Collin's Catch - Aug. 24, 2007

In August, we spent nine days and eight nights camping at SunBanks Resort on Banks Lake in Eastern Washington and had a wonderful time! Grandma and Grandpa J joined us for the first leg of the trip, and Collin got to fish for the first time from a boat! His "fish tale" is a doozy!

Grandpa carefully laced the worm onto the hook and lowered the line into the water. Collin grabbed hold of the reel and sat patiently. He watched his line sit, motionless. He watched Grandpa tie a lure onto his own line. He watched Dad teaching Owen to use the reel. He began to look bored.
"Hey, Bud, fishing is a sport that takes lots of patience. But it sure is fun to hook a fish! You just wait and wait and hope for a bite," I said.

And just like that - a bite. With a little help, Collin reeled in his first fish! Woohoo! The boat rocked as we exclaimed our excitement! It was just a little guy, but a prize for certain! "Congratulations, Collin!" "Good Work!" And with that, Grandpa laced another worm onto Collin's hook.

I glanced at Kevin. Collin had hardly had to wait at all. What are the chances he'll even catch another fish during our trip, let alone in this hour? No one else had caught anything yet. But at least Collin would now get to learn the realities of fishing. Or so I thought.

"Oh my gosh! Collin - your line! He's got another one!" Less than five minutes had passed! Grandma grabbed hold of Collin's pole, and the fish fought for its freedom. Collin's mouth was open wide in astonishment! The end of the pole dipped further and further into the water, and Collin gripped the side of the boat and leaned in for a closer look.
With a triumphant burst, the fish sprang from the water - posing before Collin mid-air as if to say "Here I am!"
It was a monster bass! Collin squealed in delight ~ not only had he just caught his second fish, he'd caught the biggest fish ever!!
Nice catch!!

After that, everyone began using worms. Owen loved peeking in on the fish and jumped in shock each time the fish flopped!

Amped by his trophy catch, Collin retired his pole for the afternoon, the boys played in the front cubby.
No one caught any additional fish, and we headed back to the campsite, where the boys sat very still and watched Grandpa clean the prized fish for dinner.

I'm not sure what part of fishing Collin enjoyed most ... : )

And I'm really not sure how his next fishing trip will go: will he be a lucky, er, uh, talented fisherman, always with a catch? Or will he learn that fishing isn't always a fast-action sport??!