Followed by Feeding Fish

"It was the hardest weedeating I've ever done," Nathaniel told me about some work he did with a friend a couple of afternoons ago.

I expected the report to follow to tell of rubbery plant stems that defied cutting, terrain that was tough to traverse, mechanical problems or maybe encounters with biting insects or other pesky critters.

None of the above.

Instead, Nathaniel was doing fairly routine weedeating, except that he was working along the banks of a pond, and as he walked and cut he was sending a buffet of 'hoppers and insects into the water. He actually had a mixed school of bass and bluegills following him along the lake's perimeter. He could see them swimming close to the surface, waiting to ambush every insect as it landed. Even a small snake that Nathaniel inadvertently scared into the pond only swam a few feet before a bass devoured it.

Being every bit as adamant a fisherman as his dad, spending a couple of hours working and watching those feeding bass and bream with no rod in hand was almost more than Nathaniel could stand. The good news is that this afternoon he gets to return to the same pond with another friend -- this time to fish instead of working. I wonder if the fish will feed as voraciously or if he fed them too well the other day!