh 1 1/2 pounds or less, and we've fished it enough over the years that we think we'd know it if there was more than one extra big fish. Assuming it is the same fish, she's notably thinner than either time Nathaniel has caught her before. However, our spring came so late and our water has been so high that I think she might have the post-spawn sort of look a bass normally has in around May around here. She didn't look unhealthy. Just much more slender than in previous photos.

Melody or not, that fish, which I landed on an ultralight outfit and 4-pound test line, provided a big surprise and a fun bonus for our Sunday evening outing.