07-04-2021, 07:38 PM
Always fun to take kids fishing. In 1979 when my oldest son was about 4, we were traveling from N. Carolina to Calif. We stopped in ShowLow Ariz. to visit an old family friend. We had not taken any fishing equipment, and she wanted to take us to a local stocked pond, think it was called Bill's Lake.
She provided a couple of her fishing poles, but they were still a bit too big for my son to handle. She had one of those "Pocket Fishermen" folding poles that had a wonky reel on it. My son got the hang of casting it after a couple tries, and about his 3rd or 4th cast got a hit from a Rainbow. He started to reel it back but no matter what he did, the reel wouldn't take up with out the drag slipping. He was so determined to catch that first fish, he grabbed the line, dropped the "rod" and hand over hand retrieved that bow. His first of several, and all caught by hand lining.
We kept the limit of what the stringer would hold, and had great Rainbow fish fry that night.
![[Image: Bills-Lake-AZ-1979.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/rdQqzMY/Bills-Lake-AZ-1979.jpg)
She provided a couple of her fishing poles, but they were still a bit too big for my son to handle. She had one of those "Pocket Fishermen" folding poles that had a wonky reel on it. My son got the hang of casting it after a couple tries, and about his 3rd or 4th cast got a hit from a Rainbow. He started to reel it back but no matter what he did, the reel wouldn't take up with out the drag slipping. He was so determined to catch that first fish, he grabbed the line, dropped the "rod" and hand over hand retrieved that bow. His first of several, and all caught by hand lining.
We kept the limit of what the stringer would hold, and had great Rainbow fish fry that night.
"OCD = Obsessive Catfish Disorder "
Or so it says on my license plate holder
Or so it says on my license plate holder