Gone Fishin'

Henry has been talking about going fishing (see also my earlier post about hunting) for a year.  Last summer he saw a guy fishing while we were in the car driving somewhere and was instantly fascinated.  "What's that guy doing, Mom?  I want to do that!"  I promised myself that I would take him fishing somehow this summer, and the chance presented itself yesterday.  We are in beautiful upstate New York, staying with friends just a few miles from the Adirondack Park border.  Yesterday, our hosts went to work and school and we went to the local convenience store for coffee and a newspaper.  Driving back, we were discussing what we should do that day, and Michael suggested maybe going for a hike in the woods.  Henry, overhearing, said, "Yes, and you know what?  If you get a long, long stick, and you put it way deep into a pond, all the way to the bottom, and you catch a fish, that's called fishing.  Can we do that?"  It was a great feeling to be able to say, "Yes, we can!"

We stopped into Bob's Bait Shop just a little ways down the road (Henry had also spotted it and somehow knew it was a fishing shop, even though he can't read), and got outfitted with a SpiderMan fishing pole, bobbers and sinkers and hooks and worms ("large or small nightcrawlers?").  A nice customer told us exactly what we needed and, more importantly, where to go.  We drove just about 10 miles up the road to Lake Luzerne, put the pole together and cast the worm into the lake.  Instantly: a hit, a strike, and the worm was gone!  This happened about four more times until we remembered the part about "setting the hook."  On the very next try, Henry's first fish! 

It was a great, great day.