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Craig, a friend of mine, called Saturday morning to ask if he could run a line on the lake to catch some catfish. It was fine with me, but he then sweetened the deal with bringing a bunch of vegetables from his garden. It is hard to argue with a trade like that. That afternoon, he showed up with a friend to help string the line and his grandson, Jack. Jack was along to learn how to catch catfish, but at six years old, he was more interested in catching bass. Craig has apparently taken him bass fishing several times because Jack explained to me how good he was at catching fish. I was to learn later, the kid doesn't lie.

While the guys hooked drop lines and baited hooks, Jack talked and fished. My wife and I were on the porch a couple hundred yards away and we could still hear Jack explaining the finer points of fishing to his elders. Every once in a while, we could hear about the big one he just landed or the one that got away. When they came back to shore, I went down to see what they had caught. Jack had a half of a bucket of fish. They went back out for a short time as it was getting dark and finished filling the bucket with three people fishing rather than one little kid.

Craig was back at midnight to take off fish and re-bait the hooks. He and his friend, minus Jack, were back to repeat the process around six. My wife and I went down to check on the progress when they landed. Jack gave firm instructions to his grandpa to wake him up to check the lines in the morning. Craig tried, but when called, Jack stood up and promptly fell back into bed, sound asleep.

Their were several fish on the line, but four of them had been eaten by a turtle. Craig saw it working on the bait on one of his hooks and was hoping to catch it. He ran back home to get his little fishing buddy while he waited for the turtle to hook itself.

The next trip to check the line was well manned. Jack and his two helpers were in one boat and Damon and I were the back-up crew in my boat. We were going to get that turtle so it never got another of our fish. While pulling up the line, we did see a snapping turtle about the size of a saucer sled. He was not hooked, and probably not too hungry from eating the fish on the line.

Jack got in the boat with Damon and me while the guys pulled up the lines. He explained to us where we needed to go and how to get the job done. With his line lying still on the water and the lure not moving, he explained the finer points of fishing. This is when he caught a fish. We would take him to the good spots and he would cast in the opposite direction. It did not matter, he would catch one. He got distracted in conversation with his lure barely touching the water and caught another.

As I have always said, it is better to be lucky than good. That kid has more luck than anybody. His grandpa and I are starting to listen to the fishing tips he gives out so freely. Jack caught a number of nice bass, but wanted his picture taken with the two smallest. They are easier to hold. Craig brought us fish we prepared for lunch with fresh tomatoes, peppers and onions and a side of cucumber salad. It is hard to beat a day when somebody else will supply the vegetables, clean the fish, and you can get a fishing lesson in the bargain.[[In-content Ad]]

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