Fishing

One of our ponds (or tanks, to you Texians - I've been reading The Alamo) has the potential to be a nice fishing pond. At least it looks like it could be a nice spot. Ever since we've been here, though, we haven't taken the time to explore to find out. For one thing, getting out to it was a challenge because it is so overgrown with bushes and branches.  For the second thing, we knew nothing about fishing.

But, my recent birthday changed everything. One of my presents was a fishing pole! Don't laugh. I was really excited to get it from Hunter.  He must have heard me saying how I'd like to learn how to fish. The fishing pole even came with a fishing lesson!

We all went out to the pond that evening when it had cooled down a little. We took trimmers and loppers and cut a path to the small dock that sits on the edge of the pond. Then Hunter patiently showed us all how to string up the pole, tie on a hook and lure, cast the line and reel it in. I went first because, after all, it was my birthday present. Within a couple of tries, I hooked a small fish and reeled it in. Hunter quickly identified it as a perch. After mustering up the courage to unhook the flopping fish, I tossed it back in. The last thing I wanted to do on my birthday was clean fish!

After I had several goes, I let everyone else have a go. We were all able to catch a few perch. As it turns out, perch is probably the only kind of fish in the pond.We plan to stock the pond with some bass or catfish. Then we can do some real fishing.