Camping?

We sort of had a camping trip this week. My son and I have been several times but my little girl has never joined us. We thought just to be on the safe side we would start at the back of our land next to the creek. We were only a few hundred yard from the house which turned out to thea good thing. We all had a great time fishing and riding the four-wheeler and things were going great. The highlight of course was roasting hot dogs and making s'mores and playing with the fire. Things were going great and my wife even joined us for the feast, then came bed time. My little girl decided she would join my wife going back to the house so the close proximity paid off. My son and I spent the night and had a good night (at least as good of a night as you can have in a tent on the ground.) We did have a little excitement when some neighborhood dogs joined us and were barkin right behind the tent. According to my son they were doing some growling but I was asleep and didn't here anything but the barking. He is convinced they were coyotes which isn't entirely impossible but doubtful. All in all it was a great night and we learned that my little princess isn't quiet ready for a real camping trip.

Catfish and Crappie

My son and I set out to catch some slab crappie. We didn't get the slabs and ended up only catching four small crappie. We were fishing with minnows about two feet under the surface in five to ten feet of water. We never expected to catch catfish but they out numbered the crappie. I don't know if they are getting ready to spawn but with the early spring we are having, who knows.

We had a great time and my wife and little girl came and joined us for a picnic. While we were at the dock, my son couldn't help but wet a worm and caught a few miniature bream. My little girl got ion the action and caught her first fish at the river. She has caught a few at the creek behind our house but for some reason she doesn't count those because she wasn't at the river. Now she can say she has caught a fish, and although it was probably about 2 inches long it counted.

To end off a great day we cleaned and ate the crappie and catfish (not the bream). It was like a scene out of Swamp People and just for good measure my son even named his fish "Big Bubba." It was a great day, caught fish, picnic with family, and ate some good ole fried fish.

My Little Girl's First Fishing Trip

My son and I have been fishing together for several years, but most of the time my little girl stayed at home. She has done a little fishing in small segments but not on a day's excursion with us. She is finally old enough to join us safely. We started like I started my son, fishing from the bank.

The weather conditions were not that great but we knew we would have fun. We carried minnows and worms and ended up using more worms than anything. We were basically just trying to find anything that would bite. After several tries we ended up catching s few small bream. Although our youngest "fisherperson" didn't catch one all by herself she had a great time. We made sure to move frequently and not take it too seriously. We found several shells and threw some rocks in the water just to make the trip a little more fun.

My son was a real trooper, even though it wasn't quite the same type of trip he is accustomed to taking he had a great attitude and was a great big brother. The laughs and the giggles were priceless and it will not be soon forgotten. The little picnic made the day complete and we had a great time. The only problem, if you call it a problem, is both of them will want to go every trip. I am not ready to take both of them in the boat so some negotiations will certainly be in our future.