Matthew & Family
And, still later the same summer into fall.....
Hey John...Fall feels like its finally here. My brother and I took the boys limited camping/hunting/fishing this past weekend and it felt almost cold Friday night and what a day it was Saturday - just about as perfect as you could ask. We camped right on the dam of a pond on the property and set up our gear for catfish right next to camp. Our Saturday morning breakfast was interrupted several times. Between catching catfish most anytime, hunting teal in the mornings (my oldest son's first good teal hunt), and bass fishing in the afternoons, we had a great time. We caught enough catfish for a fish fry Saturday night and we killed enough teal for Sunday breakfast. My brother caught two of the biggest bass he's ever hooked and I caught several real nice ones too. Oh yeah...saw lots of Canada geese, one real nice buck, and two coveys - one had 12 - 14 birds and the other had 6. The smaller covey looked like a mating pair and 4 little ones. I've included a few photos of the trip. Talk to you later.
Jon and John…my kids picked out some photos from our recent cat fishing trip they wanted me to send in to you guys…the one unnamed photo was picked out specifically by my daughter and I send it in against my will and under protest…moments after she clicked the shutter, I dropped the fish on my right foot which was inadequately protected by a flip-flop…it is not the first time I’ve been stuck by a catfish, but it was the first time I have ever been stuck in my big toe.
The other photos I think represent one really nice trip. My kids experienced a full range of fishing conditions from a thick “cold” fog Saturday morning to near 90 degrees, sunny, and windy by Sunday afternoon. The days were separated by clear cool evenings…it was hard to remember it was late summer.
Also of interest to me…my son decided he wants to learn camp cooking. So, “Cookie” was born on this trip and prepared all our meals. Dad finally got the long-awaited opportunity to sit back and mind the fishing poles and make the important observations that only a man of many years of outdoor experience can truly appreciate. Unfortunately, my daughter’s attitude seemed to migrate towards Dad’s activities (or lack of) rather than little brothers…I will use the fall limited camping/hunting trips to help steer her in the proper direction regarding camp chores.
These trips have become so much fun for the kids and I that now, all I have to say the week before is…”Anybody want to head out this weekend?” The universal answers are…”YEAH!” and “Sure!” Then the afterthought…”Where are we going?” They have learned to anticipate these limited camping forays on club land for hunting and fishing because they know they’re in for a good time.
We didn’t manage to get any fish moved because our focus was catfish. We landed one real nice one but lost two monsters that were a little hard on the tackle. We started catching what I consider to be on the small side, but we were catching so many that I finally told the kids to start keeping some for a fish fry…we enjoyed the fruits of our labor last night.Matthew
