CATFISHIN' - THE FIRST AND LAST DAY

Labor Day afternoon 2010. For the first time Em, Joe and I went fishing in the lake behind the public library. It had been a long weekend of saltwater fishing with nothing to show for it. Oh, don't get me wrong, we had a great time and caught plenty of fish, just none that we would bring home to mom. Joe rigged us up for fresh water, we grabbed a loaf of white bread and off we went. The lake is cared for by the city. There are signs everywhere telling us what we can't do. The only thing allowed was shoreline fishing, but with a catch....MEMORIAL DAY to LABOR DAY. Did this mean you could fish on Labor Day? We thought so. We squeezed the bread balls on the hooks and threw them in. Not much happening. Joe walked around the lake trying different spots. Still nothing. We were about to give up when up pulled a truck with a couple of old fisher guys. They set up a respectable distance from us. We watched them. It wasn't long before they caught one. Joe went over to investigate. He came back and said "I've got good news and good news..." and held up a hot dog. He said they caught a catfish and they planned to eat it. Caught it on a chunk of hot dog. Well ALRIGHT! It didn't take long for Joe to land one. Big nasty thing. I wanted to give it to the old guys. Joe talked me out of it. Maybe we could finally bring SOMETHING home this weekend! After catching another, we ran out of bait and were running out of time. Lake closes at dark. Joe asked me for a dollar and went to make a deal with the old guys. He came back with the rest of their package and the dollar in his hand. They told him to save the dollar for his piggy bank. There must be a code amongst anglers, and Joe knows it. I told Joe that we would try to eat these things. If they were good, we would come back next weekend. "Dad," he said "no fishing until Memorial Day. This is the last day." Figures.

The fish tasted great! Guess we have to wait...until then, enjoy the PICTURES!

And check out the VIDEO