09-10-2009, 10:44 PM
We were staying in Loa/Fremont this past weekend (do this a few times a year) and decided to try some fishing. I really haven't fished there much since I was a kid. We tried Forsythe but caught nothing. I think the lake likely drained down, as it usually does, and is now refilling, so the fish are pretty much gone for this season.
Next day we went to Mill Meadow. The perch have really overrun that lake and need to be thinned out a LOT. However, it was fun to help my 7 year old nephew catch them. He wanted to learn to 'plier' them (remove the hooks). He is a dang good little fisherman.
Anyway, in a few hours we caught probably 20 perch. The first while we were using worms until we ran out. We started catching bigger ones by using perch meat and the infamous perch eyeballs. I had one that hit quite a bit harder than most. I started reeling it in and realized this couldn't be a perch. I got it in to shore and was very happy to see an 18" brown trout on the end of my line.
We were getting ready to leave in the afternoon when a young girl (9 years old) came up to see our fish. Her family had a big camp there by the shore line with probably 9 big trailers, military tent, etc. She asked what we were catching them on and was just chatting us up (said her teacher calls her chatty Cathy). She had one of those little kid poles that always get tangled up so bad and wanted to catch some fish. She asked what we were using and we told her meat from fish. She said "I have a perch in my tackle box from yesterday that I could use" and pulled out this brick-hard dead perch. I told her to bring me her pole and I would bait it for her with some of ours. I put some on her line and added an extra sinker so she could cast out a bit further. She tried a cast and about hit me in the head. We were packing it up so I said she could have the rest of our bait if she wanted, then asked if she had a way to cut it up at all. She said (with a very straight face) that she would just use her teeth to tear pieces off. Yuck! In the conversation we mentioned that we also used the eyeballs and they work well. She said that her brick perch had an eye and asked if we would get it out for her. She said she had pushed the other one in too far with her finger earlier. Well, we hooked up an eye for her and she cast out this time without hitting anyone. We got all packed up and I took the rest of our bit over to her and I started cutting it up for her and putting pieces in a foam cup that she could use. She picked up the rest of the fish and started digging into the guts with her fingers, pulling them apart saying "where are the lungs...oh, there they are"
Well, just as we walked to the truck she said "I think I have a snag" and was trying to reel that little pole in. It was coming in for her so we watched to make sure she didn't need help. It didn't take long to realize she had a fish on the line. She got it into shore and there was a nice brown on the end, probably about 16". We helped her get it on shore and she was just jumping up and down and screaming with excitement.
Despite some of the redneck style things this little 9 year old girl was doing, it completely made my day to see how excited she got at catching a fish. We talked about it for quite a while after that.......
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Next day we went to Mill Meadow. The perch have really overrun that lake and need to be thinned out a LOT. However, it was fun to help my 7 year old nephew catch them. He wanted to learn to 'plier' them (remove the hooks). He is a dang good little fisherman.
Anyway, in a few hours we caught probably 20 perch. The first while we were using worms until we ran out. We started catching bigger ones by using perch meat and the infamous perch eyeballs. I had one that hit quite a bit harder than most. I started reeling it in and realized this couldn't be a perch. I got it in to shore and was very happy to see an 18" brown trout on the end of my line.
We were getting ready to leave in the afternoon when a young girl (9 years old) came up to see our fish. Her family had a big camp there by the shore line with probably 9 big trailers, military tent, etc. She asked what we were catching them on and was just chatting us up (said her teacher calls her chatty Cathy). She had one of those little kid poles that always get tangled up so bad and wanted to catch some fish. She asked what we were using and we told her meat from fish. She said "I have a perch in my tackle box from yesterday that I could use" and pulled out this brick-hard dead perch. I told her to bring me her pole and I would bait it for her with some of ours. I put some on her line and added an extra sinker so she could cast out a bit further. She tried a cast and about hit me in the head. We were packing it up so I said she could have the rest of our bait if she wanted, then asked if she had a way to cut it up at all. She said (with a very straight face) that she would just use her teeth to tear pieces off. Yuck! In the conversation we mentioned that we also used the eyeballs and they work well. She said that her brick perch had an eye and asked if we would get it out for her. She said she had pushed the other one in too far with her finger earlier. Well, we hooked up an eye for her and she cast out this time without hitting anyone. We got all packed up and I took the rest of our bit over to her and I started cutting it up for her and putting pieces in a foam cup that she could use. She picked up the rest of the fish and started digging into the guts with her fingers, pulling them apart saying "where are the lungs...oh, there they are"
Well, just as we walked to the truck she said "I think I have a snag" and was trying to reel that little pole in. It was coming in for her so we watched to make sure she didn't need help. It didn't take long to realize she had a fish on the line. She got it into shore and there was a nice brown on the end, probably about 16". We helped her get it on shore and she was just jumping up and down and screaming with excitement.
Despite some of the redneck style things this little 9 year old girl was doing, it completely made my day to see how excited she got at catching a fish. We talked about it for quite a while after that.......
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