Cartney’s First Catch

The Easter Bunny brought Cartney a kid’s fishing rod for Easter. It came with rod, reel, two bobbers and several spinner bait hooks. The neat thing about this rig is that it is “parent proof” in that the hook and bait retracts itself into the bobber so six-year-old beginner anglers aren’t accidentally hooking their Dads during the cast. We’ve gone out a few times and gotten some nibbles, but we haven’t caught any fish yet. We are thinking about using some bloodworms for some of these local ponds and lakes.

The kids next door had friends over and when Cartney tried to go play with them, as he usually does when they are out running around, but he was rebuffed. I told him to get his rod, thinking that if the kids saw him fishing, they would come running over to watch. And that’s just what happened. He’s really good casting already, and his casts were met with oohs and aahs, and soon the other kids were begging for a turn with the rod.

But today Cartney did hook something. It was a two-foot young alligator. It chased the bobber, and when it tried to gobble it, Cartney expertly set the hook and started reeling. All six of the kids watching started squealing with fear and delight as the alligator tried to run with the bait. When it got close to the shore, the adults decided to take over and move the kids away.

I admit I had some reservations about trying to retrieve that hook. My plan was to get it close enough to cut the line below the bobber and let the alligator keep the hook and bait, but at the last moment the gator rolled underwater and the hook popped free. All the kids congratulated Cartney for a job well done, which was soon followed by a chant of “Catch it again!” As the gator floated in the middle of the pond, Cartney threw a second expert cast and that stupid gator went right after the bobber again!