Birthday Fish

It seems I might have told Autumn a story on her eighth birthday. You see, I told her she had caught a warmouth, a species she'd never caught before. Having looked at a couple of comparative photos and habitat descriptions this morning, I'm pretty sure she actually caught a green sunfish. Either way, it was a kind of fish she'd never caught before and her first fish as an 8-year-old. She caught it on a Rebel Teeny Wee-Craw after seeing fish movement near the bank and casting in that direction.

Birthdays are often fishing days around here, and yesterday was no different. Autumn went to Moccasin Creek State Park, stopping to feed the giant trout at Mark of the Potter along the way, and fished a bit in the creek, Lake Burton and the catfish pond, which is next door on the Lake Burton Fish Hatchery property.

The catfish pond produced a few hits, but no hooked or landed cats, which is rare. It's late in the season, though, and I don't think they keep a lot of fish stocked in the little family fishing pond when there aren't many people fishing.

We started at Moccasin Creek (her fishing; me watching), which is a youth/senior citizens stream within the park. We didn't linger long, though, because as is usually the case, camping senior citizens were camped out in the most productive areas, leaving little opportunity for an 8-year-old girl to catch a trout on her birthday.

She caught her sunfish, which was our lone fish, from the lake itself, close to the mouth of the creek.

Autumn finished her time at the park on the playground, and then we wrapped up the birthday fishing outing with sandwiches and sundaes at McDonald's on the way home.

The Catfish Pond

The Family Fishing Pond on the property of the Burton State Fish Hatchery doesn't look like much, but it's loaded with fun in the form of channel catfish. Operated by the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division for the express purpose of providing a family friendly option, "the catfish pond," as we've always called it in my home, provides great access to easy fishing and normally fast action.

Asher, my 6-year-old, got his first introduction to the the catfish pond this weekend and left four catfish catches richer. We threw back our fish , but anglers are allowed to take home four fish apiece.

We also visited the hatchery and "ooood and awed" over the thousands of trout in the tanks and then dunked bread balls on tiny hooks at mouth of Moccasin Creek in adjacent Moccasin Creek State Park and caught about 20 bream in short order. Had he wanted to, Asher could have gone for the area slam, targeting trout in the same creek in a section that's open only to children and senior citizens. He'd had enough of the July Georgia sun, though, so we packed it up and turned the truck toward home.

I've enjoyed days at the catfish pond with my three oldest children and a few young family friends, and I suspect in time I'll get out there with my other two. I commend the WRD for providing such a nice opportunity for young anglers to enjoy good angling action virtually any day.

Our favorite bait at the catfish pond, by the way, is a little piece of a cheap hot dog. Chicken livers also work very well.