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A few days ago my Bride and I were camping and fishing at Fish Lake. As I headed to the latrine one morning planning to take care of business a dad stops me in the middle of the road and asks "are you a fisherman?" My response was I fish a little. He then asks if I would help his kids with their poles (rods). I walk to their camp and two kids have wrecks with open face reels. (Line all over. Looked like me and a bait caster)
I got their lines all straightened out and taught them about the drag. They had tried to cast and reel the night before with drags totally loose.
Dad tells me the son 12 years old had seen pictures of big fish from here and he wanted to catch one.
Mom and Dad then want me to tell them where on the lake they can catch fish.
They are from Pennsylvania and on a 10 week cross country vacation.
I tell them of a couple of places I figure they can fish from the shore and try to explain a set up that will work. (I'm thinking perch)
I then go on my way to take care of business. During my constitutional (my best thinking time is while sitting in the library) I figure just as well ask them if they want us to take them out on the boat.
I approach camp broach the subject and they are all for it.
BOY THIS IS A LONG STORY!!!!!!!
We take them 300 yards out from Lakeside and anchor up the I Pilot, rig both up with drop shot rigs and put them to catching perch.
The girl 10 years old catches on real quick after I point out the bites she is having. Her third drop and third fish Dad responds "this is just like catching fish in a barrel"
I get the boy going and Mom and Dad say the boy wanted to eat the big fish he was going to catch. This caused me to drag out the filet knife and go to filleting perch.
After I had about a pound of filets and no telling how many fish caught and released they had had enough and we took them in.
These kids were so excited with these little fish they even kissed a couple of them. I can't imagine what the response would have been had we picked up a good fish but they were pleased with perch.
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Good story, tks for sharing....sometimes it seems like we're being taken advantage of, but sometimes it's just the right thing to do.....good for you.....
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This is the best report I have read in a long, long time. Thanks for the kind and unselfish time and talent you provided that family.. It will probably be the highlight of their trip.
rj
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I know who had the best time of all, and for whom the glow lasted longest. You.
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I could read stories like this all day. BFT has a bunch of philanthropic members that set the right kind of example for fishermen and women everywhere.
I personally love getting strangers introduced to fishing and getting kids enthused in the sport.
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Well done. Always great to get newbies into fish. I experienced that opportunity again just last Saturday, and like you, perch were the fish of choice.
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[quote PACMEN]A few days ago my Bride and I were camping and fishing at Fish Lake. As I headed to the latrine one morning planning to take care of business a dad stops me in the middle of the road and asks "are you a fisherman?" My response was I fish a little. He then asks if I would help his kids with their poles (rods). I walk to their camp and two kids have wrecks with open face reels. (Line all over. Looked like me and a bait caster)
I got their lines all straightened out and taught them about the drag. They had tried to cast and reel the night before with drags totally loose.
Dad tells me the son 12 years old had seen pictures of big fish from here and he wanted to catch one.
Mom and Dad then want me to tell them where on the lake they can catch fish.
They are from Pennsylvania and on a 10 week cross country vacation.
I tell them of a couple of places I figure they can fish from the shore and try to explain a set up that will work. (I'm thinking perch)
I then go on my way to take care of business. During my constitutional (my best thinking time is while sitting in the library) I figure just as well ask them if they want us to take them out on the boat.
I approach camp broach the subject and they are all for it.
BOY THIS IS A LONG STORY!!!!!!!
We take them 300 yards out from Lakeside and anchor up the I Pilot, rig both up with drop shot rigs and put them to catching perch.
The girl 10 years old catches on real quick after I point out the bites she is having. Her third drop and third fish Dad responds "this is just like catching fish in a barrel"
I get the boy going and Mom and Dad say the boy wanted to eat the big fish he was going to catch. This caused me to drag out the filet knife and go to filleting perch.
After I had about a pound of filets and no telling how many fish caught and released they had had enough and we took them in.
These kids were so excited with these little fish they even kissed a couple of them. I can't imagine what the response would have been had we picked up a good fish but they were pleased with perch.[/quote]
Very fun times! Some of my most rewarding moments have been at the fish cleaning station when people come up and ask where we caught our fish and what we were using, this usually turns into a 20 minute chat about where we are from and why we like that particular fishery that makes up drive so far to be there. And sometimes it can turn into an hour long conversation if I start chatting with the guys camping next to us.
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Well done, you really did a great service there, thanks...
I had a similar situation up at Henry's lake this summer, except I didn't do as well as you did... I had gotten up at 1:30 AM to get to Henry's by 6:30ish and had rushed all morning to get there to try and get in a few hours of fishing before my 12:00 appointment up there... Well on the way through Island Park got a call of a mishap on my platform and it was looking like my trip may get cancelled before it got started... But managed to get things tamed down there and rolled into the launch to find a group of folks that looked lost, well I guess I had actually started rushing to get my toon out and get ready to fish, when they approached me and started asking about how to fish Henrys. They were from Michigan on the same type cross county family trip... Well, I ended up visiting with them for about an hour and a half telling them where they could go try to catch a fish from the shore... Henry's has been fishing pretty tough this year, so I didn't have a lot of hope for them to catch anything there, so I'd told them a few other options on the rivers and then we parted ways... I should have done like you and taken them out, but I didn't have much room in the personal pontoon... and I was on a mission to try and catch a fish before my deadline... Ended up I got one and lost a big boy, but I think I had more fun talking with them and sharing my love for fishing with them... Don't know if you found the same thing, but I think I need to take a lesson from this and do like you did... Thanks for the great example of going the extra mile... Great story thanks again... J
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Thanks to all of you. I get lots of help out of this forum and hope to pay a bit back at times.
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Awesome and good on you for helping. Good Karma headed your way!
Thanks for sharing story.
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I'm going to try and keep this in mind. Doesn't look like the gorge for us this summer or fall but perhaps when we get some hard water.
I need all the help I can get.
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s, the friends made, and wonderful memories!
ly I had to miss the one this year. Perhaps some of our Disabled Veterans who also wanted to go on that day were unable to go on that day. No problem as my invitation is year round and even includes ice fishing.