This Kid Can Fish!

You might look at this picture and think that it is a nice picture of a cute three-year-old holding a fish that somebody else caught. Well, he is a cutie, isn’t he?! But this kid can fish. He actually caught this fish by himself. I did hoist it out of the water for him, but both his hands were busy with the rod and reel, so that does not count against him. Let me tell you the story.

Will you do my fish:

We were at the annual Canada fish camp family outing. (See my previous post for an explanation of that). Cole is the son of my daughter-in-law’s brother, Dan and his wife, Elaine. I had just finished eating my lunch and was heading down to the beach where everyone was gathered. It was a beautiful blue bird day and Cole’s father had taken a group of people out on the pontoon boat. As I arrived, Cole came to me with a request.

“Pop, can you take my fish off the hook? I want to go fishing. Mommy will put the worms on, but she doesn’t do the fish. Will you do my fish?”

“So, do you catch a lot of fish?”

“Yep, now let’s go.” And he headed toward the dock, his mother and I trying to keep up. He went straight to his spot and sat down.

With your permission, a little aside comment. Notice in the picture that Cole has his life-jacket on. In this family, small children are taught that they do not go near the water, for any reason, without wearing a life-jacket. Our grandsons put their jackets on before they leave the car or cottage. It is a good habit for people of any age. Heck, when I fish alone, I still always wear a life-jacket. Thanks for indulging me and now, back to Cole’s story.

Catching Bluegills:

Elaine picked out a good worm and baited his hook. I asked him if he wanted me to throw his line out but he quickly told me that he could do it. With that he made a cast. It was a little short and far to the left. I asked him if he wanted me to throw it. His eyes were already locked on the bobber as he said no. Immediately the bobber disappeared, and Cole started reeling.

He reeled steadily and evenly. He held the rod tip up and steady. Most three-year-olds have the rod whipping in circles, slapping the ground and then held high overhead, the whole-time yelling “I got one!”. But, not Cole. Steady and controlled, eyes focused on the fish, just like his dad taught him. (Or maybe his mom).

He landed a big blue gill. As he swung it over to me he said. “I want to hold it”. I took the fish off the hook and looked over at him. He was standing there with his thumb up like he was hitchhiking. You have to have a really tiny thumb to lip a bluegill, but he did it like a pro showing off a winning bass.

After two more tries, he started making great casts. He threw straight and got maximum distance from his little rod and reel. For the next 30 minutes or so he caught about 20 fish, all nice sized. I was impressed. Not so much because he caught fish, but because of the way he fished. I expect a three-year-old to quickly get bored. Most look around, swing the rod up and down and all around. They look everywhere but at the bobber. They may or may not see it bouncing through the water. And if they do try to cast you should protect yourself. But again, not Cole. He sat motionless, eyes focused, rod still. If the bobber even thought about bouncing, Cole was on it. I have never seen anyone that young that was that good at fishing.

The Big Surprise:

Eventually, the blue gill seemed to disappear, and Elaine and I were ready to take a break. But, not Cole. Elaine told him that he could have one more worm and then we were going to take a break until his father came back. He reluctantly agreed and made a cast. As soon as the bobber settled, it took off, faster than previously.

“Looks like a good one, Cole”, I remarked. Then Elaine got excited. “I think it is something big.” Cole did not say anything, he just did what he does. Slow and steady, eyes focused.

The fish surfaced and rolled. I saw a big white belly and knew that he had a very nice bass. At that point I got a little concerned. This fish was too big for that little rod and reel. The line was just too light to hold a fish that heavy. But this is Cole! Elaine got more and more excited and leaned over the dock to try and grab the fish, or the line, or something. By this time the fish was directly below us, but Cole was still holding the rod tip high as he watched the fish. I reached down, grabbed the line and lifted straight up, hopeful that the line would hold, knowing it would not. But it did not break and I quickly lipped the fish, just like Cole showed me. As I swung the fish over the dock, Elaine and Cole realized how big it was and started yelling. Soon there was a steady line of family and friends coming down the dock to see Cole’s big bass. He tried to lip it for a picture, but he just could not hold it. As I reached over to lip it and help him, he grabbed it with both hands, grinning like a Cheshire cat. (I know what this means, but I really never saw any cat smile. They smirk.)

“I want to cut it!”

We admired the bass and then I told Cole that it was time to put it back in the lake so it could live. Cole already had other ideas.

I want to cut it.

Let’s just put it back so it can get bigger.

I want to cut it.

We don’t want to just kill it. Let’s put it back so it lives and gets bigger.

I want to cut it and eat it.

I looked at Elaine and she was telling him that we had to put it back. But neither of us wanted to be the bad guy and ruin the moment. So I told him we might be able to keep it until his dad got back. Then he could show it to him. To our relief, that idea seemed like a good one to Cole. We just wanted Dan to be the one to break his heart and put the big bass back. Elaine realized that there was an empty cooler back at the cottage. A couple of Cole’s cousins grabbed it and took it to the lake to get some water. We got the fish into the cooler and the cousins kept bringing buckets of water until the fish was sitting upright and had completely recovered. There was a ruler molded into the lid of the cooler, and we measured the bass at an honest 18.5 inches.

People kept coming over to see the fish and Cole kept telling them that he caught a big fish. The smile that you see in the picture above never left his face. When his dad came pulling into the dock with the pontoon boat, Cole ran down the dock to announce that he caught a big fish. When Dan saw it, he was genuinely excited for his son. Eventually he looked at Cole and told him that they should put it back, to which Cole replied, “I want to cut it.”.

I did not want to see the disagreement that was about to ruin Cole’s big event, so I headed to our cottage. I fixed a quick lunch and got as comfortable as I could in the heat of the day. The temperature rose well above 80, and I fell asleep. As I was napping, there was a knock on the door. Dan was bringing fried big bass for me to try! Quite a few people got a piece of Cole’s bass that day. After Dan left, it occurred to me that Cole just learned a valuable lesson.

Lifelong Lessons:

I can say this for the entire family: We do not keep or kill fish unless we are going to eat them. And once they are harvested, they must be eaten. You cannot bring fish home and decide that you do not want to clean them and then just throw them away. Since Cole wanted to “cut it”, it had to be eaten. Cole probably will not remember this day very well, if at all, or that the family taught him how to be an ethical angler. But that lesson is ingrained in him. He will not have to think about it. It is part of his sportsmanship code now.

I often tell you that you do not have to be fishing to do fishing things. I got more joy from helping Cole and having him amaze me than if I caught that fish myself. I also enjoyed watching his parents. Elaine helping him fish and saving the fish. Dan reinforcing the value of life, any life. All the family demonstrating that if you keep it, you eat it. In this case, Dan and Elaine used fishing to help in the development of Cole’s value system: Value life. Do what is right. Share.

There is a great deal to enjoy when you fish. Some of it, but not all of it, has to do with catching fish. In this case there was joy in the catch for Cole, and joy for everyone else in seeing his joy. I will cherish this memory for all my life. I was not fishing, but I had fun because I fish. I wish the same for you. Have some fun. Go fishing.